Renegade and new Recipe Cards!

Hello! Happy weekend!

So I'm a little delayed in announcing this, but I'll be Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn next weekend (June 5th + 6th, 11-7pm). I have lots of new items that I'm working on to debut there, large-format prints, mounted prints, journals (hopefully! Still working on these!), and new recipe cards. Holy exciting batman!




And I am finished with one new thing, that I already stuck in my Etsy Shop, recipe cards! These are a redesign of my old cards I used to carry. This time I made them available in 4"x6" and 3"x5" sizes, since I have had requests for both. Wooo, find them here.



Okay, be back soon with some exciting news and posssssibly a give-away!

Recipe testing!

Hello! I have been doing some recipe testing for Celine and Joni's new book coming out. Holy delicious!

Cornbread Stuffed Poblanos


Peach Pecan Cobbler



Mexican Pizza with Salsa Verde (Salsa Verde is the tester, I made up the Mexican Pizza part, with some daiya mozzarella, black beans, avocado, and hot sauce: SO GOOD)

Daring Cooks-May Challenge-Stacked Green Chile and Seitan Enchiladas

Hello! After missing last month's Daring Cooks challenge, I was determined to not miss this month. A Mexican themed meal was presented as a challenge in celebration of Cinco de Mayo. Hooray! Super-easy to veganize too. Thanks so much for the recipe, Barbara and Bunnee!

Our hosts this month, Barbara of Barbara Bakes and Bunnee of Anna+Food have chosen a delicious Stacked Green Chile & Grilled Chicken (I used Seitan!) Enchilada recipe in celebration of Cinco de Mayo! The recipe, featuring a homemade enchilada sauce was found on www.finecooking.com and written by Robb Walsh.

First off, I made up some of the white seitan from Viva Vegan, Terry Hope Romero's new book (which, by the way, I am sooooo excited to start making more recipes from!).

I used the recipe provided in the challenge for the Green Chile sauce, with minimal changes:

Ingredients:
1½ pounds Fresh Anaheim chiles (about eight 6 to 8 inch chiles) (roast, peel, remove seeds, chop coarsely)
About 4-5 medium Tomatillos (peel, remove stems)
4 cups Vegetable broth
2 cloves Garlic, minced
1 tsp granulated onion
1 teaspoon dried oregano
½ tsp sea salt (add more to taste)
¼ tsp Black Pepper (add more to taste)
2 tablespoons Cornstarch (dissolve in 2 tablespoons water, for thickening)
squirt of hot sauce

Directions:
1. Roast your chiles (chopped) and tomatillos (halved, face down) on 400F for about 20 minutes or so
2. After cooling for a bit, puree in a blender or food processor.
3. Add the tomatillos to the saucepan along with the vegetable broth, chopped green chiles, granulated onion, oregano, garlic, salt and pepper.
4. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
5. Add the cornstarch/water slurry mixture and stir well. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is thickened and reduced to 4-5 cups, another 10-15 minutes.
6. Adjust seasonings and add hot sauce if you want a little more heat.

To assemble enchiladas, you need baking dishes big enough to accommodate 4 small tortillas laying flat (I used two), small tortillas, spinach, seitan, vegan cheddar cheese (I used Daiya), and the roasted green chile sauce. Spread a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of your baking dishes and lay 4 tortillas down. Alternate ingredients, stacking the enchiladas upwards (I used 3 tortillas for each serving size), ending with more sauce and cheese on the very top. Spoon any leftover chile sauce you have into the dishes (don't worry if it looks like they are swimming, it thickens up and is a good amount of sauce.)

Bake for 20 minutes on 400F. Let rest 10-15 minutes before serving. Delicious, and even better the next day, as leftovers!

Happy Mother's Day!

To my Mom and all my Mom-friends out there, I hope you have a lovely day!




East coast Coffee Cake yumminess, from Vegan Brunch

Crafts in Chelsea and major shop update!

I'll be at booth #10 tomorrow at Crafts in Chelsea! Stop by and say hi, if you are in the area!

WHEN: Saturday May 8, 2010, 10am – 5pm
WHERE: 21st street between 8-9 Avenues, NYC

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------


And I also *super*updated my shop the other day, with lots and lots of new prints. Crazy things planned this month, stay tuned!

Peru!

Viva El Peru!

Hello!! I'm back! Well, I actually arrived back home last tuesday, but I've been processing this A M A Z I N G trip I just went on. Seriously, unbelievable. If you ever have an opportunity to visit Peru, GO! Absolutely gorgeous country with super-friendly people and yummy food.

The Inca Trail was everything I hoped it would be, and more; Hard, challenging, rewarding, meditative, solitary, fun, and adventure-filled. I had a great group (there were five of us, Kristin, Nate, our new friend Rodrigo from Brazil, our amazing tour guide Brian, and myself) and it was a crazy-awesome experience. The altitude tended to kick my butt, especially on day two, on the climb to the summit, but I handled it alright. It was amazing hiking through different climate zones and noting the changes in the atmosphere and flora. Day three on the hike was probably my favorite, as we descended into the cloud forest. Of course, Machu Picchu was downright amazing and breathtaking, especially watch it fade in and out from a distance.

Magical horse all by him/herself.

Nate and I at the top of the Summit! 

Yes, those are yellow crocs on Kristin's bag, and yes, they did come in handy!

Machu Picchu!

I was afraid the Llama was going to kick or spit at me

Going into the Jungle was quite the time, flying down the mountain on a mountain bike in the pouring rain, with the edge of the cliff a mere few feet away. Despite never really riding a mountain bike in my lifetime, I managed to make it to the place we were staying in one piece (seriously! I thought I was going to die!!) The jungle was super-relaxing (um, well, after the bike ride) and I really enjoyed the hikes and the lodge itself. We saw monkeys, birds, strange pig/squirrelly animals, otter-like animals, frogs and frog's eggs, a snake, and a zillion butterflies. I didn't really get bitten by mosquitos either!

GORGEOUS landscapes everywhere. I loved this patchwork.

This is where we slept in the Amazon Jungle!

Pretty butterflies!

Cusco is such a pretty city. Beautiful parks and markets and friendly people and lots of sunshine. We became pretty addicted to visiting all the different markets and I just LOVE all the beautiful patterns and colors that were everywhere.

Cusco

Nate, Kristin, and I being dorks.

Mwuah.

Eating vegan turned out to be pretty easy. The best food of the trip was had on the Incan trail and in the Jungle, actually. Three course meals, seriously! Both tour companies that we went with did a fantastic job making vegan meals for me (Peru Discovery and Inca Trail Reservations), and I would highly recommend both of them. As for restaurants, I enjoyed El Encuentro in Cusco (yummy meal pictured below is from there, fresh mixed fruit juice, homemade chips and guacamole, and a humongo sammich with the best avocado and tangiest olives ever). Both of my travel-mates are omni, so at non-veggie restaurants I was able to get a cheeseless pizza or some rockin' quinoa dish pretty easily. I loved all the fresh juices that were everywhere! The avocados and all the fresh fruits (omg mango) tasted so much better than in the states! Vegan food on the airplane (TACA airlines) was a complete failure on the way there (omelet or french toast, boooo), but they surprised me on the way back with a yummy pasta/veggie dish that didn't actually contain any cheese.

Super-duper-awesome juice!

Holy wow whoa chips and guac

Gigunda sammich!

I have lots and lots and lots more pictures and some more tidbits here:

Part 01
Part 02
Part 03
Part 04

We stopped here for a picnic

Smiley random dog!

Last night in Lima, Peru