It's Not Spring Without a Little Bling Bling

Friday night I had the most awesome job of baking and giving out (free!) over 150 vegan mini cupcakes to a crafty crowd of Houstonians at the Spring Bling event. Held at Sew Crafty (my go to spot for learning all kinds of crafts), several local artists came out to show off their handmade goodies. Plus there was drop-in crafting fun for everyone! Plus appetizers, wine, candy, and vegan cupcakes, of course.
These vanilla minis with lemony buttercream were the most blinged out of all my cupcakes. Hot pink disco dust is my new favorite thing to sprinkle on cupcakes!
The crowd favorite was definitely the green tea minis with green tea glaze and finished with a marzipan flower (a la VCTOTW).
And no cupcake tower would be complete without at least some chocolate, and these minis served double duty. Chocolate cake topped with a swirl of mocha hazelnut mousse. They may not be pretty, but damn they were good!

A shout out to all of the local crafters! You ladies inspire me.
A Punkin Card Company
Apt 3305 (I couldn't resist purchasing a dessert-themed sugar bowl and creamer from her)
Knotty by Nature

Snuggle Up for a WIP Wednesday

So many crafts! So little time! For this Work-In Progress Wednesday post I'm showing off a bunch of finished projects. So grab a cup of tea, a snuggly blanket, and follow along...

First, it's time to reveal this month's completed stitch-along! The last few days I have been embroidering like a mad woman to finish up the Bear & Bunny dolls. I must admit to struggling a bit with stitching up the final bit after stuffing. My slip stitch isn't the best, so I often resort to other techniques (such as forcing the stuffed animal through my sewing machine, with mixed success). But it worked out in the end and these two dollies have now found good homes. (oh, and that is my childhood Easter basket with them that my crafty mom made!)

I made these boxer shorts for my brother's birthday (hopefully he won't read this and spoil the surprise). This is my first pattern from Sew Everything Workshop, and the directions were a bit cryptic for me, but I was still happy with the final product.
Did you know that March 20 was Meatout Day 2009? Actually, everyday should be meatout day as far as I'm concerned, but that's beside the point. Our local vegan group held a movie screening with an accompanying bake sale, so I made vanilla Meatout cupcakes complete with a fondant piece of meat.
Remember those giraffe parts strewn about that I showed you last time? Well here is the final first birthday cake. The recipient was even sweet enough to send me a few pics of her little one blowing out the candles and getting all messy with the cake (I made a separate, mini-cake just for that). So cute!
I finished sewing the first of three aprons this past week, and I love the way it turned out! The pattern is from Amy Butler's book In Stitches. A quick and easy pattern that can easily be finished in a few evenings of sewing.
And my final sewing project to show off... I made this fleece-lined paw print blanket to donate to the Snuggles Project, which provides blankets to animal shelters. My hope is that a lonely cat or dog finds some tiny bit of comfort in resting on this blanket rather than a concrete floor. My stuffed koala, Barnaby, is demonstrating one potential use.

That about wraps it up for this WIP Wednesday! Be sure to check out other wipsters posts!

I am off to Seattle this weekend to visit my sister and have a girly few days of facials, yoga, baking, visiting a chocolate factory, and shopping. And of course, there will be Mighty O's, lots of Mighty O's....

Fabric and Fondant

It's time for another Work-In-Progress Wednesday! This week I'm focusing on fondant and fabric, my two weapons of choice when it comes to creating lately.

I finished up sewing my sun and surf halter top with the help of my Sew Crafty peeps. I love the fabric and can't wait to wear this around the beach when summer rolls around. To celebrate, I of course brought cupcakes. I made the VCTOTW S'mores cupcakes but added a chocolate ganache layer beneath the frosting to add extra chocolatey flavor and added ricemallow cream to the frosting (both tips courtesy of Conscious Kitchen). The ganache was still warmy when I frosted them, so they ended up being all gooey.... just like a good s'more should be!

Another completed project started off with making what looked like packing peanuts to one of my Flickr commenters! These are actually handmade fondant bows. Unfinished bows on the left, finished ones on the right. I had to make 72 of these little bows....
To go on top of 72 cupcakes! These were for a Breakfast at Tiffany's-themed bridal shower. Half chocolate and half vanilla, both with cream cheese frosting tinted that signature blue color.
Here is a close up shot of the cupcakes. Apparently they were the hit of the party!
Now for a few current projects involving fondant and fabric.... This hula print really made me giggle when I saw it so I'm using it to make someone else smile on their birthday. Can't reveal any more than that right now, more to come later.
And here is a fondant giraffe that I'm working on as I type this for a banana first birthday cake. Assembly will take place tomorrow. Now just trying to decide on a coordinating border color to pipe on the cake. I'm thinking brown? Or is that too blah? Future projects: the WIP stitch along, blankets to donate to the Snuggles project, and an apron!

Stomping Grounds Cake and a Contest

First things first. The cake. I was asked to make the birthday cake for one very cool vegan kid celebrating his fifth birthday. The party was held at the "Stomping Grounds" playland, so to continue the "stomping" theme, a dinosaur cake was in order. I know my brontosaurus and his footprints aren't exactly anatomically correct, but at least they are cute. The volcano was apparently the hit of the party when the birthday boy was blowing out his candles.
Even though this was the largest cake I've ever made (11'x15'), I was nervous that it wouldn't be enough for a crowd of hungry toddlers (is 5 a toddler? I don't know these things) so I also whipped up a batch of carrot cake cupcakes. These were also stomped, I mean stamped, with a dinosaur footprint made of fondant.


And now, the contest and some stomping of your own (which has nothing to do with cake). Onlineshoes has asked me to host a giveaway for a $100 gift certificate to their store, which carries plenty of vegan friendly shoes including the super comfortable Earth brand shoes. The rules are simple. Just leave a comment describing your favorite pair of shoes that you have ever owned (mine are the shoes on my feet right now, forest green vegan flats). On February 16th at noon (CST) I will randomly select a winner, so be sure to check back and see if you've won! The contest is only open to those who currently reside in the US. Now stomp to it!

And you can triple your chances of winning if you head over to The Urban Housewife's blog and Awesome.Vegan.Rad , where they are both running the same giveaway!

Bienvenue dans la jungle, bébé!

Two of my closest friends will be welcoming a baby girl into this crazy jungle of a world in just about a month, so this past weekend I cohosted a co-ed baby shower in their honor. The mom-to-be's only request (besides minimizing the pink) was that I make a cake for the occasion. All that pressure! So I really didn't want to disappoint...

For this jungle-themed cake I made the raspberry blackout cake from VWAV and added fresh raspberries to the ganache layer in the middle. After frosting it with the thick chocolate ganache, I rolled out white fondant to cover the cake. The zebra stripes were cut freehand from black rolled fondant and I piped a pink buttercream border. But the funnest part of making this cake had to be molding the elephant topper from fondant by hand! It turned out so cute! I have a feeling I will be making more fondant figures in the future...
And just in case the cake went fast (which it did, once I could bring myself to cut into it), I also made a dozen lemon macadamia white chocolate chip cupcakes (VCTOTW) in zebra striped cupcake liners with a piped buttercream swirl, a pink fondant flower, and placed in these adorable cupcake cuppies from Etsy.
I wanted to give the expectant parents a few more personalized gifts than just what was on their registry. So I got out my dressmaking shears, some pretty fabric, and 6 plain, white, organic cloth diapers and turned them into a bib and four colorful burp cloths using tutorials from Chickpea Sewing Studio. I thought the Eiffel tower bib was especially appropriate since the baby daddy is French and they are expecting a little girl. These projects were both so easy!
Testing my beginner sewing skills a bit more... ever since Shellyfish posted about the animal friends fabric book from Natasha who runs Hanies Etsy shop, I knew I wanted to make one for the parents-to-be. They have two rescue dogs and mom is a vegetarian, so animals are a big part of their lives (not to mention the jungle-themed party)! Each page of this fabric book features a different animal, including a cat, elephant, dog, lion, and a chicken. Sewing those tight little curves was a bit stressful for me, luckily my mom was there to help out and we cheered each other on through the tough parts.
And since I enjoy decorating real cakes so much, I figured I would attempt my first diaper cake for the occasion. Since this wasn't just a girly shower and I didn't want the guys feeling too threatened, I kept it simple with a few different ribbon trims and a bow on top. You can't see it, but on the inside are two bottles filled with baby stuff. Not edible, but still fun to look at.
I can hardly wait to meet their little girl! Now I am trying to figure out what homemade foods to make so I can help stock their pantry, fridge, and freezer. After all, they're going to need something to eat during those late night feedings!

This post is a part of Work-In-Progress (W.I.P.) Wednesdays where I share some of my projects that serve as a creative outlet for my mostly left-brained mind. I may be posting the results of finished projects, actual W.I.Ps, or projects that are on my to-do list. Be sure to check out others that are posting their projects as well. Thanks to Shellyfish for inspiring us all!

Dance of the Sugar Plum Vegan

There is something magical about the Nutcracker ballet... the music, the story, the thought of a land filled with endless sweets. Many years growing up, I looked forward to wearing my holiday dress and using those little glasses to magnify the dancers up on their toes. I would leave the theatre feeling like I too had been transported to the land of the sugar plum fairy with a nutcracker prince at my side. Since I didn't make it to the ballet this year, I put together my own little video to whisk me away to that magical place filled with holiday sweets...
(music from Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker)


This year's holiday baking included veganizing some of my childhood favorites. They turned out so well that I'm going to share the recipes...

Mounds Bars - a graham cracker crust with a gooey coconut filling and topped with a layer of chocolate

Ingredients:
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup Earth Balance vegan butter, melted

1 cup coconut (sweetened, not dessicated)
3/4 cup sweetened condensed soy milk (recipe here)
1 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup vegan chocolate chips
1 T chunky peanut butter

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350. Mix crumbs, sugar, and melted earth balance and press into an 8x8 pyrex dish.
2. Combine coconut, sweetened condensed soymilk, and vanilla in a small bowl. Spread carefully on top of crumbs in an even layer.
3. Bake for 15 minutes in 350 oven. Remove from oven and cool.
4. Melt chocolate chips on a double broiler. Add in peanut butter. Spread on top of baked bars.
5. Refrigerate until chocolate has set and ready to serve. Store in refrigerator.


Pecan Tassies - a creamy dough with a sugary sweet pecan filling

Ingredients:

1/3 cup vegan cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup Earth Balance vegan butter, softened
1 cup all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp EnerG egg replacer + 2 T water
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 T Earth Balance vegan butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt
1/3 cup pecans, chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325. Line a mini muffin pan with liners and lightly oil. Set aside.
2. In a stand mixer, cream together softened cream cheese and butter. Mix in flour until well incorporated. Chill in the refrigerator for an hour.
3. Shape dough into 24 - 1 inch balls. Place balls into greased muffin cups. Press dough into the bottom and up the sides of the cups.
4. Beat together the EnerG, sugar, butter, vanilla, and salt until well combined. Add the chopped pecans.
5. Fill the dough lined muffin cups with the pecan mixture. Top with extra pecans if desired.
6. Bake for 25 minutes at 325, or until filling is set. Remove from oven and cool until able to remove the tassies to a wire rack to cool completely.

Crispy Peanut Butter Balls

Ingredients:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup chunky natural peanut butter
2 cups crisped brown rice cereal
1/2 cup sweetened coconut

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, combin rice cereal and coconut, set aside.
2. In a medium saucepan, bring sugar and corn syrup to a boil.
3. Add peanut butter and return to a boil. Continue to boil for approximately one minute.
4. Pour sugar and corn syrup mixture over cereal mixture and quickly coat the cereal.
5. Drop 1 T sized balls onto waxed paper and allow to cool. Store in an airtight container.

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday full of friends, family, and of course, lots of vegan sweets.

The Ghosts of Christmas Meme

Since I have now been tagged four times for the "7 random facts meme" by Liz, Stacey, Al, and Sarah; I figured it is about time I got around to posting it! And since I recently saw The Christmas Carol at the theatre, I'm going take a stroll with a few Christmas spirits. And I'll throw in a recent dinner as well. As the clock strikes 1 am, I am visited by...

The Ghost of Christmas Past

1. When I was in grade school, I won a poetry writing contest and the prize was getting to go see Queen Elizabeth when she came to Houston (an aside: I was first accused of plagiarizing but then they realized I was merely using another author's style, but it was pretty traumatic to be accused of such a thing as a fourth grader). I still remember the very royal feeling dress that I wore to the event.

2. My first marathon attempt was when I was 17 years old on the coldest day I can remember in Houston. I dropped out of the race around mile 13 with a mild case of hypothermia. After that we had two days off from school because of icy roads. (I later completed my first marathon while living in Colorado)

3. I used to have a serious love for the frozen Stouffer's corn souffle when I was growing up. Now that my taste buds have matured a bit ( i.e. I need more spice), the kicked up southwestern corn pudding was just the thing to send me down memory lane last night. (from veganomicon, served with chile cornmeal crusted tofu and mango salsa)


The Ghost of Christmas Present

4. Now my current obsession is Maine Root Ginger Brew. I just had to say something about this because Stacey predicted I would. I am trying to be good though and limiting myself to just four per week. Beware though, this is not your standard ginger ale. If you take a big gulp, it will come back to bite you in your throat!

5. Not sure why, but I got all into the holiday spirit this year and decided to get my first tree as an adult (and after much research on the environmental consequences, I went for a real tree). I even carried on the tradition from my childhood of making fudge to have during the decorating process. And it finally made me appreciate that my mom got us an ornament every single year, because now I can look back and remember picking them out. And funny, my ornaments seem to mimic my obsessions at the time (I got a cupcake this year).
6. I have itchy legs. Seriously, even though I live in a pretty humid climate, I have terribly dry, itchy legs. The moisturizer I'm using right now just isn't cutting it (Alba). Any suggestions?

The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come

7. I've been in somewhat of a blogging slump, but that will hopefully change soon with the new year. I do have a major holiday sweets post coming your way next week. As my brother would say, "wait for it". There's much more where this came from...

For the two of you out there that haven't been tagged yet.... you are now tagged if:

1. you're looking out your office window (or at your cubicle wall) right now wishing you were anywhere but there
2. you like having nuts stuck in your teeth

Craftiness and Cupcakes on W.I.P. Wednesday

Lately I have been trying to overcome my left-brained tendencies and get a little crafty. So when Shellyfish introduced her Work-In-Progress (W.I.P) Wednesdays last week, I thought I would join in on the fun occcasionally (maybe once a month I'll post my crafty endeavors)!

Now I know I'm supposed to post works-in-progress, but I couldn't help but showing off a few completed crafty things. Starting with cupcakes of course! But these are no ordinary cupcakes.... they are crafty cupcakes. I made these to bring to an amigurumi class at Sew Crafty Houston, my first attempt at crocheting (and definitely not my first attempt at cupcakes)!

And how perfect is it that we crocheted cupcake ornaments? I still need to work on my crocheting technique....
I've also been learning to sew. I haven't moved beyond straight lines and 90 degree turns yet, but maybe someday soon. This weekend I made up a bunch of reusable bags to use for Christmas gifts. These are so easy to make! Just four straight lines of sewing, a few more if you want to add a handle. And the more you give them away, the less everyone will use wasteful wrapping paper.
And now for the real "works-in-progress", all knitting projects for Christmas! These projects are all at a beginner's level, and most involve just knitting and purling. I'm knitting as fast as I can to finish these up before the 25th. There is a boy hat, fetching fingerless gloves (okay this one is for me, but I've put them on hold till after the holiday), a pair of yoga socks using bamboo and soy yarn, and a one-row scarf. Not to mention I need to cast on three more dishrags!
There is something very magical and rewarding about a handmade gift. With each stitch that is sewn, every row that is purled or every cookie that is baked, there is also a lot of love that goes into that fabric, yarn, or dough. As I'm working on a particular gift, I often think of times I've spent with that person or how they might use what I'm making them. It has helped me understand the true spirit of giving. What handmade projects are you working on for the holidays?

Gifts in Kind

I have been lucky enough to receive several gifts in kind the last few weeks...

Amey from Vegan Eats & Treats was kind enough to send me some of her homemade quince jelly. She also included some chocolates which disappeared not long after I opened the package. I have been using this jelly on my morning English muffin and it is delightful!
Two weekends ago while we were in Austin for the chili cook-off, we made a quick pitstop at Sugar Mama's Bakeshop to try out their new vegan cupcakes! After sending an email to the owner thanking her for adding cruelty-free cupcakes to the menu, she offered me a free cupcake! We got there just in time to swipe the last vegan cupcake of the day... peppermint patty. So perfect and so pretty.
And Stacey thought of me when she saw this cupcake notepad while she was out shopping!

With all this kindness that has been gifted to me, I have been wanting to "pay it forward" and send kindness to others. As luck would have it, I opened up Sarah's blog from Sew Crafty Houston (an awesome little craft studio and sewing lounge!) to find a pay it forward challenge. Here it is...

The rules are simple: I will send the first three five people to leave a comment on this post a handmade gift within the next 365 days (that’s my kind of time frame!)

I am willing to post anywhere in the world, so don’t let that stop you from commenting.

The catch is that you have to have a blog and be willing to do the same thing....

And since I can't send everyone who comments a handmade gift (if I only had the time!), my gift to the rest of you are two recipes!

Baked Acorn Squash with Hazelnut Pearl Couscous

Ingredients:
1 acorn squash
2 T olive oil, divided
1 1/2 cups Israeli/pearl couscous
2 shallots, finely diced
1 tsp cinnamon
2 cups water
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup toasted hazelnuts, chopped
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
1 T hazelnut oil
fresh black pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
2. Cut the acorn squash in half and remove the seeds (clean off the guck and toast them with salt and pepper, they're delicious!). Lightly oil the inside of the squash (approximately 1 T). Place the squash cut side up in a baking dish and fill with 1/2 inch of water. Bake for approximately 50 minutes or until squash is tender.
3. While the squash is baking, in a large saucepan saute the shallots in olive oil until slightly caramelized, approximately 10 minutes. Add the couscous and cinnamon and stir to lightly toast the couscous for 5 minutes.
4. Add the water and salt and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes or until all of the liquid is absorbed.
5. Add toasted hazelnuts, dried cranberries, and parsley. Drizzle with hazelnut oil to finish.
6. Once squash is done baking, fill it with the couscous mixture.

And here's a link to the recipe for Society of PEACE's award winning chili!

VeganMofo: Dia de los Muertos Means No More MoFo

Happy Halloween!! The vegan month of food has come to an end. What better way than to celebrate with Dia de los Muertos cupcakes?

Oh no! The holiday season is now upon us. Time to start making christmas presents (my goal this year is to make at least part of every present I give).
So this may be a lame way to finish mofo, but it's 3 minutes to midnight and I'm out of time!

VeganMoFo: Boo Y'all

Whenever I tell people that I'm from Texas, they are usually amazed because I don't have an accent. But I am always quick to point out that I do use the word "y'all"... a lot. I even use "all y'all" with an amazing frequency. So I couldn't resist these Halloween napkins.... the mummy cupcake is saying:
I also made some spiderweb cupcakes with chocolate ganache. Both were for a SOP vegan potluck picnic yesterday which, by the way, was a perfect Texas fall day.
Is everyone ready for the final week of mofo?

VeganMoFo: You're Either In or You're Out

There's only one week left until the season finale of Project Runway. And there is still one more round of eliminations tonight! In anticipation, I designed cupcakes for a piece from each of the designers Bryant Park collection. Below they are lined up for judging with Heidi, Michael, and Nina. Tim Gunn is scurrying around in the background to give advice.
Kenley vs. the World - She is known for her 50's style dresses and of course her headpiece with feathers. You can't see the headpiece on the model in this photo, but trust me, she has one. This cupcake employs a frosting layering technique, with the feathered texture achieved by a #67 tip. Hometown favorite Jerell (he's from Houston!) - He is known for his detailed eclectic designs that are always glamorous. This cupcake is styled with a layer of dark chocolate ganash and embellished with silver dragees and gold luster dust stripes and swirls.
Rooted Korto - She is known for her classic designs mixed with tribal details, always using rich textures and colors. This cupcake highlights those bold colors and uses a variety of piping techniques.
Organic Leanne - She is known for getting "back to the Earth" with her structural and sophisticated designs. This cupcake starts with swirls of frosting and is lined with oversized confetti dots and accented with a silver dragee.
So who do you think is the winner? And remember, with cupcake fashion, one day you're in and the next day you're out. Auf wiedersehen!

Pushing 30

I am now officially in the last year of my 20's. Here I am blowing out the first of two sets of candles.

If you remember my birthday last year, John made me an ice cream cake. Well this year he outdid himself and made a mocha devastation cake (from My Sweet Vegan) and got fancy with a piping bag! It was a lesson in patience to stand by and watch someone else decorate a cake, but I tried my best to keep my mouth shut (except I had to say something when he accidentally wrote a "b" instead of a '"p" in "happy"). I can't wait to see how he tops this next year!!
Sunday was the Houston Vegan Knitters first meeting, the perfect occassion to make knit cupcakes (inspired of course by vegan yumyum's version)! Simple vanilla cupcakes with chocolate buttercream right out of VCTOTW decorated with natural sprinkles and fondant "knitting". One was a mini-version of my very first knitting project, a pink and white dishcloth (which I'm still working on). I am so excited for more knitting projects, including making blankets to donate to pet shelters, a hobo bag, belt, fruit cozies, cupcakes, and maybe a scarf or two. Now I just need to learn how to purl....
I have been in the mood to make a fancy dinner ever since I saw the recipe for Emerald Rice Cakes in the June 2008 Vegetarian Times (originally from Millennium). There were four separate elements to this dish, including a butternut squash puree, habanero jerk sauce, homemade seitan and cauliflower stir fry, and jasmine rice cakes. It was certainly worth all of the work, and the puree and sauce could easily be made a few days ahead.

And on my actual birthday (the 8th), my mom made me a chocolate pecan pie (from La Dolce Vegan), since the weekend had been been filled with too much cake already. The two red candles apparently represented 10 candles each.... 29 candles on one cake is a bit too much.
Thanks so much to everyone for the birthday wishes!!! And a special thanks to my family and friends for making it such a special weekend.