VeganMoFo: Ode to Summer Tomatoes

Tomato Love 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! 

I get so sad when tomato season comes to an end. They are probably my favorite seasonal fruit or vegetable of all time. I think strawberries are a strong second.  No more fresh tomato sammiches with a little veganaise on crusty bread. No more freshly chopped up tomatoes over pasta. No more eating them plain with a little salt and pepper sprinkled over them.  Goodbye tomatoes; see you in 9 months!

This is a tofu scramble that is lacking in the tofu department...

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

VeganMoFo: Rocky + Cookies

Aww, poor 'lil dude just wants a cookie...

Rocky 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! 

Mmm...cookies.  I made the Rocky Road cookies from Vegan Cookies Take Over the World the other night, and they were super-delicious!  I substituted crushed cashews, Dandies marshmallows, and dark chocolate chips for the fillings for some ultra decadence.  I mean, you really can't go wrong with chocolate plus more chocolate and some other yummy stuff, right?

VeganMoFo: Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

Cinnamon, the Hamster is for sale here

Medium: Watercolor on heavy 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! 

So I was browsing around on Pinterest the other day (are you on there? be my friend!), and someone pinned these amaaaaazing and intriguing looking pumpkin cinnamon roll PANCAKES.  Yes, PANCAKES!  Obviously, they were put in the "need to make" category immediately.  They weren't vegan, but easily veganizable (new word?)  I just went for the straight-forward "cinnamon roll," instead of pumpkin cinnamon roll, and used the basic pancake recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance (same one is in Vegan Brunch.)  I mixed up some brown sugar + earth balance + cinnamon (as per the recipe foun on Pinterest) and piped a spiral onto each pancake right before I flipped it.  Totally magical!  There are even the crevices like a cinnamon roll!  The crunch of the brown sugar-cinnamon mixture makes these unbelievably delicious. I drizzled these with a little bit of maple cream that I had, and some maple syrup.  They even kinda rip apart like a cinnamon roll when you are eating them! Seriously, best pancakes ever. These are definitely going in the "make to impress" recipe box.

VeganMoFo: Mom Meals

Kitties are for sale here

Medium: Watercolor on heavy 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! 

Cooler weather usually makes me turn to comfort food, and in turn, that usually means Mom-food.  You know, the food you will forever associate with your Mom or other parent/guardian type and what they used to make all the time for you as a kid. Goulash is totally one of those type of Mom-meals for me, just some basic elbow pasta, tomato sauce, onions, some sort of ground protein (I used Gimme Lean Sausage Style), and cheese (I used Daiya Mozzarella).  Bake it in the oven and everyone's tummy is happy.  Nik has let me know me that there are different types of Goulash out there, and his memory of it is completely different from mine (German-style vs. Italian-style).  Who knew!  We totally disagree on what Goulash is, but this is always "Goulash" in my eyes, and most definitely a Mom-food. 

VeganMoFo: Broccoli Dude

Broccoli Dude is for sale here

Medium: Watercolor on heavy 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! 

I've had a hankering for broccoli-cheddar soup ever since the leaves started falling off the trees here, and lo and behold I received a gigunda portion of broccoli in my CSA share last week.  It was meant to be!  For veggie soups, I like to roast or saute them with olive oil/salt/pepper first before I blend them all up.  I kept it broccoli basic, adding a couple of small potatoes to give the soup more body, and just lots of nooch, salt, pepper, and daiya cheddar to the mix.  Blended up until not smooth, but not gritty either.    I used the water from boiling the potatoes to thin it out. This was a quick weeknight meal, and I just tasted as I went until the flavors were YUM.  Totally made me want to pop my collar and dance like the 'lil broccoli dude up there.

VeganMoFo: Eggplant Parm

His specialty is Eggplant Parmesan!

Mister Bear Chef is for sale here

Medium: Watercolor on heavy 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! 

Oh eggplant parmesan, you are my ultimate comfort food.  Childhood dreams and all that jazz. I'm pretty specific about how it's put together though...

Requirements:  

1) Must salt eggplant beforehand to soften.  It's true. Skipping this step will result in chewier eggplant, and no one wants that (right?) Salting makes the texture dreamy.  Let your eggplant sit in a colander with salt tossed around on it until you are able to take a slice, squeeze it in your hand, and water drips out. If it's still stiff, resists bending, or just breaks in half, the salt has not finished it's magic yet. 

2) Breading makes everything better.  Whether you bread/fry or bread/bake the eggplant first, it makes the end result DELICIOUS.  I used a crunchier panko breading, with added italian spices to the mix. Also, peel that skin off the eggplant for maximum breading area!

3) More sauce is better than less sauce.  Not much is sadder than running out of sauce and having dry eggplant!

Best part: leftovers!

VeganMoFo: Graham Cake

Her specialty is vegan chocolate cake!

Baker Kitty is for sale here

Medium: Watercolor on heavy 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! 

So, um, I've been snacking on this amaazingly beautiful cake for the last few days, and I'm getting a little sad that it's almost gone.  This is the Graham Cracker Cake, from Celine and Joni's Hearty Vegan, and oh my goodness is it yummy.  A nice graham cracker flavored cake with chocolate chips speckled throughout, and topped with a whole lot of roasted marshmallow-y gooeyness (I used Dandies).  This would be an excellent cake to bring along and impress people at a picnic or potluck.

Melty mmmm...