New 3D art piece for the Art Center's winter auction and show

Fantasy Stapler Set

This month I've been working on a 3D art piece to contribute to the Corvallis Arts Center's Winter Show and Silent Auction, November 26th-December 23rd. This annual invitational show has a theme this year of "portals."

After mulling it over for a while, I chose not to follow the idea of a normal window or a door or a ship "portal" and instead took the direction of a fantasy portal to another place or dimension. The idea of a nondescript closet, train station locker, box, crystal ball, or wardrobe that is a portal to another place is a commonly occurring theme in fantasy fiction and legend. My non-descript secret fantasy portal is a regular ol' box set of staplers. Who would think to look in there? The design of the outside is in the theme of vintage packaging and office equipment, but it isn't an actual replica of a real Swingline stapler set (um, it's a fantasy stapler set). Inside is a portal to another place, the entrance covered with some overgrown fauna, but in the distance - a path, a valley, and mountains. Is it a short cut to a real place on earth, or another magical dimension entirely?

(Yes, I have been reading books like the Magicians and the Dresden Files series recently.)

Radio interview on KLCC's Food For Thought

The other day at my local author event, I was asked for a radio interview on the spot by Laura McCandlish, one of the hosts and contributors to KLCC's Food For Thought radio program. KLCC is Eugene, Oregon's local Public Radio/NPR station. I wasn't sure when it would air, but I discovered today that the program played on Sunday, November 6th, and it is now available to stream online from KLCC's site and it's available to download for free from iTunes. I show up in the program at about minute 11.
Also featured in the show were interviews with two guests at my event who had great contributions and perspectives of their own on choosing to follow a vegan diet and making plant-based choices, plus a quick mention of the cocktails at the new local restaurant and bar, Terminus, and an interview with local Corvallis chef Intaba Liff-Anderson! Great show!

Rabbit Food Cookbook - Book event and cornbread

Linked from http://finn-sapas.blogspot.com

Hop on over to my friend Marya's blog to see some photos of my book event last weekend at Grass Roots Books and Music in Corvallis, OR, and her pictures of the cornbread she made recently! mmmm.
Thanks, Marya :)

More Rabbit Food Cookbook blogging. weee!

Today I ran across Amanda's additional post on her blog inmyveganlife.blogspot.com with a lovely review of my combo meal recipe for "super breaded fried-chickeny dinner" which is super delicious, and she agreed. Thanks, Amanda!

linked from inmyveganlife.blogspot.com

Rabbit Food Cookbook Book Blog Tour, last day!

Well, the blog book tour has come to its end. Today's blog is from Sarah at Vegansaurus blog. She liked the book, in general, but was dejected at the thought of using garlic powder, like, ever, under any circumstance (in main dish recipes). Well, to each her own. I call for it in some recipes to make them quicker, and in others I do call for the real thing. Sarah tried out the tofu pot pie, but suggested different ways to execute parts of the recipe, which is fine, since cooking is all about adaptation and experimentation. In my recipe's defense, though, I never have crunchy onion problems in the pot pie by following the directions as I've written them.

Well, that's all for the official tour! Hopefully there will be some more talk about the book out there on the internets to follow as more people get copies of the book in hand!

Photo from when Agnes and I made our tofu pot pies!
Um...yeah, mine is the more perfect looking one in front,
but! it was in a smaller pan and I'm more experienced with the recipe.

Looking for vegan food suggestions in Portland?

Some folks asked me for recommendations for vegan-friendly restaurants in Portland on Saturday at my author event at Grass Roots Books in Corvallis. I admitted then that Darren and I are totally fixated on eating at Vita Cafe on Alberta as our first destination every time we are in Portland...If we're there for more than one meal we then pick out another place to eat, LOL! I was having a hard time thinking of other recommendations on the spot. I know there are a ton of places to go, like Blossoming Lotus, Bay Leaf, VegeThai, Vegetarian House, Hungry Tiger Too, DC Vegetarian, Paradox, Proper Eats, etc., etc., etc., and I've enjoyed a bunch of other restaurants over the many years I've been living in this area. There are also a ton of people interested in choosing vegan options in Portland, so there are resources out there that answer this important request for recommendations. After all, Portland is a vegan tourist destination!! Visit Portland, and you will need to go to the gym every day the week after you get home. There is just so much delicious vegan food to gobble up.

Well, lo and behold! I happened across a Vegan Guide to Portland that my friends at Food Fight! Vegan Grocery have put together to answer this very important question better than I could off the cuff. They have links to some of the excellent vegan restaurant review blogs, and descriptions of well known restaurants that we can count on to have vegan options! Check it out! And - while you're roaming around Portland looking for places to stimulate your taste-buds, it's always fun to stop in at Food Fight's store at 12th and Stark for their amazing selection of specialty vegan treats and eats!

food fight's store-fisheye view, or something! linked from their website

A new place on facebook to find me being chatty

Carving a block print

You know, I just realized I forgot to mention here that I recently created a new facebook public page for Beth Bee Books, Rabbit Food Cookbook, and my paintings/artwork updates. I went back and forth on what to title the page, and I settled on Beth Bee Books because that's more interesting than just calling the page "Beth Barnett". Although my name is a perfectly fine name (I'm glad my parents didn't name me something misspelled, like Gweendolyyn or Mykaael), there are a number of other people out there in the world who also have my same name, but no other businesses called Beth Bee Books, so there you go.

If you're on facebook, you can "like" the page to connect with me there, or if you're just curious, go take a look at my posts and links. You don't have to have a facebook account to look at the public page. Cheers!

Book Blog Tour - day seven at cookveganeasy!

Today! We've come to the second-to-last entry in the official blog tour for Rabbit Food Cookbook sponsored by Sasquatch Books. They sent a free copy to Andrea of cookveganeasy.blogspot.com to check out, and she decided to try the curry tofu & peas recipe! I enjoyed reading her review, as with all the others, and I'm sad the tour is coming to and end soon! Maybe I'll see some other reviews later on as other folks get copies of the book in their paws.

This recipe is super easy and flavorful, and the thing that works great about it is the combination of the sweet peas and the spicy curry flavors. The end result is a spicy-sweet taste, without needing to add any sweeteners!

Blog tour, day Six!

I was pretty busy on Saturday morning, preparing soup and breaded tofu for my 2pm author's event in Corvallis (which went great!), but I did still have time to go look up the day's entry in Rabbit Food Cookbook's blog tour, which was assigned to Allyson from ManifestVegan blog. Allyson has to cook gluten-free, and although I don't have special indicators in my book to point out the gluten free recipes, there is a lot of variety in the book and quite a few recipes happen to be GF. She decided to try the wassail - very season appropriate, now that it's fall!

Do I have a back story for the wassail? Of course I do! My lovely mother volunteered with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra in Indianapolis, Indiana, while I was growing up, and the Symphony held an annual holiday performance at which the volunteers raised money by selling wassail and cookies. When I was old enough to help, mom took me (and my sister) along to assist with serving. That was the only place I recall having wassail rather than typical hot cider, but I always thought the wassail was special and delicious. The main difference between the two hot drinks is the added flavors of lemon, orange, and ginger that go into the wassail. Yum!

Book Blog Tour, day five! with VeganCraftastic

I've gotten a little behind. Friday's blogger in the online book tour went to Kala from VeganCraftastic blog! She also tried out the chana masala recipe.

She was excited to try making this dish at home after having it in restaurants many, many times. I worked on creating my version of this recipe for the same reason. It's a delicious dish, and a reliable vegan choice on the menu at Indian restaurants. It's really not that complicated, and easy to make at home, too! It's a good idea to run the stove exhaust fan while cooking with these potent spices, though, unless you want the house to also smell like an Indian restaurant, not just the food itself, and the kitchen!