Art Food Delectable

Crafts, when I make them.

2008-05-13T21:33:00.000-07:00

Here are the four rings I made for my final project in Metals I. They were all handmade with a wax gun (like a glue gun but with wax sticks) and cast in solid sterling silver. The jellyfish one has a black patina. They're all about a size 10. I really like them, and I'd love to continue to work with the wax gun and lost wax casting.

Jellyfish & Tentacle Rings

Some of the rings that weren't cast-- there were a LOT.

Anyone who knows me knows I'm a bit obsessed with Japanese culture... I've been trying my hand at Mizuhiki. It's actually not totally vegan-- the fancy cords are wrapped with silk-- but it's easy to find them without if you'd rather. This is my first attempt, secured with my bestest friend, Elmer's glue:

Mizuhiki can be used to make jewelry and ornaments, but knots are commonly used in Japan to embellish cards, with cash enclosed, for various occasions.

Cupcake Addendum

2008-05-06T20:31:00.001-07:00

Gingerbread mini cupcakes (another Bob's Red Mill mix) with vanilla buttercream frosting and sugar sparkles.

End of Semester Cupcakes

2008-05-06T13:57:00.001-07:00

I just made a big batch of mini cupcakes with Bob's Red Mill chocolate cake mix (thanks Job Lot) with chocolate buttercream frosting. Fatty vegans represent.

Two classes down after tomorrow. Party!

Another note: if you have a LiveJournal, please add us to your friends list. Robyn and me also have journals!

Garden Beginnings, et al.

2008-05-01T09:13:00.000-07:00

This year we're going to try a garden that isn't full of fail. I've only started cucumbers and tomatoes so far, and not all of them have come up. I made mini-hothouses with plastic bottles because people in this house go through so many...

This summer though, we're moving down to Robyn's mom's house in Plymouth. So we'll be able to have our garden there! Hopefully it will do better than our tiny one in our shady backyard (dirt pit) in Savannah.

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I used USPS labels for the stickers. You can get a ton for free, that's why people who do sticker art use them so much. And you're not supposed to "misuse" them, which I guess would be akin to using a milk crate as an ottoman or something. I made some sticker art of my own:

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Here are a couple of pieces I made this semester in Metals that I don't hate. I made the cuff and the ring above my wedding ring-- those are our actual rings in the link, we paid less, and the anodization isn't nearly as permanent as the site would have you believe. Still, I love mine. The stone in the ring I made is pyrite, and the bezel is a little crooked. Part of the octopus cutout broke off and I never soldered a new part on, but that's not in the picture because it was supposed to be a secret.

Butternut Squash & Spinach Lasagna

2008-01-21T12:47:00.000-08:00

So before I type anything, I have to give credit where credit is due: I got this recipe from What Do I Know? when I was looking for something besides Tofurky to have on Thanksgiving. I happened to "leave" the recipe lying around the kitchen and my mom made it for us and it was delicious.

So when Robyn told me that because I was newly out of a job, it was up to me to make something for a family gathering at her mom's house last Saturday. Suzie made empañadas for an appetizer, which were delicious-- and for dessert she made Fudgy-Wudgy Blueberry Brownies. Both recipes are from Veganomicon, which if you don't have you should buy, or steal, or take out of the library or something. And I made the aforementioned lasagna.

I love glassware. Just tell me that's not erotic. ->

I did deviate a bit from the recipe, as I usually do. I don't really use exact measurements... and I found out that the past two times my mom made it she didn't know what "Chinese-style tofu" was, so she'd been using Chinese five spice tofu. But that was all we had in the house and it tasted good before, so I went with it. We were also out of nutritional yeast, so I just took the packet from a box of alfredo Mac & Chreese and threw that in with a spoonful of plain soymilk powder instead.

And instead of the basil and oregano, and the bothersome task of measuring, I turned to my old friend, Trader Joe's Pasta Seasoning.

I also baked it uncovered for 20 minutes at 350F, after layering it in the dish and pouring the cheese sauce on.

Butternut squash goodness. Yes, that's pre-chopped. No, the honey's not mine.

Mixing the filling with the cooked baby spinach.

Pre-cheese sauce, destined for the oven.

Thanks for reading!

Food, mostly

2007-11-18T07:54:00.000-08:00

My first post! I feel like I need to make an introduction. The purpose of this blog is to log my artistic and culinary achievements. Recently, I've been experimenting more with food. But I'll be working on an art project pretty soon! I'm having my cousin, Suzie, model for a character design I'm doing. She was my inspiration for starting a blog here. It looked like so much fun.

So last Saturday I had a yard sale where we offered free coffee and baked goods. It was freezing and mostly everyone that came didn't want to touch the food. But the food was good! More for us, right? Kate (my beautiful girlfriend) and I spent Friday in kitchen stadium baking up a storm for this sad event. We made pumpkin muffins and chocolate orange cupcakes and gingerbread cookies. I have to admit, though, we used mixes for everything. Trader Joe's has some awesome mixes that are totally vegan. And Kate's mom's pantry was stocked with this stuff, so why not.

Yum. I was really sick of pumpkin muffins after that.

Yesterday was a fun day of feasting! Kate got Veganomicon, the best cookbook ever! We woke up and decided it would be good to make waffles. We used the banana-walnut waffle recipe and added blueberries. REALLY GOOD. We were out of maple syrup so we used blueberry syrup. I didn't complain. They were so yummy. They were yummy this morning too.

For dinner we made phô soup. Or Kate tried to and I kept changing the recipe. It came out good, though! It was soup with rice noodles, tofu, and lots of greens. The only thing I changed was adding mushrooms to the broth and in the soup. It was an acceptable change, I think.

Kate made a salad out of daikon, kohlrabi, and carrots. The dressing was made of rice vinegar, agave nectar, veganaise, and ichimi togarashi red pepper mix. It was sweet and balanced well with the other flavors.

Suzie's birthday's coming up and there will be a lot more to share! I'm pretty excited about that. But I get excited whenever I think about food.

Sweet daikon. Love of my life!

Not the best photography going on here, but it tasted good!