Plans for this weekend? Baking fun!

I would love to make some of these cookie bowls, but I have no idea what I would use them for! I plan on making some homemade french bread and possibly even some biscotti to go with my coffee/tea! :D

Chocolate Pistachio Biscotti

Tofu Wings

Rice and Corn.

Ben’s 90 second rice Teriyaki Style (probably not that healthy for you) with a can of corn (but there is quite a bit of corn here, so maybe that cancels out the inhealthy rice mixture?)… DINNER. 

Letterform Compositions.

The project guidelines were to create 3 compositions with letters from contrasting fonts to create shapes where the letters weren't recognizable within the composition. This has been by far, my favorite project we've done in this class. And when my instructor was going around looking at thumbnails she told me that mine looked really nice and that I understood the project. But, seeing as how I already love typography....it worked out well for me. :D

Here are the letters I decided to use in their respective orders.

Christmas for Brunch?

Avocados, tomatoes, cream cheese, and dill toast!

Simple yet wonderful salad.

I haven’t had a really yummy homemade salad in the longest time. This was just really really really delicious and hit the spot. Yay!

• Pre packaged Romain Hearts
• Boiled Egg
• Tomato
• Cheese cubes
• Avocado cubes
• Olive Oil
• Dill
• Salt

Homemade Biscuits

I conjured these up this morning! I added some butter, cinnamon, & sugar to them.

Cupcake Shop Goodies!

My friend and I walked downtown today to get these cute little cupcakes from The Cupcake Spot. They were so adorable in their little 2 pack container! After we walked back from the cupcake shop we decided to waltz on over to the Dali with out free admission and listened to the guided tour for about an hour and a half. We both also made a wish on the Wish Tree they have set up in the courtyard, which was fun! (:

The most important of my "notes" from the Dali.

Paint the Town Red Velvet & Buckeye.

I ate this one right when I got home! But the other one is still in my fridge. (:

Soybeans + Cheddar Nachos!

I would suggest cooking the soybeans first, especially if they are the frozen kind…because mine were definitely cold and not done because I was being too lazy to cook them first. 

Last Nights Dinner.

Lazy Dinner!

Chickpea cutlet (or patty) sandwich. 

• Toasted Bread
• Patty
• American Cheese
• Tomatoes
• Onions
• Mustard
• Salt

Bagels for Breakfast!

Hummus + Boiled Egg & Avocado Mush + Boiled Egg.

Late Night Snack.

This ended up tasting so much better than I had imagined it was going to! 

• Toasted bread
• Hummus
• Cheddar cheese
• Mustard
• Avocado slices

Microwaveable Curry Rice + Soybeans (Edamame)!

Curry Rice Recipe:

• 2 tbsp of butter
• 1 cup of rice
• 2 1/4 cups of vegetable broth
• 1-1 1/2 tsp of curry powder

In a casserole dish heat butter on high for one minute, stir in rice, heat at high 2-3 minutes or until rice is browned, and stir. Add remaining ingredients and heat on igh 4-5 minutes and then at medium low heat for 15 minutes or until rice is tender. Let stand while covered for 5 minutes. 

I'm really excited about this!

At the Vegetarian Society Meeting that I went to today with my friend, we found out about this Farmer's Market which opens October 1st. And, the group is going to have a vegan bake sale to fundraise for carpool to the Veg. Fest in Tampa on October 15. I'm uber ecstatic, it sounds like lots of fun with some food booths! (:

Market that I plan to attend when it opens. (:

Project 3; Reinvent a logo/famous painting.

The resulting "I don't care how I look/didn't shower" hair.

The guidelines were to abstract the composition by simplifying it or making it more complex if already in a simplified form. The mediums we had to use were gouache, india ink, sharpie, & collage. Therefore we had to produce four 6x9 compositions total.

Me not being able to choose a logo that I liked that I though could work out well, had to choose the more difficult of the two options. I chose to do Edgar Degas' Prima Ballerina, which ended up somewhat horrible along with my time management skills (Let's do all 4 compositions the night before they are due!!). Needless to say, I went to bed around 4:30 am to wake up in time for my 9:30am class. Which was fun.... First off, I realized this was a bad choice of a famous painting for me to reproduce when I realized that I don't have much practice drawing figures, as one of Degas' favorite things to paint were ballerinas and that is exactly what was in my painting. Secondly, I had never used india ink before and I "experimented" with it too far apart from the actual time that I painted the composition, so my skill level was incompetent to begin with. But I did end up being really happy with the way my variation of the painting in the collage turned out. That composition alone only took me 6 hours... So we'll just wait and see about the others. During critique my instructor did comment that the Sharpie & Collage were my two strongest ones due to how the figure in the foreground was united with the background and not isolated as opposed in the india ink & gouache.

So, with all of that said, here is original & the final products.

Prima Ballerina by Degas (original image).

Gouache

India Ink (Major Fail)

Sharpie

6 hour Collage

My roommates possibly questioning my sanity with the mess I made....

Amy's + Spinach Salad!

Made this in the Microwave!

And then ate the last of my spinach before it all went bad.

Salad Consisted of:

• Fresh Spinach
• Carrots
• Green Olives
• 1 Slice of Provolone Cheese broken up into pieces
• Balsamic Vinegar

Homemade Pizza!

I finally acquired some yeast from the grocery store, so the obvious first thing to do is make homemade pizza dough right?! Well it is in my family anyway...(you know, since we're Italian and all).  :D
Fabozzi Pizza Dough:

• 1/2 C of water
• A pinch of sugar
• A pinch of salt
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp yeast
• 1 1/2 cups of flour
• 2 tbsp of oatmeal - for a crispier crust. (optional)

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and add the flour slowly. Knead the dough until it is the right consistency which should be sticky but not gooey and stuck to your hands. Once you reach this consistency, let the dough rest for about 15-45 minutes until it has expanded in size. Roll out on the pan for cooking and add toppings, Bake at 350 degrees on the bottom rack for 15 - 20 minutes or until the bottom of the crust is slightly golden brown.
The toppings included:

• Pizza sauce
• Fresh Spinach, chopped
• Onions, minced
• Tomato, cubed
• Mix of Italian Cheese

Pesto is the besto. :D

Creamy Spinach Avocado and Walnut Pesto, Veggie burger, + Baked Potato.

The whole dinner plate. 

Pesto in the blender.

Creamy Spinach Avocado & Walnut Pesto: (makes about 8 oz)

• 2.5 cups of fresh spinach
• half of an avocado
• 2 handfuls of chopped walnuts
• 3 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1/3 C of milk
• A sprinkle of Italian Seasoning, oregano, salt, & garlic powder.
• 2 slices of tomato, cubed (optional)

Add all to the blender or food processor except tomatoes and cube them and add to the top of whatever you’re putting the lovely pesto on!

Greek Toast

Idea came from here.

• 2 pieces of Italian Bread
• 1/2 cup of shredded italian cheeses (really any kind…)
• 2 handfulls of spinach
• slices of avocado
• slices of tomato
• green olives (optional)
• Salt for taste
• Butter (for toasting the bread in the pan)

Gouache [pronounced like squash but with a G] Chaos

OH, and they are facing the correct way this time! (YAY!)

If you don’t know what this is related to here is my original post… This is me pretty much done with the 3 squares minus touch ups on the black. This type of pigment is really difficult to work with until you figure out how it works…and by this time, I think I’ve got it. Alas, you can’t see every detail of the having too thick of gouache in some of the gray shapes, but I think from a far it looks quite nice (except for maybe the first one where my hand was really unsteady….considering redoing that one - opinions on this idea?) Anyway, any opinions in general would be appreciated. (:

Spinach + Avocado Panini

Tonight I had a spinach + Avocado Panini for dinner. The original recipe came from the July / August 2011 Issue of Vegetarian Times (pg. 36 - if you happen to have the issue). I completely changed the recipe for the most part though. (Imagine that!) I am always improvising every recipe I make. 

Ingredients:

• 2 slices of Bread (I used the 97 cent goes bad in a day bread from Walmart)
• About 1/2 avocado spooned out of the shell
• Handful of spinach
• 2 slices of provolone cheese
• A slice of onion

All I did was pile it all into the bread and add some oil to the frying pan and just wait for the sides to get golden brown. I also caramelized some onions with balsamic vinegar and the rest of the avocado “shavings” and finally I poured some baby carrots onto my plate. 

Chickpea Cutlets (or in my case - patties)

Seriously, this recipe is the best thing since the vegetarian meatball recipe I’ve found. It is so wonderful tasting. 

This is my tweaked version of ingredients from the original recipe:

Chickpea Cutlets

• 1 16 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1 cup plain breadcrumbs
• 1/2 cup vegetable broth or water
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder, dill, italian seasoning, + oregeno
• Olive oil for pan frying

Songs I enjoy should now be on a playlist on the bottom. (:

Gatsbys

So I found this two man band based from Sydney, Australia. They are quite nice. I don't normally listen to this type of music, but I really am enjoying the way they sound. Maybe it is just the guys voice, but I am definitely in the process of downloading their album right now. They are not on itunes but if you listen and end up liking them, you can download their album here. 

Division of a Square.

Supplies for my 2nd project (Division of a Square) in Concepts & Practices 1:

1. Ox Gall
2. White Gouache
3. Black Gouache
4. Paint Brushes
5. 3 squares of Bristol Board (8.5 X 8.5 inches with a .5 inch margin)

The project guidelines go as followed:

Use no recognizable imagery. Design a square that will be divided into shapes that are horizontal and vertical to the edges of the square.  Design a 2nd square that will be divided into shapes that are all diagonal to the edges of your board. And finally, design a 3rd square that will be divided into a mixture of horizontal/vertical and diagonal shapes. Then shade different parts of the square with the black and gray gouache. There should not be any negative or positive space or any feeling that the shapes are overlapping. The colors should look flat and crisp, not painterly.

Along with these guidelines we had to research artists such as Malevich, Lissitzky, and Sarah Crowner.