Spring sunshine keeping my plants warm

And yummy banana muffins that are “naturally” vegan (as in, original recipe)

Happy almost spring to all!

This is SO me

This is so NOT Me

This is SO me

This is so NOT me

This is SO me

This is so NOT me

This is SO me

This is so NOT me

This is SO me

This is so NOT me

This is SO me

This is so NOT me

This is SO me

This is so NOT me

What about you…?

But why should I give up blogging because I don’t always have time to experiment in the kitchen? I mean, some blogs are about more than just food, right? Right! So if you’ll bear with me, oh gracious blogging buddies, I will do my best to participate (comment, post etc.) as a veg-head, while mixing it up from time to time with non-food posts. I hope this will work out okay…

That said, I have to bring up my new favorite vegan artist. I first discovered Michelle Cavigliano’s work after reading a post on Mihl’s blog, and proceeded to spend the next hour cruising Michelle’s website, esty shop, and blog. I’m totally hooked - just look at some of these images…

The absolute minute I have money again, I intend to buy some prints. Michelle’s art is whimsical, vibrant, and magical. I can’t look away!

In other non-food news, my sister (*in-law* in theory, but not in practice) has made a commitment this year not to purchase any new clothes for herself. She’s an accomplished seamstress and knitter, so she’s decided to take the year off from department store consumerism and use the heaps of fabric and yarn she has accumulated over the years to clothe herself and my brother. Cool idea, eh? Read more here.

And lastly, a few random pictures of my visit to a farm in Australia (I dare you not to swoon at the animal cuteness)…

Vive la weekend!

I’m happy to say that Christmas so far has been a hot and sunny affair for me. I arrived in Newcastle, Australia last week (near Syndey) and have already done a TON of really cool things. I don’t have too much to share in the way of vegan eats and treats, since I’ve mostly been eating out (Thai, salads etc.), except that the fruit here is INCREDIBLE! As an Alaskan who endures the lame fruit selection all winter long, I have been pleasantly gorging myself on fresh mangoes, apricots, pineapple, avocadoes, tomatoes and more. This is the life!

I have a million more photos to upload, but the connection here is so slow that I’m putting it off until later. So, for now, I hope you and yours have a very merry Christmas!

For me, dinner consisted of mashed potatoes with horseradish (a delicious twist on the traditional variety), sweet potatoes with toasted coconut and ginger, steamed brussel sprouts in a light vinagrette, homemade pickled green beans, and maple-glazed tempeh with dijon mustard (served with cranberry sauce). The meal was SUPER tasty and downright easy to prepare.

The rest of the day was spent toasting various things/people we were grateful for, playing cards, napping and enjoying each other’s company…

Guess what? I’ve got a new address! I’m still working out the kinks on my new web page, but I hope you’ll come over and visit me at http://dabbleswithapples.com/

Not much will change in terms of content (yummy food recipes, pics etc.), but I wanted something that looked a little more “hip.” Special thanks to my cousin, Peter, for helping me with the graphics/technicalities of the new web page.

Much love to you all - and T.G.I.F!

Welcome to my new blog. Fancy, huh? It’s still very much a work in progress (ie thanks for your patience), but MANY thanks to my cousin, Peter, for helping me put this together!

On a different note, the semester is almost over (hallelujah)! Soon I will actually have time to visit all of your amazing blogs again (yippee)! I’ve also got some Thanksgiving pics to upload before heading off to Australia in nine days (!!!). I hope everybody was just as blessed as I was to celebrate Thanksgiving with such great food and family/friends.

I owe a HUGE thank you to those of you who recently helped me out with a vegan blogger survey. Your answers were all invaluable - thanks for being so helpful and honest!

Okay, I’ve got to get back to the homework, but I just couldn’t wait to share my new space with you!

Ciao,

Monika

P.S. I don’t have a lot of content here yet, but check out my previous blog to get an idea of what this one will look like: http://appledabbler.blogspot.com/

Anyway, I’m VERY excited about Thanksgiving break, because even though I must continue plugging away at that mountain of work over the weekend, I’ll at least get to take a day off to relax and celebrate with family and friends. Although the mostly omni gathering will offer various non-vegan dishes, I am currently planning to make the following dishes as my own vegan Thanksgiving contribution:

1. Nikki’s Sweet Potatoes (with toasted coconut and fresh ginger!)
2. Maple-glazed Tempeh (using a combination of multiple recipes)
3. Garlicky Greens or Green Beans
4. Apple/Fruit Crisp of some kind…

And here are a few other things that sound delicious: Fig and Wild Rice Seitan Roulade, or Beets and their Greens with a Lemony Dill Vinaigrette, or Autumn Coleslaw, or Vegan Green Bean Casserole or Ooey, Gooey Apple Crisp

I can’t wait to see what everyone else comes up with - isn’t this just the greatest time of year?!

I also have a quick, non-food related request to make for those of you who are looking to kill a little time and help me out in a MAJOR way. I’m writing about the vegan blogging community for one of my classes (World and Internet Englishes), and how membership in the community is established and maintained. I’ve created a survey and need a few of you AWESOME vegan bloggers to fill it out for me, if you’d be willing to answer a few questions (all answers remain completely anonymous). If it sounds like something you wouldn’t mind spending a few minutes on, send me your email address (or drop me an email at mknorthern@gmail.com), and I’ll email you the survey. There is absolutely no obligation for you to participate, but I’d be super grateful if anyone is interested…I’d owe you big time!

Okay, I’ll have recipes and pictures galore after Thanksgiving. In the meantime, Happy Holidays to you and yours!

Happy Halloween, All! …Bwahahahaha!!

Pumpkin + sugary frosting = yes, please!