festivus! chili and pie!

I'm so bad... I have been all but absent from the blogging world for a long time, I know... art has been taking up a lot of my creative attention these days. It's been oatmeal/miso/salad forever (and I don't mind, it's just not worthy of post). I will try, though - I took down my Veganmofo banner thinking I wouldn't have the time... but you know what? I'm gonna *make* time. I will even get around to all of your blogs, because I know you've been doing incredible things that I will be sorely tempted to make but won't have time for... but isn't that the way of inspiring food? :D

So yeah... there were actually two dinners of total note in the past few weeks. We made the most perfect chili dinner EVER, I mean, it was off the hook. The chili was spicy chipotle-chocolate with shrooms, corn, peppers, tvp and 4 kinds of beans and it did that... um... chili-thing, where the texture is kinda like... kinda thick and sticky. In the best way!
(there was even red rice and super garlicky sour cream, meaning that Liz swirled her whole plate together like one giant steaming burrito and proceeded to cry little pearly tears of "OMG vegans eat SO WELL!").

We even fried something! Lots of somethings, meaning corn chips. In heart shapes (and moon shapes, and snowflakes and each of our names, but mostly hearts because being twee is cool again, I swear.)

All right, dinner number two... pagan thanksgiving! Or autumn equinox if you prefer. It's the time when the day and night are the exact same length, on September 22, and some like to celebrate with wine and apple desserts, and stories and tarot readings. (hint: we are those people)

Pomme cornbread of another flavour, this time with peppers and zucchini, because cornbread is basically the best accompaniment to everything. Including ice cream! .... okay, okay..... maybe not. But yummy with ratatouille, which we did have.

There it is! From Aux Vivres, actually, so basically super fatty and tasting kinda like gold. Along with couscous, steamed chard and veggies, and the most amazing sagey roasted veggies, it was easy pants to put together this dinner after work and still covered every "festive" base, I think.

And having an ugly apple pie for dessert doesn't hurt that cause, either. Ugly and the best thing that ever happened to apples, that is.
(a mix of cortland, granny smith, macintosh and yellow delicous)

Oh right! And I almost forgot to mention! THAT is my harvest! My weeny teeny tomato harvest. Yep. And it was alllllll worth it. For serious, for true - being able to look outside of my 4th story window to a fire escape full of fragrant vines was the real benefit to this whole endeavour. They're just really cute, tart, perky symbols of urban defiance, woohoo!