VeganMofo 2010: Obligatory Thanksgiving Dinner Post

Ohh, so full!  So much food! I love having leftovers for a week. Well, I'll be saying that for a few days at least, and then I'll get sick of them and order a pizza or something. :)

I made Bryanna's Seitan Tofurkey (which mysteriously isn't online anymore, i don't think? I couldn't find it on her site, since she took all her recipes down, but I had it written down from previous years.), mashed 'taters, stuffing, corn (this where I feel super-smart, and pulled some of the corn I froze from the summertime!), and cranberries. I was going to make roasted brussel sprouts, but I decided to save them for leftovers, to mix it up a bit.  Pumpkin pie for dessert! 

The smell of sage=thanksgiving

Sale! Give-away!

So! I'm having a super-awesome sale in my Etsy shop this weekend, with all the holiday festivities kicking off after Thanksgiving (by the way, I hope you had a happy one!)  

You can receive 15% off your entire order, by entering the coupon code at checkout:

SUPERAWESOME15

Offer is valid from 11/26-11/29 only, ending at midnight EST on the 29th. You can use this on anything, originals, prints, ornaments, cards, etc!  Have a happy handmade holidays and support independent businesses! 

I'm sweetening the sale weekend with my annual 2011 Calendar giveaway too!  

You have until next Friday, December 3rd at midnight EST to enter.  

There are 3 ways that you can enter to win one of my 2011 calendars:

1. Leave a comment below telling me what super-awesome thing you plan on doing for someone else this holiday season! Please make sure and leave some way of contacting you! 

2. Follow my blog and leaving ANOTHER comment below (if you already follow, just leave another comment!)

3. Tweet the following on Twitter and leave ANOTHER comment below:  

Win a Super-Awesome 2011 Calendar by @MyZoetrope here: http://my-zoetrope.blogspot.com/2010/11/sale-give-away.html

That's it!  One person will receive one of my calendars, to keep for themselves or give away as a gift this holiday season (all 12 pages of the calendar can be trimmed to 5"x7" prints at the end of the month or year, so it's like getting 12 free prints too!)  This contest is open to anyone anywhere, whether you live in the USA or Timbuktu.  I'll pick the winner next weekend!  Good luck!

VeganMofo 2010: Pumpkin Pie is the best!

It is! It really is! Seriously, my apartment smells so good right now. I should find some pumpkin pie candles or something to keep this aroma going on throughout the holiday season.   I went back to the basics this year, no pumpkin cheesecake or double-chocolate pumpkin fudge cake (whoa I bet that would be good), and just made a plain basic pumpkin pie.  I went with Bryanna's recipe, because it is easy and awesome.   OMG, I can't wait to eat tomorrow!  Happy Thanksgiving those celebrating!  

Some pre-baking action going on.

I put a pan of water in the oven, to prevent the cracks, but that obviously didn't work.

Ornament and Card Shop Update!

Winter Fox

So I have to take a 'MoFo break and tell you about the things I have been working on for my Etsy Shop.  I've made some one-of-a-kind ornaments, all painted with watercolors on gesso, and measuring approx. 2.5" across.  I'm super-excited about their cuteness!  There are eleven for now, though I do have some blank canvasses still, which I'm contemplating.   There are only one of each available, and I think they would make a perfect gift for a coworker, family member, friend, or to add to your own ornament collection!  Available in the shop.

North Pole Bear

Snow Bunny

Snowy Hedgehog

Woodland Owl

Cuddling Penguins

Skating Penguin

A Bear Present

Sledding Bears

Oh Deer

I've also added a few holiday cards!

Dreidel Kitty

A Peaceful Holiday

And the Ugly Sweaters series of holiday cards, available in an 8-pack or individually.

Ugly Sweater Bunny

Ugly Sweater Kitty

Ugly Sweater Penguin

Ugly Sweater pup

Annnnd, I will leave you with a sneak peek of one of a few projects that I'm working on finishing up for the shop:

VeganMofo 2010: The Vegan Girl's Guide to Life

Strummer love!

I've been a fan of the Urban Housewife blog for awhile now and was super-excited to finally meet up with Melisser last year, during one of her visits to NYC.  Call me triple-excited when she asked me if I wanted to contribute some illustrations to the book that she was working on! Well here it is, a year or so later, and I have the actual book in my hands and it is just so great.  Packed full of information, yummy recipes, and amazing interviews with cool chicas, it is a unique book in the ever-exploding market of vegan books that have/are coming out.

The Vegan Girl's Guide to Life touches on just about everything,  from the different reasons behind going vegan, nutrition, common questions and misconceptions, traveling, community, and activism.  My favorite part of this book is all the interviews scattered throughout, with some pretty amazing vegan ladies out there.  It was so fun to see familiar faces and interviews with some of my favorite bloggers, like Melanie, Jess, JoJo, and Marika, and favorite business owners, like Kerry, Leanne, and Jeannette.  Yummy recipes are also included with some contributions from Melisser herself, Celine, Terry, Constanze, and Hannah, among others.  Also, some DIY projects that would be perfect for the upcoming holiday gift-giving season!

Purchase VGGTL here or in person at one of her book-signing dates!  I went to the signing this past Saturday at Champs Bakery (mmm, vegan danishes!) and would highly recommend you get your hands on this pretty book soon!

November 28th Paris, FR at Paris Vegan Day, book signing and talk
November 30th Manchester, England at The Thirsty Scholar, 6pm to 8pm
Brighton date TBA (leads welcome!)
December 4th London, UK at Vx, book signing and talk 2pm to 6pm - 5% off all Vx purchases at the event!

VeganMofo 2010: Nachooo Love!

Soo full of nachos!  Holy delicious.  I decided to make a monster-sized plate tonight for Nik and I (cooked in the oven because I'm anti-microwave.)  We have homemade refried beans, chips, that new Wayfare 'We Can't Say it's Cheese' mexi-cheddar dip, Daiya cheddar, salsa, avocados, some seitan, and hot sauce.  

That new 'We Can't Say it's Cheese' stuff is pretty tasty. I found it in the store near my apartment yesterday and did a little happy-dance in the middle of the aisle.  They only had the cheddar and mexi-cheddar varieties, but I hope to try the hickory smoked kind soon.  Has anyone else tried it? This was the first thing I thought of to make with it. Other ideas?  

VeganMofo 2010: Creamy Portabello Mushroom Soup

Super-happy rainbow mushroom family!

It's soup season here!  I had this Portabello Mushroom soup once, at a restaurant, and have been dying to recreate it.  It was really simple, thick, and had a pure mushroom taste to it. Total yummers.  I like to thicken soups up with cashews, to make them super-creamy without detracting too much from the main flavor. This came pretty close to the restaurant version!  I have a vague recipe, because that's usually how I am when I'm making something in the kitchen...vague.  You know what I mean. Anyways, it's easy and makes a quick weekday meal!

Vague recipe (sorry!) for Creamy Portabello Mushroom Soup

Ingredients:
4 medium sized portabello mushrooms, sliced and diced
1 medium onion, diced
1 TBS Earth Balance Margarine
1/3 cup raw cashews

veggie broth
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Saute onion in pan with Earth Balance until soft. Add mushrooms and cook until tender.
Add cashews, mushrooms, and onions to blender and add enough veggie broth to just cover. Blend to desired thickness and add more veggie broth for thinner soup.  Heat up in sauce pan and season with salt/pepper.

VeganMofo 2010: Sweet Potato Broccoli Bread

I had one of those lightbulb moments last week, where I was thinking about things to make for 'MoFo, and my mind wandered to grilled cheese and then to all that broccoli I received from my CSA...and DING DING DING!  Broccoli bread turned into a yummy grilled cheese!  I don't really have a "go-to" bread that I make, because I don't usually make my own bread (I know! I'm impatient with waiting for things to rise and usually think about making bread when it's too late in the game.)  Sooo, I started flipping through my cookbooks, looking for some sort of savory bread. Let's just say that there are lots of cornbread recipes out there...

Celine and Joni never let me down though.  There is a recipe for Potato Bread in 500 Vegan Recipes that fit the bill perfectly.  I used the sweet potato option in the recipe, because I thought it would go good with the broccoli I was going to add.  The only thing I changed in the recipe, was to add in 1/2 cup chopped broccoli instead of the seeds, and to throw in about a 1/4 cup of nooch to make it cheesier. Holy yum! The bread was super-delicious on it's own, with a little Earth Balance spread on it, and it was absolutely perfect in the grilled cheese form.  Nik gave it a double-thumbs up.  Hurrah!

VeganMofo 2010: Pizza Rolls

When I was younger, my Aunt used to bring these amaaaazzzzing pizza rolls to every holiday family gathering that we would have. The crust was super-duper thin, and they were really moist and filled with goodness.  When a kid devours pizza rolls stuffed with spinach, you know they are good. I was trying to recreate these, and almost succeeded.  I used the pizza dough recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance, and used homemade tomato sauce with seitan and onion filling in one roll, and broccoli/cheese in the other.  Both definitely could have used more sauce and cheese, as they were a little doughy.  I asked my Mom later on if she knew what dough my Aunt used and she said it was store-bought bread dough. Huh.  Who knew.  These were actually much, much better the next day, when I smothered more sauce and cheese over the top and ate them with a fork. 

There isn't much of a recipe for this!  Just get all the fixings that you use for making regular pizza, but roll out your dough in a rectangle, put all the toppings on, and then roll it up and bake!  These would make yummy little appetizers for a party. 

Seitan and onion 

Broccoli Cheese

VeganMofo 2010: Muffins for the sick

I almost said PHOOEY to today's 'MoFo post, since I have been dragged down by the plague sickness all day today and I'm working on a big project. I'm being dramatic. I just have a sore throat and it's making me whiny!  

I did bake muffins this morning though, because that's what I do when I'm sick and busy. Ha!  

I super-love the recipe for Cranberry-orange muffins in Vegan Brunch, and it is my "go-to" muffin base recipe, mostly because I always have the base ingredients on hand. I rarely make it "as is" though, usually subbing in apples or whatever fruit or nuts I have on hand for the cranberries, and using soymilk + 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar if I don't have OJ (which I don't usually, but today I did!)  Works everytime!  I like this recipe because it is super-basic and doesn't require any soy yogurt or applesauce or other things that I don't usually have laying around. I like instant muffins!  I like to mix up the flours sometimes too, throwing oats into the mix.  Woo!

Anyways, I think I'm babbling. Bedtime!

Apple-cinnamon muffins with some oats thrown in there somewhere too.

VeganMofo 2010: A Landscape of Apple Pie

This didn't last long!

Basic Crust (makes enough for top + bottom crust)

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup + 2TBS Earth Balance, cold
Heaping 1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup + 2 TBS Water

Directions:
Pulse together flour, EB, and salt until combined. Slowly drizzle in water until dough is all combined.  Wrap and chill for 1 hour in fridge.

I brushed the top crust with soy milk and sprinkled a little sugar on it before putting it in the oven, and then once again when there was 15 minutes of cooking time left.