pie contest
I went to the KCRW pie contest this past weekend, even though it was quite warm out, I couldn’t resist the allure of pie. They had a vegan section and I was able to sample a few of the pies. There were a handful of savory pies like the one above, but they were mostly sweet pies. There was a lot of pie (so please excuse me if I get some of the flavors slightly off).
This fruit pie had an awesome shortbread crust.
Some of the vegan pies were also gluten free, like this cherry ginger pie.
I ran into Trina who made this delicious lemon cream pie.
Veronica made this amazing pumpkin pecan pie. I’m not even a fan of nuts and it was really good.
Did I mention it was hot out? It was rough on the cream pies like this chocolate pudding pie with coconut cream.
There were lattice berry pies and apple pies. I kind of just wanted to eat pie forever. I ended up making seitan pot pie for our food share inspired by all these pies.
There were lots of pretty pies that weren’t vegan that I’ll share below for the sake inspiration, because they could of course easily be made vegan. In truth I don’t know who won but it was fun to sample. Perhaps next year I’ll enter a pie myself.
Doctor Meow
Doctor Meow – Fantastic Fest Bumper Submission from Jenn Murphy on Vimeo.
As promised, here is the video Jenn and I made for the Fantastic Fest bumper contest. I hope you enjoy it.
In case you aren’t familiar with Fantastic Fest, or the bumper contest, let me give you a little bit of background. Fantastic Fest is a film festival in Austin, Texas that focuses on genre films like horror, sci-fi, action and fantasy, in other words, some of my favorite kinds of films. Before each film, they show bumpers made by fans. This year, the theme for the contest was Time Travel is Fantastic, plus each bumper has to end with “That’s Fantastic.” The bumpers are notoriously pretty crazy, but if you win, you get two VIP Badges for the festival in 2013.
It would be amazing if you would vote for our bumper. All you have to do is click that link, and then “like” our video. If we get enough votes, we’ll make it to the finalist round. As a side note, there is a very small percentage of the bumpers made by women, so even if you aren’t a fan of our bumper you’ll vote, just as a vote for the ladies. Or maybe you’ll just vote for Meeme and Mochi because they’re the cutest?
bumper madness
This past weekend was full of movie making. It was awesome. Though a lot of work was involved, I can’t imagine a way I’d rather spend my days.
This upcoming Saturday is the deadline for the Fantastic Fest Bumper Contest so yesterday Jenn and I completely shot and edited our entry, with lots of help from Shawn. It involved tons of cat wrangling, blood, glitter, and of course, time travel. It was so fun to work on and and really rewarding to start and finish a big project all in one day. Plus our bumper is the coolest.
On top of that, we also shot one of Shawn’s bumper entries, which meant dressing up in some crazy lady Chewbacca costumes and going on a murderous rampage, which is always a good time.
Besides all our bumper making we put some finishing touches on my short film which is so close to being finished I can taste it. It’s been a long process for a little film (it’s only 13 minutes) but also an enlightening one. I’m really happy to have brought this idea to life.
Check back later this week and I’ll share our bumper.
pie oh my
So I made some pie. Two in fact. Two pies. In one day. For no occasion. There is possibly something wrong with me.
I’m also going to give away an apron. It’s really cute. You could win it.
Back to the pies though. One is a caramel peanut butter pie inspired entirely by this caramel pudding. The other, is a raspberry rhubarb pie kind of sort of from the lovely Babycakes cookbook.
I started the caramel peanut butter pie with a cookie crust. This is probably the easiest crust you’ll ever make. All you have to do is mix 2 cups of cookie crumbs (that’s about 18 sandwich cookies) with 5 Tbsp of melted Earth Balance. Press this mixture into a greased 9″ pie pan. Put the whole thing in the fridge. Ok, done with that part.
Next is the peanut butter. Also, easy as hell. Using an electric mixer, beat together 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter, 1/4 cup powdered sugar and 1 tsp vanilla extract until all combined. Then press this into the prepared cookie crust. It should cover just the bottom.
So that bit is a breeze. Tell yourself making the caramel pudding will be as well. It will be! Just be patient. When you literally have to watch sugar boil for ten minutes, just imagine the wonderful pie you will have at the end and don’t even think about stirring. Or you can scrub your oven top. That’s what I did.
Anyway, yes, just be patient, it will all come together even if it takes awhile. Even if it seems like it’s going wrong. Just be careful not to stab* or burn yourself with the caramelized sugar. But seriously, you’ll be fine.
As I mentioned, the caramel pudding recipe can be found here written out for you by the lovely Joy the Baker. To make it vegan, I just subbed the 4 cups of whole milk with 3 cups of mimicreme mixed with 1 cup soy milk. Then, after letting the pudding cool slightly, pour into the pie crust that has been hanging out in the fridge. Let cool completely in the fridge for a few hours (just enough time to make another pie) and you’ll have one decadent and amazing caramel peanut butter pie.
See? Looks tasty and oh it is. You may want to put some whipped topping on here, but that’s really your call. Really, this pie is damn good.
But don’t forget, there is another pie too. I decided to finally try my hand at an almost gluten free and sugar free recipe from Babycakes. Ok so it’s not exactly the most complicated of low gluten experiments, but it’s a start…next time I’ll go full gluten free, just wait.
So the crust is a spelt crust, remember I said it wasn’t entirely gluten free. Now let’s not kid around here, this is some damn good crust. I may have eaten a few pieces before putting it into the oven. I could possibly use this crust always. Possibly.
This is the part where I tell you that I didn’t exactly follow the rest of the recipe for the pie. Mainly because where in the hell do you get dried rhubarb? Is this a common ingredient? Who knows. I used frozen. I should have defrosted it. I didn’t. I also used raspberries instead of strawberries. Whatever.
Also, when I got to part where you have to roll out the crust, I discovered my rolling pin had gone missing. (Hey mom, did I leave my rolling pin at your house?) That made it a bit difficult to do everything. So my crust was not rolled out as thin as it should have been and other things. It still tasted good.
Despite me making some pretty major pie recipe sins this still tasted lovely. I ended up cooking it for about 10 minutes more though, and it was a bit, um, soupy. Like I said, should have thawed the rhubarb. Seriously though, I think I’m about to be a big fan of this agave sweetened business.
So there you have it ladies and gentleman, pies for dinner this lovely sunday night.
Oh yeah, and the apron. Do you remember back during the holidays I made some aprons for Christmas presents? Well I am a jerk and never gave one to it’s intended recipient. It’s nearly the end of April and it’s just been sitting in my closet. I think it needs a home. I will just give my friend a cooler present next year. Now it can be yours! Think this apron is cute? Just leave a comment on this post telling me your favorite kind of pie and I’ll randomly pick a winner by May 1st. Then you can make pie in a cute apron.
*yes I have done this. it hurts.
Update: And the winner is…Monica. Congratulations!
Coffee Cozy
In case I hadn’t made it clear in some previous post, I love coffee. Mostly I love the rich flavor of a good espresso, but I won’t lie, I can’t go without my daily caffeine boost. I don’t often get coffee to go, but when the occasion arises, I come prepared with my own coffee cozy. It’s not quite as earth friendly as bringing your own mug, but its much more convenient as I can carry one in my purse all the time. Not to mention, they’re damn cute. I made these one night after seeing some adorable ones on various craft blogs and knew I had to have one. I used some scrap fabric and some felt to line them. They came together in just a few minutes.
Lucky for you…I’m including a tutorial on how to make one of your own AND giving away a cozy to one lucky reader. Better than an infomercial!
Before I get to the tutorial though, just wanted to let you all know I’m now on formspring. So if there’s something you’re curious about or just bored, feel free to ask me! Ok back to the cozies…
1. First print out the template I’ve included. Use the template to cut two pieces of fabric for your cozy, one out of felt, and the other out of a fabric of your choice.
2. Next take a piece of velcro and sew onto one side of the felt, being careful to leave space for seam allowances. I should probably tell you now that I rarely pin things, mainly because I am lazy, but you might want to baste or pin pieces in place.
3. Put your two fabric pieces together with the right sides facing. The velcro will be on the inside. Pin if necessary and trim any areas where the fabrics do not line up.
4. Sew along the two long edges and the short edge near the velcro, following a 3/8 inch seam allowance. Make sure to double back and secure any open ends.
5. Turn the cozy inside out, using a chopstick to poke out corners. Fold the unfinished edge inside and press the whole thing.
6. Sew around the outside edge of the whole cozy starting on the unfinished side about 1/8 inch away from the edge. You can use a matching thread or something contrasting, depending on what you prefer.
7. Last, sew the other half of the velcro on the outside so that it will meet the velcro on the inside. That’s it! Good work, I think you deserve some coffee.
If you like the cozy you see made in the tutorial, you can win it. All you have to do is comment and a winner will be chosen at random on March 7th. Good luck!
Update: and the cozy goes to…Christy! Congratulations!
