Spooktacular Savings from the Etsyveg Team!!

Come Haunting with the Etsyveg Team October 27th-November 2nd, 2010! EtsyVeg kicks off the EtsyVeg Spooktacular today, with creepy savings and a frightfully fantastic shopper giveaway!

SPOOKTACULAR SAVINGS
EtsyVeg's vegan and vegetarian artisans are celebrating Halloween with special treats abound, from discounts to free shipping to free gifts! Shop the participating shops listed below to save big!

* 3 AM Art Productions- BOGO on all art prints/photography

* Au clair de la lune

* Blackbird and Peacock

* Crickets Creations Handknit Scarves- $5 off anything tagged "Halloween"

* Gardenia's Garb- 10% off any item tagged "Halloween"

* Jen O'Connell Paintings and Original Artwork- free shipping

* JFIllustrations- free shipping

* Kimbas Critters

* Lalu Jewelry- 15% off

* Maple Ash and Oak- 15% off

* M's Knits and Things- 15% off all scarves

* Mumbot Shop

* Palafox Studio 23- free shipping

* SilentLotus Creations- 15% off entire shop, plus free shipping over $25 and free gift over $40

* Starfirewire- Free Shipping and Free gift


GHOULISH GIVEAWAY

As part of our ghostly event, EtsyVeg is hosting a giveaway in which lucky shoppers will receive scarily fabulous handmade prizes from our ghostly talented artisans! All shoppers who make purchases from EtsyVeg member shops participating in the Spooktacular (see list above) are invited to comment on the EtsyVeg Blog. Include the link to the item(s) you purchased and your Etsy shop name or email address so we can contact you if you're name is drawn, and you will be entered to win an incredible prizes ( a random number generator will be used to choose winners). Winners will be announced on November 3rd!

Extra Entries: Earn one entry for every shop from the list above that you purchase from (please comment separately for each shop)!

Throughout the Spooktacular, check the blog daily for updates, featured artisans and their screamingly awesome handmade creations, and more! Please email us with questions at etsyveg@gmail.com . And Happy Halloween!

New Favourite Recipe!

I have recently really gotten into cooking, and I found this recipe on the Chatelaine website of all places and it's just awesome! I've been vegetarian all my life and this is a great take on lasagna if you're sick of plain old vegetarian lasagna. I wish I had taken a picture of it, but it got eaten way too fast by myself, my roommates and my boyfriend! They all loved it!

Mexican Pepper and Bean Lasagna

Cooking time 6 minutes
Preparation time 30 minutes
Standing Time 10 minutes
Baking Time 45 minutes
Makes 8 to 10 servings

Ingredients
- 2 each red and yellow or green peppers
- 1 large onion
- 19 oz (540 mL) can black beans
- 19 oz (540 mL) can kidney or romano beans
- Olive oil
- 3 cups (750 mL) tomato-based pasta sauce
- 475 g container extra-smooth ricotta cheese
- 2 tsp (10 mL) each ground cumin and dried thyme leaves
- 1 tsp (5 mL) chili flakes
- 1/2 tsp (2 mL) each salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 12 to 14 oven-ready lasagna noodles
- 3 cups (750 mL) grated Monterey Jack or cheddar cheese
- 1/3 cup (75 mL) coarsely chopped fresh coriander (optional)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350F (180C). Core and seed peppers, then coarsely
chop. Slice onion in half. Place cut-side down on board. Thinly slice.
Drain and rinse beans.
2. Lightly coat a large wide saucepan with oil and set over medium
heat. Add peppers and onion. Stir often until softened, 5 to 6
minutes. Stir in beans and pasta sauce. Bring to a boil, stirring
often. Remove from heat. In a large bowl stir ricotta with cumin,
thyme, chili flakes, salt and pepper.
3. Spread enough sauce to barely cover bottom of a 9x13-inch (3-L)
baking dish. Cover with 4 or 5 noodles. Don't overlap. Spoon half the
ricotta mixture in dollops overtop, then gently spread as best you can
toward edges. Pour half of sauce overtop, then smooth surface.
Sprinkle with 1 cup (250 mL) grated cheese. Top with 4 or 5 noodles,
remaining ricotta mixture and 1 cup (250 mL) cheese. Finish with
noodles, gently pressing them down. Cover with remaining sauce and
sprinkle with remaining cheese.
4. Bake, uncovered, in centre of 350F (180C) oven until a knife tip
inserted in centre of lasagna feels warm, 45 to 50 minutes. Remove
from oven and sprinkle with coriander. Let stand 10 minutes before
serving.

Almost Mitten Season!

Has it ever been getting chilly out! I had to scrape frost off my car yesterday morning.. Looks like it's almost time to pull out the hats and mittens!

I have been so busy with making custom orders the last couple of weeks! It's been tons of fun, but I definitely feel more pressure to get things knitted and ready so I can get back to making new stuff for the shop. Here is my latest custom creation:

It's Dinosaur puppet/mittens that I custom designed for a toddler. I created orange spikes down his back, and sewed in white teeth all around his mouth. I think they're just adorable, and I have had friends requesting an adult size of them!