happy friday! {canyon cupcakes}

happy friday!

well, my pledge on monday to blog more has fallen flat...but this week i: took a sewing class and made a pillow; went on lots of hikes; worked out; did yoga; experimented with agave and baking; and played with a two year old. not much time for sitting in front of the computer.

my friends moved here from new york this week and they {and their two year old} are staying with us until their moving truck arrives. we're joking that now that they left brooklyn and moved to los angeles, they are canyon people. so...i made some really hippie cupcakes and called them "canyon cupcakes." i'm trying to go off sugar and i'm allergic to dairy & eggs, so that means a lot of vegan cooking. this week, i experimented with replacing sugar with agave in cupcakes and the results were pretty tasty. although, as you can see from the photo, they are not the prettiest cupcakes...but heck, they're canyon cupcakes! they look like the brown hills of the canyon...

so, they are named canyon cupcakes in honor of my recent new yorker transplant friends. i amended the recipe from my favorite cookbook ever Calci-Yum! by david & rachelle bronfman. hope you enjoy! {sorry, esb, not gluten-free! i know you're disappointed given how much you *love* cupcakes! i'll experiment with that next time.}

{canyon cupcakes}

preheat oven to 375 degrees

makes about 20 cupcakes

nonstick muffin tin, lightly oiled

for cupcakes:

3 cups finely chopped beat greens

1- 1/4 cups soy milk

2 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup almond meal

1/2 cup soy flour

1 cup agave

1 tbsp cinnamon

1-1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2-3 tbsp ground flax seed

1 cup chocolate chips {optional, i used fruit-sweetened & dairy-free from nature store}

for frosting:

4 oz firm tofu

1/3 cup agave

1/4 cup almond butter

1/2 tbsp peanut butter

1/2 tsp vanilla

1. steam beat greens & allow to cool and chop. {i used the food processor to finely chop.} transfer to large bowl along with soy milk, agave syrup and vanilla; mix together.

2. in a separate bowl, sift together flours, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, salt and flax seed. add in the chocolate chips, if using. gradually stir dry ingredients into beet-green mixture; mix well.

3. spoon mixture into cups of prepared muffin tin. bake 20 minutes, checking for doneness with a toothpick.

4. make frosting: in a food processor or blender, combine all the ingredients; blend until creamy {you may want to add more almond or peanut butter if needed to thicken}. transfer to small bowl and refrigerate from 1 hour. when frosting has become firm, it's ready to spread.

{photo by me}

time to spare...

i hope you all had a fantastic thanksgiving holiday! we definitely did...spent the morning packing & delivering meals to the homeless, spent the afternoon exercising the dogs at the pool and spent the evening eating delicious food with friends. can't really ask for a better day.

right now, i'm finding myself unemployed for the rest of the year. which means two things: 1. lots of spare time; and 2. not much spare money to spend in that time. so, what to do? well, i signed up to volunteer at 826LA east. if you are from sanny franny {my nickname for my hometown of san francisco}, i'm sure you've visited 826 valencia, a writing center for kids that generates income by selling cool pirate nick-nacks and their amazing mc sweeney's volumes. well, i love kids & i love stories, plus i can walk to 826LA east, so i'm going to a volunteer orientation next week. so hopefully soon, my spare time will be spent tutoring neighborhood kids after school.

i also signed up for a sewing class. yeah, i consider myself pretty "diy" but i can't sew a thing! my grandmother was an amazing seamstress & i unfortunately didn't retain anything she taught me...so in honor of grandma lena, i'm gonna learn to sew. plus, i can walk there {seeing a transportation theme here?}. there's a cute new storefront in our neighborhood called home ec, so i've signed myself up for a basics class, where hopefully i'll end up with a pillow! the class costs some of that money i don't have a lot of right now, but i figure i'm learning a skill that will save me some dough in the future. {i can't tell you how many cool vintage dresses i have that need simple alterations.}

and...who knows? maybe with all this time on my hands, i'll blog more...

paris catacombs

i just found out that one of my paris photos was included in the schmap guide to paris! {this is how it will look on the iphone.} i still however need to do my paris entry on the blog...coming soon...i promise! saving the best for last...

{photo by me}

happy friday the 13th!!

i love friday the 13th. i turned 13 on friday the 13th. a true triskaidekaphile. working a lot, my dears...sorry for sporadic posts. but alas, unemployment looms on the horizon {unless another project comes my way soon...send good thoughts to the employment goddesses...}. maybe i'll start my wedding planning business after all. a producer turned wedding planner...your wedding will go so smoothly if i plan it...

have a wonderful weekend.

{photo credit here}

forget cupcakes...forget donuts...

...forget even cool ice cream sandwich trucks. milkshakes. brilliant. you can color coordinate, customize {vegan, anyone?}, and how perfect for a summer outdoor or picnic wedding.

a new trend, perhaps? {esb?}

{photo credit: chow.com via earth friendly weddings}

rock for pablove...

we'll be attending this show next weekend. if you are in the los angeles area, definitely check it out. it is a benefit show for the pablove foundation...fighting childhood cancer with love. it is the culmination of a bike ride across america to raise awareness about childhood cancer by pablo's dad, jeff, who i've blogged about before. check out pablo's dad's blog and learn more about the pablove foundation.

get your tickets here.

or get your super special backstage VIP passes for $150 here.

patty's love letter to fannie