Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies.

If Cookie Dough Mountain was a place, I would live there...







Here is a recipe for Vegan Chocolate Chip cookies. I haven't seemed to perfect it yet, but what the heck. I found that putting the tray of scooped dough in the freezer for a few minutes before you bake them helps them hold their shape better, and maybe helps their texture.


1 cup Earth Balance
1 1/4 Cups Sugar
1 Tbsp Molasses
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/3 Cup Soy milk
2 1/2 Cups Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Salt
1 1/2 Cups Semisweet Chocolate Chips


Preheat oven to 350°F.

Cream together the margarine and sugar until fluffy. Add molasses, vanilla extract and soy milk. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda and salt. Combine wet and dry ingredients. Fold in the chocolate chips. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto a ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 12-14 minutes, until slightly browned. Let them cool on the baking sheets until you can palm it for a good while (very important, eager beavers), then transfer to a wire cooling rack.

New Moleskine.

Here are a couple drawings from my new bebe sketchbook that I was talking about. Both are self portraits & were way fun to do.



Yesterday I made my bittersweet move back to Lafayette for a few weeks until I can find a house in Bloomington. The night before I left, my buddy Sean Drews took some photographs of me & friends. You can check those out & more of his work here on his blog!

2009 was a new beginning.

These are a few drawings from class at MIAD with Shane Walsh.

The first is from my first semester at college. This was the day I fell in love with drawing. I will never forget it.



"Is this a finished drawing?" he asked me of the second. My mind was saying "Nooo," but, against my young judgment, I think I shrugged. Yes, against my will and want I let it go and learned so much in doing so.

I feel like I owe my teachers so much.

It has been a series of awe, discomfort, and endless learning. I will miss MIAD, but I will not forget my experiences there. I cannot. I was told that what teachers say about things may not make sense at the time, but down the road something will spark the understanding of that which was said. It is totally true. So, fellow art students... pay attention. =]



Pee ess. I bought a mini Moleskine (which I have never had before - super stoked) and have some sweet drawings I will post once I scan them. Woo!

Sketchbook Lately.

I have been awkwardly craving homework. This semester off thing is a little intimidating and I have to find inspiration in different ways than being given assignments - which is totally okay and preparatory for.. life.



















My way of thinking has broadened immensely in the past few weeks. I have been learning a lot about people by simply thinking and noticing more things, and my experiences this summer have made me become much more comfortable and content being alone. I have struggled with that since high school.

You know how you have to love yourself before you can love others? The same thing goes with expectations and acceptance. As you grow up, you realize the lies of life and learn more about yourself, at least that is what I have been experiencing. Things are what they are - what will be will be. Life is so incredibly strange, and people are extraordinary.

Expect less.

Expect less.

Accept more.

Vegan Pumpkin Muffins.

It's FALL, and you know what that means about Pumpkin. This is, by far, one of my favorite recipes to bake.

... Okay, I mean 'eat.'

1 3/4 cups flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp allspice
1/8 tsp cloves
1 cup pureed pumpkin
1/2 cup soy milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 Tbsp molasses

Sift together all the dry ingredients and set aside.. In another bowl, whisk together the remaining wet ingredients. Pour wet mixture into dry and combine with a fork until just mixed. Do not over mix the batter, or your muffins will suffer in texture. Pour batter into muffin cups about 2/3 full and bake at 350 F for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. (I have never actually figured out the exact time these take.. it is usually longer than I expect.) The muffins are chewy when they are hot, so allow them to cool completely before eating.

Side note, I added chocolate chips this time, which is not necessary. But hey, chocolate in anything is okay by me. Also, this recipe always leaves extra batter at the end for you to do with what you please. (No eggs, no salmonella. Just saying.)