Sugar Shock

Ch-ch-ch-changes...

2010-04-21T14:15:00.000-07:00

From now all blogging will happen on the Sugar Tooth Bakery website!

I hope anyone who's ever followed or read this blog will happily find me there, baking away and trying to grow my little baking business.

Thank you for your continued support and encouragement!

Best,
Meghan

Websites, and such...

2010-03-03T11:52:00.000-08:00

So, I'm in the process of getting my website together (which has been a loooong time in the works), which is why I don't blog here much anymore.

Mostly, I'm doing Sugar Tooth Bakery stuff....which you can find at www.sugartoothbakery.com (once its finally done), at The Sugar Tooth Bakery myspace OR at the Sugar Tooth Fan Page

Anyway, I'm going to post a couple of pictures of cute things anyway....Since I'm here!

Luna's Sesame Street birthday cupcakes:

A Diego Cake (from Dora the explorer):

And a Wedding and Groom's Cake I recently Did. The wedding cake is a chocolate bomb: chocolate cake, chocolate frosting, chocolate shavings on the outside:

The Groom is an artist, who often works in puzzles....So a giant puzzle piece for the Groom's cake (Vanilla cake, strawberry filling, vanilla buttercream icing):

Hope everyone is doing well. Check my Facebook often for updates on Sugar Tooth Bakery and what I've been up to!

x's and o's.
-Meghan

'tis the dang season...

2009-12-30T08:23:00.000-08:00

Alright, I've been creating and baking and making and cleaning and working. But I will NOW blog. To at least fill you in on a few fun things I've made as of late.

Hmmm....Let's see....

First, prison escape cupcakes, probably the best idea ever dreamed up (by my friend Pat), delivered to sir Chad Koeplinger upon his guest spot at Rock of Ages Tattoos, Austin.

The secret shall not be unveiled!

This cake was ordered for Jean from her son. I thought it was funny because of the "old lady" part. She said it was the best birthday cake she'd ever had, and ordered another cake from me for their Christmas Eve Dinner. That one will be posted as well.

I have, of course, been wanting an excuse to make one of those giant cupcake cakes that people make. AND, Leila, my friend's daugher, LOVES cupcakes. SO, there's the perfect excuse...a birthday order! Not bad for my first one. Also super cute when next to a regularly sized cupcake. I love it, and so did she!

And, as I said before, Frankie's mom Jean loved her birthday cake so much, she asked me to make a Red Velvet Christmas cake for her family. Simply decorated, with cream cheese frosting and non-pereil sprinkles, and a hand made gum-paste holly leaf.

I hope everyone is having a happy and healthy holiday season. And wishes for a peaceful and full new year ahead of us all. I'm ready for 2009 to be over. I definitely am looking forward to a new beginning, whatever that may mean.

xo.

metal wedding! etc...

2009-11-11T09:04:00.000-08:00

Random cake from a couple weeks ago. I love chocolate pieces, and will soon be getting some transfers to make them prettier...

Haven't posted in a while. Went to the best wedding ever, in Philly on Halloween. One of my very best friends Sam got married to the most wonderful lady ever, ErinMichelle. I was in her wedding party. It was a very METAL wedding. Amazing.
Then a trip to nyc. Super psyched. Will probably move there at some point in the next year or so.

I've been baking some, but nothing really spectacular enough to post. Alot of times it's the same stuff over and over. Which, of course, I enjoy, but it's nothing to write home (or blog) about.

The other day I got rear-ended in my car. Pretty bad. It was a hit and run, and the obviously insane driver just hit me super hard then kept driving. I have no idea how he could have done that (either physically, or morally). Anyway...I'm fine, just a little banged up and stiff/achey. Nothing like a little whiplash to keep you on your toes, eh? But whatever, I'm alive, car will get fixed via my insurance. and maybe they will even find the jerk who did it (not likely).

Hope everyone in blogland is well and had as fabulous a Halloween as I did!

Busy Fall!

2009-10-12T13:58:00.000-07:00

Business has been fun lately. I've made a few NON-vegan things, too. When people really want them, I'll do it. Although I realized last week that I just don't LOVE doing it. Too much extraneous stuff. I like Vegan stuff because (besides the fact that I can eat it), it's simple. Less ingredients. And that seems closer to pure. Make sense?

Here are a few of the things worth posting:

Here's my friend Jamie's requested Strawberry (non-vegan) Birthday cake. It's nerve wracking to make a real cheesecake for me! It turned out well though, apparently. I wished it had set a little nicer, but it was gone in a matter of minutes, so I guess I did my job! And Jamie is a good friend, with a LOVELY family. He deserves it.

Next is the cake I did today, actually. It was a simple Vegan Vanilla Sheet Cake with Coconut Buttercream and toasted coconut sides. I liked the way it looks though. Hopefully they liked it!

And now, the Wedding I did the other day for a fabulous woman named Elissa. We had a tasting months ago, and she LOVES red velvet cake. I like to make my red velvet a little less red, because too much food coloring freaks me out. Anyway, for her special day she ordered a whole bunch of Vegan Red Velvet's and then wanted me to do some NON vegan german chocolate ones. So I did. Here are a couple pictures her friend Matt took, and I will post more when her pro photos come back!

Here is the amazing email Elissa sent me after her wedding was all said and done:

MEGHAN!!!

Your cupcakes were SUCH a hit last night. I talked to everyone there
and they all agreed that the cupcakes were amazing. They didn't
believe me when I confirmed that the buttercream on the red velvet was
vegan. I only got to eat ONE!!! Some people admitted to taking three.
They were gone in 2 hours! The one that our families tried to save for
us for our anniversary got scarfed up by my old college roommate, who
was drunk and didn't know any better. THANK YOU SO MUCH! I told
everybody who you were; hopefully you'll get tons of new customers.

LOVE!
Elissa

So, that's what I've been doing. Yup, and I'm pretty psyched on it.

Hope the weather isn't too cold in the northern world. I will be in Philly in a few weeks for a wedding, and I couldn't be more excited about it.

xo.

Reusablebags.com!

2009-10-02T13:42:00.000-07:00

A few years ago, I bought the best reusable bags off a (what i thought was) random site. As it turns out, it was one of the best things ever, and I still have the bags and their sticker on my wallet.

As it turns out, Natalie, from Bake and Destroy works for them!

They are currently in the running for Green Business of the Year award. They are, as I said before, an awesome company and website. Totally worthy of the award..please go and vote for them!!!

About them: ReusableBags.com’s efforts have made a tremendous impact: as of 2009, they have empowered customers to reduce consumption of use-and-toss items by more than 750 million units. The company is also a member of 1% For the Planet and has donated more than $140,000 to environmental organizations. Plus, they conduct business so that it benefits people and the planet. For more info, visit their site at www.reusablebags.com/vision.php?id=25.

And here is how to vote:

Green America's People's Choice Awards!

Thanks everyone! And have a lovely day.
cheers.
Meghan

Saturday, Saturday, Saturday

2009-09-27T11:17:00.000-07:00

The busiest day of the week, if you bake treats for parties!

First, I would like to give a shout out to Melisser of The Urban Housewife. (She stopped by the bar I work at to say hello while she was in Austin.) It was lovely to meet you, lady, and hopefully next time we are in the same town I won't be so darned busy! Hopefully Austin treated you right!

And the reason I didn't hang out with her and the lovely Crystal of Vegan Explosion deliciousness, is because I was baking, of course. After a trip to NYC, where I ate delicious things and hung out with some of the best women around (for a friend's bachelorette party), I was rejuvenated and ready to take care of biz.

Here is how my Saturday went:

Retro Cherry Tall Cake: a donation to an awesome organization called The Open Door Pre-school. They were having a super fun fund-raiser called "Cake, Rattle & Roll", complete with a cake walk. SO...I donated one for the walk. It was vanilla cake layered with cherry, and topped with vanilla buttercream. I thought the retro look went well with their theme.

****disclaimer: I acknowledge that some vegans do not eat marachino cherries due to the Red #40 in them.****

Cupcakes for Sarah. Her's were so good last week, she had to buy some for a friend. The drizzled ganache and just a kiss of Hazelnut chocolate buttercream took it down a notch, for someone who likes a little less sweetness in their treats.

And a small-tall Chocolate Raspberry Ganache covered cake for Annette! Luckily her family or friends wouldn't allow her to make her own birthday cake (thank goodness!) so they ordered one from me! I took the liberty of personalizing it with a little topper, since she ordered it herself. I love making small tall cakes, they are my very favorite!

Today is my friend Jamie's Birthday. He has requested a (non-vegan) strawberry cheesecake. I made it, but at this point I can not yet say whether or not it turned out correctly. Unfamiliar territory, as I've only made one or two in my life. I'll post on that at a later date, but I am keeping my fingers crossed that it's delicious.

My own birthday is a couple days away...i'm going to keep it low key, as always. But you know...if you want to buy me jewels or take me on world travels...that will be acceptable too. ;)

Cheers!.

Sanrio!

2009-09-12T18:17:00.000-07:00

Did you know that Hello Kitty has been in existence since 1974? Isn't that crazy? Hello Kitty is older than I am. I'm shocked.

Anyway, these were an order from Frankie, for his girlfriend who loves Hello Kitty, and loves cupcakes! So sweet if him, I thought.

They're yellow cakes with chocolate frosting. The Hello Kitty tops are hand-painted gum paste. Super fun, He was psyched on how they turned out. And I thought they looked pretty good myself...

I love it when people order fun things! I wish more people would, and I look forward to other upcoming stuff! I really want to do some stuff that is not so "cutesy". I need some practice on that sort of thing. I'm sure someone will have a birthday soon, and I will use that as an excuse to make something more...well...edgy.

Hope everyone is doing well. My birthday is later in the month, so all you bakers out there should send me delicious things. ;)

It's raining in Texas, and we couldn't be more thrilled. Neither can the grass, or the pecan trees (crossing my fingers that they will be fruitful this year).

xo.

website in the works...

2009-09-05T17:55:00.000-07:00

Hmmm...not sure I really have any pictures to post. Nope. I haven't been photographing, just baking baking baking. That is a good thing. Business is steady, and I have a bunch of irons in the fire, so to speak. Sugar Tooth Website is coming along, and should be done in a matter of days. I will be glad when it's live! The rest will follow...

Allergies down here are awful right now. I think mold spores are attacking my face. Luckily, I am attacking my face too...with elderberry flower, licorice, nettle and peppermint tea concoction. If you have NO idea why I would drink these things, let me fill you in...

Peppermint is a natural anesthetic and is very soothing for the sinuses and digestive system, nettles are high in flavanoids (antioxidants) and helps remedy congestion, licorice gets rid of the porcupine in your throat, and elderberry flower soothes the respiratory tract and boosts the immune system. The entire mix is really helpful in letting me breathe and making me feel well enough to go to work at night. I highly recommend it!

Anyway, off to work at the bar, wake early in the morning and bake cupcakes upon cupcakes! mmm....
Can't wait to hibernate tomorrow evening!

saturday saturday saturday....sing it...

m

Sugar Tooth Bakery on Facebook!

2009-08-18T09:42:00.000-07:00

Get with the program, right? That's what I told myself when I decided to make a fan page for Sugar Tooth Bakery

Please become a fan!

Sugar Tooth Bakery on Facebook

Star Wars!

2009-08-17T10:24:00.000-07:00

Growing up, all my closest guy friends were a little more than obsessed with Star Wars. Several of them even have Star Wars tattoos. I'm not talking about the new Star Wars, complete with the ever obnoxious Jar Jar Binks. I'm talking about old school, low fi, good ole Star Wars. I'm also talkin' games like Star Wars Trivial Pursuit (which I, myself, wouldn't even bother playing), etc etc...Serious Love.

Anyway, you can imagine my nostalgia and excitement when asked to make my first Star Wars cake, in the form of the the galaxy's best bounty hunter; Boba Fett!

I would have loved to do him in total 3-D and someday when someone offers me a whole bunch of money, I will definitely do such a thing!

May the force be with you.

hey look- it's finally a new blog post.

2009-08-10T07:09:00.000-07:00

I might be the worst blogger ever these days. It's not that I don't have updates to make...I just never seem to find a minute to make them.

SO...let's see.
Cake stuff is keeping me busy. I have some really fun projects coming up, and sadly, had to turn down a possible opportunity to make a 3'x5' cake that was a replica of a solar panel. Kind of monotonous probably, but sounded like fun. Sadly, I'm just too busy that week.

Here are some fairy wing cupcakes I did for a little girl named Lindy who was having a Tinkerbell themed party...

They were lavender and very light green, even though you might not be able to tell in the photographs. CUTE!

This Carrot Cake was actually made by the lovely and talented Billie, but decorated by me, for our friends Nic & Sam's 30th birthday. Very delicious!

As you can see, they are pretty psyched about it too. ha!

One more thing...a handpainted train for a little boy named Ram...

Carrot cakes abound lately. It's hard to slice a carrot cake into 2 layers, especially when it's huge. it's a very delicate thing. But oh how it might be the most delicious cake on earth...

Here's to hoping it won't be 100 degrees for ever!
I'm excited...wedding trips in the next few months (i'm in one of my best friend's wedding on halloween!) and tons of cake projects.

I'll let you know how it turns out....
xo.

Heat Wave-Treat Wave

2009-07-03T14:17:00.000-07:00

So, hottest summer ever. Hundred degree heat at all times, for the most part. Yikes!

Between a trip to visit family in Mass. (where I learned a lot about the history of women cooking/baking in my jewish side of my family), and working and baking and trying NOT to die of overheating, I've been pretty busy.

The day before I left, Billie had a potluck and I decided to make Chocolate Peanut butter fudge. I also put a layer of toasted coconut in the middle and decorated each piece with a toasted pecan! It was SOOOO sweet, but very delicious. Billie's boyfriend Ryan loved it. I'm pretty sure men in general LOVE chocolate and peanut butter together. I'm not sure exactly why...but judging from experience, it's a true story.

Here's a mouthwateringly sweet picture for you!

And an order from a couple of weeks ago. Chocolate Mint Cupcakes, which I thought were particularly cute, and delicious.

I have a lovely new roomie(Hannah) now, so I will now go try and help organize our chaotic house. I hope everyone is having a delicious summer and is staying cooler than we are down in the Tejas sauna.

cheers.
meghan

Matt & Amy get hitched...

2009-06-10T13:08:00.000-07:00

After much anticipation and lots of nervousness, I pulled the wedding cake off without a hitch. The Bride and Groom, Matt & Amy Noska were lovely and very very happy with the way their cakes looked and tasted! PHEW!

They didn't want the cakes to be vegan, so I agreed to make them traditional. Their wedding colors were a burgundy and a royal blue, and Amy liked the idea of having butterflies on the wedding cake. SO...that's what they would have! The wedding & groom's cake were my gift to them, and would also be a great way to get my wedding cake portfolio started.

First, the Groom's Cake. Before I moved to Texas, I had never heard of this tradition. We don't have that tradition in New York. In the southern U.S., however, it is customary to have a second cake, and often it depicts the groom's favorite activities or something fun like that. The tradition goes that this cake was sliced up and given as party favors for the guests to take home. I also read that unmarried women were then supposed to take the slice home and sleep with it under their pillows so that they might dream of their own prince charming...or something like that. ANYWAY, these days most people just eat it at the wedding, along side the wedding cake. I'm pretty glad, because sleeping with cake under my pillow does NOT appeal to me! (can you imagine the bugs??)

Here is the Groom's cake, which is Matt's favorite kind...German Chocolate. Also NOT vegan, this buttermilk chocolate cake with custard pecan coconut filling and topping & fudgey frosting turned out one of the most amazing cakes ever.

Now for the wedding cake.

As I said, I was very nervous to build and decorate this cake. I mean...it's someone's WEDDING cake. Amy wanted traditional white cake with buttercream frosting. It was definitely interesting to work with a NON vegan cake, because the texture is totally different. I think its easier than the light and fluffy cake I usually make. I also had wanted to make Italian Buttercream for it, but decided against it since Italian Buttercream is made up MOSTLY of butter. This wouldn't have mattered except that we had to transport it 45 minutes, from Austin to Bastrop, in the Texas heat. Even with the AC blasting, I figured a more stable frosting would be a better choice. We made it there, and once I had set the cake on its rightful table, I breathed a HUGE sigh of relief, as my job was now over and the cakes were perfectly in tact!!

Here it is, in all its glory. Not bad for my first one, right?

I can't wait for my next order!

The butterflies were hand sculpted out of gum paste, and then painted by hand, before hardening. The embellishments on the cake were made of fondant that I tinted to match the wedding colors.

Knee deep in frosting, as usual!

2009-06-06T09:39:00.000-07:00

The latest, although I don't have time to write much...I'm waiting for my crumb coat to set so I can decorate my FIRST ever wedding cake. Today Matt & Amy are getting married, so congrats to them in advance!

Let's see....

The middle cupcakes have banana flavored frosting, at the request of a customer. I thought it would be kind of weird, but the frosting was actually pretty good!

and some more naughty cupcakes, that actually kind of make me nauseous while making them at some points. haha, kidding (at least half kidding anyway!)....but I DO like the way the booty with the ruffly panties turned out!

in other news, my friend brian came to town and he and britt and i got "bro-tats" to rep ithaca, the 607. HA! mostly we just thought it was funny to keep saying BRO TATS!

And although it's not a nice occurance, this is a bird I accidentally hit with Britt's car on our way outside of town. I was so sad. We gave it a nice funeral near some water in Austin. I researched it, and found out that this is a male Painted Bunting. Must be one of the prettiest birds I've ever seen. RIP, little guy. I'm sorry!

And a sneak preview of wedding cake stuffs....

Bar explosion, ATX

2009-05-23T10:53:00.000-07:00

Well, Austin is exploding with new bars. It's actually pretty crazy. I, of course, love it when new things come to SOUTH Austin...because the more things come, the less I have to go north. HA...that MIGHT make me a south snob...but anyone who lives here knows how lame traffic can be, especially when crossing the river too much. And south has almost everything I need.

ANYWAY, one of the newest contenders in the south (and pretty far south, at that) bar biz is The Red Shed Tavern. The owners Andy & Kelly (and a partner who i don't know) are awesome awesome awesome! They are the nicest people ever, which is just the first reason to support their establishment. The second is that...well...its RAD! It is really cool inside and has an amazing patio, and cool little stage in a RED SHED out back. I love it. GO!

Why exactly am I going on about The Red Shed Tavern on a baking blog,you might ask? WELL...last Saturday was their grand opening. SO...they asked me to make them a cake. Decked out with their logo, this cake was Almond flavor cake with raspberry filling and vanilla buttercream. It was topped with a hand painted fondant logo. I also made a whole bunch of mini cupcakes to supplement the cake. They loved it and said it was a huge hit! I am so glad. I had to work and couldn't stay longer than to drop off the goods, which was kind of sad.

Here's the cake:

Turned out ok, right? Always a challenge, but fun to do!

It's definitely summer!

2009-05-14T09:41:00.000-07:00

Texas is HOT. Have I mentioned this before? Summer is here, for sure. Soon I might even convince myself to go swimming.

As always, lots of baking happening around here.

Two more blog-worthy things this week:

The first...
Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes with buttercream frosting and chocolate cookie "dirt", with plastic bugs on top! For someone who is an environmental engineer, apparently.

I thought they were super cute. I made an extra cupcaked and my roommate ate it. It looked MESSY as all get out, with the jam oozing out. peanut butter cupcakes are one of my favorites though.

In other News, my friend Adam (who is going to marry the lovely and talented rebeca, who i work with) had a birthday the other day. Beca told me she wanted me to make him a cake. When asked what kind he wanted he just kept saying VANILLA, and beca thought that was too boring. SO...one night, late at night as she and i were counting tips at the bar and discussing what kind of cake he might like...i texted him. The text went something like this "What kind of frosting goes with vanilla cake?". To which he texted back "TWIX". As though that really had any meaning. BUT...i took it literally and decided that that is what he would get.

They are not vegan, and neither is twix...so i figured I would put caramel in there for good measure. SO...

This cake is vanilla cake (which in itself is vegan, coincidentally), with buttercream frosting (which again, was vegan before adding the twix), topped with Twix Mini candy bars. It is four layers and in the middle layer the buttercream has crushed up Twix in it, which gave it a crunchy texture. Then the top was drizzled with caramel syrup (which i didn't make myself, since i didnt want to buy and mess around with a bunch of milk)...and decorated with more candy.

They thought this was the best cake ever. AND told me that when they eventually open their own coffee shop, they want to have the Twix Cake all the time!

Anyway, that's last week for me. This week brings a bunch of donuts and a special cake for some friends.

More on that later...i'm starving and in desperate need of coffee myself!
Cheers!
Meghan

PS: Beca and Adam named their new kitten after me, which is bizarre. SO...here is a picture of "Little Kitty Meghan Krasnoff" (aka: little meghan) waking up from the flash of my camera, whilst sleeping in my lap. Sorry little kitty, I didnt mean for the flash to be in your eyes!

CUTE!

May the Fourth Be with You. (even though it's the 7th now)

2009-05-07T12:17:00.000-07:00

Well...Haven't I just been baking up a storm. It's been super busy. Except that Britt is sitting next to me and is sad, because there are officially no treats baked in my house at the moment.

Anyway...Biz has been just that...BIZZY! ha. Two things I've baked in the last couple weeks are worth posting...here you go.

My friend Mariana ordered these for her friend Jake, who is apparently moving to Japan sometime soon. These might have been the most fun cupcakes I've made in some time. Who knew that you could roll Fondant JUST like you would roll sushi? Except that it's actually a little bit easier.

AND...Ed and Lynette ( I hope I spelled that correctly) got hitched this last weekend here in Austin, Tejas. They needed a groom's cake to go with the Tree wedding cake they had ordered. They wanted the second cake to be vegan, and mocha with raspberry....so this is what I made:

Britt helped me make the leaves and the wee yellow pearls around the edges, as well as super cute (and subtle) acorns. She is the best...and if I could ever afford to pay her, I gladly would. SOMEDAY!

Stay tuned because I have a TON of projects coming up...
xo.

PS: Here is a picture of (the mighty) Quinn Lee Spaw, my bosses' amazingly cute little guy. He is 3 weeks old. CUTE! Love him...

Easter for some...

2009-04-15T15:01:00.001-07:00

Here is a picture of a very bright pink Easter Egg cake.
I thought the cake would be bigger, but because it was so small, I made some easter bunny cupcakes as well. They actually turned out to be kind of cute, I think...

I spent my Easter day biking around a small lake in a very pretty park in Bastrop, Texas. There was one family there, with a whole bunch of kids. They were fishing and overall just enjoying the beautiful day we had last sunday. When I saw them, I started thinking that going to a park on a holiday is one of the best ways I can think of to celebrate. SO...when (ahem...IF) I ever have a family, I think that will be something I weasel into our traditions.

I always wonder what families do on holidays....anyone have any good/unusual/fun things they did on holidays that they want to share? FILL ME IN!!

xo.
Megh

March

2009-03-29T12:30:00.000-07:00

Well, sxsw is over. I made it through another one. Which means there is now time for things like baking again.

I'm not going to say much, but I will post some stuff that I've done lately, which is now the trend on this much neglected blog of mine.

This is what I look like whilst making these delicious treats:

Valentine's day cupcakes. Made for Rebecca, since I love her, and she loves my cupcakes.

Sock Monkey Cupcakes for someone's baby shower (i convinced them to let me make them vegan, but i did end up using m-n-m's for the eyes:

Here are some very very naughty one's that I made yesterday for someone's bachelorette party. Who knew I was SO good at sculpting female genitalia? haha....

and finally, here is a cake that Billie made (with some help from me with regards to the assembly and decorating of it) for her boyfriend, which is the Peach Melba Cake from Hannah's, My Sweet Vegan. I can't say how it turned out yet, because the b-day potluck is tonight. Looks pretty delicious though, doesn't it?

And so concludes my post. I wish I had more time to update with more regularity. But I'm a busy girl and have been forgetting to photograph!

Hope everyone is doing well, and enjoying the upcoming spring season.

xo.

Still going...

2009-02-21T11:32:00.000-08:00

So yeah,
I've been super busy.
Trying to figure out what to do with life, I guess.
Sugar Tooth is going pretty well, it's more of a side project right now, due to the economy and lack of wanting to take a giant risk.

I have been working with Ventana del Soul a lot lately, which is the non-profit cafe and cultural center. I may have mentioned it before, I can't remember. Anyway, I'm going to do a partial open of their coffee house this coming monday, and I will have some bakery items there. Until we get more funding and staff, however, we will have limited hours and such.

I have also decided to apply to go back to school in the fall, i'm pretty sure. Crazy, right? If I can get in, I will go back to St. Ed's (where i did my undergrad) to get my Master's in Counseling.

Anyway, that's what has been up lately. Today I'm making a tower of vegan donuts for Rachel's birthday. The last one I made was super delicious and SUPER messy. But I think that's all part of the fun! Basically it's a ton of mini donuts stacked up with chocolate poured from the top down.

I hope you are all well and things are going amazingly for you all this year so far!

Cheers,
Meghan

Not so hot with a camera...

2008-12-28T14:13:00.000-08:00

One thing I have been doing lately is taking lousy pictures! I think in part it is due to my baking in the evening and having no natural light to shoot with.

ANYWAY, I have, however been super busy. As usual, baking up a storm.

A few recent orders:

A Completely UN-VEGAN flan I made for Southside Tattoos staff xmas party dinner thing. I have never in my life made flan before. That being said, it came out pretty well, as far as people said! I also thought it looked pretty after being taken out of the mold and put on this plate. The most fun was dry caramelizing sugar. It is very illustrative of the science that takes place in the cooking process, where you actually SEE proof of the compounds breaking down into their parts. Maybe that's a little TOO nerdy of me.

yep. holiday flan! fun!

(and back to vegan stuffs....)
Next, a Bike themed cake for Kirk's birthday. Design, of course, stolen from a traffic sign. It was chocolate cake with chocolate mocha icing. YUM! Quite a caffeine kick in it too. And we all know how I love my coffee....mmm....

One more...A Unicorn cake for my friend Liz's daughter Mia. I really thought I'd gotten in over my head trying to draw a unicorn on a cake. Seeing as how my artistic talent is pretty much limited to cakes, I wasn't sure I could pull this off. My plan was actually to find an awesome unicorn figure for the top, but I ended up deciding to go for it anyway. I was actually pretty psyched at how it turned out. I thought it was cute in a cartooney sort of way. And I really liked the colors.

Unfortunately, as I mentioned...photos at 6am before the sun rises do NOT do well in my house! Ignore the poor photo quality and focus on how delicious a chocolate cake with strawberry filling must be!

I hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas, Hanukkah, Solstice, Kwanzaa or any other holiday you may have celebrated. I also wish you all the best for the coming year. I, for one, have high hopes for it as far as we are ALL concerned!

Happy Celebrating, Happy Baking!

xo
Meghan

Already the middle of December! Who knew?

2008-12-13T14:43:00.000-08:00

I feel like before I even blink the holidays will be over.
and I'm just fine with that. Again, I have a ton to do, and will hardly notice that it's holiday at all.

For example, I've been baking my head off. YAY! Very happy about that.

Here is the stuff I've been doing. Sorry that my posts are so boring, and mostly just pictures of some things I've made. I also kind of miss everyone in the blog world, since I barely get time to update this, let alone READ other people's. That's a little sad. So I apologize for not showing my love...but trust me, it IS there.

And now...

This Cake was for my "little bro" Corey. He rules. And although this cake doesn't LOOK fancy, it might be my favorite one in a while. It's 3 layers of cake: peanut butter, chocolate and peanut butter with peanut butter buttercream in between the layers, and then covered with chocolate ganache, and finally smothered in crushed peanuts. HOLY deliciousness!

For Jose's Bday, he wanted donuts. SO...i thought...YEAH WHO NEEDS CAKE? when you could have a TOWER of vegan donuts. Right? Super fun, super delish, obviously.

Not much to say about these other than it's a match made in heaven: Chocolate Cupcakes with Orange Buttercream. Like a chocolately dreamsicle. mmm...

The other day the lovely and talented Billie and myself catered an art opening at the bike shops she works at. It was hosted by The Austin Flyer's, which is a non-profit, working to foster the growth of cycling in the Austin community.

For the event, we made roasted red pepper hummus tea sandwiches, and mini cupcakes...among other things.

And finally, today's project...a cake with Asian style lanterns on it for a little girl named Heide who is turning 7. She obviously has the coolest mom around! I really like the way this cake turned out!

In other news, I've been listening to the hip-hop station all day whilst baking, and I SWEAR they only play about 7 songs. Do the stanky leg, something about "if you liked it you shoulda' put a ring on it", and a couple more. I really really like hip-hop...but maintstream hip-hop seems to be in a serious rut this month!

Cheers, and happy holidays and all that.

xo.

Busy Busy

2008-12-04T00:55:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been a while since I've posted anything.
The reason for that is that I've been super busy!
Holidays are always hectic, regardless of whether or not your family is around.
People out of town, my little bro from Australia visiting me, a brief tattoo convention trip, covering shifts at the bar, making cakes, volunteering at the non-profit i'll be baking at sooner than later, slinging cupcakes and booze. The usual, and then some...

I've made a few cakes, some holiday cupcakes. The bakery stuff is going well, but the real stuff is on hold until the non-profit that I'm baking in permanently gets their doors re-opened for business.

I'm excited about it all, but also a little antsy for it to happen quicker.

Until then, check out a couple of the cakes I've made recently (although I wish i had had more time to work on them)...

The prince cake was for a girl named robin, from her bf, and it was carrot with cream cheese frosting. The one on the right was a yellow cake with strawberry filling and vanilla buttercream frosting for some sweet girls, marla and emily. The were both all vegan.

and my faves...snowman cuppers. ridiculously cute, right?

more cake pics and such to come, as well as news.
oddly, it's kind of cold here in austin...for a welcome change!
i love scarf weather!

Maneki Neko, for Julia

2008-10-27T09:21:00.000-07:00

This week, one of my custom orders was a "beckoning cat" cake for jon. He was ordering it for his wife, Julia who is vegan. He said last year he ordered a cake from somewhere and it tasted like corn bread. I was VERY glad to help remedy that situation so that Julia could have a more delicious birthday this year! Here it is...

I had SO much fun making the kitty! If you don't know the story of Maneki Neko, you should really check it out. It's really great. And I bet you always wondered why there is a little cat in most asian stores and restaurants, seemingly saying hello to you.

Anyway, Julia messaged Sugar Tooth on myspace, and told us she loved the cake and that it was delicious! Very glad to help!

Hope everyone is doing well, and stay tuned for more updates, as I've been a really busy girl lately.

xo,
megh

The busiest slacker of all!

2008-10-22T19:06:00.000-07:00

I have been BUSY BUSY! But that is a great thing, considering that all of my busy-ness can be attributed to getting my bakery stuff going! When you're working toward your own goals, a little sleep deprivation and hours and hours of work somehow doesn't seem so bad!

ANYWAY, before I get into the Maker Faire, which was a TOTAL success, I will post a picture of the most delicious banana almond muffins I made. For myself, because I like them!

OK, so NOW...the Maker Faire. As I said, it's an awesome event! Pedal powered stuff (this year, cyclecide had a pedal powered guitar wheel! kick ass!). So many crafty awesome people, and brainiacs and technowizzes etc...etc...

My booth was in the Edible Austin Food Maker Pavilion, and I was there giving out (ahem...1500!) mini cupcakes over the 2 day event. For this feat, I enslaved my BFF Britt, who was a SERIOUS trooper, and who I couldn't have done it without! my boyfriend was also amazing and helped out alot, including making my AMAZING signage. Super DIY, super fun, super nice people. A good networking plan!

SO...here's the run-down, even though the pictures aren't great!

And here I am, tired but having a good time!

We even got an Editor's Choice award, which is AWESOME!

THEN, if baking that many cupcakes wasn't good enough, my friend Mari had a birthday on tuesday! SO...of course I had to bake her a cake to show her how much I love her! It was yellow cake, with strawberry puree filling and frosted with almond buttercream icing. (all vegan, of course!)
Here it is...I like the colors a lot!

The weekend was awesome, business is going really well so far, and coming up in the next few weeks, I will disclose the very exciting news regarding Sugar Tooth Bakery!

Hope everyone is doing awesomely. It's going to get COLD finally for a minute here in Austin, so we are all very excited to bundle up.

Cheers!
Meghan

Austin Bikes Grand Re-Opening Cake!

2008-10-11T18:14:00.000-07:00

No time to post really, other than the pictures of this sweet cake I made for Austin Bikes' Grand Re-Opening party.

The owners are great, and the shop looks awesome, so if you live in town, definitely go by and check it out. The party is tonight, but as usual, I will be behind the bar.

For now...a little eye candy...er...cake.
And yes, it's all vegan.

Sugar Tooth Bakery at Maker Faire Austin 2008!

2008-10-09T12:55:00.000-07:00

"Maker Faire is a two-day, family-friendly event that celebrates the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) mindset. It's for creative, resourceful people of all ages and backgrounds who like to tinker and love to make things. So much to see, you will need 2 days to see it all!"

The Maker Faire is an AMAZING display of creativity in a million ways!
From Bike powered carnival rides, a life-sized Mouse Trap "game",
food, bands, arts...if it's quirky and amazing, you'll find it here!

AND...this year, we will be in the Food Maker's Section giving away FREE samples of vegan treats, and holding a raffle to win FREE delicious vegan goodies!

That's right...Sugar Tooth Bakery will be at the Maker Faire this year, and we sincerely hope that you will consider attending the Faire and stopping by to see us!

We're really excited to be participating, and in part this will be a grand opening of sorts for Sugar Tooth Bakery!

For more info click here:
Maker Faire Austin 2008

Hope to see you all there, October 18th & 19th at the Travis County Expo Center.
Please please come. It is guaranteed to be more fun than you can shake a stick at!!!

Cheers,

Meghan
Sugar Tooth Bakery
Austin, Texas!

My 27th...

2008-09-30T12:00:00.000-07:00

Well, yesterday I got older.

And today Billie is making me a delicious carrot cake, which is my fave. It's kinda nice when other people do the baking sometimes.

Sigh...

Vegan Gluten-free brownies & Birthday Cupcakes

2008-09-27T14:30:00.000-07:00

I guess I've been baking a lot. I have, however, not been taking the best of photographs...so some things don't end up here. Someday (ahem...when I have more money) I will buy a better camera. Sigh...to be born rich...I tell ya.

Anyway....

The other day my endeavor was Vegan Gluten-Free Agave Sweetened Brownies, with Pecans.
They turned out really great! I love Agave sweetened treats because they are just a bit less sweet than treats with sugar in them. And as sweet as my tooth MAY be, I actually prefer subtlety. The texture was also great on these...Moist, and not a bit gritty.

Today is my friend Jamie's Birthday. He just had a beautiful baby girl with his lovely lady, Kymmie. They named her Zion Twyla Lux. She is perfect and snuggly and wonderful and lucky to have awesome parents! Although Jamie has to work today, word has it that he will stop by and see me at work this evening. SO...I made him a small batch of cupcakes to show the love! Vegan Yellow Cupcakes with Chocolate Hazelnut frosting. I realized that I have misplaced my large open star piping tip...which I'm kind of sad about. The smaller ones just don't have the same swirling fluffy effect that the large ones do!

Happy ACL festival to everyone down at Zilker park, and I'll see you later behind ye ole bar.

Vegan Bling Cake

2008-09-20T14:57:00.001-07:00

My friend Kevin might be one of the craziest people I know. For a while, he was trying to outdo himself each night by wearing more and more bling. It's pretty funny, really.

To give you an idea of just how theatrical it all becomes on occasion, I stole a photo from his myspace. Keep in mind that this particular photo was for some party, it's not QUITE so outrageous on the nightly. ha...

Tonight, his friends are throwing him a "30th Birthday Pool Party". The irony here is that it is neither his 30th birthday, NOR will there be a pool. But, as I said...totally nuts!

Anyway, he's a really good dude, and I decided that I should take the opportunity to have a fun cake project with it, since I have to work and can't go to the party.

Here is the Bling Cake. Complete with giant "gold" chain on top, fondant diamonds, and gold flake. It's Chocolate with Vanilla Buttercream, and the top two layers are covered in rolled fondant.

I really love this cake for some reason. Probably just because it is SO silly. Which is totally my style!

Well, a belated happy birthday to kevin, and to everyone else...

I hope your weekend is awesome!
Off to work, yet again...

Hannah's Oatmeal (sans)Raisin Rolls...vegan miniatures.

2008-09-13T13:25:00.000-07:00

We all know I'm pretty psyched to have My Sweet Vegan in my hot little hands now. I have been eyeing the Oatmeal Raisin Rolls since the second I got it. I LOVE LOVE LOVE cinnamon rolls, and have made them a couple of times, but they always take SO much prep, and SO much time. These, however, did not! I was pleased.

I am not the biggest fan of raisins. Once in a while I'll be into them, and the exception of course is oatmeal raisin cookies. So, to change Hannah's recipe to my liking, I made them into cinnamon rolls with no raisins. I also used almond milk instead, which i love. I made them very small, because mostly in the morning I like to drink coffee and have a little snack.

And by little snack I mean that I liked them enough to eat 3 of the minis! yum.

I have decided that the next time, I need more filling, maybe change it up and use a cinnamon streusel instead of just brown sugar, a brush of margarine and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

Anyway, it's a delicious morning treat and you should (if you haven't already) rush out, buy the book and start baking!

In other news, Ike may have torn up the coast, but we in Austin haven't seen so much as a single drop of rain. In fact, right now its sunny and humid. I'm glad that we didn't have a shit storm, but some rain and a few cracks of thunder would be a welcome change! I hope everybody down south is ok. The world is a crazy place.

Now to get ready to go open the bar...

Prickly Pear- Don't Touch It!

2008-09-12T15:58:00.000-07:00

Prickly Pear Cactus is widely found in texas.

The Stem/leaf parts are called Nopales, and are eaten as a vegetable, sauteed and put in tacos in Mexico and here in Texas. I'm not the hugest fan, myself, but alot of people really like them. The fruit, the prickly pear itself, has big hard seeds inside, but the flesh is sweet and tastes a little like a slightly more acidic kiwi, really. Not to mention it has an AMAZING color. Alot of sorbets and jellies are made from the fruit.

That being said, DO NOT touch the prickly pear with your bare hands! Not only will the large spines stick firmly into your skin, but the tiny hairlike spines (called glochids) will too, and it SUCKS! Even though we took precautions, I am still finding a tiny spine in my hand here and there...a couple days later!

Anyway, now that you know about it...let me tell you what WE did.
Not knowing the extent of their prickliness, I picked some with my hands, but mostly we cut them off the plants with a knife, letting them drop into a paper bag.

When we got home, we used heavy work gloves, and cut the fruits in half, exposing the beautifully colored pink fruit.

Then, we scooped out the middle with a melon-baller, being careful only to get the red part in the bowl.

Then, I simmered the fruits with some agave nectar and lemon juice until it was nice and syrupy. Finally, I strained out all the seeds and big fleshy parts (you definitely want the seeds out, they are hard...the pulp is up to you!)

This product can (and should, for deliciousness purposes), be used in making margaritas. I, however, used the syrup to make soda spritzers, which i love to do with almost any juice.

As much as I loved the process, and the taste and colorful beauty of this endeavor...the spiny prickles definitely make it a bittersweet adventure.

Here is my lovely spritzer, and my lesson learned that nature WILL prevail.

Speaking of which, the Texas coast is getting slammed by hurricane Ike over the next couple of days. People in Austin are preparing for storms, 50mph hour winds, and possible power outages. I will be at work the next couple of days, hoping that my basil plants and my dog's psyche hold up through the storm.

Updates on Sugar Tooth Bakery and new baking projects to come...Stay Tuned!

Cheers to staying safe and dry.

xo.

What do MotoX, My Sweet Vegan & Smoothies have in common?

2008-09-06T15:54:00.000-07:00

Well, I guess the three things in the title actually have very little in common. Except that they are what I'm thinking about today!

First, the Vegan Motocross cake that my friend ordered for a friend of his the other day. I should have made it larger, and made an entire course...but seeing as I work on the weekends, once again I didn't have time. It was vegan chocolate chocolate and I thought it turned out pretty well. Sarah liked it a lot, apparently...so I'm glad!

What do YOU think? I clearly did NOT make the motocross bike or the rider. I'm sure it was made out of some very high quality plastic though! Ha.

Anyway, next...Why Hannah and my friend Billie are awesome. My birthday is coming up at the end of the month, and Billie brought me my early birthday present. My Sweet Vegan, the wonderful book by Hannah Kaminsky. I can't believe I don't already own it. But I have a tendency not to buy things for myself, so it really is the perfect gift! (and hannah, if you're reading this, once again...you are amazing. I am especially glad that it is chock full of not only delicious recipes, but beautiful photographs as well! I hate cook books devoid of pictures. Must be the kid in me!)

SO...those of you who don't have it yet...go buy Hannah's book. Seriously.

y una mas cosa para hoy... SMOOTHIES!

today's smoothie recipe...just for fun:

1 small banana
1/4 cup frozen organic strawberries
1/8 cup frozen organic bluberries
splash coconut milk
2 tbs. almond butter
approx 1/3 cup soy milk

It was totally an entire meal, and packed full of protein and anti-oxidants. YAY!
i heart nutrition.

Hope everyone's having a great Saturday!
xo.

Mediterranean Potluck!

2008-09-04T15:34:00.000-07:00

My friend Erin has parties once in a while. Usually I can't go because I have to work on the weekends. So when I got a text telling me that she was having a potluck on Wednesday I was very excited, since not only could I go, but I also had time to make things!

She decided that the theme was Mediterranean. It was a small gathering, and probably one of the most successful and delicious potlucks I've been to in a while. Almost everyone made something, and everything tasted amazing!

Erin made vegan schwarma, which was phenomenal. There was hummus, of course, fatoush (LOVE that word AND the salad itself), Billie made a great rice and lentil salad. I bought a GIANT can of Aegean Dolma's. As seldom as I opt to buy things in a can over making it myself, this time was definitely worth it. Billie and I agree that every time we've tried to make, or buy home made Dolmas, we are disappointed. Aegean are by far our favorites. And SO....a giant can was to be had!

No meal is complete without dessert, of course, and you KNOW that this is my favorite part to make (and sometimes consume). So, I threw myself head first into the world of vegan baklava, and came out successful. Although next time I would change a couple of things, these tasted AMAZING! I used walnuts and half evaporated cane juice, half agave nectar. mmm....

I documented a few steps of the process...which I've nestled throughout the post. BUT..here is the finished product! YUM! yum yum...

Everyone was really psyched on the Baklava. I think an Indian themed potluck is next, because Billie loves it so much. She has definitely perfected more than a couple of dishes!

I'm a lucky girl to have good friends and so much good food in my life.
You know, just to get a little emo for a sec! haha...it's true though.

Another year down...

2008-09-01T12:07:00.000-07:00

As you might recall, this time last year I made some chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes. The impetus of this was my friend Taj's Birthday. They were delicious! Taj loves cookie dough. He will eat a ton of it straight outta' the bowl.

This year, I didn't have much time to bake anything. SO, i no-baked again. What's up with me and the no-baking lately? I guess it's more of a time issue than anything else. OH right, and its HOT as sin down here in Texas in August.

These little nuggets of way-too-sweet-for-me goodness were literally just cookie dough dipped in chocolate. They were, of course, delicious if you're into that sort of thing. As I said though, a little too sweet for moi. Here's a shot of the bottom, which cracked open upon pulling them off the drying rack. It looks kind of nice this way though, don't you think?

When my friend Ryan bit into one he said..."oh, Meghan hates teeth!"...which was kind of funny, I thought. Especially given that bizarro lady who internet-yelled at me for promoting sugar consumption. Ah well...Hopefully Taj liked them. That's all that really counts.

If you love really sweet stuff, AND cookie dough, definitely make these!

I added wee tags spelling out my desired message, and put it all in a box. I think it looked pretty darned cute!

Finally Inspired: Avo Chimichurri, Veg Lasagna, No-bake cookies!

2008-08-28T15:41:00.000-07:00

I haven't been inspired to cook in ages. I mean, really cook. Not bake something, or whip up some treats, or run a test kitchen. I mean, FEED myself. I haven't been grocery shopping in a month, and I have been eating out every day. Not only is this not good for the body OR the psyche, but it is also not-surprisingly costly. Due to unexpected family trips, I find myself with less money than I normally have. Also with trying to get things together to open a wee bakery, excess spending is a terrible idea.

That being said, all these factors have come together to inspire me. I finally went grocery shopping yesterday, and have found my legs in the kitchen again. I think both my wallet AND my...ahem...girlish figure will thank me.

SO, you ask? What have I made.
Here's the list that has accumulated in the last 24 hours or so.
(Please excuse the poor photography, that is one thing I haven't been inspired on today!)

1. Vegan Lasagna, with mushrooms, spinach, fresh tomatoes, and basil (from my "garden"). Instead of red sauce, which I'm not the hugest fan of, I made a sort of vegan alfredo sauce. I did, however, top the lasagna with a tiny bit of red sauce for good measure. The alfredo was delicious, and had thyme from my garden, as well as hints of nutmeg.

2. I've been rather obsessed with this month's Veg Times, if you hadn't noticed. I have also been having serious avocado cravings. The two might be connected, as the magazine had avocados as their "One ingredient, Five ways" for the month. One of the recipes is an Avocado Chimichurri Bruschetta, which I highly recommend. I adapted it a bit and also used no oil except a slight drizzle on top of the toasts. YUM!

4. No-Bake Oat, Coconut, Almond Clusters.
This was ridiculously delicious, and ridiculously chocolatey. Luckily, however, there are tons of nutrients suspended amongst the sugar and chocolate, so I don't feel TOO bad eating them.

I didn't really follow a recipe, it's pretty classic, but I will tell you what I did.

Melted maybe 1/2 cup of evaporated cane juice in some earth balance and some coconut milk over low heat. Let that come to a little boil and hang out for a few minutes until it seemed syrupy. Then added a little less than 2 cups of oats, a handful of shredded coconut, and a handful of slivered almonds. Stirred it all up until it was all mixed. Then dropped clusters onto a waxed papered cookie sheet to go into the refrigerator for half an hour until they were set.

You could pretty much add anything to these. Dried fruits, chocolate chips or peanut butter...the list goes on!

Who doesn't love No-Bake cookies? Super easy, and super tasty. Super sweet though, so watch out!

As lame as it may be, I'm going to mention the new bakery in most of my posts from here on out. It's really all that's on my mind. It will take a while to get it all off the ground, but I need all the support I can get...so....

Check it out...South Austin's newest vegan bakery, Sugar Tooth, coming soon. Until then, order cakes and treats from us for your event or party, so that we can open sooner than later!

and be sure to check out our myspace and add us as a friend!

Sugar Tooth Myspace

If you aren't on myspace, feel free to email us at
Sugartoothbakery@hotmail.com for inquiries.

Sugartoothbakery.com is up, but we haven't really posted anything there yet.
More to come...

Cheers!
Meghan

Sugar Tooth Vegan Bakery in South Austin, coming SOON!

2008-08-23T13:21:00.000-07:00

My friend Annie and I are finally doing it! We are in the process of getting our shit together to actually execute this bakery thing. At the moment, we would be happy to bake things for your special events. Birthdays, Weddings, Anniversaries, etc. OR, if you just happen to have a hankering for something sweet. Custom and Classic designs available for any occasion! Please contact us with any questions or orders.

We don't have a location and such yet, but that is all in the works as well!
I'm very excited about it!

You can start by visiting and adding us as your friend on myspace. Here it is:

Sugar Tooth Bakery

Tell all your friends, and feel free to contact us to place orders even before we get the actual bakery up and running. All vegan, gluten free available, as well as agave sweetened (no real sugar!), option for natural food coloring only. Any special dietary needs CAN be met.

We appreciate your support, and look forward to the months ahead!

I'll post here with all updates, so stay tuned, for sure.

sweet sweet love,
meghan

Peanut Butter- Oatmeal Cookies a la Veg Times

2008-08-16T12:29:00.000-07:00

Banzai is a door guy at my bar. He is a large Italian man, who might be one of the craziest people I've ever known. He is also hilarious. And loves to eat like nobody's business!

A few posts back you might recall that I made some snickerdoodles. WELL, I made a very small batch, and because of this fact, took a few cookies to work. ONLY a few. SO...when I got there, I told Banzai I had made cookies, and that he could have one. "ONLY ONE???", was his response! Banzai is a man who could easily eat your entire batch of cookies, so he was very upset to get merely a single sample. It has become an inside joke with us, and he tells EVERYONE who will listen the story of how I only made him ONE cookie. All in his very Italian accent of course! I've been telling him for a while that I will make more cookies, and he could be sure that he will have at least several.

I decided that today was the day. Hopefully he is actually working tonight, otherwise I will have to make more another day. That of course, would be just fine by me!

The cookies I made today were the Peanut Butter-Oatmeal variety that can be found in this month's Vegetarian Times. They aren't too sweet, and are VERY delicious. Get yourself a glass of soy milk, and whip up a batch. Super easy, super delicious in no time at all! AND I'm sure you have all of the ingredients on hand if you bake. That's the best thing...recipes you don't even have to go to the grocery store for!

If you don't get Veg Times and need the recipe, let me know.
mmm mmm mmm...

Now a little relaxation and a shower before I go open the bar this evening.

an award, and blogs i love!

2008-08-02T15:13:00.000-07:00

DJ at
The Skint Vegan is a fabulous lady, and has nominated me for a Brilliante Blog Award. Thanks DJ, for that, and for your kind words and support. It means a lot to me. DJ has a lot of great recipes on her blog as well, so be sure to check them out. NOT to mention that her family is ADORABLE, and she often posts pictures of her cute kiddos!

The rules of the award tell me that I now nominate 7 other blogs for an award.
Here they are in no particular order:

Sugar Crash Vegan Bakery, friends of mine in Seattle who do a mobile bakery and whip up some delicious and pretty things!

Melisser at
The Urban Housewife. She's awesome, and will not only cook/bake awesome stuff, but she'll also review all the vegan delights she discovers in all of her travels. VERY helpful if you like to move around a bit and check out new restaurants!

Kittee at
Cake Maker to the Stars, for just plain being a rockstar. Also a great resource for recipes. Not to mention, cute knitting stuffs, caterpillars and the goings on of an amazing lady!

Lauren at
Vegan Yum Yum. Doesn't this go without saying? The most beautifully portrayed deliciousness and recipes. Not to mention a really talented and sweet gal. We all look forward to her cookbook coming out one day sooner than later!

Hannah at
Bittersweet. Another obvious one. Kind of a like a wonder-child (without really being a child), she already has a cookbook out and she's younger than most of us, for sure. SO, go buy your copy of My Sweet Vegan, and put that in your bowl and mix it!

Celine at
Have Cake, Will Travel. This might be my very favorite blog of all times. This woman can do NO wrong in a kitchen. Especially where cookies are concerned. You would be stupid NOT to check out her blog if you haven't already!

Wheeler's Black Label Vegan Ice Cream. Didn't the name already convince you. VEGAN ICECREAM! I only hope they come to Austin someday!

Everyday Dish. Just check it out. That's all I can say!

You know what to do now, go check out these blogs, get yourself some new recipes and info, and get your butt into the kitchen!

Let's see if I can now figure out how to inform all of these people how much I love them!

cheers!
Meghan

Britt's Vegan Chocolate gluten-free, sugar-free cake! (and a few other things)

2008-07-24T15:49:00.001-07:00

If you read my last post, you will know that I had experimented with a very special needs kind of cake for my lovely BFF. She has (or rather, SHOULD have) very restricted eating habits! She's not supposed to eat any wheat OR any sugar (even fruit sugar isn't the best thing for her). She can, however, tolerate agave nectar pretty well.

Yesterday was her birthday. We had a little get together for her, which was a pot luck. We made some pesto with the BUSH of basil on her front porch, and made a quinoa-pasta pesto salad with creminis, sun-dried tomatoes and hearts of palm! Of course, it was amazing. Other people brought various things. Such as a delicious gazpacho risotto. YUM!

Using the successful recipe from my previous cupcakes, I made Britt a delicious wee cake. It was a VEGAN chocolate, gluten-free (a blend of many flours)Cake, sweetened ONLY with agave nectar.

It was a 5-layer 6" cake, with chocolate almond butter frosting (which i changed the recipe a lot from the last time, to make it creamier), and a raspberry puree reduction inside. DAMN did it turn out delicious! I love chocolate, but not a TON of it, like Britt does. But I found myself really loving this creation. Mmmmm....

With the extra, I made pretty little cupcakes.

OK, so that's the cake. I'm psyched to now have perfected a gluten-free cake that doesn't leave a graininess in your mouth! It was Billie and I who made that happen, to give credit where credit is due.

ANYWAY...here are the other odds and ends.

I've mentioned before that Britt has a jewelry company, which she sells her stuff on an etsy store. The last time I posted about it, however, was when she just had a couple of items up. SO...I'm mentioning again that her stuff is ADORABLE, classy, pretty, hip...anything you're looking for, there will be something for you!

So go check it out, buy something and support one of the best women ever! You won't be sorry! Here's a link, and some of her stuff...
Bird & Monster.

Speaking of my favorite women ever. (This post is just turning into a plug for my friends...but alas...I love them.)...
My good friend and a professor I had in college, Sara, is also a baking fanatic. I found this out recently, and had a fun time helping her out (ahem...watching mostly!) with a fondant covered cake she made for someone in her department.

Check out her cakes and send her love at
La Dulce Vida

Ah yes, it's rainy in central Texas today. Due to the hurricanes down near the gulf. We do need rain though. AND it's a great excuse to lounge around in bed all day! (as though I needed an excuse)....

cheers to a rainy day.
xo.

Vegan Snickerdoodles, Vegan/gluten/sugar-free chocolate Cupcakes & Vegan Jello!

2008-07-15T23:24:00.000-07:00

First, I'd like to reiterate how much I LOVE
Have Cake, Will Travel! Definitely one of my favorite blogs, chock full of delicious recipes.

So, I wanted to make some cookies, and that was the first place I looked for a reference. I used the recipe (which is actually from a Veg Times issue) to make the best Vegan Snickerdoodles ever! While mine may not be as picturesque as Celine's... they sure were tasty! I was ecstatic that they turned out so perfectly! (Thanks Celine, Thanks Veg Times!)

Here are mine:

and here is the link to the recipe:
Veg Times Vegan Snickerdoodles via Have Cake, Will Travel!

Today Billie and I went to the bookstore. This, of course, usually results in more cookbooks for one, or both of us. My Bff's bday is on the 23rd, and she has serious dietary restrictions that she really should follow. SO...as the girl who loves her the most, I did some research, and experimented with making a Vegan, Gluten-Free Cupcake Sweetened only with Agave Nectar.

Found an awesome cookbook called "Cooking Free", which gives you all sorts of recipes which are one or some of the following: Dairy-Free, Wheat/Gluten-Free, Sugar-Free (although, mostly he calls for maple sugar and you have to adapt it yourself) and Egg-Free. There is great info in the book, as well, on how to use various ingredients and how to adapt recipes accordingly. The one drawback for vegans: it has recipes involving meat. Some of them seem interesting though, and adaptable. You never know.

ANYWAY...With a little tweaking of the recipe, Billie and I had a serious breakthrough. We made Vegan Chocolate, Gluten-Free, Agave sweetened cupcakes. AND GUESS WHAT? they were amazing!

They had a fine crumb, but stayed in tact. They weren't grainy like most gluten-free baked goods (ie: no "sandiness" in your mouth), and they also had no bizarre aftertaste. Just straight up delicious, delicate chocolate cake! Sigh...I love a successful day!

SO...to top them off, we made an Almond Butter chocolate frosting. Agave sweetened only.

seriously, these things are SO much better than this picture conveys! And aside from some canola oil, you can feel pretty darned good about all the ingredients. There is even Quinoa flour in it. And you KNOW how good Quinoa is for you!

You can get the recipe (which allows you to select different flours and such) from the book Cooking Free. Or, if you really want it, just drop me a line, and I'll send it to you. I'm too tired to type it out right now! (ahem...who's lazy?)

Ok, last but not least...I will tell you that I'm SUCH an old lady in some ways. Here is one of them...

Natural Desserts Vegan Raspberry "Jel Dessert" (ie: JELLO!), with bananas and cherries trapped inside the sweet sweet lovin'.

This dessert MAY only be for children and old ladies...but it's setting in my refrigerator as I type, and I just might eat it for breakfast!

OH...and in the interest of being EXTRA long-winded. I am, yet again, Aunt Meghan, with the Birth of Christopher Lawrence (I plan to call him C-Lo!), my nephew who was born 3 days ago. He is CUTE, and I can't wait to meet him. Hopefully sooner than later, even though my Bro and his family live in far away NC.

God it feels good to be a gangsta....

Green Thumb & Mock Duck Spring Rolls!

2008-07-09T16:31:00.000-07:00

First, I will admit that historically I have killed every plant that I've touched. This includes herbs, flowers, other plants and even ALOE! That's right...Aloe. Dead.

Anyway, I'm really determined to have a garden someday when I own a house. A big one. Full of veggies and herbs and fruits and deliciousness. SO...my education has been a little flawed up until now. Here are some pictures to prove that I have not yet killed anything I've tried to keep alive this year. I'm very proud of myself!

My Peppermint (amazing digestive aid when used as a tea!) and my ornamental Spider Plant:

My amazingly thriving Thyme. And a couple of Basil plants that are doing pretty well:

AND...even a Marigold plant that I have repotted and managed to nurse slowly back to health!

If you look closely, you will see that someone has chosen to hide amongst the pedals.

That's my little start to what will someday be a nice garden, I hope.

Now that it is a zillion degrees here in Austin, all I really want is lemonade. BUT...since I have to eat to stay alive, I have become obsessed with Vietnamese food. More accurately, Spring Rolls. I've always liked them, but never to this extent. My friend Billie is totally consumed by them, and it has officially rubbed off on me! I swear I could wrap anything in Rice Paper and be a happy girl.

In the interest of not eating out at EVERY meal, which I have been doing lately, I decided to buck up and make my own Spring Rolls.

Despite the crappy quality of the photograph...They turned out amazingly!

Here's what went inside:
Mock Duck (from a CAN, if you can believe that!)
Vermicelli Noodles
Cucumbers (from my friend Matt's garden)
Raw Spinach
Basil (from MY garden, see above!)

Then I made a delightful peanut sauce to go with it.

Here's what went into that:
Peanut butter
Coconut Milk
Soy Sauce
Grated fresh ginger (again, I keep some in the freezer then grate with a microplane!)
A wee bit of brown sugar
Siracha sauce (duh!)
Squirt of lemon juice

The only thing missing was a little hoisin sauce, which I love.

Roll these up, dip 'em in the sauce, add enough Siracha to burn your mouth off, wash down with ginger lemonade and...
ENJOY!

Life is definitely NOT bad.

For the Love of Christ Lemonade...

2008-07-06T16:56:00.001-07:00

I don't mean to be redundant in my blogging...but SERIOUSLY, you must must must do yourself this one favor! MAKE THIS LEMONADE.

Today is a cool 90 degrees in Austin. That's right...COOL. A tiny breeze even.

I went to the dog park, and totally forgot to bring a beverage. Mistake numero uno!

SO...after dropping Hallie off safely at home, I promptly went to the grocery store and bought 12 lemons. And some La Croix fizzy water, in the Pamplemousse variety. That's Pomelo in Spanish, and Grapefruit in English. Now you know.

But, I digress... Fizzy water and this lemonade are mutually exclusive of one another, unless you get sassy and want fizzy lemonade!

For the Love of Christ Lemonade
(AS IN: for the love of christ do yourself a favor and make this NOW!

Juice from approx 6 lemons
approx. 1/4 cup agave nectar (again, I used tangerine ginger, but regular works)
Fresh grated ginger approx. 3 teaspoons or to taste (I freeze some and then use a microplane to grate it!)
approx. 1/2 gallon of filtered water

First Juice all your lemons. Make sure not to get any seeds in there, but the pulp is nice. A fine strainer works pretty well for this if you don't have a citrus juicer. Then add the water, until it isn't the most sour thing you've ever tasted. Then add agave until it's sweet but not too sweet. Then add ginger until you're happy, realizing that tomorrow it will taste more gingery than today. Stir and/or shake the shit out of it in a pretty glass pitcher, giant pickle jar that you're reusing or anything that will hold a bunch of liquid!

Then...sit back, relax in the sun, and rejoice in that cool refreshing drink.

You will not be disappointed, I promise.
Mmmmmmmm.

PS: If you're worried about lemons and acidity in your gut...
read this. The opposite is actually true!

Vegan Bicycle Cake, etc...

2008-07-03T17:30:00.000-07:00

I was going to start by saying that I am the biggest slacker ever. But, truth be told, I've actually been busier than normal. This is a good thing. But, it has meant that I haven't had time to post about my roommate Skot's little birthday get together.

First, I made tiny open-faced sandwich appetizers.

As I mentioned before, one kind had a deliciously spicy chipotle spread with veggies:

and the other had broiled (my favorite texture) lemon basil thyme tofu, with veggies:

These were my favorites!

I also got a little WT and made some vegan pigs-in-a-blanket. Mmm...here they are before being baked into golden nuggets of joy!...anything to be dipped in spicy mustard is A-ok in my book.

On the beverage menu:
-Pomegranate Blueberry "Mimosas"...champagne, organic juice, and floating blueberries! AMAZING! MAKE THESE!
-Gingery Lemonade sweetened with agave nectar (I used tangerine ginger). No heating required! The most refreshing drink this side of the Mississippi on any day of the hottest June in Texas history!

And the grand finale, of course...Skot's Vegan Bicycle Cake. Strawberry (with delicious strawberry puree, and strawberry buttercream frosting! Dense, but delicious! Kind of cute, don't you think?

For me, July is definitely Birthday Month. I will be making at LEAST one more cake this month, and possibly more if I find the time!
MAKE A WISH....

lemongrass ginger tea & the project of the weekend...

2008-06-28T15:33:00.001-07:00

First I will post a picture of my new favorite beverage.

It's Lemon grass-Ginger tea concentrate, made by yours truly. I am a little more than obsessed with Lemon grass. I love it! And the Asian market in Austin has Lemon grass for super cheap! SO...I buy it, chop and muddle it, simmer it down with a ton of grated fresh ginger and a little agave nectar (I use ginger tangerine). Then I have a wonderful concentrate. You can either add water and make a less strong Iced Tea. Or you can add club soda for a cold and fizzy treat. OR...my favorite...Make a little lemonade and put some of the concentrate in it. I highly recommend any and all of these options. YUM!

Yesterday was my roommates birthday. Tomorrow we are having a little evening snacks/drinks/cake party at my house.
Here is a preview of the cake makings:

Check back in a day or two to see pictures of the cake. It should be pretty fab!

Also here are some of the items on the snack menu (since he doesn't read this and will still be surprised):

Vegan Finger Sandwiches:
-chipotle spread with veggies
-lemon basil thyme tofu (with avocado)...marinating even as i type

-vegan pigs in a blanket
BUT NOT THESE PIGS....hehe ;)

Guppie the wonder Puppy, Maddie & Hallie
FUN!

billie's vegan nachos, etc...

2008-06-19T11:05:00.000-07:00

welp...no baking still.
BUT, yesterday my awesome friend billie (who i've mentioned a million times) made us the most delicious vegan nachos ever! Two person vegan nacho PARTY!
she makes a special queso that is SO delicious. it starts off normally, with nutritional yeast and flour and all that (the one i make sometimes), but she has several secret ingredients which add a delicious, nutritious awesomeness.

to top them off:
vegan "beef strips"
refried black beans
yellow hominy
vegan sour cream
guacamole
lettuce
cilantro
salsa
green onions

YUM! i'm lucky to have awesome girl friends!

in other news, i got my hair did last week. and for the first time in years, i have a crazy color in it. Bright red! i was thinking about putting copper in, but my stylist suggested this, and we went for it.
here's a picture of me and hallie (aka: the beans), who is clearly the love of my life.

cheers to lemonade and summer fun.

nada blog

2008-06-17T21:24:00.000-07:00

No one is blogging right now.
myself included.
it's hot in texas. hotter with an oven on, obviously!
things are kind of crappy right now, in general for me anyway. whatever...
as usual...that will change eventually.

i did, however, get to do the beginnings of some pickling (i am obsessed with all things pickled) with a friend of mine. i didn't take pictures, because i'm a slacker.
i learned a little bit about canning/jarring things, which was cool. hadn't done it since jam making with mom when i was little.

we started counter-top pickles (cucumber), which need to be canned in a week.
we also made a sweet-ish pickle brine, which we pickled various beautiful squashes and onions with. we added fresh herbs and lemon rinds to several of the little jars. yummy!

speaking of pickles...

my favorite store-bought (cucumber) pickles, in order of my love for them...

1) Claussen's Kosher Dills. best pickles EVER to be bought in a normal grocery store!!! (unfortunately i couldn't find a bigger picture)
Always bought in HALVES for the best amount of flavor and crunch (something i learned from duff, who is clearly a genius!) my favorite favorite favorite ones!

2) Gundelsheim's Garlic Barrel Pickles YUM!
Amazing and garlicky, although the brine is a little sweeter than your average dill. So if you HATE HATE sweet pickles with a passion, you might not be into these. (these are my friend sam's favorites!)

3) Boar's Head Kosher Dills
A relatively decent substitute for Claussen's if completely necessary!

Anyway, there you have it.
I love pickles.
even when i'm not at my best.

Other things i love in the texas heat (a reminder to myself, mostly)

-lemonade (perhaps even half lemonade half hibiscus tea)

-ridiculously long hikes in shady woods with dogs (today was my hallie's bday celebration with her best dog friend maddie...which meant miles and miles of hiking and water and special treats from Groovy Dog Bakery!)

-pantsless summer! (no, not NAKEY...skirts and dresses, silly!)

-the idea of picking peaches in an orchard sometime soon, and making preserves. mmm...peaches...mmm...ginger peach jammy stuffs...mmm (stay tuned!)

****** cheers to good things to come and feeling better******

Primates. Who knew?

2008-06-09T14:46:00.000-07:00

Well, it's hotter than hell deep in the heart of texas now.
that's fine...i've decided that it is going to be a "pantsless" summer. i got the idea from a friend, after telling her that i'm coming to terms with being a girl again, and am planning to wear nothing buts dresses and skirts for the summer in hopes of trying to stay cool.

i mean, i already gave the secret away years ago...i'm not really that tough! GASP!

anyway...yeah, its hot here. when it gets hot, i don't bake as much. because then my house becomes even harder to cool down! and i don't cook as much, i mostly just eat tofu salad and rice crackers or go out to eat.

SO...instead of blogging about food, i'm going to blog about love. ready? (trust me, keep reading).

if you read the last couple of posts i made, you will know that i recently went to Isla Mujeres, which is one of the most amazing places i've ever been. beautiful, good weather (at least right now...it rains 6 months out of the year though apparently), good (tasting) food (my belly doesn't really like that stuff much), wonderful culture and people, etc. etc. etc...

So...here comes the mushy part.
It is the story of a love between a spider monkey and a girl.

Hacienda Mundaca....

Hacienda Mundaca originally covered almost forty percent of the island. Built by Fermin Mundaca after he "retired" from pirating and slave trading around 1858, the hacienda was surrounded by magnificent gardens including the solar clock garden called "The Rose of the Winds". Mundaca dedicated his hacienda to a local beauty, 37 years younger then himself, known as "La Triguena" (the brunette). The arches above the gates were known as "The Entrance of the Triguena" and "The Pass of the Triguena". His dedication was in vain, she married a man closer to her own age and as legend tells it, Fermin Mundaca slowly went insane and died, alone in Merida. His empty tomb still awaits him in the Isla Mujeres cemetery. Carved by his own hands are the skull and cross bones, in memory of his pirating days and the words meant for his love, "As you are, I was. As I am, you will be".
Today, the Hacienda's remaining structures, gardens and pathways are being restored and recently a small zoo has been added. You will see monkeys, various birds, crocodiles, pythons and even a Jaguar. The entrance fee is $10 pesos and well worth a visit. The best time to go to Mundaca is in the morning before it gets too hot. Remember to wear bug repellent for the mosquitoes!

Ok, so the small "zoo" is very small. and also kind of sad. large cages. concrete. sad. BUT...they seem to get fed well, which is more than i can say for some places.

ANYWAY...you WILL indeed see monkeys. spider monkeys. 4 of them. from my assessment, an older male, a matriarch and two younger ones.

I was mesmerized. it was lunch time. an old man with a one-missing toothy grin puts a few piles of bananas, avocados and what appear to be mangos through the rungs of the cage. the cage is maybe 20 feet tall, and very large. made only of chain link fencing. the ground is concrete. there is almost nothing inside, but a small hut that the monkeys sit upon and can go into. Feeding time is amazing to watch. Tiny people-like hands shoving avocado halves into little mouths to be emptied. Then skins thrown to the wayside, and onto another piece. wow!

other visitors would come and rile the monkeys up a bit, and all the while i sat very quietly, simply observing, a mere foot from the cage on the ground. eventually at some point after lunch, the younger male (my guess) came over and sat very close to me on the cage. He, as well as the other 3, were overwhelmingly sleepy, it seemed. monkeys in mexico need siestas after lunch too, i guess! (who doesn't?)

i sat there, still very relaxed, but began having a one-sided convo with the little guy. i talked about his lunch and how delicious it was and how he seemed very tired. i guess i stayed long enough and was just calm enough for him to trust me. 10 minutes later, he initiated contact. he put his tail through the holes in the cage and set it on my leg. A little nervous, i pet the tail a tiny bit. It was very much like my dog's tail (i've always thought she was part monkey anyway!) At some point he wrapped the end of his tail around my arm, and by then i was much more at ease. It was clear that he just needed affection!

So i pet him, and kept talking to him quietly. Then the MOST amazing thing happened. He put his hand out of the cage, stretching as far as he could. It was obvious that he wanted me to hold his hand. SO I DID! and of course, i was so touched, i started tearing up. wow! we held hands for a bit until it sounded as though people were coming, and i walked away.

Noska asked me if i had taken a picture. I didn't think i had, so i decided i would do the impossible...try to hold the monkey's hand a SECOND time. This proved to be amazingly simple. i just went back to my perch next to the cage, and he came back over and stuck his hand out. (it turned out that i had actually taken a photo the first time, but didn't see it when i checked)

I honestly could NOT believe that it happened. ESPECIALLY a second time! For some reason, this experience had a profound effect on me. generally speaking, i have an affinity for most creatures. That being said, i loved this monkey so much! i was mostly amazed that he must have sensed something in me that made him trust, when he was so clearly freaked out by some of the other visitors.

needless to say...i did touch to the animals, and neither left hurt!

**And so concludes the story of a love between a girl and a spider monkey**

Just look at this face and tell me you wouldn't feel the same way....

100% vacaciones

2008-06-02T18:21:00.000-07:00

well...
i'm back from isla mujeres...
ate some food, but mostly that which my belly was unhappy with. i DID have watermelon (sandia) agua fresca y the most delicious popsicle ever made (pineapple).

i got a new tattoo (from a friend there, not some sketchy place)...

more to come.

already missing la playa...

vacations and advice...

2008-05-24T14:04:00.000-07:00

i recently decided that i was tired of not going anywhere. or rather, not going EVERYwhere, which is what i like to do.

if you followed this blog (and i'm sure you don't!) you would know that i went to san francisco for the very first time, earlier this month. now i'm about to take another first trip...to mexico.

i've been to a border town, loredo...but that HARDLY counts.

SO, tonight i will sling booze as per usual, then tomorrow i will pack, and monday i will fly into cancun. i know...you're thinking...WHAT? CANCUN? GROSS! BUT... then we will take a ferry to isla mujeres, where we will remain for an entire week. its supposed to be pretty and super laid back.

my goal is to get serious sundress and hammock relaxation time in.

ANYWAY...when i come home, i will need some advice. If you knew me, you would also know that i have digestive probs like nobodies biz. in the last year and a half, i've gotten it all mostly under control by not eating dairy (except a bit of cheese, since i cant resist) and overall just paying attention to how i feel when i eat different things. i also take medication.

recently, i've become nervous that it might have to do with wheat. SO, i'm going to try my hardest to do a gluten-free diet for a little while after mexico.

i've never done it before, and i'm kind of nervous...but i really want to make sure that by eating wheat i'm not further damaging my digestive system. if i DO have an intolerance, then i could really be harming my body.

i know a little about celiac's and the diet and i have some good resources for cookbooks, but any additional advice (tips, secrets, hidden wheat in everyday foods, etc...) would be great. i'm not sure how good i will be, or how long my trial will last. we shall see...

until then, i'll be sipping pina coladas near the ocean.

xo.

Oscar's 2nd Birthday

2008-05-20T13:26:00.000-07:00

I've mentioned before that I made my good friend, (and awesome tattoo artist) Rachel Kolar some of Lolo's donuts for her birthday. She and her fam REALLY love them (and who wouldn't...Lolo is clearly a genius!).

SO...for her fabulous little boy's 2nd birthday soirée, Rachel asked me to make 4 dozen of the donuts. And a cake.

Rachel and Jason decided the toppings for the donuts. I was able to make all of them vegan except the milk chocolate, of course. In the giant box there were: dark chocolate with toasted coconut, glazed with toasted coconut (my personal fave!), glazed with rainbow sprinkles, and milk chocolate. It's really amazing to see SO many lined up in the box. I've always had an aesthetic fascination with a multiple of the same thing in rows...not sure why this appeals to me so. Simply put, it looked pretty cool!

When i asked what kind of cake, she just said something simple. Yellow Cake with chocolate frosting. I asked her if there was some kind of theme to the party that i could base the cake on. Her response was..."I dunno, maybe beach theme, fish or octopus or something". So, of course I was thrilled with the vague idea, and excited with the freedom to come up with something rad for little Oscar! (on a side note, this little guy is ADORABLE!)

Rachel didn't care whether or not the cake was vegan, so i made it vegan...except for the candy decorations. I know I could have used Swedish fish, but the Haribo clown fish were just SO much cuter. The seaweed was made out of sour belts and the bubbles were nerds! Decorating with candy is really fun!

I fashioned the Octopus out of Gum Paste, which i actually think might not be vegan either. but for the love of Christ, you would NOT want to eat that stuff. Especially when it becomes rock hard after a day or two. Some gum paste is vegan, and some has egg whites. Either way...again...you could eat it, but there would be no reason to!

I LOVED making the octopus...my favorite part was the little suckers on his tentacles. I also really like the sides with the fish and the sea weed. I think it was CUTE!

In conclusion, I might be the biggest nerd ever...but I was happy with the outcome, and I think Rachel and Jason were psyched with how everything turned out!

(sadly not vegan) white chocolate chip cookies

2008-05-16T17:26:00.000-07:00

I've been movin' and shakin' a bit lately, which is definitely a good thing. I also have a bunch of baking projects at hand, which is rad.

Yesterday I had a serious craving for white chocolate. White chocolate isn't really chocolate, of course. Any chocolate connoisseur will be very quick to tell you this fact! White chocolate is made from cocoa butter and sugar. It usually contains milk and vanilla. The milk means I shouldn't really have it, but sometimes I just can't help myself. Sadly, I have yet to find vegan white chocolate.

Anyway, I had some white chocolate chips in my freezer. And I had some eggs (which my friend gave me from his chickens). I figured that if the cookies were going to contain the white chocolate chips (and therefore not be at all vegan anyway), I might as well use an egg or two, since they will probably go bad otherwise.

Soooo...here they are. Sadly not vegan white chocolate chip cookies. Moist and delicious, for sure. Good for my tummy, most surely not. Luckily, I know lots of people who like to eat sweets.

Be sure to check back at the end of the weekend, because I'm making my friend's (2 year old) son's birthday cake, as well as a TON of donuts.

now off to slang the booze...

Finally inpired!

2008-05-12T21:57:00.000-07:00

So, lately I really haven't been very inspired to cook. I'm not sure why.
Yesterday, however, I decided I better bake some sourdough bread. Instead of baking all of it in loaf pans, i experimented, and baked one loaf on a sheet pan in the shape of french bread. It turned out superbly, and I liked the size and texture a little better.

Let's talk about SAVORY french toast for a minute. I didn't even know it existed! I learned recently that french toast is sometimes made with garlic and italian-type spices. While that doesn't sound half bad, it DOES sound a bit blasphemous as far as I'm concerned! I think I'll stick with the sweet goodness that found its way into my kitchen this morning. The sourdough i baked last night made the tastiest french toast ever! It was not vegan french toast. BUT...the eggs were from my friend's chickens, the bread was homemade and the fruits i had were the the perfect ripeness. Breakfast of champions. Especially with the organic guatemalan coffee i bought. daaaaaamn.

Some people find tempeh to be a very intimidating food. If you are agreeing right now, then you probably don't know that you really MUST steam it before you marinate, grill, broil or bake it! This way it gets all puffy and soft and absorbs twice the flavor it would otherwise.

I steamed some yesterday and marinated it overnight in a sesame ginger marinade.
Here's what went in:

ginger
toasted sesame oil
crushed red pepper
garlic
soy sauce
brown sugar

This evening, I baked the marinated tempeh for maybe 20 minutes, at 350 degrees. This turned out to be the perfect amount of time to cook some basmati rice and stir fry a colorful array of veggies with hot sesame oil, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, umoboshi plum vinegar and a splash of pomegranate juice.

For someone who goes out to eat WAY too often, there is none more satisfying than a day of nothing but home cooked food.

Cheers to a little inspiration!

I left my fork in San Francisco...

2008-05-12T11:50:00.000-07:00

Since I didn’t take any pictures, and I know how a long post without any can be a little daunting, I’ll try to keep my SF restaurant reviews as short and sweet as meghanly possible.
In order of eating: ALL VEGAN, so any “chicken, beef”, etc…is faux!

-Weird Fish: Interesting little diner. Very small, but not the longest wait ever. Seems like Sunday brunch really IS the new thing. Or maybe the old thing. We love it in Austin too, although since I don’t like people all that much, I usually skip out on actually going out for it.
Weird fish had a relatively boring tofu scramble. Decent, but definitely not as good as most others I’ve eaten. We also had tofu wings, which I forget what they were called “tofu girls” maybe? Which were AMAZING! the home fries were also delish!

-Golden Era: This place was amazing! We got tofu wings here too, and they were drumstick style. I liked them SO much, even though my friends didn’t think they were as good as the ones at weird fish. The veggie wonton soup was outstanding as was the “gourmet chicken”. The “beef and broccoli” wasn’t great, but I am rarely a fan of fake beef. GO TO THIS PLACE. You will love it!

-Avatar’s Punjabi Burrito: This is actually located in Mill Valley, which is in Marin County. On the way to Muir beach (which is amazing too!). This place was SO awesome. Think Indian Burrito, full of veggies, potatoes, rice, fruit chutney (and optional yogurt sauce) all wrapped in a soft naan type wrap. YUUUUUM! So so so good. I do not, however, recommend eating the second half (which you saved because you couldn’t eat it all at once) whilst riding along crazy curving mountains. It might give you a belly ache!

-Ritual Coffee: Amazing coffee! ‘nuff said.

-Herbivore: HOLY DELICIOUSNESS! (duh!) Everything there is pretty good. I had mac n’ cheese. And the most delicious carrot cake ever. Not super sweet, which I love. I wasn’t sure about how it ranked until later, when I couldn’t stop thinking about it!

-St. Francis: Living in texas, I REALLY miss northeast diner’s. This was pretty close, with a ton of veggie options. I actually really loved this place! I ate eggs here, but the high point was how delicious the home fries were. DAMN! And apparently you can get them with all kinds of stuff on top. They are, however, really good on their own. I wonder why Californians know potatoes so well? Some of the best I’ve had, I think. Seriously.

-Saturn Café: Located in Santa Cruz. Really cool old school décor diner. Employees, totally gay, thank god! I liked this place a lot. We shared some vegan nachos, which were up there with the best ones EVER. They were topped with black beans, guac, delicious! Tofu spread sour cream type stuff, and tomatoes, among other things. SO SO good. I had a fake turkey club, which was pretty good. Billie had some veggie dish with brown rice and peanut sauce that was definitely NOT great. The veggies were overcooked and the peanut sauce was mediocre. But still go there….even if its just for the nachos! OH, and get a milk shake, cause that shit is GOOD!

-Millenium: REALLY REALLY awesome. And thank god... for that kind of money. I am a person who never buys fancy stuff…unless its food. I’m not a snob, I just like really great food and am willing to spend what needs to be spent on it. Millenium did NOT let me down. We had the breaded oyster mushrooms as an app, which were totally amazing. We also got the special appetizer, which was gnocchi with delicious sauce. I really liked that too. Ohh, and the strawberry mojito…YES PLEASE! I could drink way too many of those if I let myself! We all got different things, but I think I won the contest. I had grilled tempeh over coconut sweet potato puree, with some delicious greens and a side of strawberry radish salad. WHO KNEW that radishes and strawberries were so good together? Millenium is definitely on my HELL YEAH list.

WHAT a delicious town San Francisco is. And yes, we ate at all of these places in the span of 4 days. Is that not the craziest thing you’ve ever heard? Gluttonous for sure!
I also ate a bagel there, which was decent. Way better than anything in texas, but not nearly as good as ny. But good enough to curb my bagel craving for a little while!

YUM YUM!

Melisser, you sure do have it lucky out there!!!

San Francisco...

2008-05-08T15:04:00.001-07:00

SO, i just went to san francisco for the first time ever.
and i ate the town to the ground!
non-stop vegan goodness for 4 days.
i don't have pictures, but i DO have opinions.
so, at some point when i'm not so tired, i will do a mini restaurant review of my whirlwind trip.

i loved it there.
it was delicious.

more to come...

Vietnamese Sandwiches & "green on the inside" smoothies!

2008-05-02T13:50:00.000-07:00

First...I am going to state, for the record, that I will no longer feel guilty when I make posts about things that are not dessert. SO, this is me, asserting (to myself) that it is totally ok for me to blog about real food. Right here. On this typically-non-sweets-discriminating blog! Done and done.

Second, I would like to reiterate how fun it is to be a part of food-blog culture. I am constantly inspired to try new recipes and push myself to cook more (or just prepare more) because of all YOU awesome crafty blog ladies! So, thanks.

AND...the real point of telling you, is that I was inspired today to make a "green smoothie". People have been blogging a lot about them lately. SO...here's my version, which although may not have APPEARED green, it was certainly green on the inside!

Ingredients in my concoction:
banana
frozen organic cherries
handful of spinach/arugula mix
unsweetened soy milk
pomegranite/cranberry juice

YUM! Delicious healthy cool down! Hopefully it will have the added benefit of making the greens easier for me to digest, since sometimes raw greens make my tummy freak out. I'll let you know.

Third, I'd like to rave about my new favorite sandwich. In Austin, the hottest trend in food is to sell things out of a truck/airstream/etc. I know that's not the most novel idea in the world...but here it's catching on like wildfire. Honestly, I couldn't be more thrilled... because any new deliciousness is always desirable.

This sandwich is from
lulu b's, which is a Vietnamese Sandwich truck on South Lamar. My personal fave, and newest obsession is this:

Lemongrass Tofu (add avocado, PLEASE!). It comes on delicious crusty baguette-type bread, and is full of crunchy julienned carrots, jicama(maybe?), cilantro and a coupla' jalapenos (seeds removed, for just a touch of kick)!!

Mmm, mmm...heaven on white!

when life gives you lemons...

2008-04-22T15:17:00.000-07:00

First, I'd like to mention that today in my analytics, one of the keywords that led someone to my blog was "Eggwhite Gasoline Pictures Napalm". Man oh man, people sure are searching bizarro things on this intermaphone these days!

But anyway, on to the important things. Desserts.

What kind of birthday cake, dear readers, does one make for a wonderful yogi-to-be? This is exactly the question I asked myself last week. Luckily, said wonderful yogi-to-be (ahem...my lovely friend Jacque), had a birthday cake request. This is what i like to hear! It's a lot easier than someone saying they don't care what kind of cake you make them.

Here was her request: Lemon Poppyseed Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting. Perfect.

SO...what did i do? Went on a grand mission for the perfect recipe. When nothing seemed to scream at me, i decided to adapt something. . Isn't that always more fun anyway?

Well, If you own "The Joy of Vegan Baking" (which you really should), you will find a recipe for a "Light Lemon Bundt Cake". So...almost there. I tweeked the recipe in the tiniest way, and also added poppyseeds, of course. I also like the fact that the recipe uses maple syrup instead of sugar.

However, I used sugar in the frosting. Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting, which I free-styled. You know, normal frosting ingredients plus tofutti vegan cream cheese!

The Cake turned out amazingly. Seriously, i loved it, Jacque loved it. Definitely worth making again. If you use the recipe from The Joy of Vegan Baking, however, be sure to double the recipe...because it makes less than you would expect (if your bundt pan is on the large side, like mine is!). My cake turned out pretty small, so I made a second batch and turned it into cupcakes. yum!

here's to lemons and gasoline! ha!

Freestylin'

2008-04-17T17:02:00.000-07:00

For some reason, this week I've really been craving peanut butter. This is pretty rare for me. It's not that I don't like the stuff...I do. I just rarely have a hankerin' for peanut butter in particular.

SO...I whipped up a batch of cookies. For no real reason other than I felt the urge. They're Chocolate Peanut Cookies, drizzled with peanut butter glaze.

Turned out pretty good for throwing a bunch of stuff into a bowl and baking it.

Now You're Playing with Power!

2008-04-10T12:09:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago, a friend of mine emailed me a link. He occasionally sends me links to crazy baking articles, and this was certainly no exception! He had found some pictures of these rad cupcakes with old school Mario Brothers characters donning the tops of them. The wheels started to turn, and he wrote to me, asking if I could make similar, but vegan cupcakes. WELL COULD I?

This is where the plan was hatched to create the original Nintendo characters (in 8 BIT!) to put on top of vegan cupcakes!
Who doesn't love a good food challenge??

SO, I started thinking about the best way to put the plan into action. I decided that the move was to make tiny (and definitely EDIBLE) squares of colors (my "pixels") and build the characters from those. This required piles upon piles of 1/8" squares of various colors, to be meticulously placed in the same way the pixels are arranged in the video game. It also requires quite a bit of freestyling, since it's really hard to get a good image of the original characters.

****NOTE: DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!****

I'm kidding!
In all seriousness, however, it may not appear so...but making, coloring and cutting TINY squares of sticky sugar paste, and then placing them in patterns is harder than it sounds! It took quite a lot of time and even more focus. But in the end, they looked really good, I think, and I was happy I'd done it. I'm also a product of the 80's...so what can I say?

The only thing I would have done differently is to wait a while to photograph them, so that the characters would moisten back up, and adhere to the cupcakes, instead of just laying on top.

Speaking of photographing things...these shots were taken by the amazing and talented Chris Hallman. Do yourself a favor and check his stuff out at Chris Hallman Photography & Design!

I'm pretty psyched on how they turned out.
AND, they taste good too...vegan red velvet cake topped with vanilla buttercream in electric blue.

What's better than art that you can eat?
I think you'd be pretty hard pressed to find me an answer to that one!

check it check it out....

2008-04-09T13:50:00.000-07:00

Not sure if I've yet mentioned my amazing BFF, Britt.
WELL...if I haven't, now is the time for you to get familiar with her.

Britt and her friend and biz parter, Haylie, have just started a new jewelry company!

It's called bird&monster, and it's definitely something you DON'T want to miss out on.

SO...here's what you do...follow the link to the
birdandmonster. Etsy store and get involved with the fabulousness a.s.a.p!

who loves crafty ladies?
i do!

new products!

2008-04-07T15:16:00.000-07:00

I love it when I find new products.
Today, on my way home from camping at Guadalupe River State Park, I stopped at a little bakery that was in Dripping Springs (or very close to there anyway). They were about to close, but they had the most amazing thing...

FLAVORED Agave Nectar. Of course, after reading the label, i realized that it is made just up the road from where i live in Austin. and with a little internet research, i found that you can get them at whole foods.

Either way...i now have both lavender AND tangerine ginger varieties. I can't wait to use them for baking. I keep thinking about what nice tea cookies either would make.

I'll keep you posted on how i end up using them!

In the mean time...check out the companies agave's here:
Agasweet Flavored Agave Nectars.

Eff it...

2008-04-05T13:47:00.000-07:00

So, as we know...I don't usually blog about food that doesn't have an obscene amount of sweetness to it.

BUT, once in a while i'm a little proud of myself and have to include something a little more savory. AND..it's my blog, so i do what i want.

ANYWAY, i was a little worried that i had already killed the sourdough starter that a friend gave to me. i decided to test it out, to see.

Bread making is a long and involved process, especially sourdough. It is, however, pretty easy...just takes a while. I didn't follow directions very well in a couple of places (due to weird time constraints and such) and my bread STILL came out amazingly.

For all you carb-haters...sorry...its loaded. with carbs. and wheat. and crazy yeasty sourdough. it is, however, vegan, which you'll be happy to know. (i used soy and marg instead of milk and butter).

AND IT'S DELICIOUS!!!
yay.

This is why (i'm hot).

2008-04-05T10:07:00.000-07:00

SO...
Haven't made a real post in a while. I'm currently experimenting with sourdough bread (ahem, i have a food pet in my refrigerator and a ball of dough proofing even as i type. )

The reason for no sweet thangs is that i'm working on an insane cupcake project.
I'll give you just one hint.

stay tuned...

briefly...

2008-03-31T15:08:00.000-07:00

this may not be the most exciting blog entry...but it has good info...so keep reading!

for the record, i have the worst stomach known to (wo)man. this weekend was particularly bad. it's really awful, because if i eat something that my body doesn't like (which is sometimes unpredictable, or hidden in food) i will just get sick. randomly. spontaneously, it seems.

ANYWAY, this post is mostly to sing the praises of
The Daily Juice here in Austin. I went there the other day, and not only got a delicious locally made kombucha/raspberry/ginger ("the stranger"), i also got a shot of aloe. These are two things that are really good for digestion. and although it was a tad pricey, it was definitely worth it.

So, if you live here...check it out. the menu is amazing.
i also hear that their raw pudding is ridiculous!

and if you don't live here, but have digestive probs like me and a million other women i know...kombucha, ginger, and aloe are all really helpful. (along with other things as well, of course)

(vegan) MINI molasses cookies, ginger snaps, whatever!

2008-03-21T16:53:00.001-07:00

crispy, spicy, tiny little cookies.
that's what these are. and they are MOST delicious. i highly recommend you make some a.s.a.p.
for real!

molasses gingery goodness.

here's the lowdown:

1/4 c. molasses (i used unsulphured NON-blackstrap)
roughly 3/4 c. canola oil (you can get away with a little less)
1 c. brown sugar
egg replacer for a couple of eggs
2 1/4 c. flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. salt

preheat oven to 325. mix molasses, oil, brown sugar and egg replacer until smooth. then add all the spices and baking soda, mixing until smooth. add the flour, mixing well, but not TOO much. the dough will be a little sticky and pretty oily.

roll it into balls about the size of a rubber bouncy ball!
place a couple inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet
bake approximately 10-12 minutes.

with molasses cookies its hard to tell when they are done. when they start to really flatten out, and look a little dry/crackly, they are ready.
cool on wire rack.
they will be mostly crispy, and every bit delicious!

this recipe made about 40 mini cookies or so.
yum!

sxsw: day 2 (for me)

2008-03-13T12:04:00.000-07:00

ps: today motorhead and napalm death are playing at stubb's for free.

i will not be attending, and i'm the tiniest bit bummed about it (you had to rsvp and then you will have to stand in a ridiculously long line!)

so NOT vegan Banana Cream Pie

2008-03-13T11:26:00.000-07:00

Sarah says it's not her birthday unless she has a banana cream pie. Her dad was trying to devise ways to send her one to austin from the west coast. CLEARLY that was not going to work. Her favorite thing is banana cream pie with meringue topping instead of whipped cream topping.

i told her i would do my best...but since i never really use dairy, and i definitely never make custards and meringues, i couldn't promise anything spectacular! i mean, obviously i can bake. and i can follow a recipe...but when you don't even know what qualities to look for in a recipe, it can be kind of tricky. i think i picked a pretty good one though.

SO...here's the recipe i used:

1 graham cracker crust:
graham crackers
sugar
butter

maybe a stick and a half of butter, 1/3 c. sugar and 9-10 graham crackers?

play around with the proportions, i did! just make sure to melt the butter first and mix well with sugar before adding the grahams. then bake for 7-8 minutes to let it set. then cool.

banana cream pie filling:
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups milk
3 egg yolks -- slightly beaten
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 tablespoon butter
2 ripe bananas, thinly sliced
PREPARATION:
Mix 1/3 cup sugar, flour, and salt in a saucepan; add milk gradually, stirring until smooth. Cook until mixture boils, stirring constantly. Mix a small portion of the hot mixture with egg yolks, return to saucepan and boil for 2 minutes more, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, add vanilla and butter. Cool. Place (lots of!) bananas in bottom of cooled crust, pour the filling over the bananas, but dont overflow the pie pan!

Meringue:
Beat egg whites and cream of tartar until frothy. Add the 1/3 cup sugar gradually. Continue beating egg whites until they hold a glossy peak.

Spoon meringue onto filling, sealing to the edge of crust. Bake at 375° for about 10 minutes, or until nicely browned.

i ended up making two pies, because i knew if i only made one, sarah wouldn't even get to eat any of it. so...one for her, and one for everyone else.

She called me (albeit a little on the drunk side) after the first bite to tell me how awesome it was (think 3am, bday night, post naked raygun show)!

my first banana cream pie. a total success.

phew! custards and meringues are SO weird. eggs and milk have some very interesting properties, i find.

sxsw craziness is about to begin...

2008-03-06T17:58:00.000-08:00

SO...sxsw music festival is starting this week in austin. That means i will be busy busy at the bar! and what's better when you're about to get super busy than SUPER quick and easy treats?

here they are...the most delicious vegan rice crispy treats ever. 4 ingredients, not all THAT bad for you. maybe even some nutrients in there.

i'm sure you all know the recipe...

rice crispies of some sort (real ones, brown ones, whatever)
brown rice syrup
some kind of nut butter (these are cashew, which is my personal fave)
and a little vanilla extract

heat the nut butter, rice syrup and vanilla, mix with rice crispies, press into a pan, refrigerate....then eat the entire thing! (or share with your friends, i guess).

anyway, its incredibly simple and incredibly satisfying. but for most, its nothing new.

how unorthodox of me!

2008-02-23T15:52:00.000-08:00

Ok, i know i never post real-food stuffs here, and its mostly just for sweets (hence the "sugar" in the blog name)...
BUT...
today i made a very delicious little dinner and had to share it with the world. The impetus for sharing this is mostly to mention/reiterate how AWESOME
Vegetarian Times magazine is. The recipes i used were based on some from the last couple of issues. Me being me, of course i changed some things to suit my fancies AND my on-hand ingredients.
Ginger Tofu with peanut sauce & veg fried rice...mmmm....

ANYWAY...if you don't yet have a subscription, i highly recommend you get one. mine was a gift from Billie, who, as i have mentioned on numerous occasions, totally rocks.
They also have vegan dessert recipes in every issue.
Thank God.

I heart you Veg Times!
ha.

Lolo's Vegan Donuts (AGAIN!)

2008-02-22T10:57:00.000-08:00

I really should stop blogging the same treats repeatedly. But some things are just too good NOT to make continuously.
Lolo's Vegan Donuts are DEFINITELY one of these. I swear they are more delicious every time I make them!

A few years ago, the members of my household had a seriously guilty semi-addiction to what we called LCD's. In normal-speak this translates into "little chocolate donuts". Here is the SERIOUSLY guilty part. We would get them at the...gas station. You know, those tiny chocolate covered ones that contain about 400 ingredients, 360 of which are chemicals you've never heard of? WELL, yeah. They are pretty delicious when in the refrigerator and with tea. BUT, they are clearly the worst thing for you. Then...ENTER this recipe into my life.

I can now make my very own lcd's, and feel good (or at least mostly good) about what goes into them! Not to mention that the type of chocolate covering them can match the sassiness of my mood.

Anyway, yesterday was my friend Rachel Kolar's (of
True Blue Tattoo in Austin, if you're in need of one she rules!) Birthday. It was also the democratic debates in Austin, and we were showing them at
The Side Bar.
Anyway, I whipped up some glazed and some chocolate mini-donuts for Rachel, and she was psyched! She even left me a myspace comment that said, "yay birthday doughnuts! i need to get on some kind of weekly donut subscription plan or something...by the way, they are almost all gone already, jason and oscar love them too! xoxox

I'm so glad she liked them. I'm even more glad that Lolo is such a genius and has saved me from gas-station-donut-heaven/hell.

You really should stop reading this and get baking!

Light and Nutty Coconut Cookies

2008-02-17T02:34:00.000-08:00

Remember on Tuesday when I wrote that Billie and I had concocted a most delicious new cookie recipe? Well, I also mentioned that I would post pictures. So...voila...

The first batter we test-ran wasn't perfect. It definitely took a little playing around. However, it ended up being delicious enough that I probably could have eaten the entire batch. I will not be posting the recipe since we haven't decided what we will do with the ones we create. There may be a super duper DIY cookbook in the cards someday. You know how these things go.

On a different note, I've been really into researching food photography lately. It's pretty interesting really, and I think with each photo, I get a tiny bit better. I am not a photographer (ahem...clearly!) and I'm not really even all that interested in photography itself. But I really do find food photography (and probably more specifically food STYLING to be extremely fascinating). I mean, FOOD STYLING? Come on...that's got be an AWESOME job.

Ah well...it's really late at night and I just got home from work. But somehow, writing about food seemed more important than going to bed.

black heart valentines

2008-02-14T14:05:00.000-08:00

Wow. I guess I've been baking a lot lately.
That's a good thing.

I'm not so much a holiday person. I like other people's birthdays, because it's an excuse to make a cake. The best part of any holiday, i think, is that it brings with it a built-in theme for treats.

I'm usually pretty anti-vday. It's nothing personal toward love. The whole thing just seems really forced. Pressure no matter what. If you're in love, there is the pressure to celebrate correctly, with the right dinner, the right flowers, the right gifts. If you're not in love, that fact seems to be crammed down your throat all day long. My dislike of the holiday doesn't hinge on whether i fit into one category or the other. I'm just not into it. Call me a cynic if you want...I think it's just one more excuse to make people feel like they should buy things. consumerism. you know. SO...instead, I think people should MAKE their gifts. now THAT says love.

BUT, as i mentioned before, i DO like a theme. So in the interest of honoring a theme...I made some black heart (all hail joan jett!) valentine cupcakes.

They are actually pretty tasty...let me tell you why!

The cupcakes are maple and toasted almond. Light in texture and you can definitely taste the toastiness of the almonds. The frosting is maple almond buttercream as well. The maple and almond are very subtle in the frosting though, which i like.

So there, i celebrated.

Happy anti-valentine's day!

a classic never dies

2008-02-14T08:14:00.000-08:00

I am constantly making banana bread in some form. We all know this by now. You'd think I would get more creative with my dying bananas. But banana bread is my very favorite thing ever, so I keep on the keepin' on!

Not sure if I have mentioned before that I bought my friend Ryan's pro-sized kitchen aid mixer for an awesome price a few months ago? BUT, I did. And up until now, I have had NO space for it on my counter. The other day, however, my microwave died. I have been at odds with microwaves forever, and didn't own one until a couple years ago when some friends had one they were getting rid of and gave it to me. WELL, the other day said microwave shit the bed, so to speak. This small inconvenience was actually a blessing in disguise. Because NOW i have room on my counter for my beloved mixer! Who's excited? Moi!

I rarely put recipes on this blog. Not really sure why. So here's the standby banana bread recipe I use most often. I like them better as mini-loaves. or mini-muffins. or anything mini, for that matter. But of course, it tastes great in a normal sized bread pan too!

1/2 C. softened margarine
1 C. evaporated cane juice sugar
Ener-G egg replacer for 2 eggs
1 C. mashed banana (about two medium sized overripe ones)
2 C. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 C. chopped pecans (optional, but delicious)

Directions: Preheat oven to 350.
Cream together margarine and sugar.
Add the egg replacer in and beat until smooth (with a handheld mixer, or a counter top mixer). Blend in mashed bananas.
In a second bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and nuts.
Add half to banana mixture, stir until moistened.
repeat with second half of dry ingredients. do not overmix!
Bake in greased loaf pan for 1 hour.
(if you're baking in mini-loaf pans, or mini-muffin pans, it will obviously take much much less time. keep an eye on it!)

most delicious when enjoyed with tea!

ps: as soon as billie sends me the pictures of the cookies we made the other day, i will post them.

learn something and feed somebody!

2008-02-12T16:55:00.000-08:00

Today Billie showed me this website where you can play a game to increase your vocabulary AND make other people's lives better.

You don't have much free time you say?
but you bake, right?
So... in the 10 minutes to an hour (depending on what you're baking) that you're patiently waiting for the goodies to be done...learn a few new words, and make a tiny difference in the world. (its also really fun. especially if you're a word geek like myself!)

(click the image to check it out. for real.)

That was the first good thing to happen today.
The second was the delicious batch of cookies we created.
Stay tuned for pictures! mmmm....

(vegan) Sponge Bob Cake

2008-02-09T11:24:00.000-08:00

For Mo's Birthday, his wife Katie and the lovely Billie came up with a silly plan to make a Sponge Bob Cake. They asked me if I would help decorate it. Of course I agreed. Neither Billie nor I had any idea what a process it would be. Fun, but a little frustrating toward the end.

It was one of those Wilton Cake pans, shaped like the character. They come with instructions for the colors of frosting you will need (which number at least 9) and a rough idea of where to put each. The silliest part is that most of the frosting is piped with a tiny star tip, which is tedious! I also think the style is kind of ugly. We took step-by-step photos to document the progression. I'd never done one of these before (mostly because i think they are kind of silly, and like more freedom)..but i had a good time and was relatively happy with the way it turned out.

Billie made the cake (vegan chocolate) the day before, wrapped it and put it in the refrigerator overnight. This always makes cakes easier to work with. Then we mixed up about 6 cups of vegan buttercream and went to work. luckily, i had multiples of some of the tips we needed, since there were SO many different colors to work with. I am also constantly amazed at the amount of black and red food coloring you have to use to get a deep color. Even with top-of-the-line color gels! If anyone has any advice on that, I would love to hear it.

Besides thinking it was a tad on the ugly side, I think it turned out alright. Next time,though, I think we make Sponge Bob without the Wilton pan.
Freestyle...you know.

Judging from this picture Billie's boyfriend sent me, Mo either liked the cake, or at least had fun with it...

(vegan) chocolate cake filled with mocha buttercream, topped with ganache!

2008-01-19T10:43:00.000-08:00

My good friend Josh is a bike messenger here in Austin. No, I mean an ACTUAL bike messenger...not just a kid with a fixed gear and a fancy bag. OK, ok...that's not nice. well anyway...i realized it was his birthday about 4 hours before i had to go to work yesterday. SO...i quickly whipped up this cake for him...since i like to give people cakes at midnight on their birthday and make the bar sing to them. it's kind of what we do.

Anyway...the cake is a two layer vegan chocolate cake. In between the layers is mocha buttercream, which is ridiculously good. Then i made some ganache for the top and poured it over the entire cake!

***note: you can NEVER go wrong with ganache. mmm...

then i made the chain ring stencil, and sifted powdered sugar onto the top. Here is what i learned: this doesn't work as well with a cake covered in ganache as it does with an unfrosted cake... so the sugar melted a little into the chocolate. Either way, the point came across, the cake was delicious, and Josh seemed to have a good birthday night.

that's all you can really ask for anyway.

oooh, in other news!!!...
last night my new friend alexis brought me some cupcakes she had made. there were two types: chocolate mint and a coconut almond. both delicious...
but the coconut almond might have been one of my favorite cupcakes ever! and you know how many treats i consume at least a bite of!
it was pretty dense and not overly sweet, and the frosting had just a slight hint of coconut and then there were toasted almond slivers on top. YOU HAVE NO IDEA. yummmm.....
so yeah...shout out to alexis...she rules, and makes a damn good cupcake!

The Final Product: Vegan Petite Fours

2008-01-14T14:29:00.000-08:00

If you've been following along, then you know that I've been trying to perfect Vegan Petite Fours for my awesome friend Annie's baby shower. Yesterday was the baby shower tea party, and it was GREAT. a million tiny snacks, and tiny desserts, most of which were also vegan!

The yellow cakes were a recipe borrowed from
VeganYumYum, which she also borrowed from someone. It is a lemon genoise cake layered with raspberry preserves. Really great recipe...i highly recommend it!

The lavender cakes are chocolate cake layered with chocolate buttercream frosting. MMmmm...

and the poured fondant that i used was actually a veganized butter glaze, which i think i posted a link to in a previous posting!

I also made mini Dulce Sin Leche cupcakes (from Vegan Cupcakes take over the world)and topped them with earl grey buttercream that i made. delish!

The cakes turned out awesome, and Annie loved them. I was glad about that, since i'd been stressing about them for a while. Petite Fours certainly ARE a ton of work. but in the end, they look really pretty, and taste really good. So, i suppose it was all worth it. Especially for the baby shower tea party of such a rad lady!

Petite Fours are everywhere...

2008-01-11T17:21:00.001-08:00

Check out
VeganYumYum this week for an extensive and awesome guide to petite fours!
Sunday is the baby shower (tea party)...which is the entire reason i've been making petite fours all along.
i'm also going to make some mini cupcakes, although i havent' decided what kind yet.

Anyway...I have already crafted my fondant flowers, and they are CUTE! check back in a few days for a post!

Holiday Cheer?

2007-12-28T15:03:00.000-08:00

I can't say I'm a person who is all that thrilled with holidays. That is not to say I'm a complete Scrooge. I'm just not that into it. I am, as we all know, into treats and sweets and delicious things. I also found myself with a craving for chocolate covered pretzels last week. SO...i decided to melt some chocolatey goodness and cover everything in it.

Chocolate with candy cane pieces, chocolate pecan (the ones from my backyard) clusters, peanut butter cups, my newest creation: peanut butter and JELLY cups, and finally the object of my desire...the chocolate covered pretzels. Some of it was dark chocolate (vegan) and some was milk chocolate.

all of it was very rich. and i really loved the peanut butter and jelly cups! who knew?

(Vegan) Petite Fours/ Poured Fondant, TAKE 2

2007-12-13T16:23:00.001-08:00

OK...

My second attempt at poured fondant was much more successful; in the deliciousness department anyway. This time I used a "butter glaze" recipe from Martha Stewart, but i made it vegan. Just use margarine and soy milk instead of their dairy counterparts! I also added coloring and cherry flavoring this time, just to make it more interesting.
you might need to add a little more powdered sugar afterward, to compensate for the extra liquid from the flavoring. Once again, ignore the decorating on these, it was just leftover icing stuffs.

This time i decided to use cakes that were NOT layered with anything, simply cut into the shapes i wanted. This made it a bit easier, but as you can see, there are still rough-looking edges that i am not thrilled with.

Here is what I learned this time, and what I will change in my next attempt (even though these were pretty delicious!)

-I'm pretty sure the rough edges can be taken care of by chilling the cake for a long time before i cut the pieces. Also, sealing the cakes with apricot glaze seems to be recommended for smoother fondant covering.

-Although these looked and tasted great, the fondant didn't harden as much as i would have liked it to. i'm thinking that a couple drops of corn syrup and possible a teeny bit of egg replacer mixed in will help.

-I used a squeeze bottle to pour the fondant over the cakes. this way, i could get the sides covered completely, as well as make sure the top was smooth. This worked amazingly!

If you are trying to make petite fours yourself and need more info... here is a link to some helpful fondant tips!

Take 2 was great. I think the next ones will be perfect.

The Wee Classic!

2007-12-11T12:20:00.000-08:00

My friend Jose turned the big 3-0 last weekend. For MY birthday he did a painting for me of soup that spelled out my name (he is a tattoo artist), and it was awesome! For his birthday i made chocolate cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting. I used the tiny muffin pan for them, which i rarely do! and you KNOW i love things that are wee!

Anyway, the cupcakes were a hit, even with the people at the bar who think vegan treats equal cardboard. Jose was psyched because he said no one had ever baked him anything for his birthday.

The next day, Beca (my fabulous coworker) and i tried OUR hands at "painting". We made him a silly silly card with stick-figure versions of ourselves on it, out of crayons and such. maybe he will frame it...although...i'm not sure i would!

Not the most exciting treats, but small and delicious for sure.

my next poured fondant attempt coming soon!

(Vegan) Petite Fours/ Poured Fondant, TAKE 1

2007-12-06T13:18:00.000-08:00

My friend Annie is going to have a baby in a couple of months. Her shower will be in January, and will be tea party-esque. I will be making Vegan Petite Fours for the occasion. Yesterday was my VERY first attempt at making them and using poured fondant. The recipe i used was from Wilton, and was FAR too sweet. I did, however, learn a lot from my first try!

The recipe consists of only several things. confectioners sugar, corn syrup, water, flavor and color. I added a bit of salt to cut the sweet, but to no avail. The next recipe I will try is from martha stewart, but veganized. The recipe calls for "butter", so hopefully the taste will improve.

Here is the most important thing I learned: Although the recipe says to bring the temperature up to about 92 degrees, i think you want it hotter. When its hot, the fondant flows better, coating the cakes with a thinner layer (ahem...LESS sweet). It also coats the cakes more evenly this way.

Ignore the "decorating" on these. I was just using up some leftover frosting, and piping it through a plastic baggie! The real ones will be MUCH cuter & more tea party themed.

Stay tuned for further attempts, as well as tips and tricks i learn along the way!

Billie's Birthday Cake

2007-11-30T13:48:00.000-08:00

I asked Billie what kind of cake she wanted for her birthday this year. She said she wanted something plain...
Yellow cake with chocolate frosting.
And that is what she got.
I did, however, make the frosting chocolate MOCHA.
You know, just for a teeny bit of variation.
Anyway, I didn't have all that much time for the decorating, so i kept it pretty simple.
A little fondant embellishment to add some color. Turned out alright in both looks and taste.

and of COURSE i was psyched to get to use my tiny cake pan for the little one on top!

OH...and of course I had to top it with the knife (a not-so-great replica of her favorite one, in fact) and a fork, since ALL she does is cook, eat, and (luckily for us) feed her friends!

Vegan Thanksgiving Extravaganza 2007

2007-11-23T14:16:00.000-08:00

As per tradition, my friend Billie always has people (ahem...all of us "orphans") over for vegan thanksgiving. This year, however, was the biggest one yet! I think there were 30 people there throughout the course of the evening.

After having baked some mini banana-pecan bread muffins, I took 2 more bags of groceries and a giant pot for mashed potatoes over to Billie's house to help with the cooking process. She and her house-guests had already been cooking the day before as well. SO...by the time i got there, we only had 4 more hours of preparation to go! The mini-muffins were by far the best ones i've made. I have SO many banana bread recipes, and for the last 6 months, I had lost the one that was my favorite. LUCKILY, i found it again, and the banana bread got back on track! PHEW!

Anyway, i was already stressing when i got there, so i went straight for one of the many bottles of wine we consumed throughout the evening. by the time people showed up at 7-8 i was nicely NOT stressed out anymore.

This was the most amazing feast ever, potluck style! We filled up an entire folding table (and counters) with food, as well as another table just for desserts! and although i know i don't usually blog about food (ahem...desserts only), i feel as though the event needs a more holistic food coverage than that! SO...let me list just SOME of the delicious things we had even BEFORE dessert crossed our minds:

2 tofurkeys
10 lbs of mashed potatoes
chipotle mashed sweet potatoes
2 large pot pies
green bean casserole
green beans with almond slivers
mac and cheeze casserole
brussel sprouts with a delicious tamari-ish sauce
broccoli with peanut sauce
the biggest cast iron skillet of DELICIOUS stuffing you've ever seen
stuffed acorn squash with wild rice, dried fruits, nuts & seeds
hummus, mushroom pate & spinach dip

and get this...A BUCKET of soup! deliciously brothy, perfect minestrone to be exact. people who know me know that i'm completely obsessed with the stuff. SO, it was beyond exciting for me. For more info on THAT...check the
Soup Gang blog for details! seriously.

and the list goes on!

NOW...dessert was ridiculous! Here is a picture of the dessert table at the end of the night. Clearly, there is still a bunch of leftovers...even with that many people.
Some delicious things include:

Banana cream pie (we never knew stew could cook! but between the mac & cheeze and this, he's now given himself up!)
at least 2 types of cookies
chocolate pecan torte
apple upside down cake
pecan pie
pumpkin pie
pumpkin chocolate chip bread
(my banana breads)
soyatoo soy whipping cream to top it all off!!!!

and if i missed anything, i apologize!!

SO...thanks to Billie for letting have this awesome event at her house; so that we whose biological families are far away, who don't cook at all, or who are just passing through town, got to spend the holiday in the most amazing way possible! Best thanksgiving yet.

here's to hoping next year's soup requires an upgrade from bucket to garbage can! (and that stew makes a VAT of the banana cream pie!)

me & the gracious hostess:

so many things...

2007-11-23T14:07:00.000-08:00

well...i haven't posted anything i've made this week. BUT...i have been making things, what with thanksgiving and all.

first though, the weather in austin is getting chilly. right now it is actually BELOW 50 degrees, which is insane. you know, when you live in texas, you really buckle down for the two weeks of cold weather! ha! and with the buckling down, you do things like make oatmeal with delicious aromatic spices and fruits. mostly, i was inspired by all the people blogging about steel-cut oats. but i didn't have that on hand, so i went the boring route. this is oatmeal with sauteed apples, raisins and pecans with cinnamon, maple syrup, nutmeg & cloves. mmmmm....

the first thanksgiving feast i went to was held at the house of my bosses. for this, i tried my hand at making a traditional (and not vegan)pecan pie with all the pecans i had gathered and cracked from my back yard. i have to say...any time i bake something that isn't vegan...i can never get it just right. i guess you have to stick with what you know, for the most part. ANYWAY, this pie tasted delicious, but didn't set in quite the way that a pecan pie should. i also used *gasp* corn syrup (an abomination, i know), because i could NOT find a traditional recipe lacking it.
ah well...C'est la vie. looks good though, right?

and now...an entire post devoted to the Vegan Thanksgiving Extravaganza that my friend Billie had.

Pecan Harvest

2007-11-13T16:36:00.000-08:00

As much as I miss the NY autumn, the one thing that is amazing about fall in Texas is the abundance of pecans everywhere!

I rent a house that has a GINORMOUS backyard, and along with it, two towering pecan trees. Thanks to a very rainy year, there are TONS of pecans that have fallen. I now refer to the area behind my house as my SNACKYARD since you could literally sit out there and snack on delicious nuts all day if you wanted to.

ANYWAY...We've been collecting them into a wholefoods bag, and cracking them whenever there's time. Today, Billie came over and had heard about a cheap gadget that cracks them for you. SO, with a little internet research and a trip to
Callahan's General Store (which is amazing, and very Texan, by the way!)we were totally in business!

We sat around and cracked for maybe an hour. And as you can see, I now have an entire giant freezer bag of pecans just screaming to be made into pies, cookies and other deliciousness.

The leaves in the picture are some that my amazingly thoughtful and wonderful friend Britt brought me back from her trip to Ohio. They even smell just right, if you put your nose into the pile of them! Sigh...i love fall.

life is alright.

Stay tuned for an update with pecan-filled goodness!

Vegan Blueberry Thumbprint Cookies

2007-11-07T08:02:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned before, Billie and I were a bit ambitious with our Halloween treat preparation. This means I had a ball of sugar cookie dough left in my refrigerator for a week.

Luckily, yesterday I was inspired to cook AND bake, thanks to a little drop in temperature down here in the Texas atmosphere. I had a bizarre craving for thumbprint cookies, and thought i'd experiment by seeing how well sugar cookie dough translated. I am still relatively unsure of how i felt about them.

Whereas a thumbprint dough is usually pretty soft, these were crispy like sugar cookies. The texture definitely took a minute to adjust to, but then after i did...i wanted to keep eating them. The flavor of the dough and the blueberry preserves were definitely a match.

Now i'm just hoping it stays chilly in Austin for a little while.
i'm really enjoying the bundling up.

SPOOKTACULAR!

2007-11-01T15:08:00.000-07:00

Well, Halloween has now come and gone. It is always relatively fun, to say the least. I ended up working, but not before i got the chance to make at least a few treats.

My friend Billie and I made some cupcakes. Just Vegan Chocolate ones, with colored vegan buttercream frosting. nothing too exciting, but sometimes simple is best anyway. The cupcakes I put faces on turned out to be my favorites. We didn't have much time, so a lot of them came out kinda "meh".

We also made spiced toasted pumpkin seeds, which are always a delicious snack. the first batch i made were spicy chili flavor.
Billie and i made them a second time and got a little more creative. She made some curry, some umaboshi plum vinegar and soy sauce, and we came up with a delicious maple syrup (with some rosemary that you could hardly taste). the maple seeds turned into almost a brittle! I think we decided that the plum vinegar/soy and the maple were our favorites! mmmm...salty AND sweet.

At the time we were baking we were a bit ambitious, and made sugar cookie dough as well. However, due to time constraints and our tiredness, we didn't end up making them. So maybe this week i will use the dough.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! (i think i ate WAY too much sugar the last couple days!)

Vegan Pumpkin Pecan Cookies

2007-10-19T16:49:00.001-07:00

I remembered today that I had some leftover pumpkin filling from the turnovers i made(see previous posting). I really hate things going to waste (and to "waist" too, although i think it's unavoidable)...

Anyway, with a few extra ingredients i turned the pumpkin filling into cookies, which MIGHT be my favorite ones i've eaten in quite some time. Just sweet enough, and the pecans and sprinkle of turbinado sugar on top were a crunchy contrast to their overall fluffiness!

Here is what i added to the filling, to turn it into cookie dough:

flour
a little more sugar
egg replacer
baking soda
PECANS!! mmmm....
rolled oats

my plan is now to give most of them away so that i'm not tempted to eat every last one myself!

Vegan Pumpkin Turnovers

2007-10-17T15:48:00.001-07:00

<---NY in fall. sigh...

The Texas version of Fall is here. The leaves don't change too much, but its getting a bit chillier. This is the time of year when i miss the northeast the very most. I LOVE FALL in NY! For the last 4 years I have tried to convince my friends in NY to send me a little box of colored leaves. But alas...no such luck. Anyway... I try to ease the feeling by drinking apple cider, wearing hoodies as much as possible, and baking autumny treats. My awesome roommate Skot has been craving pumpkin pie lately. It is certainly that time of year. However, with Halloween and Thanksgiving right around the corner, I feel like the actual pie baking has to wait a few weeks!

SOOOO... This is my early October homage to the season. Vegan Pumpkin Turnovers. They are delicious! Puff pastry may not be the healthiest thing for you...but doesn't the pumpkin and silken tofu filling balance that out? hmm...

Skot got home 10 minutes ago and ate one...and just walked by saying,"they're so good, i had to have another one!"

Success!

Ciao Bella

2007-10-10T13:42:00.000-07:00

My bosses at
The Side Bar (Soo & Trey) just got back from a three week vacation in Italy. While in Asti, they did palates and took a cooking class. Soo wanted to try out her new recipes, so she made a delicious dinner for our bar family. Of course, i offered to make dessert, because...well...i love dessert...and i've never really made italian dessert before.

SO, i suspended the vegan baking once again, and decided to make tiramisu. I'd never done this before, and I didn't have TOO much time, since i had to work all weekend. BUT, it ended up being great...even with store-bought lady fingers.

I also discovered Cream Puffs (again totally UNvegan, loaded with eggs and ahem...cream). They are incredibly easy to make, are super delicious (although i really could only eat one bite of each of these desserts) and people seem to really love them.

Thanks to Soo for an amazing meal (and my discovery of the tastiness that IS
Caponata)
and to all the people who gave me compliments on my desserts!

Viva Italia!

Back to the Mixing Board...

2007-10-04T08:24:00.000-07:00

My friend Jamie's birthday is two days before mine! He runs sound at a couple of clubs in austin, so i thought this cake was only appropriate. Flavors: Vegan chocolate on chocolate! The embellishments on this cake were not vegan, however, because gum paste is made with egg whites. No one would want to eat that anyway. Jamie was really really excited about it, and we were all excited that it tasted good too!

crank it up!

Also, last night I went to
Austin Park and Pizza! If you haven't been there, you should definitely go! Go-karts, Mini Golf, Bumper boats, Batting cages, Video Games, and if you want it, Beer! seriously, so much fun i wondered why i'd never gone before!

*(apparently so much fun i just used four exclamation points in one paragraph.)

Vegan Donuts revisited. mmmm...

2007-10-02T21:04:00.000-07:00

I made more donuts. I also learned something/figured something out. The last time i made them, they didn't come out so well. I realized this time, that when i had doubled the recipe, i had forgotten to double the margarine in them accordingly. HENCE...too dry donuts. In my defense, however, i WAS on the telephone while i was making them. What i learned was: wait until they are in the oven to chat. What i figured out was: not enough marg makes for a dull donut. clearly.

anyway, this time, i topped some with chopped pecans (the best ones, i thought), some with sprinkles, and some with chocolate shavings. half of them got an orange glaze. they were perty darn good! i like the mini donut holes with orange glaze and sprinkles too! mmmm....

i'm in the process of making a birthday cake for my friend. pictures of that to come!

cake decorating class #3...

2007-09-25T16:49:00.000-07:00

SO...i had my last class of cake decorating course one. It went pretty well. learned to make roses, which was cool. now if ONLY i remember which end of the tip is UP, i will be just fine.

my plan WAS to post pictures of the cake, which turned out alright....but then i left it in my car a little too long and it melted and got all flung around inside the box. so it looked like shit. and no picture. ah well...maybe next time.

i used a cupcake recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take over the World, and made a cake out of it. i was pleased to say that it actually worked really well. then i made vegan cream cheese frosting, which was also delicious. but then, of course, i used the wilton recipe for my piping icing...not vegan. and not really all that delicious. but it tastes not bad overall.

i will make more cakes soon and post pictures. i bought some gum paste to play with. FUN!

my mom is visiting, which is great.
i'm lucky.
not only is SHE fabulous herself...but she seems to think that everything i do/make is fabulous.
a mother's love, i tell ya. certainly good for the self esteem.
i really am lucky.

well, i never! (not vegan cake-in-the-face cake)

2007-09-21T17:01:00.000-07:00

Have you ever made a cake which you knew would never be eaten? i mean, on purpose?? yeah...neither had i. until today!

some friends of mine are having a bike event, and will be having a cake-in-the-face while riding your bike challenge! (most likely tall bikes, at that). SO...they asked me to make some cakes for that purpose. i made SIX cakes, and ALL of the supplies cost approximately $16. THAT to me, is disgusting. that also means, entirely NOT something i would ever eat. CALL me a cake snob. Here is what i bought: 3 cake mixes, a dozen eggs, a bottle of veg oil, 4 things of shelf-life-a million-years frosting,
and 6 tin cake pans.

i cannot recall the last time i used a cake mix. and DEFINITELY never chemically created frosting. (go ahead, call me a snob again)

most of them looked like shit...since it just doesn't matter, and i have to work all weekend. but britt and i decorated a couple so they looked (almost) alright! this is the one i did.

by the way...store-bought frosting is a real pain in the ass to pipe. it is entirely too soft. yuck.

the endeavor was pretty fun though, so i'm really glad i got to do it. baking is baking.

check this out!

2007-09-20T13:01:00.000-07:00

So, my friends over at CAKEISM, in Austin, are amazing! If you haven't checked them out, you definitely should.

Last night, i went over to watch/help them with some cakes they are in the process of making. These ladies are truly amazing! The cake they were working on was to have three cats on top, which were to look like the three black cats owned by the woman ordering the cake. When i got there, the cats were already constructed, but details were being worked on.

I helped with the face and hair of a long haired cat, which was made out of sculpted fondant. This is a much harder endeavor than it might sound. making HAIR out of fondant is no easy task. Either way...it was really fun, and hopefully I actually helped the process along. I definitely learned some things, even in the few hours i spent with them.

Baking and art really do go hand in hand. It is a true combination of science (the chemistry involved in a delicious cake) and art (sculpture, painting, etc... of the fondant). I am amazed.

Either way, you should really check these girls out. Their cakes are custom made, ridiculously awesome, and totally DIY.

to reiterate...if you haven't already clicked the link at the top...GO! NOW!
CAKEISM

Cake decorating class #2...

2007-09-18T10:34:00.000-07:00

Last night was my second cake decorating class. This week i made cupcakes to decorate, which is obviously fun! . Since we got to make our own cakes and icing this week, mine were vegan chocolate with vegan buttercream frosting. .This was for the sake of making them delicious(crazy thought, i know!).The only part then, that wasn't vegan, was the icing used to decorate. The recipe they make us use has meringue powder (eggwhites) in it. I still think i'm probably the only person in the class who will use black icing relatively often!
The techniques we learned first were a couple different flowers and the shell border. I decided, however, that this could also be a good accent to more fun designs. SO...of course i started drawing silly things: .
ANYWAY...the real thing we were supposed to learn in that lesson was the clown cake. Here is the one i made...it turned out looking like shit. But i decided i hated it anyway, so i wasn't concerned!
I think that's about it. The class isn't exactly what I want to learn ultimately, but i think its pretty important that i take it anyway.

Vegan Banana Bread Minis!

2007-09-13T17:03:00.000-07:00

As i mentioned before, i love to make banana bread.
I also love things that are wee.
these turned out as delicious as normal banana bread, only smaller, more fun to eat, and less messy.

Cake decorating class #1

2007-09-13T15:31:00.000-07:00

SO...as i said, i started taking a cake decorating class. here is the picture of the ugly cake we made. it is SO not vegan, possibly not even all that edible, as far as i'm concerned.
but its all about the techniques i'm learning. i'm just not a flowery kind of girl. someday i will translate it into something much more cute and/or tough, however!

and from the side (i liked the pink stars and green dot border)

either way, its super fun! i'm going to let my friends use the cake for a cake-in-the-face bike event stunt.
word to that!