best of 2012

It is hard to believe that another year has come and gone so quickly. Many wonderful things have happened this year, I have met and become friends with loads of amazing people through blogging, I am truly one lucky girl, having each and everyone of you in my life has made me a better person. SMBP has been such an inspiring creative space for me, I have learned so much about the people that take the time to visit and leave a kind word or two. It is so much fun to look back and see how I have grown in terms of being more adventurous in the kitchen and photography, not only do I love creating and sharing recipes, I am equally in love with photographing the food and sharing those images with you too.

So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for visiting, inspiring me on a daily basis and well, just being absolutely wonderful & caring - you make the world a better, tastier & kinder place.

To wrap up this wonderful year here's

SMBP's BEST of 2012

Maple Chipotle Sweet Potato Burger

this was one of my favorites too!

Creamy Avocado Chipotle Sweet Potato Soup

a truly healthy & tasty soup

Pumpkin Black Bean Soup

Justin & I still make this a few times a month - so good!

Walnut Bella "Meatball" Subs

crazy, CRAZY good

Salted Caramel Layer Cake

THANK YOU Richa for that crazy good salted caramel!

Rustic Tomato Tart

almost too pretty to eat

Acorn Squash Ravioli with Thyme Garlic "Butter"

my first attempt at homemade ravioli - it was so worth it

Smokey Tempeh Sliders

homemade slider buns too- you can't go wrong with these

Mexican Quinoa Stuffed Green Peppers

my favorite way to stuff a pepper

Baked Donuts ~ 3 Ways

you can't go wrong with baked donuts, but three ways? Get outta town!

enjoy!

white chocolate peppermint rounds

 My sister declared these the best cookies ever and let me tell you she is one tough critic. Peppermint, white chocolate and crushed candy canes, when combined create the perfect Christmas cookie. I made up a few batches - the first were included in my Christmas Cookie boxes, the second batch was shared with my fellow team members at work.  No matter who you share these peppermint cuties with they are sure to put a smile on every ones face...so long as they like peppermint that is.

chocolate pecan pear truffles

It's just not Christmas without truffles - rich and chocolaty, they are the perfect bite-sized holiday treat when you are looking for just a little something sweet.

Truffles are super easy to make, no stove top or oven required - just 15 minutes of your time, a few ingredients and cute containers to display your handcrafted truffles which are sure to make your friends and family smile this holiday season.

salted caramel chocolate chip cookies

Guess who's back! Melissa from Vegan Fling is sharing another amazing recipe!

 

Hi Everyone! I'm so happy to be once again guest posting on Sunday Morning Banana Pancakes! I adore Heather and her space here and am excited to be swapping recipes with her today.

magic cookie bars

Today I am sharing an old family favorite - the Magic Cookie Bar over at the Vegan Fling!

Make sure you stop by and give Melissa some love - she has such a great Blog and is pretty awesome too. Oh, and don't forget to try out the Magic Cookie Bars - they're amazing!

peanut butter kisses

When asked "what Christmas cookie do you like the best" Justin will respond with one of two answers - the little round sugar coated ones (noel nut rounds) or the peanut butter cookies with the Hersey kisses. I had to break the  news to him that Hersey kisses are not vegan - he responded with     " you could totally make your own!" - yeah okay, keep dreaming - Cara from Fork & Beans whipped up a batch of Kisses in February and made it look pretty simple, but I was feeling lazy plus she is pretty amazing so I opted to go with chocolate pieces. Which for the record works just as well and well, it's probably surprise but tasted exactly the same as a Hersey kiss!

jam thumbprint cookies

All it takes is a little bit of snow to get me into the holiday spirit. The first day of December broughtt with it a soft snow that fell throughout the day - it was so magical. On went the Christmas music and out came the cookie making supplies - I couldn't resist making a few batches of holiday cookies to surprise Justin with when he came home from work.

i'm a finalist!

 

 

Exciting news! I am a Salad'tude Finalist over at Happy Healthy Life - I would be forever grateful if you popped on over and voted for me, it only takes a moment and is super simple.

 

Thank you so much for your support & vote!

 

Clicke here to vote!

mexican salad pizza // quinoa crust

Justin and I have a few food traditions that began early on in our relationship - Sunday morning breakfast and Friday night pizza, beer & movie night. We have continued with these "dates" religiously, hands down Sunday's and Friday's are my favorite days of the week.

I love salad pizza's, a warm pizza loaded with veggies and topped with fresh greens - this pizza has a Mexican flare which I love and topped with a healthy dose of greens & fresh tomatoes, which I love even more.

blueberry pancakes

I just realized for a blog named "Sunday Morning Banana Pancakes" it is lacking in the pancake recipe department. The thing is, Sunday is the day we enjoy our pancake tradition and unplug from the rest of the world. So photographing our Sunday Pancakes is not a priority, eating them and drinking tea or a champagne cocktail is - yes, we have our priorities straight.

roasted carrot quinoa salad // cranberry chutney

The day before Thanksgiving marked the official end of the garden, the last of the carrots and leeks were harvested for our big Thanksgiving Dinner. Luckily, there were more carrots and leeks than needed for Thursday's dinner leaving me with a nice little stockpile of orange beauties and tender stalks of pale green goodness. After our decadent meal and loads of sweets I was certainly looking forward to a lighter healthier weekend lunch and better yet, put to good use some of the last of my garden's bounty.

heather's noel nut rounds ~ a cookie swap

How excited was I when I received an invite to Kristy's Cookie Swap - um, super excited!

Kristy from Keepin' it Kind is amazing, she truly is a blogger that I look up to - she has an amazing heart, is adorable and  creates mouth watering recipes. How could I say no? I would love for you to head on over to Keepin' it Kind for what I hope will become a yearly tradition - make sure you check out the other cookies  & treats brought to the swap by some amazing Bloggers!

Simply click on the link to be whisked away to Keepin' it Kind for sheer cookie bliss -including of course my Noel Nut Rounds.

And one more thing, make sure you stop by throughout December for more amazing cookie recipes as the swap will continue up until Christmas.

Happy Baking!

roasted beet + carrot salad // tempeh "croutons"

sometimes i simply crave fresh & light - even in the fall & winter months.

in the summer salads are a staple weeknight dinner for justin and i.

when fall and winter approach we crave warm fall comfort food - soups, stews, casseroles, freshly baked bread. in between all those hearty soul warming meals the craving for fresh crisp greens crept up on us. luckily our local winter farmers market farmer is still growing greens in the greenhouse - paired with roasted root veggies it became the best fusion of summer and fall - a summer fall fusion salad.

pumpkin pie bars

one of the best things about autumn and the holidays are the countless treats that fill our home with warm smells of all things good. i am not a big fan of pumpkin pie, however i am a huge lover of anything that resembles the smell of pumpkin. for me, one of the best feelings is to come in from the cold and walk into a warm kitchen filled with smells of cinnamon & spice or a warm soup simmering away.

it reminds me of my mom & gram - the sweet smell wraps around you like a big hug. childhood memories of the fall always included heading in from a chilly day of playing and being welcomed by a sweet treat, mug of cocoa or a big bowl of homemade chicken noodle soup.

a smbp thanksgiving round up!

 butternut squash & apple bisque 

 roasted mini veggie tartlettes 

with thanksgiving just around the corner i wanted to share with you a few of my favorite fall recipes that would be a beautiful addition to any holiday table.

whether your guests are vegan or not most everyone is sure love one of these vegan holiday dishes!

simply click on the picture to be transported to the original post.

roasted carrot + sweet dumpling squash bisque {gf}

so you can be honest with me - have you tired of my soup posts?

i sure hope not! this time of year Justin and i literally enjoy soup at least 2-3 times a week.

soup is warm, satisfying, makes for great leftovers and tastes even better the next day.

what more could you want?

for pennies on the dollar, soup has a lot of goodness to offer.

plus, it's pretty hard to screw up soup or if you want to get all fancy and call it bisque like i do you can!

soup with its fancy pants on = bisque (but really the truth is its just a creamy soup)...wow i am pretty sure this creamy soup is having an identity crisis since it doesn't have cream in it either.

fall harvest salad ~ spicy sweet vinaigrette{gf}

who says salads have to be boring?

i love a good salad chock full of seeds, fruits and nuts - Justin on the other hand is a classic salad guy. no fruits, no nuts, no seeds whatsoever, he prefers greens, cucumbers, olives, tomatoes, carrots & peppers drenched in vegan ranch dressing.

a few weekends ago i prepared this salad for dinner with friends - it was quick, easy, tasty and prepared with local seasonal ingredients.

did you know that there is a fall raspberry - is anyone as super excited as i am to learn this? when i popped into picnic farm lauchie had walked in with a freshly picked flat of ruby red raspberries!

you bet they went right into my basket - and then straight into my belly and in this salad, they were amazing.

carnival squash ~ maple dijon quinoa

its virtual vegan potluck time!
i have no idea what i was thinking - october is one of the craziest months of the year for me at work....so that means my poor potluck post got pushed aside, then pushed aside again- we have all been there before, just when you think you have that extra second to breathe its gone quicker than it arrived. so that means today i am sharing with you one of my favorites from last year,
 a throw back of sorts!

so a big thank you to Annie, Somer and Jason for hosting such an amazing event!

chunky monkey muffins {gf}

gluten free baking successess are amazing- especially for someone who doesn't bake gluten free often.

i love getting to the point where i am comfortable enough to explore and develop recipes on a whim. there was a time when a recipe was my life line - i would follow it to a T for fear of turning out an inedible meal or muffin. then gradually, after much practice i became more confident in the kitchen, using recipes only as a guideline, often times venturing off from the written recipe and creating something a little different. then a few years later i began creating original recipes - some wildly successful others major fails. this one my friends was one of the successes - a gluten free success which was even more exciting and pretty tasty too.

for anyone still hesitant to stray away from the original recipe - don't be! jump right in and experiment, that's really the best way to grow in the kitchen. keep trying until it turns out just right and before you know it you will be able to create recipes without even giving it a second thought, it will eventually become second nature to you.

maple cider glazed brussels + delicata {gf}

i have a hard time understanding why so many people have an aversion to brussel sprouts - they are super adorable and easy to prepare.  personally, i like my brussels roasted. i am also a fan of hiding "undesirable" veggies in quinoa patties or rissoles. this recipe is a loosely deconstructed version of my delicata rissole - which is still one of my favorite recipes to date.

 i do know one thing for sure, this recipe will definitely be making an appearance on thanksgiving.

creamy potato carrot leek soup {gf}

 the thing i love most about soup is that the simplest of ingredients can be turned into an amazing, soul hugging, nourishing soup. this soup is extremely easy- combining a few very inexpensive ingredients with minimal time and you will find that you have created a healthy and comforting meal.

who says eating healthy has to be difficult & expensive?

this soup definitely proves it doesn't have to be.

classic vanilla cake

i had the pleasure of babysitting my two nephews a few weekends ago.

it was so much fun! they are brothers and 7 years a part, it is funny to see how they interact - Aiden the youngest, he's 3 emulates everything his big brother Xavier does.

we went on a nice long hike, every rock Xavier climb, every down tree he jumped his little brother was right behind him making his way over and onto the trees and rocks....with a little help from his auntie of course.

so as a treat i decided to bake them a cake - a simple classic vanilla cake frosted blue with lots of fun sprinkles...not only did we enjoy cake but we also made popcorn on the stove and Xavier made his first, completely from scratch pizza - dough and all! i couldn't be more proud.

fall spanish pardina lentil soup {gf} // seeded baguette

over columbus day weekend justin and i were apart for most of the weekend - every year he is a vendor at the grass drags event which runs all weekend long morning until night and is an hour and a half drive from our home. needless to say he is exhausted when he comes home and is simply ready to crash.

so when monday rolled around we enjoyed ourselves a very, very lazy day.

our monday included our ritual "sunday" morning breakfast, lazing in our pj's, a bottle of champagne and 

this soup! a soup so incredibly easy to make, making it the perfect late lunch for lazy weekends.

chocolate pumpkin mini bundts {gf}

pumpkin everywhere!

this is the time to indulge in pumpkin everything- that is of course if you like pumpkin.

everywhere you turn you are bound to see loads of recipes inspired by the mighty fall pumpkin - some savory, some sweet; pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie filling and fresh pumpkin all find their way into most recipes this time of year- and i love it.

coconut quinoa stuffed kuri squash {gf}

today i want to share with you a "new" to me squash - the kuri squash!

sometimes i feel totally silly - up until about a year ago i learned that many of the winter squashes it perceived to be fall decorations are actually edible...and really delicious.

each time i stop by picnic rock i am sure to ask ginny and lauchie what they have new for me to try out - it just so happened ginny picked up the kuri squash for me to try and it just so happened i bought one the week before to decorate the front door for fall - huh who new, pretty and edible.

well now we both know - well that is of course if you didn't know this before

sorry, i'm rambling - lets move on to the recipe, that's far more interesting!

pumpkin black bean soup

it is a beautiful time of year.

the smell of woodsmoke in the air.

breathtaking crimson, gold and orange leaves whose colors deepen with every day that passes.

i love starting a pot of soup on sunday morning, letting it simmer away until mid afternoon then serving a piping hot bowl with a big hunk of crusty bread.

baked donuts // fall classics 3 ways

oh i love donuts - in moderation of course.

thankfully i have shown some self restraint when it has come to my donut making ways.

since receiving my donut pan last christmas this is only my second time making donuts.

i have noticed a trend though - when i bust out my donut pan i tend to make 3 different kinds of donuts in one fell swoop - this time around i decided i wanted to take your classic holiday pie and cake flavors and turn them into donuts - great idea right? right!

well, i thought so anyway and i am sharing with you my insanely delicious take

 on the classics -3 ways.

farro + sweet dumpling squash tartlettes

simple ingredients, simply prepared.

 taking just a few ingredients and turning them into something spectacular is so satisfying.

i love that these tartlettes are simple enough for a week night meal and elegant enough for a holiday meal sure to impress your guests - vegan or not.

simple rosemary roasted beets

i feel often times beets get a bad rap - and i have no idea why

they are beautiful in color, delicious when roasted and remarkable in stews.

it wasn't until recently that I have truly begun to appreciate the beet for all its worth.

it is a simple vegetable that is, in my opinion prepared just like that: simple.

 

when this batch came out of the oven, justin who has always proclaimed he was just "not into beets" popped one into his mouth and was instantly converted into a lover of beets.

 

now if i could only get him to love or even just like eggplant & artichokes  - even just a little.

rustic pumpkin toasts

sometimes i just want toast - prettied up toasts, plain toast, pb & jelly toasts.

after making the rosemary & olive peasant bread i was totally craving a big ol slice toasted with a whole lotta goodness piled high. almost like an open faced sandwich that thinks it's classy.

a classy little rustic pumpkin toast is what it turned out to be.

a few of these beauties served along side beluga lentils & butternut squash and

you could say i was one happy girl

rosemary olive peasant bread

so, if you have been reading this blog for a while now you already know that i love bread!

in the summer it is waaaay to hot to bake bread, plus my local farmers market and csa supports my bread addiction during the summer months so i kindly allow them to heat up their kitchen to support my habit -

i am so nice aren't i?

but once the cooler months move in i start to get that bread making itch.

i love everything about the bread making process - the yeast, the kneading, the rising, the baking and of course the eating!

beluga lentils + butternut squash

a few weeks ago i went a little "bean & legume" crazy at williams sonoma.

i am a sucker for any unique, out of the ordinary ingredient

and if they look pretty, then i know i am in big trouble.

so 4 bags later of unique beans & legumes, paired down from 8 - i was beyond excited for their arrival

(really do i need 8 bags of beans, probably not) 

a few days later they arrived. to sya the least i was not disappointed 

i already showcased my old mother stallard beans in the autumn chili

(click here in case you missed it!)

so this week i wanted to share with you a recipe made with the beluga lentils from that very same mini shopping spree

pumpkin pistachio cranberry sweet rolls // cinnamon cream cheese icing

mmmmm sweet rolls.

say it with me, mmmmmm sweet rolls.

doesn't that just sound and feel so good to say.

its even better when you are shoveling one after another in your face - no that really didn't happen, well maybe it did

but who can resist pumpkin, pistachio & cranberry all wrapped up and drizzled with "cream cheese" icing - if you can then you are super human

 share your super power with me....please

heirloom bean + acorn squash chili

yes! chili season is here - one of the best parts of fall & winter.

i love chili, the funny thing is my mom never made chili. i am pretty sure i had my first homemade chili experience at my uncles when i was about 10 - and let me tell you it was hot....super hot.

let me back up here - i did always order chili from wendy's, i loved the little packages of saltines it came with - but lets face it, its is nothing compared to the goodness of a homemade bowl of chili.

plus, i get boozy with mine - beer in chili?

YES!

acorn squash ravioli // thyme garlic "butter"

do you ever head into a project thinking - hey this will be a piece of cake, i'll be done in no time!

only to find out that it was a little more tricky than you thought?

this is exactly what happened with this recipe. you see, i have never made homemade ravioli and after researching the process it seemed simple enough.

yeah - simple once you get the hang of it, not so simple the first go around.

i was totally sweating it, wondering if i was going to be able to actually get the hang of it.

the second go at it was much more successful - thank goodness, totally worth it.

like pie crust and making bread, the more you do it the easier & quicker it becomes.

you'll be a ravioli making queen before you know it!

smokey tempeh sliders

i am in love...

with these sliders - i know i say this a lot, but really, these are incredible.

plus, they are so much fun to eat - mini foods are just so adorable.

this was my first time preparing tempeh, i have no idea why i allow certain foods to intimidate me. 

i watch from the sidelines, let everyone else play for a little while - then when i gather up the courage i go for it.  this is after a few packages of tempeh have been thrown out because i didn't muster up the courage soon enough - expired, good as gone.

well, i'm glad i took the leap into tempeh making - seriously guys, if you too have been intimidated don't be. preparing tempeh is super easy and fun - you just have to plan a little ahead for marinating.

really, do it - make that tempeh work for you!

apple caramel cake // cinnamon frosted

it's official - i am ready for fall.

i tried to hang onto summer as long as i could, but i am so ready for 60 degree days, foliage, apples, pumpkins and winter squash.

on monday fall teased us with bright blue skies and cool weather...but summer isn't ready to leave us yet, as of tuesday we are back to 80 degree days.

in last weeks csa there were 4 apples tucked away - a sure sign of fall. i had this cake logged into by post que, an idea that was dreamt up at the beginning of summer.

so, there it patiently waited for me to welcome fall with open arms -  it was originally developed to contain bourbon, but i still had 1/2 a jar of vegan salted caramel and no bourbon - so salted caramel it was!

green curry corn chowder

there is nothing better than a steaming bowl of soup after coming back from a fall hike.

once we enter into the Fall and Winter months Justin and I have soup at least twice a week - quick, easy and delish. plus we are usually left with a couple bowls worth for lunch the following day.

i have been making corn chowder since we have been together - it was one of the first "go to meals" I learned to make when we started living together. every now and then i like to put a new spin on our classic corn chowder. the building blocks of the classic are still found here but also tucked away are a few additional flavors that bring this soup from humble to incredible.

eggplant caponata

i have never eaten so much eggplant in a year, let alone in a month. we, meaning my farm CSA apparently has had a stellar year for eggplant - add in the one i grew in the garden and i have more eggplant than i know what to do with!

then i remembered an amazing meal justin and i enjoyed on one of out trips to church street in burlington. we found a great little restaurant that sources as many local items as possible and creates all their meals from scratch - that night i went for the eggplant caponata and it was amazing. so i decided i would recreate this dish at home, and you know what - it was even better than i remember.