* Home Sweet Vegan Home *

Happy Birthday Mr. Poe

2012-01-19T15:54:00.000-08:00

Edgar Allan Poe

January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849

A Dream Within A Dream by Edgar Allan Poe

Take this kiss upon the brow!
And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow--
You are not wrong, who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.

I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand--
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep--while I weep!
O God! can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?

Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?

In honor of Poe's birthday I created a treasury of great hand crafted Poe things.
My favorite finds were:

Poe 11x14 canvas print by Ghoulish Gary

http://www.etsy.com/listing/60606691/poe-canvas-print-11x14?ref=tre-1869229020-10

Edgar Allen Poe finger puppet greeting cards by Dear Deer Designs

http://www.etsy.com/listing/42786332/edgar-allan-poe-finger-puppet-greeting?ref=tre-1869229020-13

Edgar Allan Poe Doll With Raven by Uneek Doll Designs
(which is ridiculously reasonably priced for an art doll, and so detailed!)
http://www.etsy.com/listing/84949608/edgar-allen-poe-doll-with-the-raven?ref=tre-1869229020-2
All of Uneek Doll Designs are actually pretty amazing.
You should stop by their Etsy shop and marvel at their wonderful creations.
www.UneekDollDesigns.etsy.com

And the Edgar Allan Poe Author Pendant by Sweetheart Sinner

http://www.etsy.com/listing/55867304/edgar-allan-poe-goth-gothic-horror?ref=tre-1869229020-9
And last but not least,

The Raven Paper doll play set by Le Lapin Triste

http://www.etsy.com/listing/59683947/sale-the-raven-paper-doll-play-set?ref=tre-1869229020-3

You can view the rest of the treasury here:

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/MTExMDMyNDF8MTg2OTIyOTAyMA/a-dream-within-a-dream

Annabel Lee by Edgar Allan Poe

It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of Annabel Lee;–
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.

She was a child and I was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea,
But we loved with a love that was more than love–
I and my Annabel Lee–
With a love that the winged seraphs of Heaven
Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ao,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud by night
Chilling my Annabel Lee;
So that her kingdom kinsmen came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.

The Angels, not half so happy in Heaven,
Went envying her and me:–
Yes! that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud, chilling
And killing my Annabel Lee.

But out love it was stronger by far than the love

Of those who were older than we–
Of many far wiser than we–
And neither the angels in Heaven above
Nor the demons down under the sea,
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee:–

For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise but I see the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling, my darling, my life and my bride,
In her sepulchre there by the sea–
In her tomb by the side of the sea.

Happy New Year 2012!

2012-01-01T19:16:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! I feel like a kid on Christmas morning just thinking about the brand new year ahead us. I have so many products I want to add to both shops; www.tattooedgeek.com & www.tattooedgeek.etsy.com. I hope 2012 is a creative and prosperous year for all of us!

Our first gluten free Christmas

2011-12-28T14:22:00.000-08:00

We recently discovered that both Ryann (oldest daughter) and I are gluten intolerant. Which kinda sucks considering that gluten based products made up about 95% of our diet. But, I was feeling really run down and tired, scatter brained and just completely not right. I decided it was time to make some changes. After reading an article about gluten intolerance I thought maybe the first change to take place should be to rid myself of gluten. I decided to do a trial run and go two weeks gluten free, Ryann came along for moral support. Within three days we both agreed that we could breath easier and our appetites had decreased. By the end of the first week we had both lost a few pounds, our skin looked and felt better and we both just generally felt better - a lot better. By the end of the second week we were both hooked. Our digestion was better, our thinking was clearer - everything was better. I won't lie, gluten free veganism isn't exactly easy. It takes some effort, only because almost all premade vegan products are loaded with vital wheat gluten. On long days of filling orders I can't just run to the grocery store and pick up some quick Amy's dairy free burritos, or vegan Boca burgers (which I did all to often.) We're making almost everything from scratch, but it helps force us to premake meals so there's a lot less grabbing quick prepackaged foods; which is a very good thing. Keep in mind that neither of us are severely allergic to gluten, there's no anaphylactic shock or anything drastic going on here. There's just this mild yet constant discomfort, just enough to make life stink but not enough to let you know something's going wrong. If you feel like somethings off, or maybe that you could use a dietary change I strongly recommend taking a break from gluten. It may prove to be life changing. It was for me.

There are seven of us, the Mister and I plus five kids. Only two of us have noticed a distinct positive change since going gluten free. The rest are clinging to their seitan, and other gluteny foods for dear life. I've been preparing two meals each night to accommodate everyone. For Christmas dinner I decided to make all of our holiday favorites gluten free and refused to cook two meals. We had stuffed peppers, Sicilian rice balls, brussels sprouts with roasted pine nuts and red peppers and a tossed garden salad. For St. Nick we left out gluten free oatmeal chocolate chip & walnut cookies and oatmeal raisin cookies.

I stuffed the peppers with roasted chick peas, cashews, brown rice couscous and a pepper and small onion that were diced and sauteed in olive oil. I topped the stuffed peppers with mozzarella style daiya and an Italian topping made from Almond meal, lemon juice, oregano, S&P, garlic powder and onion powder. I tossed the chick peas in olive oil and smoked paprika before roasting them for about 40mins at 400 degrees. Roasted Chickpeas are good enough to eat by themselves. If you haven't tried them yet you should get to it!

Brussels Sprouts with pine nuts and red peppers is one of my all time favorite dishes to make. I like mine extra garlicky. First I blanch two pounds of brussels sprouts for about 5 mins. I drain and set them aside. I saute about 5 cloves of garlic thinly sliced in some olive oil just until they start to turn golden brown. I throw in about a cup of pine nuts and saute for another minute or two. I add about a cup of thinly sliced red peppers and cook for another two minutes. I add a bit of lemon juice (about 1/3 of a cup) then add the blanched brussels sprouts and freshly ground sea salt and pepper and cook for a little bit more. You can transfer everything to a baking dish and roast for a bit in the oven until the brussels sprouts are crispy, but I don't. I serve it right from the pan. Crusty bread is the next task for me to tackle. The grocery stores around here carry packaged gluten free breads but they all suck. I serve the Brussels sprouts with brown rice and brown rice couscous, but it pairs really well with a good bread. If you have any tips for making an excellent vegan and gluten free multigrain loaf of bread please, please. please pass it on. I'm desperate!

Nobody seemed to notice the lack of wheat in their Christmas dinner. St. Nick definitely didn't pass up the cookies our youngest left out for him. I think my days of cooking duel meals are numbered.

For the new year I'll have to figure out how to make a vegan and gluten free buffalo wing.

Labels makeovers and sachets

2011-08-01T19:57:00.000-07:00

A few of our original candle labels recently got a makeover.

I'm really happy with the new labels, especially Red Hot. Hope you like them too! All of the made over candles are available in both shops http://www.tattooedgeek.etsy.com/ and http://www.tattooedgeek.etsy.com/. I'll be adding a Red Hot lip balm this week. An Apple Of My Eye and Tough Cookie lip balm will be added soon too. Sachets are also in the Etsy shop now, they'll be up on the website sometime this week.

The sachets are great in the car, or the office, they're great anywhere the air could use some scenting. Hope you are enjoying the summer.

Dear Etsy, I'm back!

2011-06-27T13:29:00.000-07:00

I am really happy to announce that we are back on Etsy. I really underestimated how much I'd miss having my own little corner of Etsy, how much I'd miss convo's and hearts and all the other good stuff Etsy has to offer.

I won't be using the Mrs. Tattooedgeek shop though. I've decided to neaten things up a bit for branding purposes. From now on you can find us at http://www.tattooedgeek.etsy.com/. I've got the new Etsy shop stocked up with candles, lip balms and solid fragrance balms. I'll be added extra large pocket mirrors in the next day or so, and 1inch pin sets. I've also added a few new products, like the Little Red Candle and the Dill Pickle lip balm seen below.

I'm still keeping the website active, for those without an Etsy account. http://www.tattooedgeek.com/ In the future I may add a few exclusives to both of the shops, but for now you can get the same products in either shop.

Snow day.

2011-01-08T21:47:00.000-08:00

We had our second snow storm of the season yesterday. The kids had the day off from school. Fridays and Mondays are always the best days for a snow day, don't you think. I was able to finish up some label art for one of this years Valentines Day candles. I can't wait to share this one. I expect to have pictures here early this week and the candles in the shop by mid week. I'll also be added extra large pocket mirrors to the shop this week.

Happy New Year 2011, and other holiday stuff.

2011-01-02T12:50:00.000-08:00

Happy 2011 Everybody!

If you ask me the best thing about 2010 is that it came on quick and left ever quicker! Well there's that and the fact that Melisser Elliott included me and Tattooed Geek in her super awesome book The Vegan Girl's Guide To Life. Ooh, and that the powers that be at The Style Network brought us the hot mess that is Jerseylicious.

Now on to Christmas. The best Christmas present was delivered on December 23, Mike had his follow up body scan and was given a clean bill of health - he's completely cancer free! We expected as much but it was still great to hear. We kept Christmas very low key this year, but we did try a few new recipes that I wanted to share.

I made Kittee's Buckeye Balls, http://www.pakupaku.info/sweets/buckeye_balls.shtml. What drew me to this recipe was how quick and easy they seemed to make. It's true, they were really easy and took just a few minutes to prepare. Buckeye Balls are more of candy than a cookie - but who cares, they were delicious. Every one of us gave Kittee's Buckeye Balls two thumbs up.

Nanny (my mother in law) came for Christmas baring jars and jars of fresh marinated artichokes, roasted red peppers, olives, sun dried tomatoes with garlic and a ton of Eggplant Caponata (sometimes called Eggplant appetizer). Eggplant Caponata is a thick Italian eggplant stew/spread. It's naturally vegan and is perfect served at room temperature with lots of crusty bread. My kids go wild for it. You can find it canned or jarred in the Italian sections of most grocery stores. However it's much cheaper to make your own. Caponata is the perfect addition to Antipasto platters (especially vegan ones.)

Eggplant Caponata

(recipe originally found in Fresh From The Vegetarian Slow Cooker by Robin Robertson)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium-sized yellow onion, chopped

1 celery rib, minced

1 large eggplant, peeled and diced

1 medium-sized red or green bell pepper, seeded and chopped

1 tablespoon tomato paste

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1/3 cup black olives, drained pitted and sliced

1 tablespoon capers, drained and chopped

1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley leaves

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and celery, cover, and cook until softened.Add the eggplant, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the eggplant begins to soften, about 5 more minutes.

2. Transfer the mixture to a 4-quart slow cooker. Add the bell pepper, garlic, tomatoes, tomato paste, vinegar, sugar, basil, oregano and red pepper flakes. season with salt and pepper. cover and cook on low until the vegetables are soft but still hold some shape. (in the slow cooker about 6 hours.)

3. When the vegetables are cooked, stir in the olives, capers and parsley. Taste, adjust seasonings. Transfer the caponata to a bowl and let cool. Serve at room temperature. If not serving right away cover and refrigerate until needed.

I've made this recipe without a slow cooker. I cooked it all in one large pot, instead of transferring the sauteed onion, celery and eggplant to a slow cooker just lower the temperature to medium and continue the recipe as listed. Stir often. Caponata is much better the next day. I recommend always preparing it a day in advance

Nanny also very graciously occupied the kids with gingerbread baking and decorating while Mike and I slipped away for some last minute Christmas shopping.

Mike planned Christmas dinner Cajun style. He made a vegan jambalaya, gumbo and (my favorite) Cajun Seitan. As it turns out I'm not a gumbo person, and maybe not a jambalaya person either. I am definitely a Cajun seitan person though.

All of our Christmas decorations are getting packed up as I type. Usually it makes me sad to stuff our wooden soldiers into their plastic sarcophagus for another year. Not so much this time though. Maybe I'm still in a food induced stupor, but this time I'm glad to be packing in all the holiday hoopla. I'd rather focus on the new year ahead of us.

New shop location.

2010-12-11T21:56:00.000-08:00

By popular demand, the shop is opened for the holidays! You can find us at http://www.tattooedgeek.com/. Several new candles have been added with more to come soon. Solid fragrances, fragrance oils, lip balms and pocket mirrors are being added throughout the coming week. The Etsy shop remains closed for now. I was reluctant to change the shop location from Etsy to Big Cartel, but I have to say I am really loving the design freedom Big Cartel offers. I still absolutely love Etsy. But from a shop owners perspective with Etsy it always seems like "Etsy" comes first, with Big Cartel my shop comes first -if that makes any sense. Check it out and you'll understand what I mean. Your purchases still go through paypal and are subject to all of the protection paypal offers. The holiday candles will be available through New Years. Any outstanding Etsy business will of course be honored. I'm still catching up so wholesale orders are on hold until after the new year. As always, please feel free to contact me at anytime about anything.

Not only did our shop move, we moved too. We got the keys to the new place 3 days before Mike's surgery. With Mike not well and surgery looming, moving wasn't exactly on our agenda at the time. With all of the doctor co pays, missed work and the online shop closure (after several screwed up orders I had to close the online shop until things settled down) we had a moving budget of exactly; zero! Plus, Mike was soon tied up healing from his neck dissection and thyroidectomy. The actual physical "move" was left to the kids and I. We spent the next two weeks moving like the band of white trash Gypsies that we are; we loaded all of our belongings into dozens of black garbage bags and piled up the minivan (cause we're classy like that!) It took about three thousand round trips but we got it done. It was during that hectic chaos that I realized how truly blessed I am. The children worked their butts off helping me move. It's not right to expect people so young to do so much, but they did it without even so much as a whimper. I probably would have ended up in the loony bin if it wasn't for them. Thankfully we walked away from the toxic house that we were living in, which by the way still sits empty. Since moving I found out that the family before us also left that house due to health concerns. Our landlord knew about the mold and the problems it caused and never informed us, bastard! That will never happen again. We went to the local building inspector and gave him a copy of the air quality report. The building inspector issued a citation so the landlord would have to have the house properly and professionally cleaned up. No more sick families-woohoo!

There was one little unfortunate mishap during the move. On a late Sunday night moving spree we hit a deer with the van. Actually the deer hit us I swear. After hitting us the deer ran away fine. Our van on the other hand was a different story. That deer left our van a mess -he left us a mess too! It had to be one of the worst experiences of my life. I never hit an animal before, it's been hard to shake off emotionally and financially. I'm pretty sure there's over a thousand dollars worth of damage. Fiberglass and Styrofoam do not hold up well against a 200lbs+ deer. I'm not kidding when I say that behind my broken fiberglass bumper was a big block of black Styrofoam. How is Styrofoam suppose to protect people? Dodge sucks.

Cancer update: Mike has his radiation appointments this coming week. He'll get a shot on Tuesday, a shot on Wednesday and a radioactive iodine pill on Thursday. On December 23 he'll have a full body scan, he should be completely cancer free. By Christmas we'll most likely be able to put all of this behind us -fingers crossed.

Thyroids, mold, moving and lumps.

2010-12-03T19:17:00.000-08:00

Sadly, this holiday season Tattooedgeek and I will not be at this years Bust Magazine's Holiday Craftacular. The Bust Craftacular is by far my most favorite vending event of the holiday season, unfortunately we didn't apply this year. Actually we won't be vending at any holiday events this year at all.

As I mentioned in previous posts the last few months have been a little rough on our family and subsequently Tattooedgeek. Several simultaneous events brought our whole world to a complete halt. Most importantly; after being sick for a large part of the summer Michael (Mr. Tattooedgeek) was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Secondly, our landlord put the house that we were renting on the market without informing us. We found out on a Tuesday morning in July when a team of Realtors showed up at our door at 9:00 am demanding a walk through. The next 6 weeks were a literal whirled wind of doctor appointments and Realtors. At one point Michael was seeing 7 different doctors. The exact day Michael was diagnosed with thyroid cancer we were informed that our house had a buyer and the buyer had scheduled an inspection for the following weekend.

The house our family had lived in for almost 2 years drastically failed it's inspection. The buyer quickly backed out of the sale. Afterward the inspector came to Michael and I and asked if any of our family were ill. We told him what Mike was going through. The inspector said that the house had a serious mold infestation in the basement and the air quality was seriously compromised because of it. He insisted that everything, even the thyroid cancer, was a direct result of poor indoor air quality in the home. He strongly suggested that we have an air quality test preformed. We did and the results were off the charts. While an average home has about 500-1000 airborne mold spores at any given time, our basement had a whopping 36,000! Mike's office/studio had 9,600 and our bedroom had 5,700. We forwarded copies of the air quality report to all of Michael's doctors. None of the doctors would confirm that the mold caused Michael to become sick but every single one of them said to move A.S.A.P. So we did.

Whether or not mold spores and poor indoor air quality were the cause of the thyroid cancer we're still not certain. On October 11, 2010 Mike had a complete Thyroidectomy and 19 lymph nodes removed from his throat. What started out as a small lump in late July had quadrupled by October. The right lobe of the thyroid had been completely replaced with a malignant tumor. 10 of the 19 lymph nodes removed had also turned malignant. The second week of December Michael will have radiation treatments We'll find out after the radiation treatments how successful the surgery was. Thankfully NO tattoos were harmed during the thyroidectomy and Mike handled the surgery amazingly. He was already making faces and joking about going home in the recovery room.

Moving 7 people 3 cats and a Great Dane is no small task. Fortunately we found a place that allowed the animals while keeping the kids in the same schools fairly quickly. We started to move 2 days before Mike's surgery. Unfortunately the place is less then half the size of our last home and now half of our stuff is in storage. The actual move itself was a completely different traumatic experience that I'll save for another day. "Didn't you know about the mold?" is the question most people ask us. No, we truly didn't. The largest source of the mold was in the basement behind a closed door in a room we didn't have access to. Living in the house we didn't notice any moldy odors. After we moved though we noticed that everything we owned smelled like mold. What couldn't be washed was thrown out.

With Mike's surgery complete and our family moved into a nice mold free home I thought the only thing left to do was settle in and set up my work space. However within days of moving into the new place I started to notice the base of my neck was feeling somewhat different. A routine sonogram for a pre existing condition confirmed that my thyroid had grown a little. The growth was very little and my Endocrinologist wasn't concerned. But then earlier this week I felt like maybe there was somewhat of a lump forming at the base of my neck. A sonogram this Tuesday confirmed that there is indeed a new small little lump (nodule) on the right side of my thyroid that was not present just a few weeks ago. What that means I don't know. I am seeing a new, highly recommended Endocrinologist in a few weeks. Hopefully she'll have some answers for us. So far all we've been hearing is that the odds of two people in one family experiencing significant thyroid growth at the same time are none. But yet here we are, both of us with thyroid growths at the same time.

The purpose of this blog post was to explain why we didn't apply to this years Craftacular. Some of you have been kind enough to ask. Even though we won't be there this year many of our favorite shops and good friends will be. A list of New York vendors can be found here: http://www.bust.com/craftacular/vendors-nyc.html Be sure to stop by the RockLove, Pulp Sushi and My Zoetrope booths!

Vegan Mofo 2010: Spicy Thai Peanut Noodles

2010-11-05T17:29:00.000-07:00

Spicy Thai Peanut Noodles is an absolute family favorite. We use the Peanut sauce on just about everything, even salads. Use a little less vegetable broth and the Peanut Sauce can be used as a perfect party dip, serve with toasted pita triangles or baby carrots.

Spicy Thai Peanut Sauce

1 cup vegetable broth

1/3 cup lime juice

2 cups non hydrogenated peanut butter (either crunchy or creamy works well)

2 tbs pure maple syrup

1/3 cup Bragg's liquid amino's or soy sauce

fresh ground pepper

1 cup finely chopped cilantro (optional)

Either 2 tbs of red pepper flakes or a couple of dashes of your favorite hot sauce

Optional: toasted or raw sesame seeds for garnish

Directions:

Mix together vegetable broth, lime juice, Bragg's and maple syrup

Melt peanut butter in a sauce pan over medium heat

add the broth/lime juice/Bragg's and maple syrup mixture

whisk until completely blended and smooth (about 3 - 5 minutes)

add fresh ground pepper, optional cilantro and red pepper flakes (or hot sauce)

simmer another 5 minutes

Remove from heat and serve over anything your heart desires. If serving over noodles you can thin the sauce a little with a bit more vegetable broth

top with optional sesame seeds

Vegan Mofo 2010: Big Fat Biscuits

2010-11-04T19:00:00.000-07:00

Soups and stews have been on the menu for the last several days here. This evening we decided to make biscuits to enjoy with our brothy leftovers. I made three different types of biscuits: green onion, savoury red pepper & onion and a simple plain biscuit. The savory red pepper & onion biscuit recipe can be found in the pages of Sarah Kramer and Tanya Barnard's The Garden of Vegan. The green onion biscuit is identical to the plain biscuit with the addition of 1/2 cup chopped green onions. The plain biscuits were tonight's family favorite (recipe to follow.) Biscuits are so simple and quick to make, why anybody would buy the toxic rolled up kind from the grocery store dairy section is beyond me. Toxic??? Hell ya! Even if you can find a dairy free version they will still be loaded with hydrogenated oils, refined flours and several laboratory created completely unnecessary ingredients. Do yourself and those you feed a favor and steer clear of them.

Plain & Simply Biscuits

2 cups unbleached flour

3 tsp baking powder

1tsp salt

1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper

1 tsp garlic powder

1/3 cup melted earth balance (or other non hydrogenated, non dairy butter substitute)

1 cup plain almond (or soy) milk mixed with 1tsp lemon juice

Preheat oven to 450. In a large bowl sift together flour, baking powder, salt, pepper, garlic powder. Mix lemon juice with non dairy milk then add melted earth balance. Add liquid ingredients to dry ingredients and knead until you have a large ball of dough. Pull apart the large ball of dough into 6 medium balls or 12 small balls. Place the dough balls onto an oiled cookie sheet, and slightly flatten the tops down. Bake 10-15 minutes. Will make 6 medium biscuits or 12 small ones.

Optional: brush the tops of the biscuits with a little melted earth balance before you bake them.

Vegan Mofo 2010 Day 3: Hearty (Un)Beef Stew

2010-11-03T18:01:00.000-07:00

Mike's trip to May Wah was a rather fruitful one. Not only did he bring home last nights vegan ham, but he also brought home two bags of "beef" chunks! Today we made an impromptu unbeef stew with the chunks. Tomorrow no fake meat, I promise.

Vegan Mofo 2010 day 2: Black Eyed Peas, Collard Greens & Sliced Vegan Ham

2010-11-02T18:54:00.000-07:00

The sliced vegetarian ham from May Wah is by far our favorite fake meat. For those of you not familiar with May Wah you can find their extensive and wonderful products here: http://www.vegieworld.com/. Even though they list their products as vegetarian most are actually vegan. The kids favorite way to have the vegetarian ham is baked with sliced pineapples and an apricot glaze, my favorite way is with black eyed peas and collard greens - since I do the cooking and 99.9% of the dish washing this time my favorite won. Hurray for me! You don't need the vegetarian ham to make a yummy batch of black eyed peas and collard greens, a good liquid smoke is all you need. In my old age I have become very loyal to several products, STUBB'S Mesquite liquid smoke is one of those products. http://www.ilovestubbs.com/. In a deep pot I saute a large sliced onion with a couple of table spoons of Earth Balance, when the onion is soft and somewhat translucent I add 2 cups of vegetable broth, some Annie's natural organic vegan Worcestershire sauce, a couple of dashes of the Stubbs mesquite liquid smoke and salt & pepper to the pot. I bring it all to a boil then throw the collard greens into the pot and simmer until the greens are nice and wilted. Then I put the black eyed peas into the pot and continue to simmer for 15-20 more minutes, if I have the vegetarian ham I'll slice it into pieces and toss the pieces into the pot the last 5 minutes of cooking. Once everything is finished I sometimes use any extra liquid to make a gravy for mashed potatoes, or I'll leave the broth with the greens and black eyed peas and serve with fresh biscuits. Canned black eyed peas work well in this dish and will cut your cooking time considerably, however I prefer to use fresh or frozen. If you decide to use either fresh or frozen make sure you soak your black eyed peas long enough so when you cook them they will be nice and soft. Before cooking the collard greens you should remove all thick stalks then wash and chop the greens into bite sized pieces. Ooooh, I almost forgot the hot sauce! Keep a bottle of good hot sauce on the table when serving black eyed peas and collard greens.

Hello Vegan Mofo 2010!

2010-11-01T19:34:00.000-07:00

This years Vegan Mofo arrived not a minute to soon for me. The last two months were a bit rough for our family. We're all fine now and hard at work getting back into the swings of things, but I'd be lying if I didn't admit to a tad bit of residual post traumatic stress disorder. Halloween and the Mofo were just what I needed to shake the little black cloud that's been following me around the last few days.

Black Bean Soup is the perfect companion to a chilly night of trick or treating. I topped each bowl of soup with a teaspoon of a sour cream like blend of Vegenaise, tahini, lemon juice, almond milk, garlic powder and sea salt.

The kids dressed up in their usual homicidal best, except for Em. She went the old Hollywood route. We didn't carve pumpkins this Halloween for the first time in 18 yrs. - a decision I deeply regret. Next year we'll have to carve two each to correct this injustice.

Hope you all enjoyed your Halloween. Be sure to check out some of the other blogs particapating in this years Vegan Mofo. You can find a list at http://veganmofo.wordpress.com/

SweetLeaf & Israeli Couscous

2010-09-01T08:38:00.000-07:00

My biggest vice in life comes in a bottle. Not a beer bottle, nor a wine bottle - a Snapple bottle. I love Snapple iced tea. I love most bottled ice tea. I've been addicted to bottled iced tea for a minimum of 20 years. I'd walk to school past the corner bagel store and pick up a Raspberry Snapple on the way, and then again on the way home. By the time high school was over I was up to 4 or more bottles a day. As a "grown up" I got a membership to one of those big bulk stores, you know the kind that sells cases of Snapple Iced tea for dirt cheap. Oh god did I buy tons of the junk! Until recently bottled iced tea's still remained the greatest source of empty calories in my diet. I am finally happy to report that I've just about kicked my bottled iced tea addiction! Don't get me wrong, I'm still addicted to iced tea. Only now I make my iced tea at home and I sweeten it with SweetLeaf stevia.

When I sat down and really reviewed my diet I had no choice but to come to terms with the fact that the bottled iced teas had to go. But what to replace them with? I drink water but sometimes you need something more then just water. Anything with chemical sweeteners was completely out of the question! I'd rather be overweight then load myself up with aspartame. I like the taste of Agave nectar, but some research indicates that Agave nectar isn't much better for you then high fructose corn syrup; therefore making Agave nectar seem like too much of a lateral move to be worthwhile.

That brings me to Stevia. Stevia is an all natural plant derived sugar substitute with zero calories and zero carbohydrates. Stevia doesn't adversely affect blood glucose levels and may be used freely by diabetics. There are several commercial brands of stevia on the market now, but be careful - not all stevia products are equal.

SweetLeaf is the only pure stevia product that you can purchase in packets, shaker or tablets. The other two major Stevia brands are loaded with fillers like cellulose powder and undisclosed natural flavors. They also contain processed ingredients such as Erythritol and isomaltulose. Erythritol has been associated with digestive upset, diarrhea, and bloating. Isomaltulose (sometimes know as Palatinose) is a disaccharide that is commercially manufactured enzymatically from sucrose via bacterial fermentation. (In other words, they're a Frankenstein like concoction pushed through the FDA by the two major soda manufacturers Pepsi and Coca Cola as a knee jerk reaction to the growing concern over findings linking chemical sweeteners and various cancers.) Some of the reported side effects of Isomaltulose are similar to those associated with a Candida (yeast) overgrowth such as mouth soars, a thickening of the tongue, upset stomach, diarrhea and in some extreme cases full blown yeast infections. SweetLeaf on the other hand has two ingredients, inulin soluble fiber and stevia leaf extract. The side effects are typical as with any natural herbal supplement. If you have allergies to various herbs then maybe Stevia isn't the sweetener for you. But in it's purest form (such as SweetLeaf) Stevia can be a invaluable tool when trying to lighten up your caloric intake. Plus it tastes great in fruited teas and lemonades!

Orange Iced Tea is my favorite with Strawberry Lemonade a close second. The girls are head over heals in love with Iced Green Tea with Mint. Mint leaves added to any Lemonade or Tea is super refreshing. The best thing about using Stevia as your sweetener (as if being an all natural zero calorie sweetener could be topped) is that a little goes a long way. Three teaspoons sweeten two whole quarts!

You can find more information about stevia, Sweetleaf and other stevia products (including recipes) by visiting the follow links:

http://www.sweetleaf.com/, http://www.stevia.com/ and http://www.stevia.net/.

Before I end this post I wanted to share with you a salad that I've become obsessed with this summer. It's an Israeli couscous salad that combines slivered almonds, dried cranberries, parsley and a raspberry vinaigrette. It can be served chilled or as I prefer at room temperature.

Israeli Couscous Salad

2 1/2 Cups Vegetable Broth

2 Cups Israeli Couscous

2tsp turmeric

1tsp salt

1 cup Slivered Almonds

1/2 Cup Dried Cranberries

1 Small bunch of Italian Parsley finely chopped

Raspberry Vinaigrette

1/2 cup olive oil

*1/2 cup raspberry infused white balsamic vinegar

1tsp garlic powder

1tsp dried oregano

2tbs pure maple syrup (agave nectar is also good)

sea salt & fresh ground pepper to taste

optional: 2tbs prepared dijon mustard

* If you can't get your hands on raspberry infused white balsamic vinegar you can use either of the following substitutions:

1/3 cup raspberry juice and 1/2 white vinegar

3tbs seedless raspberry preserves mixed with 1/2 c apple cider vinegar

******

Prepare Raspberry Vinaigrette and set aside

Bring vegetable broth, turmeric and salt to boil

Stir in Israeli Couscous and let simmer for 8-10 min (or until all water is absorbed)

In a separate large bowl mix together slivered almonds, chopped parsley and dried cranberries

Add prepared couscous to bowl with almonds,parsley and cranberries

pour in raspberry vinaigrette and mix well

chill stirring occasionally until salad has cooled to desired temperature

Enjoy!

Give away!

2010-07-12T16:39:00.000-07:00

*--*--*--*--Wanna win a trio of our 2oz candles?--*--*--*--*

Rebecca from www.soapdeli.etsy.com is hosting a giveaway of 3 of our 2oz candles in ADDITION to one of her awesome bars of soap (some of which seem to be vegan friendly) on her blog http://soapdelinews.blogspot.com/. Stop by the blog for more info and to enter the giveaway.

Also...... a great big shot out and thank you to Creepy Queen Magazine for posting an interview with me in the hot products section of the Creepy Queen blog! Go to http://creepyqueen.com/category/hotproducts/ to read the interview.

Independence Day

2010-07-05T14:25:00.000-07:00

Leaving NYC and moving 75 miles north doesn't always seem like it was a good idea. The lack of vegan restaurants, the snow and simply being an hour and half away from NYC can really get on my nerves. Then the 4th of July comes around. When the 4th comes I remember why we moved to the Hudson Valley. Our little town here closes the main streets to vehicles allowing children to have the run of the place all afternoon and most of the night. I usually skip the afternoon festivities of parades, animal contests, races and street vendors.

But I always show my face for the fireworks. This years fireworks display did not disappoint, in fact I think those in charge of the pyrotechnics might have stepped up their game some. There was definitely a few new kabooms added last night - much to my delight!

After a few hours in the a.m. preping orders to ship I spent the rest of the afternoon cooking for Mike and the kids. I made a very Patriotic potato salad for lunch. I combined purple (hoping they'd pass for blue) potatoes, red plum tomatoes and sliced sweet white onions.

I parboiled the potatoes whole leaving their skins on. (Leaving the potatoes whole with skins on helps them retain their vibrant purple color, if you peel them first they will turn an ugly grayish color during the parboiling process.) I peeled and quartered the potatoes. I sliced the onion and quartered the plum tomatoes. I added some fresh chopped Italian parsley and tossed everything in an olive oil vinaigrette dressing.

I'm still not sold on Purple Potatoes. Visually they definitely add something, but they are rather costly and I'm not certain I like the texture of them. I find them to be kind of grainy, actually mealy might be a better description. Without a doubt I prefer red skinned or good old fashioned white potatoes.

I also made Philly Cheese Stake wraps with a homemade cashew "cheddar" cheese sauce. I sauteed Tofurky Philly style steak deli slices (http://www.tofurky.com/) with sliced onions and peppers until everything was browned and crispy. Before I wrapped up the sauteed stuff I smothered everything in "cheddar" sauce. I firmly believe that creamed cashew's can replace just about any dairy product. We finished the 4th with a very patriotic dessert. An apple pie?????

HELL NO! An extra super chocolatey chocolate cake. As far as I'm concerned chocolate beats apples any day of the year, even the 4th of July.

Sale Time!

2010-06-26T16:19:00.000-07:00

I'll be listing several sales the next few days. The first of which is up and running. I've listed 5 of my 2oz candles for $12.00 plus $5.00 flat rate shipping. My 2oz candles make great gifts. They're also great for traveling with. There are dozens of scents to choose from, and I'll be adding a few new ones over the weekend. http://www.mrstattooedgeek.etsy.com/

My iterview with NUOK & The Jersey Shore Saga: Friggin' Twilight

2010-06-26T07:17:00.000-07:00

A few weeks back I was interviewed by the very lovely and very patient Fran from the Italian blog NUOK. The interview is up on the blog now. If you ever had any questions about me or Tattooedgeek this interview probably answers all of them.

http://www.nuok.it/2010/06/today-in-new-york-mrs-tattoed-geek/

And, well this just cracked me up!

Balms away!

2010-06-15T20:21:00.000-07:00

I am so happy to share with you the newest additions to the Tattooedgeek Inc. product line.

The first addition is my new series of fragrance oil rollers. My fragrance oil rollers glide on smooth, absorb almost instantly into your skin and smell wonderful! I'll be adding more fragrances over the next few days. You can expect to see a matching fragrance oil roller for every one of my candle scents as well as a few new surprises.

And now for the Balms! I'm adding dozens of new lip balms to the shop. My lip balms are super moisturizing and come in lots of great flavors. Most are flavored with pure essential oils and a touch of Stevia for a bit of sweetness. Needless to say both of my new fragrance oil rollers and lip balms are completely vegan, they are also free from all petroleum by-products.

Great Gifts for Girl Grads!

2010-06-04T16:48:00.000-07:00

Graduation time is here and I thought I'd highlight some great gift ideas for the Graduation Girl in your life. Give your Grad the gift of luck with these inexpensive picks from a few of my favorite Etsy shops.

Crazy Lucky Dice

http://www.pulpsushi.etsy.com/

Silver Lucky Horseshoe Studs

http://www.rocklove.etsy.com/ or http://www.rocklove.com/

Lucky 13 Antique Skeleton Key Star Necklace

http://www.bellasmiles.etsy.com/

(FYI: Bella Smiles is a vegan owned and operated shop)

Lucky Cat Glass Pendant

http://www.kawaiisakurajewerly.etsy.com/

Lucky Love is a Devil Tattoo Pinup Girl

http://www.pinkytoast.etsy.com/

Cute Cupcake Magnets

http://www.rubbishtees.etsy.com/

If your Grad is dorm bound help ward off the home sick blues with these super cute felt magnets. I mean seriously, what girl wouldn't feel lucky with a cute little cupcake magnet on her mini fridge smiling back at her!

**P.S. (everything listed is $30.00 and under!)

Growing Pains

2010-05-31T20:47:00.000-07:00

Almost two whole month have past since I updated HSVH last. My blogging time has fallen victim to Tattooedgeek Inc., which by the way I'm pleased to report has been doing well. My sales are increasing, especially wholesales orders. I've had the pleasure of working on several sets of wedding favors including my favorite, the Sugar Skull Lip Balm favors pictured below.

I was asked to create a custom aftercare kit for a local tattoo parlour. The kits include a 2oz cruelty free rosemary and lavender glycerin soap. Rosemary essential oil is excellent for minor skin abrasions, it helps stimulate healing. Lavender essential oil is a natural antiseptic. I've been told that over 50 of the kits have already sold.

My daughters and I were able to vend in Brooklyn on May 1st & 2nd as part of the Brooklyn Lyceum's Spring Food and Craft Market. We brought my new line of 3.5 inch pocket mirrors to the Market. I brought 27 mirrors and came home with just two. The mirrors will make their shop debut sometime this week.

I love vending in Brooklyn, it's always a great experience. Not only was the Spring Food & Craft Market fun, but I also got to meet customer/fellow etsyian and vendor Darlene from Ursula and Olive ( http://www.ursulaandolive.com/, http://www.ursulaandolive.etsy.com/.)

Just as their banner promises, Ursula and Olive offers up really fun and bold geeky goodness in the form of necklace pendant combos, earrings and a few other awesome products, all extreamly well crafted. We brought home one of Ursula and Olive's Mr. Spock necklaces, next time I'm getting the "Snape is sexy" pendant. (And now you know where the geek in Tattooegeek comes from.)

Food has been another causality of Tattooedgeek's recent growth spurt. There has been many a 9:00p.m. microwaved Amy's burritos as of late (we like the breakfast ones, they're vegan and really good.) Michael's birthday provided a much needed respite from all of the frozen vegan food. I put aside work and made Lemon Pepper Seitan Medallions with steamed string beans and a wild rice blend. I formed the Seitan as if I was making sausages to get the medallion shape. I dredged the medallions in organic corn starch then fried them until golden and crispy. I then smothered the medallions in the Lemon Pepper sauce.

Not being much of a cake person myself, I opted to make super chocolaty cupcakes. Nobody complained!

I really need to figure out how to manage my time better. One decent cooked meal a month is completely unacceptable. Any suggestions? How do you handle family, work, food, homework, cleaning etc....

Sleepy Easter Bunnies.

2010-04-05T09:24:00.000-07:00

Easter provides me the perfect opportunity to share with you another one of my true loves, children's books. One of my all time favorites is The Easter Bunny That Overslept by Priscilla and Otto Friedrich. The Easter Bunny That Overslept is an adorable story about the Easter Bunny sleeping in one cold rainy Easter Day. When he finally awoke Easter had come and gone. The Bunny still tries to deliver his Easter Eggs, but nobody wanted the Bunny's eggs - Easter Eggs are only good for Easter after all! The rest of the story follows the Bunny throughout an entire year as he tries to deliver his eggs.

I first came across this charming story in it's original 1957 printing with Adrienne Adams illustrations. It has since been reprinted and now features illustrations by Donald Saaf. While not nearly as whimsical as it's original version, the reprint is still a very good children's book.

Now I know Easter Eggs are not exactly a welcomed Vegan topic. But in this sweet holiday fable the Easter eggs are delivered by a rabbit and are always approached as the rabbits "eggs", other then that the eggs origins are never discussed and the eggs are never eaten. Speaking of eating......

For Easter dinner we ate Apricot glazed vegan ham and pineapples, black eyed peas with collard greens and roasted garlic mashed red potatoes with gravy. I also made Rice Krispy treats for the first time, they were good but very hard. I used 1cup light Karo syrup, 1 cup organic sugar, 1 tsp vanilla and 1 stick of Earth Balance. I melted everything together and tossed in 8 cups of Rice Krispies, mixed until the Rice Kripsies were completely coated with the sugar/Karo syrup mixture. Then I spread the coated Krispies into a pan coated with Earth Balance and left everything to cool. When everything was cooled down I cut into squares. Next time I'll try making the Rice Krispy treats with Dandies - I'm certain they'll be better that way. The best thing we made was this awesome Pear, Ginger and Pecan Quick Bread from The Garden of Vegan (pg.172). The bread was very easy to make and extremely delicious.

Pear Ginger Pecan Bread

2 cups flour 1/3 cup olive oil

2tsp baking powder 1 banana, mashed

1/2 tsp baking soda 1 large pear, cored and cubed

1/8 tsp salt 1/2 cup pecans, chopped

1/2 cup dry sweetener 3 tbsp fresh ginger, grated

3/4 cup apple juice

Preheat oven to 350F. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir in sweetener, apple juice, oil, banana, pear, pecans, and ginger. Stir together gently until "just mixed." Pour batter into a lightly oiled bread pan and bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool on a rack for 10 minutes before removing from pan. makes 1 loaf.

Birthday Corn Muffins, Paul Frank, and May Wah.

2010-04-03T09:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday our baby girl Em, turned 11. She didn't want to celebrate her birthday with cakes or brownies, she wanted corn muffins. If you've visited Home Sweet Vegan Home before you might have noticed that our youngest daughter is a bit of a corn bread/muffin fanatic. Her favorite corn muffins are the Sunny Corn Muffins from The Post Punk Kitchen, http://www.theppk.com/recipes/dbrecipes/index.php?RecipeID=68 This is one of Isa's recipes and it produces the lightest, sweetest corn muffins you will ever bake. I leave out the lemon zest though.

The only birthday request Em had was a trip to the Paul Frank store. We ventured into NYC for the afternoon and made our way to the 195 Mulberry Street location.

Just a few blocks away from the Paul Frank store on Mulberry street is May Wah on Hester. May Wah for those of you not familiar with them are producers and suppliers of vegan and vegetarian mock meats. You can find everything from vegetarian squid to vegetarian mutton to my favorite, vegan ham there. If a trip to NYC is out of the question May Wah will ship anywhere in the 50 states. May Wah's entire catalog is available on their website, http://www.vegieworld.com/ . All of their products ingredients as well as the nutritional facts are listed on the site. Many of the products listed as vegetarian as also vegan.

I picked up vegan chicken legs, vegan ham and vegan shrimp. (Well, actually vegan prawns but District 9 killed the word prawns for me so we'll just say that I bought vegan shrimp.)

So a couple of hours and a ton of cash later we headed home from our trip to NYC. Em, thrilled with her Paul Frank loot and me looking forward to a vegan ham Easter dinner. But Easter dinner will be a post for different day!

Vegan Craft Samples Earth Day Bags

2010-03-31T17:22:00.000-07:00

The Vegan Craft Samples Earth Day Sample Bags go on sale April 4, 2010. Our Keep It Green 1oz candles will be included in the bag. Go to http://www.vegansamples.etsy.com/ to pick up a bag. You can also go to http://www.vegancraftsamples.com/ to read more about the Vegan Craft Sample bags, including a F.A.Q.page. 100% of all profits go to the animals. The profits from the sale of the Earth Day Bags will go to the Carolina Pet Rescue http://www.cpr-nc.org/.

This week we tried Daiya's Italian style vegan cheese. We made a Baked Ziti using the vegan cheese. I'm really not fond of the Italian style Daiya, it's has a funky taste if you ask me. We had it before in the Marinara Gardein Chick'n Good Stuff, which I also really didn't like. (http://www.gardein.com/) However, I must admit - the Daiya did work well in the Ziti.

I combined cooked Ziti, a batch of Tofu Cashew Ricotta (HIGHLY recommend) from Vegan Brunch, marinara sauce made by Mike, vegan burger crumbles, the Italian style Daiya, and vegan grated cheese in a deep oven proof casserole dish. I baked it at 350 degrees for about 35mins. (until everything was really melted and bubbly) It all worked perfectly together!

Irish Eye's Were Smiling

2010-03-21T12:50:00.000-07:00

A quick St. Patrick's Day round up. I made Corned Beef Seitan with boiled potatoes, white onions, cabbage and a couple of loaves Irish Soda Bread. I've been making various forms of seitan for years now so making a Corned Beef version wasn't too difficult. But I had never attempted to make Irish Soda Bread before. I have no idea what I was waiting for. None of the vegan Irish Soda Bread recipes I found seemed like what I was looking for. So I went ahead and veganized a traditional recipe. The results were - perfect!

Vegan Irish Soda Bread Recipe:

pre heat oven to 350 F.

Mix Dry Ingredients in a large bowl:

4 cups unbleached white flour (plus more as needed)

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

8 oz of raisins (presoak in warm water to soften, drain before using)

2 teaspoons caraway seeds

1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix Wet Ingredients in different bowl:

3 tablespoons melted nondairy butter (I use earth balance)

1 cup plain non dairy yogurt

1/2 cup plain seltzer water

1/2 cup plain soy milk mixed with 2 tablespoons Apple cider Vinegar

Combine wet and dry ingredients and knead together

add more unbleached white flour as needed until you have a thick, non sticky dough

Split dough into 2 equal round ball like loaves

place each loaf into a greased, floured pan.

Cut a "X" in the top of each loaf

Bake 55-60 minutes or until loaf is golden brown and tooth pick comes out clean

Serve hot or cold either way it's all good.

Now on to some shameless self promotion!

Lady Luck is one of our newest candle and solid fragrance balms. Lady Luck carries a very beautiful and fresh Four Leaf Clover scent. Right now a large Lady Luck candle and solid fragrance balm are available, a 2oz candle and a scented sachet will be available soon.

It's Always Tea Time!

2010-03-09T18:59:00.000-08:00

It's Always Tea Time! is the newest candle added to the shop. Tea Time is a fragrant yet delicate herbal White Tea scent and is colored with unique swirls of white, pink and subtle blues. Every Tea Time candle is individually blended therefore no two are exactly alike.

Cheesiness defined

2010-03-06T19:59:00.000-08:00

Today Mike brought home Daiya shredded cheddar. He picked up the Daiya at Whole Foods Tribeca 270 Greenwich Street New York, NY 10007. Some girls have husbands that bring them home flowers, I have a husband that brings me home cheese, vegan cheese. I used my cheesy gift to make some super stuffed quesadillas, which came out amazing by the way. I made a few simple grilled cheese quesadillas and they were excellent too. I have hated every brand of vegan cheese that I've tried. I tend to shy away from any recipe that calls for nondairy cheese, until now. Your Omni friends will have a hard time believing that you are serving them vegan cheese if you use Daiya Cheddar in your recipes. For family budget purposes Daiya is a bit pricey. I cook for 7 people every day so I'm sure you can understand why price is a huge issue with me. The containers Mike brought home were $5.29 each and we were able to make about 5 quesadillas a container, trust me it was well worth it! The biggest problem I've had with vegan quesadillas is the trouble they have staying together - with the Daiya that wasn't a problem. It melted so nicely. We piled beans, veggies, and Morningstar Farms crumbles - the Daiya held it all together perfectly! For locations where you can buy Daiya, or for a list of restaurants that use Daiya products check out http://www.daiyafoods.com/.

Yesterday we went to see Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. I have to admit, I wasn't blown away. I enjoyed it, but it was somewhat dull. You will not find a bigger Tim Burton, Johnny Depp, Alan Rickman nor Helena Bonham Carter fan then me (especially when they work together) but the movie for me, definitely lacked something. I don't know what - but something.

We also saw Benicio Del Toro in The Wolfman. First I must admit that if I wasn't a happily married woman I'd probably be in jail for stalking Mr. Del Toro. I love him. I have loved him ever since I first saw him in The Usual Suspects. I do however love him enough to admit that he is a terrible actor - especially in The Wolfman. I still enjoyed the movie anyway. I've read reviews that ripped everything from Danny Elfman's musical score to how fast the moon moved. The moon did move very fast, but it did so to depict the fact that several full moons pass throughout the course of the story. I liked it all, the music, the actors, the gypsies, the moon - all of it! Movie reviewers are stupid, don't listen to any of them.

Before I end this post I wanted to share with you my favorite new print. I found this sassy little Zombie Hunter print while putting together a zombie treasury a few weeks back. Isn't she cute. I had to get one. I picked up this gorgeous plum frame from Home Goods. The frames color matches the print perfectly, like they were made for each other. Just like me and my vegan cheese baring husband. Before you puke from all of the cheesiness going on here stop by http://www.zombieromance.etsy.com/ and get your own Zombie Hunter print.

And yes cheesiness is a real word. Here are some of the definitions I found:

chees·i·er, chees·i·est
cheesi·ly adv.
cheesi·ness n.

1. Containing or resembling cheese.
2. Informal Of poor quality; shoddy.
3. tasteless; tacky

Farewell February

2010-03-03T19:07:00.000-08:00

One word can sum up February 2010, it's an evil four letter word - SNOW! The last few days of February saw us buried under 31 inches of the nasty white stuff. It knocked out our power and left us very cold for a few days. When the power final came back on we needed some serious comfort food, warm comfort food. Hello Vegan Cinnamon Buns!

I followed the Cinnamon Bun recipe from Vegan Brunch and it was a great success. The buns were soft and sticky and perfect. We'll be making them again very soon I'm sure. Vegan Brunch has become my favorite cook book, every recipe we've tried has turned out perfect. I have and love Veganomicon, but for some reason Vegan Brunch is the book I seem to always gravitate toward first.

I enjoyed the Cinnamon Buns, but for me the ultimate comfort food is warm Spinach, Artichoke & Roasted Garlic dip served with toasted pita's.

Warm Spinach, Artichoke & Roasted Garlic Dip

2 Cups Cashews (salted are ok, just add less salt later)

1 large jar of marinated artichoke hearts drained

1 small head of roasted garlic (see below for directions)

1/4 cup of olive oil (keep more on hand to use as needed)

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1 cup of vegan mayonnaise (I use Follow Your Heart's Vegenaise)

2 cups of frozen chopped spinach thawed and drained

a pinch of dried oregano

salt & pepper to taste

1/2 cup grated vegan cheese

In a food processor combine cashews, artichoke hearts, roasted garlic, olive oil, vegan mayonnaise, lemon juice, oregano, salt & pepper and process until thick and creamy. Drizzle extra olive oil as needed to obtain the creamy texture, you can replace the extra olive oil with water if you'd like but only use a couple of teaspoons at a time, you don't want make your dip to thin. When everything is nice and creamy transfer to a large mixing bowl and hand mix in the chopped spinach. Taste and adjust salt & pepper as needed. When the spinach is completely mixed transfer to an oven proof dish, sprinkle the grated vegan cheese on top and bake at 350 for 25 mins or until top is golden. Serve warm.

Optional variations: 1/2 cup diced roasted red peppers mixed in after the spinach

1 tsp dried red pepper flakes

1/2 cup chopped water chestnuts

(I hate water chestnuts and never use them, but I'm told they're good in this dip.)

Roasted Garlic

Clean a head/bulb of garlic. Chop off the top of the bulb so that you can see all of the individual garlic cloves. Place the bulb in a baking pan with an inch of water on the bottom. Drizzle with olive oil and cover with tin foil. Bake in the oven at 350 for 1 hour. Allow the roasted garlic to cool. The roasted garlic cloves will slip away from the skin of the bulb and be ready to use in all of your favorite recipes.

February wasn't all bad and snowy. Mike and I celebrated our Anniversary by slipping away to Soy & Sake http://www.soyandsake.com/. This year was our 17th year together as old married people - wow! It's true what they say about time and flying. Enough about that, more about Soy & Sake. We ate like we were on our way to the chair. Everything was so good. I'm going to embarrass myself and show everything we ordered. My absolutely favorite was the Bourbon Chicken appetizer. Mike's favorites were this deep fried shrimp thing and steamed pork buns.

We also ordered the Citrus Beef, and Butterfly Soy Chops that came with this amazing side of Collard Greens that had little bits of vegan ham- so good!

We loved Soy & Sake and will definitely be back.

A quick & silly little post

2010-02-21T18:08:00.000-08:00

On Friday Nick's principal took all of the kids out in the snow for recess. The kids were quickly frustrated because they were not allowed to do anything fun with the snow (i.e. snow ball fights) Nick told his principal about his and his sisters attempts to create the worlds largest snowball. He asked if they could try while at recess. The principal thought that was a good idea and soon the entire 2nd grade got to work. When we picked Nick up Friday after school this is what we found:

The whole school yard was full of giant snowballs! There were dozens of them. I couldn't help but feel a bit proud, wouldn't you?

Whole Lotta Snow

2010-02-17T09:36:00.000-08:00

Seems like New York has received an entire winters worth of snow in the last 2 weeks. I usually don't mind snow. That is until it delays UPS from delivering my supplies, then I hate it. Since the snow has delayed several deliveries we are no longer friends, the snow and I. Friendship with UPS is on shaky grounds as well. The only thing Brown can do for me lately is piss me off.

The kids love the snow and wholeheartedly welcomed all of it. They celebrated the new snowfall by burying each other in it. And, trying to make the worlds largest snowball.

Work on the worlds biggest snowball is still incomplete. With the help of google we found out that the largest snowball is 21 feet, needless to say - the kids have along way to go to beat that record. Yesterday's 8 inches of new snowfall should come in handy.

The rest of us welcomed all the snow by watching Dead Snow.

Dead Snow is the 2009 Norwegian Nazi Zombie movie. The movie has English subtitles. The story is quick but very predictable. There are a few really great scenes. Bottom line; if you like Zombies, intestines, Zombie Nazis, snow, blood and complete silliness (which we do!), then you'll enjoy Dead Snow. While Michael (my other half) wasn't impressed, the rest of us enjoyed every minute of it. Dead Snow will not be showing up at the top of any of my Zombie movie lists, however 3 out of 4 of us do highly recommend it. Wanna know what is at the top of my Zombie movie list? Right now:

The list is growing and always changing, so no complaints please - besides these are only my 3 favorites. I know Zombie purest will argue that 28 Weeks Later isn't really a Zombie movie, and I'd have to agree for the most part. I too would rather my Zombies rise from the dead than be infected with the Monkey Rage Virus. But I like 28 Week Later anyway, Monkey Rage and all.

***Right now you can get Shaun Of The Dead for $5.00 at Target.

Hurray for new candles!

2010-01-27T17:33:00.000-08:00

I am so pleased to introduce three new candles recently added to our Tattooedgeek Soy Candle line.

The first one up is Sun Kissed Sugar.

Sun Kissed Sugar is a warm and sweet candle with wonderfully fruity undertones.

Next up is Snake Bite!

Snake Bite is a vibrant and clean scented candle with deep Asian herbs and earthy amber undertones. Snake Bite also features a beautiful violet color.

In the past Valentines Day has provided lots of inspiration for some of our best selling candles. Candles like our Red Velvet Cupcake candle and our True Love Strawberries and Champagne candle. With this years Valentines Day fast approaching I knew the shop needed a new candle inspired by Cupids special day. Now you can get a typical lovey dovey candle just about anywhere, but where else can you find a Zombie Love candle. http://www.mrstattooedgeek.etsy.com/, that's where!

And my favorite, Zombie Love

This Valentines Day show somebody how much you love them with our Zombie Love candle. Zombie Love is a truly unique candle, buried deep in a green grave dirt scented bed lies a sweet pink calla lily scented brain. Perfect for the Zombie lover in your life!

What do the Vegan de Guadalupe, Frankenstein and his bride all have in common?

2010-01-16T20:05:00.000-08:00

The walls here have had their awesomeness dramatically increased by a couple of new prints recently snagged off Etsy.

Vegan de Guadalupe

(patron saint of vegan kitchens)

Our kitchen needed a patron saint and so does yours! You can get your own over at http://www.vivalacraft.etsy.com/. Be sure to check out all of the other adorable unique prints available at Viva La Craft.

I first fell in love with the Vegan de Guadalupe when on saw her on the Vegan de Guadalupe Cookzine for sale at http://www.hortencia.etsy.com/. I bought this super cute vegan cookzine last year. It's full of great Mexican recipes.

Last but definitely not least are the excellent prints we picked up from Point Blank Art & Design. The prints arrived in about 4 days, and came with lots of extras. There are dozens of great prints available. I've got my eye on Point Blanks Christopher Lee's Dracula. http://www.pointblankdesign.etsy.com/. We will be back there for more!

2010-01-15T10:28:00.000-08:00

Even though I'm busy working on some really fun Valentines Day products I'm still having trouble saying good bye to the ones I designed this past Christmas. November and December the Tattooedgeek family was hit with a steamroller of a flu. The germ incubator that is our second grader brought it home. And with stealth precision it effectively knocked all 7 of us for a loop. Being sick during a candle & gift company's busiest time of the year really sucked! The flu robbed me of the opportunity to properly promote the candles I had designed for the '09 Holiday Season. Two designs never even made it to production. In the interest of closure I am finally saying goodbye to my holiday friends. It is time to move on. I must pack you all into boxes and shove your images into the dusty back corners of my hard drive.

So long my lovelies you were fun to work with!

Peachy Keen

2010-01-14T07:51:00.000-08:00

Allow me to introduce little Miss Peachy Keen.

This retro inspired doll made her debut in the shop last night. I just love her, don't you!

Peachy Keen is our first new candle for 2010. Not only is she a new scent ~ she's also the first to be listed in one of our newest tin sizes. All of our scents are now available in a small, medium and a soon to come double wicked large 8oz tin. The small is the same 2oz we've been using for the last several years. Our new medium size is a much larger wider tin. While it holds the same amount of wax as the 6oz tins we've used in the past, it allows for a bigger label and a much larger image. You'll get the same amount of candle as before only our original label art will be bigger, brighter and better.

There's a few more newbies waiting to make their debut as well. Check back often ~ you won't be disappointed!

Good Bye 2009, Hello 2010!

2010-01-10T19:32:00.000-08:00

Christmas is over and the New Year has thankfully begun. This Christmas was a crazy one for Tattooedgeek. We were still taking & shipping Christmas orders on the 24th! Once our last trip to the post office for the 2009 Holiday season was completed we pushed aside all of the Tattooedgeek candles, balms and ornaments. We realized Christmas Eve was here and we had no idea what to make for dinner. I really wanted to try the recipe for Mexican Chocolate Snickerdoodles from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. I decided to let the cookies set the tone for our Christmas Eve dinner. We had a Mexican Fiesta.

I LOVED the Mexican Chocolate Snickerdoodles. The recipe was super easy to follow and made the most moist, delicious, chocolaty vegan cookies I've made yet. The cayenne in the recipe gave the cookies just a little bit of a kick. Unfortunately the rest of the family didn't share my love for Mexican Chocolate cookies. Our youngest didn't want me to put any out for Santa. He was afraid Santa would burn his tongue and not leave any presents. I baked a quick batch of Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies using the Quaker Oats Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookie recipe. I used ground flax seeds mixed with vanilla almond milk to replace the eggs the recipe called for, and I used Earth Balance for the butter. I replaced the raisins with vegan chocolate chips. Everybody eat the Oatmeal Cookies and left me the Mexican Chocolate Snickerdoodles. Everybody except Santa Claus, he eat all of cookies we left out for him even the Mexican Chocolate Snickerdoodles (it seems he didn't mind a tingling tongue after all.)

For Christmas Eve dinner we made Black Bean Soup, Creamy Avocado Potato salad (from Vegan Brunch), Seitan Taquitos and Jalapeño Hush Puppies with a creamy dipping sauce.

For the Jalapeño Hush Puppy Dipping sauce I blended 2 cups of Vegenaise with 1 cup salsa and a couple of dashes of hot sauce. The sauce was cool, creamy, tangy and delicious! The kids dipped french fries in it and used it on veggie burgers the next day.

For the Christmas Day festivities we veganized some of our traditional Italian favorites. Stuffed Red Peppers, Sicilian Rice Balls, and Spaghetti w/Marinara sauce. I think everybody agreed, the veganized winner of the day were the Sicilian Rice Balls.

The key to good Italian rice balls is the rice itself, always use Arborio rice. Make it ahead of time so it's completely cooled when you're ready to use it.

With 2010 already here I'm looking forward to great year of vegan food and cruelty free crafty fun. I'll be posting lots of new Tattooedgeek products, so please check back often. Or check the shop: http://www.mrstattooedgeek.etsy.com/

Vegan Mofo day8 Vegan Shrimp Fra Diavolo

2009-10-08T17:55:00.000-07:00

17 years ago, before we both became completely vegetarian, my husband was a shrimp and fish fan. Me, not so much. When we stumbled upon vegan shrimp ~ boy was he excited to make Shrimp Fra Diavolo. His Fra Diavolo sauce is always excellent. The vegan shrimp is a bit fickle, drop it in the Fra Diavolo sauce and it was really good. But saute it Scampi style in garlic, 2 tbs of earth balance, lemon juice, white wine and fresh parsley and the vegan shrimp became very rubbery. In our opinion Vegan Shrimp, Fra Diavolo = good, Scampi = not so good.

This is what my kids do while I work

2009-10-07T22:19:00.000-07:00

The scariest thing about these pictures is that this is only 8 of 104 they actually took.

Vegan MoFo day7 ~ Vegan food & Etsy. Etsy Sellers specializing in made-to-order vegan delights!

2009-10-07T20:29:00.000-07:00

If you're anything like us than you do not live in a very vegan friendly area. I drool over twitter reading tweet after tweet from happy vegans enjoying the vegan cuisine from their local vegan friendly eateries. Here we have a mediocre at best health food store, and all vegan friendly restaurants are a minimum of 30 miles away.

Then I discovered that there are a plethora of Etsy shops dedicated to vegan offerings. With a click of my mouse I could have fresh homemade vegan fare delivered to my P.O. Box. We could fill our bellies while filling the pockets of small independent Etsy shop owners, well maybe not fill the pockets - but you know what I mean. In the interest of full disclosure I must admit that we recently threw our hats into the Etsy Vegan food delivery ring as well. A few months ago we opened Medusa Fine Vegan Fare or http://www.medusafoods.etsy.com/. Medusa Fine Vegan Fare's soul purpose is to provide high quality vegan entrees to those without access to such, or those busy vegans and vegetarians looking for a quick healthy meal.

On Medusa's menu you will find seitan based dishes like Thai Peanut, Southern Fried Cutlets, Vegan Tandoori Chicken, Maple Teriyaki and Buffalo Bites with Vegan Blue Cheese Dip to name a few.

Our shop isn't the only vegan food based Etsy shop. We found a few others like Sweet Fritsy where you can find these wonderful looking donuts and many other awesome looking vegan goodness. http://www.sweetfritsy.etsy.com/

And I can't forget The Cupcake Mint where you can order this bad boy or one of his equally mouth watering siblings. http://www.thecupcakemint.etsy.com/

When shopping on Etsy search vegan, vegan plants and edibles, or vegan food to find these and other vegan offerings available from some of the many different vegan friendly Etsy shops.

VeganMoFo Day 6 ~ OUR BIG FAT VEGAN WEDDING

2009-10-06T19:03:00.000-07:00

This past July our dear friends Michael Thomas and Lindsay were married. Being devout vegans they set out to plan an event that was both beautiful and completely devoid of all animal products. They did an amazing job. I asked Michael Thomas to guest blog about the experience of planning his vegan wedding.

OUR BIG FAT VEGAN WEDDING

Lindsay and I were engaged on June 16, 2008 on the cliff walk in Newport, RI.

Being the OCD pair we are, we began the planning process in our hotel as soon as we returned from our long walk.

We went through everything one detail at a time.

Would it be a big wedding or a small wedding?

Small. Check.

Where would we do it? Rhode Island? Boston? Long Island?

Long Island. Check.

How much did we want to spend?

$5,000.00…yeah, right. No dice.

What type of food would we offer?

Seeing as we are both vegan, that was a no brainer. The Omnis would have to withstand the torture of an event that not only was free of alcohol, but there would be no cruelty on the menu either.

OK done and done right? WRONG. How were we going to pull this one off?

We spent ample time searching out venues and caterers to no avail. Most of the places on Long Island are the “wedding factory” types, and our tiny little 50 person guest list was looked down on with contempt with a sloppy side order of GRILLED VEGETABLES to go along with it. “Wait…no eggs? No buttah? No cheese?” It was a painful experience.

Not exactly what we were thinking. Were we really going to be able to do this the right way?

One day, quite by accident, I ran across a website for a company called Elegant Affairs Catering. We called them up and spoke to Brooke who was happy to hear what we had to say, so we set up a meeting. As luck would have it, Elegant Affairs uses the Nassau County Museum of Art as a venue. When we pulled up to the museum for our meeting we were pleasantly surprised with our surroundings. To make things even better, Brooke was as sweet and understanding as could be and worked very closely with us to come up with a delicious menu that anyone attending was sure to enjoy. Another stroke of luck was that Elegant Affairs already had experience with vegan events and had just put together a vegan menu for another wedding, much larger than ours mind you. Of course we made sure they were mindful of those sneaky ingredients like casein etc….

After we went over our options, Brooke gave us the tour of the grounds, showing us where we would have the ceremony. Their formal gardens are beautiful and when Lindsay saw the gazebo area where the ceremony would be, the tears started flowing. This was the place for sure. So I wrote the check for the deposit and we continued our planning.

Next would be the cake. I already knew that Vegan Treats in PA made awesome Vegan Wedding cakes, but I wanted to stay local so the search was on. After a few frustrating calls to people claiming to do Vegan cakes we found Madame Butterfly in Babylon Village. After communicating back and forth for quite some time we met with the owner and we hit it off instantly. She made a plethora of samples for us which we happily devoured. We decided on a 3 tier cake, square tiers with different flavors of cake and filling for each tier. The design would be an Asian motif based loosely around our invitation, complete with edible flowers , bamboo and Koi fish.

Fast forward to July 19th, 2009, the day of our wedding. The menu consisted of passed hours devours of edamame cups, Greek salad cups, black bean quesadillas and California rolls…the buffet consisted of roasted peppers stuffed with quinoa and….tofu squares in fillo dough with a sweet eggplant topping, salad, pasta with olive oil and lemon with basil and sun dried tomatoes…..all vegan , all delicious. The cake was a huge hit with everyone as well.

The moral of the story is, don’t compromise your beliefs. You can stick to your guns and still keep everyone happy and satisfied.

VeganMofo Italian Wedding Soup & Vanilla Cookies with Chocolate Sprinkles

2009-10-05T19:33:00.000-07:00

Italian Wedding Soup

Italian Wedding Soup is a delicious hearty soup that "marries up" pasta, meat and greens. I make my Vegan Wedding Soup with vegetable broth, chopped endive or spinach, chopped carrots, onions and garlic, 2 cups of vegan white wine, olive oil, 1/2 cup of lemon juice, sea salt & pepper, chopped parsley, small ring shaped pasta and vegan meatballs. If I don't have any vegetable broth on hand I'll use Rapunzel Vegan Bouillon and for the meatballs I'll use Nate's Italian style. Nate's are precooked and usually frozen so after all of the vegetables and the ring shaped pasta are fully cooked I'll drop the vegan meatballs into the broth and let them reheat right in the pot of soup. Bring the pot to a boil again for 5-6mins then serve. I'll make vegan parmesan by putting Bob's Red Mill Almond Flour, sesame seeds, garlic powder, dried oregano and lemon juice in the food processor and process into a course meal. Put a bowl of the Vegan Parmesan on the table, it is a great companion for your Wedding Soup. Don't forget garlic bread!

For Bob's Red Mill flours and meals: http://www.bobsredmill.com/

Vegan Vanilla Butter Cookies with Chocolate Sprinkles

Chocolate "Let's Do Sprinklez" are perfect decoration for Vegan Vanilla Butter cookies. Chocolate "Let's Do Sprinklez" are a little pricey. One box has two very small pouches of sprinkles but they taste great. Traditional chocolate sprinkles tend to be both tasteless and loaded with dyes and chemicals, besides every other brand I found contained Confectioner's glaze which is not vegan. Chocolate "Let's Do Sprinklez" is Confectioner's glaze free, all natural and made with real Chocolate.

VeganMofo day 4 ~ Easy Chik'N Salad Pitas, Corn Bread my Vegan kids.

2009-10-04T10:55:00.000-07:00

Super Easy Chik'N Salad Pitas

2 packages of Morning Star Farm Chik'N strips thawed and Diced

1 Red Pepper Diced

1 Green Pepper Diced

1/2 Sweet Onion Diced

1/2 Red Onion Diced

1 Bunch of fresh Italian Parsley chopped

Handful of Cherry tomatoes cut in halves

2 cups of Follow Your Heat Vegenaise

Sea Salt & Pepper to taste (I like Jane's Krazy Mixedup salt)

2tsp Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar

Garlic Powder to taste

1tbs prepared mustard

2 or 3 marinated roasted red peppers chopped

Mix Vegenaise, apple cider vinegar, garlic powder, prepared mustard, chopped roasted red peppers in a bowl and set aside. Mix the Veggies and ChikN in a large bowl. Pour Vegenaise mixture over Veggies and ChickN and stir. Make sure everything is really covered with the Vegenaise mixture. Add sea salt and pepper to taste and let chill or serve in Pita's immediately. Cover left overs and refrigerate. This salad tastes better and better every day! All of the dressing ingredients can be increased or decreased to you preference ~ just remember that the Morning Star Farm Chik'N strips are preseasoned and pretty peppery.

Em and her cornbreads

My youngest daughter, unlike me, would rather eat cornbread than candy, cookies or cake, even chocolate cake ~ weird. She'll actually nag to make cornbread. She/we (but mostly she) veganized a recipe using vanilla soy yogurt and vanilla soy milk. It makes a really sweet pleasant corn muffin or corn bread.

Years ago my oldest two and I were walking to the playground and we came across a dead pigeon laying in the middle of the sidewalk. My son (then 3) looked down at the dead bird and said "Put that bird in a baggie so we can bring it home for Nanny (his grandmother)" I asked him why would we do that? He replied "Cause she eats dead birds." "Not pigeons!" I said. My daughter (than 2) looked up at me and with a completely puzzled look on her face asked "What's the difference?" My son added "A dead bird is a dead bird right?" How do you argue with a 3 year old when he's right?

One afternoon when my oldest daughter was in preschool I received a phone call from her teacher complaining that my daughter had disrupted the class that day. I asked what had she done. The teacher told me that she had made a big pot of Chicken Alphabet soup for the students. When she came to give my daughter some my daughter said "no thank you" The teacher asked "why not?" my daughter replied "I don't eat dead meat soup." The rest of the children heard what my daughter said and then they didn't want to eat "dead meat soup." either. That's my girl, revolution starter in preschool.

Vegan Mofo Day 3 East meets West!

2009-10-03T13:10:00.000-07:00

Stir Fried Seitan in Garlic Chili Sauce

Vegan Sushi

House of Vegetarian

Whenever we find ourselves in Manhattan we aim to eat at House of Vegetarian 68 Mott Street, NY. It's not the trendiest place to eat in NYC but it's our favorite. The food is straight up Chinese food ~ nothing too fancy, it's all vegetarian and I'm pretty sure all vegan. We don't live in NYC and taking 5 kids and 2 adults out to eat is not something we can afford to do more than a few times a year. And forget about ordering good vegan Chinese food up here in the Hudson Valley. So we make our own.

This is a pretty good Garlic Sauce recipe:

2 tbs rice vinegar

3tbs pure maple syrup

2 tbs dark soy sauce

2tbs Chinese rice wine

3 to 4 whole dried chili peppers

3 tbs sesame oil

1/4 cup water

3 to 4 cloves of garlic thinly sliced

2 tbs cornstarch

Saute garlic in sesame oil for a min or so. Dissolve corn starch in water. Stir all of the other ingredients (except cornstarch and water) into the sauteed garlic and bring to boil for about 3 mins. After 3 mins stir in cornstarch and water combo. Bring to boil again while stirring. Sauce will thicken. Pour over your stir fry. This sauce works really well with tofu, seitan, tempeh and almost any veggies you would use in a stir fry.

Whenever my man (Mr. Tattooedgeek) isn't working for the man he's working for the woman ~ me! He's my resident Sushi Chef , Screen Printer and Artist. Aside from the typical veggie sushi rolls he makes toasted tempeh w/hot sauce rolls, teriyaki seitan rolls and others.

We've added several new totes to the shop this week. This Hanya tote is just one of them.

Caught Willow, one of our Siamese, being lazy earlier today ~ she was too cute to pass up!

Vegan MoFo 2009 day 2 ~ Chocolate Chip Crumb Cake ~

2009-10-02T15:31:00.000-07:00

This vegan chocolate chip crumb cake is a variation of Isa Chandar Moskowitz East Coast Coffee Cake from Vegan Brunch. Vegan Brunch has quickly become one of my all time favorite cook books. So far everything we've tried has been LOVED! For my chocolate crumb version I doubled the the cake recipe and added 1 cup natural unsweetened baking cocoa and 1 cup of choclate chips to the crumb topping. I sprinkled Hain organic powdered sugar all over it once it cooled.

The kids thought the chocolate crumb was a bit bitter without the powdered sugar. I thought it was fine either way. I doubled the cake part of the recipe because after making it once before we all decided that the cake was so good that we wanted more of it.

Lately my Bay Rum soy candle has gotten lots of attention. The last two weeks it has made it to Etsy's front page 3 times. I'm thrilled with all of the love the candle has been receiving but we have dozens of others that are deserving of lots of love as well. With Halloween coming I thought I'd highlight a few of my "darker" candles. First up is:

Man Eater is a complex blend of sensual amber, lotus blossom, and sweet jasmine accented with tangy orange and delicate orchids. This candle is black in color and topped off with a dazzling glittery splash of color. Man Eater is available in 6oz tin, 2oz tin and Shea Butter Solid Fragrance balm.

http://www.mrstattooegeek.etsy.com/

Veganized Italian Rainbow Cookies - Hell yeah!

2009-10-01T07:32:00.000-07:00

Rainbow cookies were a big family favorite, especially around Christmas time. They quickly became the first thing missed after going vegan 2 1/2 years ago. We recently veganized our recipe and the results were... excellent. Non vegans will never know the difference. In fact we all agree, the vegan Rainbow cookies were superior! Unfortunately traditional Rainbow cookies can be very dry - our vegan version was super moist and delicious.

New Totes in the shop today!

We've been extreamly busy making tons of new products. Here's a sneak peek. New totes - in color!

This is just a small sample. There's more in the shop.

http://www.mrstattooedgeek.etsy.com/

October is here - hooray!

Cleo was loving the cool October air this morning.

Vegan MoFo

2009-09-29T03:36:00.000-07:00

Home Sweet Vegan Home was started just in time for this years Vegan MoFo. I've been cooking up a storm and taking lots of pictures ~ keeping a plate of food aside for picture taking is no easy task with three perpetually hungry sons and an equally hungry husband.

Check Out September's Little Black Box.

2009-09-28T22:18:00.000-07:00

Tattooedgeek Inc. Soy Candles will be included in Septembers Little Black Box. Dozens of various 1oz tins were sent out. We are so happy to be included along side so many talented crafters! Pick up a Little Black Box for yourself. http://thelittleblackboxes.com