Thanksgiving '09 Foodz + Bust Craftacular

Hello! Hope you had a relaxing weekend with lots of yummy food and catchup sleep! I sure did, and am getting a bit sad-faced that Monday is almost here. I haven't reached the sick-of-leftovers phase yet, so I figured I should post about it now before I am!

I went with Bryanna Clark Grogan's Seitan tofurkey for the main in the roulade style (I super-spiced it up though, with fresh sage, rosemary, thyme, and garlic), roasted brussel sprouts (I shredded them up for extra-yumminess!), corn, mashed taters with mushroom and onion gravy (modified from VCON), stuffing, cranberries (with apples added! BUT, I forgot about them in the fridge, so we didn't get to eat them until the next day, with leftovers!), and Pumpkin Cheezecake Pie for dessert (and soyatoo on top!) with a homemade graham cracker crust. Everything was pretty successful and delicious! We didn't eat until 9ish at night, due to a little underestimation in the timing, but it was all good. Super-happy thanksgiving! Some pictures:







I've also been super-crafting this weekend, preparing for next weekend's Bust Craftacular. If you are in the NYC area on Sunday, December 6th, come say hi!

After-Thanksgiving Day Weekend Sale!

Yeah, I jumped on that bandwagon, why not! All originals are on sale AND I'm having a Buy TWO 8"x10" Prints and get ONE FREE sale! Sale ends at midnight Monday, November 30th. Just write the name of the FREE print that you want in the "Message to Seller" box during checkout.

shop

Daring Bakers-November 09 Challenge-Cannolis!

The November 2009 Daring Bakers Challenge was chosen and hosted by Lisa Michele of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives. She chose the Italian Pastry, Cannolo (Cannoli is plural), using the cookbooks Lidia’s Italian-American Kitchen by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and The Sopranos Family Cookbook by Allen Rucker; recipes by Michelle Scicolone, as ingredient/direction guides. She added her own modifications/changes, so the recipe is not 100% verbatim from either book.

This was my second challenge, and it was a LOT easier to veganize than last's month's Macarons (but then again, most things are easier to veganize.) I decided to deep-fry half of the recipe and bake the other half, for comparison purposes. Of course, the deep-fried version was tastier, but the baked ones were good too! My cannolis were filled with a Vegan Coconut Macadamia Nut Creme, with the shell insides coated in chocolate. These were REALLY good the next day, after a night in the fridge, when the filling flavors could meld together more. I don't have an exact recipe for the filling, but it consisted of fresh tofu, macadamia nuts, shredded coconut, a bit of agave nectar, and little bit of Soy Delicious Coconut Milk.

Antler Pug and Ribbon Kitty Ornaments in this week's Etsy Voter!

Puppy kisses and Kitty purrs for you all if you vote for me here: http://www.etsy.com/voter_list.php?ref=voter&room_id=80

Sale! Give-away!

Happy Monday!

I decided to have my first-ever Sale AND Give-away! For starters, all of my original paintings in my shop are now on-sale, ranging from $14-45! Craziness, I tell ya. I'm trying to move out some things in my shop and make some room around my apartment (and for new work!) AND I'm having a Buy TWO 8"x10" Prints and get ONE FREE sale! Sale ends at midnight Monday, November 30th. Just write the name of the FREE print that you want in the "Message to Seller" box during checkout.

Secondly, it's also my first-ever GIVE-AWAY! I know, I'm crazy with the FIRST-EVERS today. Anyways, I'm giving one of my 2010 Wall Calendars to one lucky reader here!

There are two ways to win:

1-Leave a comment here!
2-Tweet about it on twitter, AND leave me a comment here telling me you did so, to up your chances of winning! Tweet this:

RT @myzoetrope Win a super-cute 2010 My Zoetrope Wall calendar!: http://my-zoetrope.blogspot.com/2009/11/sale-give-away.html

That's it! Enter by DECEMBER 7TH MIDNIGHT, EST and I'll pick a random entry (with the wonderful help of random.org)!

Neighborhood walks

It was such a pretty Fall day today, that I thought I'd bring my camera along when I went to pick up my CSA and visit the Farmer's Market this morning. Days like this, make me love Brooklyn and my neighborhood. So many people out today, I assume to prep for Thanksgiving this week ('cause I sure was). It must have been community rake day in the park today too, because there was lots of raking going on (and little kids jumping in piles!) I'm super-excited for a 2 1/2 day work week coming up, and for the extra days off work to work on my freelance work and Etsy shop (yes, days off to work more, ha! But I enjoy that kind of work, so it's okay). And to sleep in! Yes! I'm not traveling for Thanksgiving, so it will just be a nice quiet dinner with Nik and I. Hooray for leftovers! I can't decide on whether to make this, this, or the old (delicious!) standby (scroll down to the Seitan "turkey" part). I'm going to make mashed taters w/ mushroom gravy, roasted brussel sprouts, cranberries, stuffing, and Pumpkin cheesecake for dessert. Yum yum, I can't wait! What are YOU making this year?

Super-nice Boyfriend

Nik had the day off the other day, and stopped off at the Grand Central Food Market Terminal to buy some amaaaaaazing chocolates for me. He's the best! He got a dark chocolate-almond bark and dark chocolate covered marzipan. I can't even describe how absolutely DELICIOUS this was. Yaay to nice boyfriends! :)




I was putting together some ornaments the other night and where there is ribbon involved, Miles is too. Seriously, the minute I bring out the ribbon, he shows up right next to me to "help out." Cutie-pants!



Happy sunday folks!

Insane-o Holiday Shop Updates!

Hello! Hope your weekend was lovely! I spent mine rushing around town (in my first zip-car rental!) donating clothes, bringing old electronics to be recycled, an Ikea trip for some new shelving, and a complete reorganization and cleaning of my apartment. Nik and I got a lot done, but have only really broken the surface. We're trying to make our apartment a happier place, so that we will feel less inclined to look for a new one. So far it has worked! I decluttered a lot (because I have the packrat problem, not him) and the new shelving has helped a LOT. Until next weekend!

I have an insane-o update here for you; one that has been slowly added to my Etsy shop over the last few weeks! I'm super-excited about everything and hope that you enjoy also! This is the bulk of the new things being added to my shop for holiday, and I just plan on working on new prints for the rest of this season. I have also been contemplating having my first giveaway soon...Enjoy!

Holiday Cards!

Toy Soldier Notecards- Set of 4 with matching envelopes


Grumpy Forest Gnome- Notecards- Set of 4 with matching envelopes


Sweet Holiday Notecards- Set of 8 with matching envelopes (2 of each design)






Veggie Holiday Cards- Set of 8 with matching envelopes (2 of each design)







Antler Pug and Ribbon Kitty Holiday Cards-Set of 8 with matching envelopes (4 of each design)



Ornaments!

Antler Pug and Ribbon Kitty Holiday Ornaments-Set of 2







Hand-painted Acorn- Holiday Ornament

Hand-painted Bunny- Holiday Ornament

Hand-painted Fox- Holiday Ornament

Hand-painted Kitty- Holiday Ornament

Hand-painted Penguin- Holiday Ornament

Hand-painted Polar Bear- Holiday Ornament



2010 Wall Calendar-from the Friends Forever series! Gorgeously printed so you can trim and frame after the month is over!



Fall Foliage Cuties-Notecards- Set of 4

Fall Foliage Cuties-8x10 PRINT