EATING VEGAN BROWNIES ON A BOAT TRIP AROUND DENMAN ISLAND

The brownies in question, my "Almost-No-Fat Brownies" (but with walnuts added), recipe below.

Yesterday afternoon Brian and I went on a trip with my son Tim, his wife and their three girls, on their little boat around Denman Island, where we live. It was a glorious day and we had a great time. Best of all, was seeing our home island from a different perspective, seeing the mountains on both sides of us,



seeing houses on Denman that you can't see from the roads, and seeing porpoises and seals right alongside the boat! I took some inari sushi made with brown rice and quinoa (an interesting if inadvertant Peruvian/Japanese fusion, I just realized-- Peru has a large Japanese population, which has influenced the cuisine), and some almost-no-fat brownies for munching.

NOTE: I forgot to bring my digital camera with me on this trip! So, the scenic pics are variously from government and local tourism sites, or taken by me or my friends Fireweed, and Debbie Knight, previously.

We embarked on our little journey at the boat launch near Boyle Point Park, which the locals call "Eagle Rock":



We headed across to Ford's Cove Marina on Hornby Island (my oldest daughter lives on Hornby with her husband and two teenagers. It's a quaint little spot with some beautiful homes and a funky, well-stocked grocery store (shown here) and art shop. (The store carries soy cheese and fresh tofu, soy ice cream and fruit sorbet, and lots of Asian condiments.)



Here's a view from a Hornby beach:



and a view of Denman from Hornby:


After getting a few necessaries, we headed back across and up the eastern side of Denman to "Tree Island" (actually "Sandy Island Provincial Marine Park", but everybody calls it "tree island"). We had porpoises swimming near the boat on the way there.


You can actually walk there at low tide, but it's a long way and people have got stuck there! we spent a couple of lazy hours on the sandy beach there, taking in the sun (there was a nice cool breeze to mitigate that), and watching the girls cavort in the water.



Then we all piled into the boat again and went back to the boat launch up the western side of Denman, enjoying the cool wind and admiring the houses along the shore, which we never see from the land. The two younger girls fell asleep on the way.



Here's the ferry dock on the west side of Denman:



and a view of Denman from the ferry dock on the Vancouver Island side at Buckley Bay:



and a Denman Island beach scene:


We drifted for a bit near Chrome Island Lighthouse



where we saw a seal feasting on the school of tiny fish that were jumping in the water all around us-- it looked and sounded as if it was raining! We docked the boat and went home feeling very relaxed.

Once home, we had a very simple supper of rosemary-roasted Yukon Gold potatoes and steamed asparagus with mushrooms in a simple sherry sauce:



Now, those brownies:



Printable Recipe

BRYANNA'S ALMOST NO-FAT BROWNIES(Can be GF)
(From my second cookbook, The Almost-No-Fat HOLIDAY Cookbook.)

Nutrition facts include 1/2 cup chopped walnuts. If you need a big batch of brownies, triple the recipe and use one whole 12.3 oz. box of extra-firm (regular or lite) SILKEN tofu.

1 cup brown sugar
4 oz (1/2 c.) medium-firm tofu OR firm or extra-firm SILKEN tofu
1/2 cup unsweetened organic cocoa (I use Dutch-process-- read about cocoa powders here)
1/3 cup flour OR GF flour mix
1/4 cup water (can be part liqueur of choice, such as Kahlua)
4 tsp powdered Ener-G or Orgran No-Egg egg replacer powder
1 Tbs coffee (or coffee substitute) granules or espresso powder
2-3 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
OPTIONAL: 1/4-1/2 c. chopped nuts

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In the food processor mix until smooth the sugar, tofu, cocoa, water, egg replacer, coffee granules, vanilla and vinegar.

In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder and soda. Add the cocoa mixture and mix briefly. Add nuts, if using.

Pour the mixture into a 7 x 11" or 8 x 8" cake pan lined with cooking parchment. Spread evenly. Bake 25 minutes. Cool on a rack in the pan, then cut into bars.

Servings: 12

Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per 1/12th): 131.7 calories; 22% calories from fat; 3.8g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 148.4mg sodium; 159.5mg potassium; 24.4g carbohydrates; 1.6g fiber; 18.0g sugar; 22.7g net carbs; 2.5g protein; 2.6 points.


Enjoy!