Summer, Summer, Summer Time

Tim, Brennan and I just returned from a wonderful trip to our old stomping grounds in Atlanta, GA. We stayed with old friends, Louis and Kathy Cahill. They are gracious hosts, so kind and accommodating. They also happen to be incredibly talented. Louis is a professional photographer. (Click on the link to view some of his photos.) However, he is also REALLY into fly fishing and makes his own rods. He also renovates houses. Seriously. I don't know how he does it. Kathy is an amazing graphic designer with a love for animals. She rehabs squirrels and used to work with elephants at the zoo. Oh, and she makes soap and cooks all sorts of yummy veggie food. There's more. They do so much more. Tim and I have named them the official most annoying couple on the planet! We love them, but they've got to give us a break. They're really making us look bad!

Anyway, while we were down in Atlanta, we visited the GA Aquarium. Amazing! The pictures I have don't do it justice. We also took Brennan to the zoo in Grant Park and the Botanical Garden. Both were lots of fun, but we about roasted at the gardens. It was worth it though. That's how much I love plants. I am willing to suffer sunburn and exhaustion to see as much plant life as possible. Of course, we also ate a bunch of amazing food. We tried Ethiopian food for the first time and love, love, loved it. LB liked it as well (whew!). The restaurant doesn't have a website, but it's called Bahel and is located on Briarcliff. We also had yummy falafel at Marco's on Ponce, Indian at Zyka on Scott Blvd. in Decatur and Chinese at Green Sprout on Piedmont (Try the Empire "chicken."). And then there was our old friend Veggieland. I can't say enough good things about this place. The food is so good. The service is wonderful. And, unbelievably, the place is cheap! Yay for Veggieland! If you're ever in Atlanta, you must, must, must try their veggie burger with avocado.

Being back in Atlanta made me miss big city living, but I haven't packed my bags yet. I think it will pass. I didn't care for that life when in any of the larger cities where we've lived (except for maybe NYC, but I'm not wealthy, so scratch that). I do love Louisville and I figure we'll be calling it home for at least a few more years.

It was super hot in Atlanta on Sunday. It really felt like a Southern summer day. When I returned from the trip and realized I had some treasuries to update on Treasury East, I felt inspired to curate an Etsy Greetings Team treasury dedicated to the summer (hence the title of this post). Here's a taste. Click on the link to view the entire treasury.

What Do Vegans Eat? Food that Rocks!

I made a couple of recipes from "Vegan with a Vengeance" this week that I've never made before. This is an awesome cookbook from the Post-Punk Kitchen founder Isa Chandra Moskowitz. This isn't a cookbook that requires you to buy a bunch of obscure and expensive ingredients. It's full of simple, economical, and, so far, delicious recipes. I neglected to take pictures of the food before we ate it. You'll just have to take me at my word when I say they looked delicious as well. Here are the recipes. Let me know if you try either.

Apple Pie-Crumb Cake Muffins

for muffins:
1 and 1/2 c flour
1/4 c plus 2 T sugar
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t ground allspice
1/8 t ground cloves
1/4 t salt
3/4 c apple cider
1/3 c canola oil
1 t vanilla extract
1/2 c grated apple
1/2 c chopped apple (1/4-inch pieces)

for topping:
1/4 c all-purpose flour
1/4 c brown sugar
1/2 t ground cinnamon
1/4 t ground allspice
pinch of salt
3 T canola oil

Prepare the topping by mixing all of the dry topping ingredients together in a small bowl. Drizzle the oil in while mixing with your fingertips until crumbs form. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F, lightly grease a twelve-muffin tin.

In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt. Create a well in the center and add the apple cider, oil, and vanilla. Mix, then fold in the grated and chopped apple.

Fill each muffin cup two-thirds full. Sprinkle the crumb topping over each muffin. Bake for 22 minutes.

Tempeh Reuben Makes four sandwiches.

8 slices good, dark pumpernickel bread
8 t nonhydrogenated margarine
1 and 1/2 c sauerkraut
2 dill pickles, thinly sliced
1 avocado, cut in half lengthwise and sliced into 1/4-inch slices
1 pound tempeh, cut into four equal pieces, then cut through the middle so that you have eight thin squares

for the marinade:
1/2 c white cooking wine
2 T olive oil
2 T balsamic vinegar
2 T Bragg Liquid Aminos or tamari
2 T fresh lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, smashed

for the dressing:
1/3 c Vegannaise
2 T ketchup
Juice of 1 lemon
1 T minced onion
3 t capers
2 T sweet pickle relish (or equivalent amount chopped pickles)
a pinch of cayenne

Prepare the tempeh:
Combine all the ingredients for the marinade. Add the tempeh and marinate for at least one hour, turning once.

Mix together all the dressing ingredients and set aside.

When the tempeh has marinated for an hour, preheat a grill pan over high heat. Cook the slices on the grill for 4 minutes on one side, until dark grill lines have appeared, then use tongs to flip them over and cook on the other side for about 3 minutes.

Prepare the sandwich:

Spread a teaspoon of margarine on each piece of bread. Heat a large skillet over moderate heat. Fry each piece of bread on the buttered side for 3 minutes, flip over and cook one minute more.

Divide the ingredients equally among four buttered-side-down fried bread slices. Smother in dressing, top each serving with another slice of fried bread, nonbuttered side down, cut in half, and serve.

Yummy Vegan Food

I tried a new recipe the other night that I would like to share with you. The pic is a little steamy. For some reason, I thought it would be a good idea to take the shot before I plated the food. Sorry. I think you can still get an idea of how yummy this looks though. I think this is a dish that non-vegans would enjoy as much as we vegans do. It's from the latest issue of Vegetarian Times (February).



Stir-Fried Shitake Mushrooms with Tofu and Bok Choy
Serves 4

1 t cornstarch
2 T low-sodium soy sauce
2 t minced fresh ginger
2 t Thai chile sauce, such as sriracha
2 cloves garlic, minced (2 t)
1 t sesame oil
3 T canola oil, divided
1 14-oz. Package extra-firm tofu, drained and cut into bite-sized cubes
1 lb. bok choy, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
2 cups sliced fresh shitake mushrooms (I used a wild mushroom mix.)

1. Whisk together cornstarch and 1 t water in bowl. Whisk in soy sauce, ginger, chile sauce, garlic, and sesame oil.
2. Heat 1 T canola oil in large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Stir-fry tofu 7 minutes, or until golden brown; transfer to plate. Add 1 T oil to pan. Stir-fry bok choy 4 minutes; transfer to plate.
3. Add remaining 1 T oil to pan. Stir-fry mushrooms 2 minutes, or until tender. Return tofu and bok choy to pan. Stir in soy sauce mixture, and stir-fry 1 minute, or until hot.

Should I Be Making Cookies?

Nope, I shouldn't. Did I make cookies? Why, yes, I did. Should I be eating said cookies? Again, no. Am I eating cookies? Not at this very minute, but I feel a craving coming on....

I received a Borders gift card for Christmas and happily spent a portion of it on Isa's and Terry's (as in the Isa and Terry who wrote "Veganomicon" and "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World") new cookbook, "Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar." The first battle of the invasion began yesterday when I made one of the most basic cookies one can make, chocolate chip cookies. It is one of the most common cookies, I know, but also one of the most difficult to find as a vegan. Oh, they're out there, but they are flat, or too crunchy, or too oily or too funny looking. You get the picture. I've made vegan chocolate chip cookies in the past, but it has never been this easy or this perfect! I highly recommend this recipe.

Chocolate Chip Cookies - makes 2 dozen 2-inch cookies

1/2 c brown sugar
1/4 c white sugar
2/3 c canola oil
1/4 c unsweetened almond milk (or your favorite nondairy milk)
1 T tapioca flour (I just used cornstarch.)
2 t pure vanilla extract
1 and 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
3/4 c chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease two large baking sheets.
2. Combine sugars, oil, almond milk, and tapioca flour in a mixing bowl. Use a strong fork and mix really well, for about 2 minutes, until the mixture resembles smooth caramel. There is a chemical reaction when sugar and oil collide, so it's important that you don't get lazy about that step. Mix in the vanilla.
3. Add 1 cup of the flour, the baking soda, and the salt. Mix until well incorporated. Mix in the rest of the flour. Fold in the chocolate chips. The dough will be a little stiff, so use your hands to really work the chips in.
4. Roll dough into walnut-size balls and flatten to about 1 and 1/2 inches and bake for six minutes. Let cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes then transfer to wire racks.

Amanda's note: Perhaps because I used cornstarch instead of tapioca flour, my dough wasn't particularly stiff. I dropped the cookies in tablespoon and a half sized globs. They needed to bake for almost 15 minutes. The point is this, if you change a recipe, you may need to change the baking times. Just watch them carefully the first time you make them.

What Do Vegans Eat? Cookies!

As promised, here is one of the recipes I mentioned in my holiday post. Unfortunately, all of the cookies were eaten before I had a chance to photograph them. I'll try to do better next time!

EARL GREY TEA COOKIES

I found this recipe a few years ago on Martha Stewart's website. I veganized and simplified it a bit. These aren't a really sweet cookie, so all children may not like them. I prefer cookies that aren't too sweet, so this is one of my all-time favorite cookie recipes.

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 T finely ground Earl Grey tea leaves (I actually don't grind mine. I just empty out the tea bags.)
1/2 t salt
2 sticks of vegan soy margarine (I prefer Earth Balance)
1/2 c confectioner's sugar
1.5 T orange zest

1. Combine the flour, tea and salt in a small bowl.
2. Using an electric stand mixer or hand mixer, combine the butter, sugar and zest until creamy.
3. With the mixture on low, slowly add the flour mixture until well combined.
4. Divide the dough in half and form each half into a log. Wrap the "logs" in parchment paper or plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour.
5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
6. Slice the "logs" into 1/4" slices and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.
7. Bake for approximately 13 minutes (or until the edges turn a golden brown. Cool on wire racks.

These cookies look like little pillows and are, obviously, delicious with a cup of tea!

Is it Christmas Again?!

Brennan is a little confused. She has had so many Christmas celebrations with different people that she doesn't actually know when Christmas was or that it is now over. We just returned from yet another trip to WV (this one for the weekend) to visit with my brother, sister-in-law, and nephew. They live in York, SC and don't make it up this way very often. I hadn't been down to see them in over a year.We celebrated Christmas again with them, making LB even more confused! It was a good time though. My nephew is so grown up and talking constantly in his cute little Southern drawl. And my sister-in-law is pregnant, and I got to see the bump. We shared gifts, some good food (my stepmother veganized her sweet potato souffle for us), and spent a lot of time talking and playing with the kids.We also celebrated with my cousins from Indiana who were in town staying with my grandmother. Jacob is 22 and Michael is 16 and, at the risk of sounding really old, they are such good kids. Another cousin that lives in town was there as well (David, who is also 16) and he is awesome too. What boys their ages would sit around with relatives playing board games and chatting on New Year's Eve and Day? I was impressed. The pic is of David, Michael and my nephew Clay.

I promise to post some yummy vegan recipes in the next day or two.

Been a Long Time Gone

Whew! I haven't posted since mid-November. Time got away from me during the holidays. Tim, Brennan and I hosted a vegan Thanksgiving dinner at our house for his side of the family. My mother-in-law made a seitan "turkey" with sage stuffing and puff pastry. I contributed three pies: apple-blackberry, pumpkin and pecan (all vegan of course) and we all collaborated on the sides: green beans with shallots and breadcrumbs and a sweet potato casserole. It was all delicious and cruelty-free! Brennan had an awesome time playing with her cousins, Mea and Lil and Tim and I got in some excellent baby-snuggling time.

We just returned to Louisville from a whirlwind visit with family in West Virginia and Ohio. Brennan and I were there a little longer than Tim. My stepmother helped me finish some gifts and I used her kitchen for my holiday baking: ginger cookies, Earl Grey tea cookies and pecan sandies. I've promised my friend Erin cookies, so I'll be doing more baking soon. Tim, Brennan and I spend a lot of time in the car on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day visiting various branches of the family. On Christmas Eve we visit with my maternal grandmother, Tim's parents, sisters, their husbands and our two nieces and then my paternal grandparents, along with various cousins, an aunt and uncles. Then we wake up Christmas morning at my dad's (my stepmother always makes her wonderful cinnamon raisin biscuits with cinnamon icing), head to my mom's house around noon and then on to Tim's parents' house around 5pm. I'm exhausted just thinking about it. This year at my in-laws we decided to start a new tradition. We are all contributing a dish to Christmas dinner and then putting the recipes in a family cookbook. My mother-in-law went a delicious, but non-traditional route for the entree: vegan country stew (similar to beef stew, but made with tvp). My sisters-in-law were in charge of the appetizers. Michelle made vegan stuffed mushrooms (her own recipe) and Paige provided us with some vegan "chickie" salad and crackers (also her own recipe). I'm going to ask their permission to share the recipes here because they are simply delicious! I was asked to make vegan oatmeal cookies. They all love them (so much so that we once sent my father-in-law on a treasure hunt to find them) and none of them will make them for themselves. They are actually just a veganized version of the recipe that is on the lid of the Quaker oatmeal container. How funny is that? Anyway, it was all delicious and stress-free.

So now we're back home, but only for a short while. My brother, sister-in-law and nephew are visiting West Virginia from North Carolina and Brennan and I are going back to visit with them for the weekend. Tim has to stay in Louisville and work, so we will be missing him.

Oh, and I almost forgot (how I could forget this, I have no idea), LB got her first stitches while we were visiting with family. We were at my in-laws getting ready for a holiday party and she ran down the hallway and fell into a door facing. She had a deep gash over and in her eyebrow. We went to the ER and she had three stitches. She was such a trooper. She didn't freak out at all. The ER staff was prepared for a wrestling match, but she just laid there and let them numb her and stitch her up. They were all talking about how they had never seen anything like it. That's my girl!

I've got a few pics below of our holidays and plan to post some recipes soon!

LB helping me cut out pastry leaves for the apple-blackberry pie.



The seitan "turkey" (yes, I know my oven needs cleaning).



The girls in their Thanksgiving jammies.



My nephew opening gifts at my dad's house Christmas morning.



Brennan and Mea Christmas night at Nannan's and Poppy's.

The Day

Brennan turned three Tuesday, and we spent the day doing all of the things she likes best. We had chocolate chip pancakes and veggie sausage for breakfast, read books, played with her new toys, went to the zoo and then to the local pet shop. She loves, loves, loves Moe's, so we went there for dinner and then to Sweet Surrender for a vegan cupcake. Her boyfriend Michael met us there for a special surprise!

This and That

Soooo...here I am, still waiting for my sister-in-law Paige to push out that baby and trying to focus on creating a blog post. It's been a while again, I know. I'm clearly having some difficulty keeping on top of it this summer. Since I am presently so distracted, this post is going to be a little of this and a little of that. Stick with me. I'll be back to my normal blogging self in no time.

What Do Vegans Eat?



We eat well. I realize this isn't such a great picture. I'm embarrassed about the Gladware shot. However, we were so hungry when we originally ate the meal that we didn't get a shot of our plates in advance. I took this one the next day. I didn't even manage to get a photo of the rest of the meal. You'll have to use your imaginations. The recipe for the potato salad came from one of my favorite cookbooks, Vegan Planet by Robin Robertson. There are loads of amazing recipes in this book. I haven't even managed to scratch the surface. This was my first time serving this salad. I was skeptical at first. Green olives in potato salad? That sounds like something my father-in-law would do. I mean this is a man who once tasted a mimosa blossom! I'll say it again. Green olives in potato salad? It totally rocked. I encourage you to try this served over a bed of fresh baby field greens. As with all potato salads, this is ridiculously easy to make and, of course, tastes even better the second day. As usual, I was unable to completely stick with the recipe. My changes are in parenthesis. Enjoy it! (That's a command, by the way.)

"Close to Mom's Potato Salad"

1.5 lbs red or white waxy potatoes
1 inner celery rib, minced (I used 1.5 outer ribs.)
2 tablespoons grated onion (I used an entire small onion, minced.)
1/4 cup sliced pimiento-stuffed green olives (I added a few extras.)
3/4 cup soy mayonnaise (I used Vegannaise.)
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
salt and freshly ground black pepper
paprika (I forgot this ingredient.)

1. Place the potatoes in a large saucepan with salted water to cover. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and continue to boil until tender, about 30 minutes. Drain and allow to cool.

2. Peel the potatoes (I skipped this step.), cut into bite-sized chunks, and place in a large serving bowl. Add the celery, onion, and olives and set aside.

3. In a small bowl, combine the soy mayonnaise, vinegar, mustard, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix well and add to the potato mixture, stirring gently to combine. Sprinkle the top with paprika. Serve right away or cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. This is best eaten within a day or two of being made.

Serves 4 to 6.

We had another of our favorite dishes with the potato salad. This one was created by the aforementioned sister-in-law. Since I don't have a photo of the dish, I thought I'd share a picture of her. This one was taken at an art/music show in Huntington, WV, where I was born. My brother-in-law, Ben, aka Bengineer, aka the Solo Buffalo played a set early and we were able to take LB and Mea. Paige, as usual, was the snack master. However, instead of her typical bag of fruit, she bought some chips and cookies. I thought she looked pretty funny packing junk food around in her current state. Anyway, she's a vegetarian and wanted to create something like a barbecued chicken pizza. She then used the same recipe to create what we refer to as "Barbecued Chickie Sandwiches." They are good served with a lettuce leaf, tomato slice and vegannaise or a generous portion of vegan cole slaw. This is so easy to make that you just can't not try it.

"Barbecued Chickie"

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 package of seitan or Morningstar Farms Chick'n Strips
Sweet Baby Ray's Barbecue Sauce, to taste
K.C. Masterpiece Barbecue Sauce, to taste
lettuce leaves
tomato slices
whole wheat buns, toasted

1. Heat oil in an oven-safe pan on medium heat and saute' the garlic until it starts to brown. Add the chik'n and brown. Once the chik'n is evenly browned, add both barbecue sauces to taste (I usually coat it well and then add a little extra.).

2. Place pan of barbecued chik'n under a broiler and watch closely. Broil until slightly blackened.

3. Serve with toasted buns, lettuce and tomato, or your favorite toppings.

Serves 4-6.

Current Projects

I've got some projects that I've been working on for a while and am about to finish. Finally! My mother-in-law's patchwork porch throw is almost bound! This is the most tortuous part for me. I hate to bind! It is sooo tedious. It's worth it though. The finished product makes me forget the torture I just endured! Here's the throw now. You can see part of the completed binding. I'm really liking the way this turned out and wish I could keep it for myself. Alas, it is Robin's birthday/Mother's Day gift (I know, I know...I'm always dreadfully behind).I'm also about to finish an afghan for someone else, but I can't yet divulge the recipient. It's top secret. I'm using three colors, as you can see. One is chocolate brown and the others are shades of blue. This is my first attempt at making granny squares. I found an awesome site some time ago called crochet cabana. She explains different stitches and shapes step-by-step. I believe you could teach yourself to crochet using her site alone.

Look for a new etsy "Back to School" gift guide in the next day or two.

What Do Vegans Eat?

Reading the "Passionate Vegetarian" got me in the mood to post some recipes I have been planning to share for a little while. I made this meal last week. It's a favorite in our household and isn't difficult to make. The tempeh recipe comes from the Candle Cafe Cookbook by Joy Pierson and Bart Potenza. The Candle Cafe is an awesome restaurant in New York City that Tim and I were obsessed with while living there. It was small and sometimes required a wait, but it was totally worth it. The seitan chimichurri was our absolute favorite. It's out of this world. If you're ever in NYC, be sure to check it out. The recipe I used from the cookbook is "Cornmeal Crusted Tempeh" and can be found on page 121 of the cookbook. I also made steamed kale and smashed sweet potatoes, which are my own very simple recipes. The recipes for all three are at the bottom of this post. Yes, I ate that much kale. I love kale, but probably not as much as my friend Erin. She rhapsodises about kale on Facebook frequently. She's headed to Tbilisi next month. I hope she'll be able to find plenty of kale while there.

Update on "First Darling of the Morning:" I've read two chapters and it is breaking my heart. I had to make myself put it down.

The etsy challenge is almost to an end, but, alas, there is no reason to worry. I'm starting a new challenge Monday with quite a few of my etsy street team, etsygreetings, members. We will all be posting items every day and keeping our readers updated every day. We will also be featuring items from one another's shops. Here's my item of the day, just posted in my etsy shop.

A Gift


Cornmeal-Crusted Tempeh (Serves 4)

2 8-ounce packages, tempeh, each cut into thirds
1/2 c shoyu or tamari sauce
3 T maple syrup
1 tablespoon minced garlic
3 slices of fresh ginger
1/2 cup medium-to fine-ground cornmeal

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teasoon ground cumin
pinch of sea salt
1/2 cup of extra-virgin olive oil

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.

2. Place the tempeh in a baking dish. In a small bowl, whisk together the shoyu or tamari sauce, 1/2 cup of water, the maple syrup, garlic, and ginger and pour over the tempeh. Cover and bake for one hour. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool. Drain and cut the tempeh into halves or triangles.

3. In a large shallow bowl, mix together the cornmeal, red pepper flakes, thyme, oregano, cumin and sea salt. Dip the tempeh pieces intot he cornmeal mixture to coat.

4. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat until very hot. Cook the coated tempeh until golden brown, about a minute per side.

5. Remove from the heat and serve at once.

Steamed Kale (Serves 4)

2 bunches of kale, cleaned and chopped
1/4 cup of water
sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
oil and crumbs left at the bottom of the pan the tempeh was fried in

1. Place the kale in a large pot with the water and cover. Steam on medium heat, turning often with tongs. You must watch it carefully so that it doesn't burn.

2. As it begins to wilt, add salt and pepper.

3. Once the kale is fully wilted, drizzle the oil and crumbs over the top of the kale and serve.

Smashed Sweet Potatoes (Serves 4)

4 medium yams or sweet potatoes, quartered
water
soy margarine to taste

1. Fill a large saucepan with water and add sweet potatoes. Cook over medium-high heat until fork tender.

2. Drain potatoes and smash, using a pastry blender.

3. Add butter and stir until well-combined. Serve.

What Do Vegans Eat?

People are always asking vegans like us what we eat. Typically we try to respond with a short list of what we don't eat (meat, eggs, dairy), but that usually leaves them unsatisfied. In addition to being vegan, we try to avoid processed foods and have been attempting to eat more seasonally and locally. Admittedly, it is a lot to think about and can be cumbersome. However, we think it is totally worth it. We are about to enter the farm stand season, which always makes it much easier. Until then, we are relying on the grocery stores. I thought I'd share a couple of our recent faves, one a very healthy dinner and the other a slightly less healthy :) dessert.

We had an amazing main course salad last week that is so simple to make that it doesn't feel like I even cooked.



This is our version of a taco salad. It is so simple and yummy. You can definitely make this in under 30 minutes, probably less if you don't have a toddler. I simply sauté some crumblers in a bit of olive oil until browned and then add granulated garlic, onion powder, ground cumin, oregano, ground cayenne, salt and pepper to taste. Occasionally I add a bit of chili powder as well. I'm sorry that I don't have measurements. I've never measured the spices. I just keep adding until it seems right. Start small and add more because you can always add, but can't take away. To assemble the salad, I put some blue corn tortillas chips on the bottom, followed by torn romaine or leaf lettuce. Then I add the cooked crumblers, sliced black olives, roughly chopped avocado, sliced cucumber and grape tomatoes (I cut them in half if they are on the large side). You can throw in whatever fresh veggies sound good. Sometimes we add some drained and rinsed canned kidney or black beans (get the ones without added salt and preservatives). We top the salad with a good salsa and some Tofutti Sour Supreme (a vegan sour cream alternative). If you want to be extra fancy, squeeze some fresh lime over the top. When preparing LB's plate, I don't assemble the salad. She prefers to eat her salad components individually.




Amy Karol, aka angry chicken inspired me to make a cobbler this past weekend. I've been following her blog for a few months and, apparently, has a sweet tooth that rivals my own (I should blog about this sometime. I never had much of a sweet tooth until I became pregnant. I thought it might go away after LB was born, but it never did.). Anyway, she made a rhubarb cobbler that looked awesome and really got me in the mood for some warm fruit. I happened to have some blackberries, so I had no option but to make a cobbler. I used the link to the same recipe that Amy used, but I veganized it, of course. I have to admit a dark secret, I did use white flour. I was feeling like a particularly bad girl that day. We ate it on the deck while watching fireworks Saturday. It was delicious. Mmmmm. I have to say though, we had some more last night and it wasn't as good. I don't know if it is because of the veganization or if it was just particularly humid, but is was a bit too moist and didn't have quite the same flavor. So, I would recommend the cobbler, for sure, but you might want to make it when you have enough people around to eat it the same day. If you try either of these, let me know how you liked them!

Mother's Day Gift Guide-Part Three (We're almost there.)

We're over the halfway mark now. One more installment to go and this Mother's Day Gift Guide will be finished. Check out these sellers if you are looking for some great gift ideas. Handmade is the way to go! Also, make sure you check out the shameless self-promotion I indulged in at the bottom of the post!

Mother's Day Gift Guide-Part Three



I know, I know. I'm evil. You're all drooling, I'm sure. This "Triple Chocolate Heaven" cupcake is VEGAN. That's right! VEGAN. And it and many other vegan delights are available at the cupcake mint. I have a feeling that they might remove any skepticism you might have about veganism.



There is tons of fun stuff in the Sweet Rice vintage shop, but this "Orange Ceramic Planter" really pops! It's clearly from the 1970s (you can help mom take a walk down memory lane) and has a cool splatter glaze. Just think, you can support etsy and recycle!



Mmmm...This guide is beginning to make me hungry. Clearly this can't be eaten, but it reminds me of fresh blueberries on top of a delicious pancake with maple syrup.... Anyway, this is actually a body scrub, but the folks (yes, I said "folks") over at Madeline Bea Soap Co. say it smells just like fresh blueberries and provides many of the same benefits. Besides that, the labels look all country store and vintagey, which is always fun.



My sister-in-law Michelle has a thing for large bags. I think it's one part aesthetics and another part necessity. I mean the girl carries apples around with her. Anyway, if she were a mother (and she will be someday soon), this would be the perfect Mother's Day gift for her. This XL Hobo Bag from retrofied is made from a neato Amy Butler pattern and is lined with corduroy. Now that I think about it, perhaps Ben should buy this for Michelle in anticipation of her becoming a mother some day!



Here we go with the trees again. I can't help myself. I'm a tree person. This is an original pen and ink drawing, but is an affordable gift because it is an ACEO (Art Cards, Editions and Originals) and is about the size of a trading card. I think this is an awesome way to collect a variety of limited edition or original artwork without breaking the bank. Besides, you get to support the art community, in this case tamara garvey illustration.

Shameless Self-Promotion:

Don't say I didn't warn you. Here are some recently listed items in the shop, one of which has already sold. Yay!