VeganMOFO: Happy Halloween?

Happy Halloween? The hurricane definitely put a damper on Halloween this year, but we're trying to make the best of it. Nik and I carved our pumpkins before the storm and I think they look pretty good, yeah? It's crazy that another year of VeganMOFO is over and that it is freaking NOVEMBER tomorrow. Crazy-pants! Hope you have a good one!

xo,

Michelle

...Annnnd VeganMOFO Begins!

Pumpkin Pancakes, from Vegan Brunch

So it begins!  This is my 5th (?!) year participating in VeganMOFO, and I'm psyched! For the month of October, I'll be joining hundreds of other bloggers to blog about vegan noms. I'm combining illustration + food for my theme (which I guess is always my theme, really), because that's just what I do!  Last year I raised a butt-load of money for For the Animals Sanctuary, and that was super-fun, but a whollle lot of work that I realistically just don't have this year. So! I'm just going for simple this year. Keeping it fun!

And can I get a big "Of course" for starting off the month with something Pumpkin?! Hello Fall, you're the best!

VeganMoFo: Happy Halloween!

Super-happy about this charity project this month!  I've raised $310 so far for the sanctuary!  Thank you SO MUCH for all the kind words, comments, enthusiasm, and to everyone that has helped out this month.  All the remaining painting will remain in my shop and I will donate the money as they are sold still.  Cupcakes for everyone! 

Happy Autumn 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! 

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes, from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World

 So the end of MoFo is here, with sadness of course, so I decided to go all out with super-orange and pumpkin goodness.  Oh, and Happy Halloween!  I didn't dress up or really do much, as we had a freak snowstorm here (seriously, we have so much strange weather here this year...earthquake, hurricane, heat wave, snowstorm in October...).  Nik and I hibernated all weekend, watching scary movies, carving pumpkins, and baking up lots of pumpkin goodness.  Perfect!

Pumpkin Pancakes, from Vegan Brunch

I was going for a cute bear, on the left, but the bottom line kinda looks like a mouth instead of the bear's muzzle. Oh well!  Nik made a super-scary one!

It looked like this outside on Friday...

...And like this on Saturday!

Miles was confused too.

VeganMofo 2010: Spoooooky (ok, not really)

Happy VeganMoFo!! I'm super-excited about this month (and a little overwhelmed, to be honest. I have a heavy workload on top of this!)  I am planning to blog every weekday with lots of yumminess, pretty photos, and fun illustrations.   Perhaps even a print giveaway?? Stay tuned!

This was the first time that I have carved a pumpkin in about ten bajillion years, so I hope you know how mega-excited I was (and hopefully Nik too, but I kinda made him play along!)  We had little pumpkins, because prices for the big ones in NYC are redonkulous. I miss picking pumpkins in a patch! Maybe I will venture out of the city next year.  Oh, and I will remember to pick up some apple cider to enjoy while carving too (and make doughnuts??) 

Mmmm, roasted pumpkin seeds. I don't rinse mine first, because I like all the dried pumpkiny goodness on the seeds.  I mix a little bit of olive oil, sea salt, and pepper and roast on 400F for a good 15-20 min. or so.  Nom nom nom.

I'm proud of my cutie-cat!  And Nik's is pretty hilarious cute. :)

Spooooooooooooky!  Hope you had a fun Halloween!

VeganMofo Day 31: FInal Iron Chef wrap-up! Carrots + Pumpkin

Here we are with the final Iron Chef challenge of VeganMoFo. Such great, great entries this whole month! Thanks to everyone who participated!

Laura, from Peace by Pastries, went the classic hippy vegan route with her fantastic Carrot-Lentil Loaf with Pumpkin-Tomato Sauce. Hello autumn!


Veg-in-Training made a crazy Pumpkin Pie Infused Vodka for her entry that will be finished around Thanksgiving. Such dedication! Can't wait to hear how it turns out!


Megan, from Down Home Vegan, is a girl after my own heart and made a Thanksgiving Calzone with some pumpkin gravy for dipping goodness. Heck yeah!


I made Pumpkin-Carrot Tortellini with a Sage-butter sauce. So good! It took awhile to make, because I got all ambitious and decided I wanted to use whole pumpkins and not the canned stuff. I was pretty scared I was going to chop a finger off cutting up and gutting the pumpkins, but I managed to come out with all appendages intact and some yummy roasted pumpkins and carrots. I made waaaaaaay more filling than wonton wrappers, so the filling is going to be either used in calzones (thanks Megan!) or in stuffed shells sometime this week.

Filling included roasted pumpkin, roasted carrots, roasted head of garlic, a walnut cream (just blended walnuts + tofu + nooch + a little olive oil to blend it better). All of this was mixed together and stuffed into wonton wrappers. I wanted to make my own pasta, but I had these in the freezer anyways, and I was taking too long cutting up the pumpkins anyways. Also, I'm really bad at making the tortellini shape. Maybe it's easier with a square.

Sage-butter sauce is exactly what it sounds like; fresh sage sauteed in some earth balance, salt/pepper/garlic.