VeganMOFO: Pear Frangipane Tart

I'm not a huge pear-lover, but I've been getting so many in my CSA lately, that a pie (or two or three!) needed to happen to take care of them. Along comes Vegan Pie in the Sky to the rescue! I went for the Pear Frangipane Tart, not expecting to super-love it, because of my meh feelings about pears, but I was totally wrong! Turns out pears are delicious when baked! And this pie is like whoaa. Nik feels the same way about pears and we were both really in love with this pie. Isa and Terry are awesome and put the recipe for this up on the PPK, for your own getting-rid-of-pears-pleasure! The custard-y-part of this pie is sooo damn good.

(my little sis got me this ceramic baking dish for Christmas last year and I'm in love with it!)

Peach Basil Pie

I made this on Sunday, and can you believe I still haven't gotten to try it yet? I made a Peach Basil Pie, from Vegan Pie in the Sky, and then promptly came down with some sort of stomach bug that I'm just recovering from. Hmpf. Nik said it was really good though! I made him guess the secret ingredient, but he couldn't figure it out. I received ten million doughnut peaches and a few sprigs of basil in my CSA, so the stars were aligned on making this. Well, except the stars that included me eating it. Soon though!

xo,
Michelle

Happy Holidays!

Sister's disco ball tree

Apple-berry Pie, from Vegan Pie in the Sky

Hello! I hope your holidays are (were) great! I spent a long weekend in upstate NY with my family, with lots of laughter, good times, and yummy food. Hooray for family! I have a rather large family, so it's nice when we can all gather at once together. 

I'm really love this time of year, when I feel inspired and motivated for the upcoming year. I've been jotting down things that I really want to happen this year, business-wise and personal-wise. Places to go, things to see, things to make happen. The important part is following through with all my grand plans! 

VeganMoFo: What bear doesn't love pie?

I want to say THANK YOU to everyone so far!  I donated $100 this morning to For the Animals Sanctuary, and I'm hoping to donate more at the end of the month.  Completely warms my heart.  This has been super-fun painting everyday too.  It's been awhile since I have regularly painted and I think I might want to stick with this habit after the month is over too.  Oh! And did you see there is a giveaway up today to win either two of my prints or some of Jeanette's amazing pottery??  Super-great!  

Bear with Pie is for sale here

Medium: Watercolor on Arches paper
Size: Approximately 5"x7" (image size is 4"x6")
Will fit in 5"x7" frame! Signed on back.

Note: I am doing a painting-a-day challenge for VeganMoFo, and will be creating a new painting of rescue animals or vegan food throughout the month of October, and placing them for sale. All proceeds (minus shipping) will be donated to For the Animals Sanctuary, because they are a pretty super-great non-profit animal rescue and sanctuary, in Blairstown NJ, and are vegan owned and operated. Feeding, housing, and taking care of these animals costs a lot of money, and as a non-profit organization, they rely entirely on donations. Hopefully (with your help!), I'll be able to make a size-able donation at the end of the month!  You can check out all the paintings I have created so far that are still for sale here! 

Lemon Mousse Pie

Now, onto some pie.  I'm pretty psyched for Isa and Terri's Pie book to come out!  I was a recipe tester for them, and having pie around all the time was downright awesome.   I posted some pies earlier, but here are a few more of my faves (Lemon Mousse wins for the all-time best pie in the world!)

Peanut Butter Brownie Cheesecake

Chocolate Hazelnut Tart

Lotsa' Pie

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Happy Monday!  Hope your weekend was swell!  Nik and I played the DIY renovation-game around the apartment. This happens every year, right around the time when our lease is about to expire and we spend some time crying on Craigslist.  Even though we desperately want to move (to a place that has a sink IN the bathroom perhaps?), we have really cheap rent in a really great area. Some day though! In the meantime, we decided to change things around and spruce up the place a bit to make us a little happier about staying here another year.  

In other notes, I have been testing recipes for Isa and Terry's new pie book and I won't lie, it's pretty awesome to be up to my eyeballs in pie.  

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Cafe Mocha Cheesecake

Cashew Cream Apple Pie

Cashew Cream Apple Pie

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.

Peach Pie: A photo story of yum

Soooo goooooooood.  

veganMoFo Day 21: Apple-Pear Pie and Ny Art Book Fair

I'm slow on the VeganMoFo Boat this weekend, but I did make an Apple-Pear Pie! I've had a lot going on this week and pie is almost always the best solution.


Today I went to the NY Art Book Fair, held at at Philips de Pury. It was super-crowded, with today being the last day of the event, but I managed to find a few gems.


This is a bag that two girls were happily silk-screening right there for a donation:


This was a super-intricate zine and fun grab-bag I picked up from the Eternal Love table:







This was my crowning gem I found, from the Cinders Gallery Table. "Prowla," by Noel Freibert. Pop-out! The whole book is silk-screened, 3 colors (4 on cover) and a fancy clear-ish ink on the cover over the image (that you can kinda see with in the picture in the upper right-hand side) Holy wowza:

It's Pandowdy time!

Peach-Plum Pandowdy!