Gary Bowling's House of Art Fundraiser

Gary Bowling's House of Art at 500 Bland St. in Bluefield, WV is in trouble-- they may be forced to move due to low funding. It is a wonderful, enriching place for all ages to come and marvel at beautiful and unique works of art, and there you can see recycled art - trash turned into treasure. It is home to local artists, and everyone who enters is family. It is really the gem of the city, as it is an extremely economically depressed area with dilapidated buildings crumbling and businesses failing left and right.

Please buy a work of art or consider making a donation of any amount to help keep this light in the darkness alive! http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gary-Bowlings-House-of-Art/133225843375348

I wanted to do my part as soon as I heard they needed help. Fundraiser bake sales are my specialty! I love to help charities, as well as get the word out about vegan food, and I just plain love to cook. I donated all the ingredients as part of my contribution, so that 100% of what we earned could go to the cause. I also made everything $1 (waaaay underselling; vegan and organic ingredients are very expensive!) to help encourage people to come out and buy.

We didn't end up selling an awful lot, but totally sold out of the vegan sausage/cheese balls---those are always a surprise hit for non-believing omnivores!

And thanks to a VERY generous donation from a dedicated patron, we ended up making $255 in total. About a quarter of what they need monthly for rent - $1,000. A HUGE thank you to everyone that came out that night!

Red Wine Lasagna

I've made lasagna so many times already because it it fairly easy, delicious, and will feed a crowd. But I've already done several variations like spinach lasagna...and I'm always looking to try something new. I've really enjoyed cooking with wine lately, so naturally, I had to try red wine tomato sauce! The dryer the wine for this dish, the more you will taste it in there. I simmered my signature homemade sauce (use fresh veggies whenever you can!) on the stove with the wine for several hours, adding more wine every now and then when the sauce condensed. I also figured for such a nice sauce, I should add a few special ingredients - what better than an entire layer of roasted red peppers and garlic cloves?! Roasting these guys in foil in the oven just brings out the flavor so much; it is delectable. All of this with whole grain noodles (you can't tell a difference from regular pasta in the lasagna), tofu ricotta (tofu, lemon juice, basil, nutritional yeast) and a generous portion of mozzarella-style Daiya. Voila, magnifico!

Thai Coconut Lime "Shrimp"

I started with garden fettuccine noodles (they have spinach and tomato in the actual pasta) for a base. For the sauce, I used coconut milk, cilantro, lime, lime zest, and a little thai red curry paste. I used breaded vegan shrimp from Sophie's Kitchen (my favorite mock-seafood brand, by far) - I thawed them and sauteed with a touch of coconut oil and some shredded coconut. Did I ever say that I love coconut? (I do). Throw the sauce on the noodles and top with shrimpies!

Gourmet Veggie Pizza

I like to deviate from the norm every once in a while, and tonight I wanted Greek-style pizza with veggies. Roasted red peppers, of course, and garlic cloves. Avocado--I was unsure about that as a pizza topping until I tried it a few years ago, and really enjoyed it. Classic homemade crust and tomato sauce, with just a little sprinkle of Daiya. But I wanted a little extra pizzazz (pun intended) so I decided to try a quick pesto. I used pine nuts and parsley with hempseed oil. It definitely gave it a unique kick, while keeping the charm of old-style Greek pizza a la my Greek grandmother!