right before Christmas, dlb and I started working with an incredibly lovely lady named Megan on a re-design for her blog, Feasting on Art. if you’ve never been over to her blog, you are definitely missing out on some amazing recipes, all inspired by art! we had a lot of fun designing her new look, mostly inspired by a French Bistro complete with a bistro inspired awning for her logo and a fleur de lis background.

after we completed her design, Megan asked if I wanted to pair up with her on one of her savory/sweet art inspired posts.  obviously, I said yes and naturally, I picked sweet.  how could I pass up an excuse to bake?  and Megan knows me so well.  she decided we should use a botanical chart for our art inspiration!  how perfect, right?

Johann Christian Berndt, Plate 21, 1809-1812,
Colour plate of pear varieties from Johann Ludwig Christ’s book, Vollständige pomologie, Royal Horticultural Society

so after mulling over in my mind what I wanted to bake, I decided to alter a recipe I had for sticky buns into a delicious blend of pears and almonds, so sweet and tasty, you’ll camp out next to the oven waiting for them to be ready.  you can see Megan’s savory pear recipe – Pear, Goat Cheese & Prosciutto Pizza with a Lemon Rosemary Pizza Crust – here!

enjoy!

Pear Almond Sticky Buns
adapted from a recipe out of Baking with Agave Nectar

:: for filling ::
1/4 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup agave nectar
1/4 cup apricot jam
3 tablespoons whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup almonds, chopped finely
3/4 cup dried apricots, chopped
1 pear, diced small

in a large bowl, using an electric mixer, cream the butter with the agave nectar and jam until smooth, about 2 minutes.  add the flour and mix well.  stir in the almonds and apricots.  refrigerate to firm the mixture for a minimum of 2 hours.  reserve pear until ready to use filling.

:: for dough ::
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons light agave nectar
1/2 cup rice milk or low-fat milk
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon sea salt
3 1/2 cups white flour

place the yeast, warm water, and 2 tablespoons of the agave nectar in a food processor.  pulse a few times to dissolve the yeast.  let this mixture sit about 10 minutes, or until foamy.  add milk, the remaining 1/4 cup
agave nectar, the melted butter, and salt.  pulse several times to mix.  add the flour a little at a time, pulsing to blend until a soft dough forms.  transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface.  gently knead by hand for approximately 1 minute, or until smooth and elastic.  place the kneaded dough into a lightly oiled bowl.  let rest for 20 minutes.  punch down the dough and turn in the bowl to coat with oil.  cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in a draft-free area to rise.  let the dough rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

:: for glaze ::
2 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
2 1/2 tablespoons fresh pear juice {or apple juice, we just happen to have a juicer}
1/2 cup nonfat dry milk
1/2 cup light agave nectar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

place all the glaze ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth, about 1 minute.  refrigerate until ready to use.  the mixture will thicken slightly when chilled.

:: for sticky buns ::
to prepare the sticky buns, line 2 rectangular jelly roll pans with parchment paper and lightly spray with canola oil spray.  gently punch the dough down.  roll out on a lightly floured work surface to form an 18- by 20-inch rectangle.  (the dough will be sticky to work with.)

mix the diced pear into the filling mixture and spread over the dough, leaving a I-inch border on all sides.  beginning from a long side, carefully roll the dough up to form a long log.  slice the log into 18 equal pieces.  place the slices onto the prepared pans with the edges of the rolls lightly touching together.  fill 1 pan entirely before starting the next, so most rolls will fit snuggly together. Brush the tops with the melted butter.  cover with a damp kitchen cloth and place in a warm, draft-free area. allow the rolls to rise for 40 to 45 minutes, until doubled in size.  preheat the oven to 375 F.  when the rolls are fully risen, bake for 25 minutes, or until lightly golden.  let the rolls cool on the pans for 10 to 15 minutes before drizzling with the glaze.  pull apart gently to serve.  best served warm.  store the leftover rolls in the refrigerator and reheat in a 350 F oven for 10 minutes before serving.

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if you’re interested in hearing about the custom blog options we offer, shoot us an email!  we’re working on re-developing our site for Seventy & Sunny but for now you can visit our site here.

I thought I’d share with you some recent work I’ve done for Postal Press.  aside from printing my little heart out with orders for custom initial cards, I printed up these baby announcements over the holidays for a dear friend of mine who had her sweet little boy in mid-December.  she fell in love with my specimen calendar and since bugs are a bit of a little boy thing, I thought of the idea for a little parade of bugs.

lots of new things in store for Postal Press this year, including *finally* that Imagination poster, new initial cards, and many other things.  thanks so much for your continued support!

also, I’ve updated the Seventy & Sunny blog with some recent blog header and postcard designs as well!

new work posted at the Seventy & Sunny blog.  if you haven’t heard of us, we specialize in blog makeovers, blogger to wordpress transfers and blog header design as well as custom illustration for you blog or shop.  we’re working on a new site, but come check us out on the blog!

first up we had Sarah, previously Serendipity, who just launched her brand new event planning company called Lilac & Ivy.  I worked with Sarah to come up with a concept for her site as well as her logo and branding.  then I turned it over to dlb, who built the site and her new blog.  Sarah has always been one of my favorite clients, who I’ve done a lot of work for and I was so happy to be a part of her new venture.  if you need an event planner in NC, do call Sarah.  she’s a delight.  visit her site here and sign up for blog updates here.

we also worked with Erin from Elements of Style to give her a new look for her blog.  Erin wanted to keep her previous header, but wanted a fresh layout and background image so dlb spruced up her blog and layout.

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if you’re looking to update your blog with a new header, new layout or want to hear about transferring that blog of yours to wordpress {the best!!}, feel free to send us a note.

I realized that it had been awhile since I posted any of my recent work to the Seventy and Sunny blog.  take a peek over there for some of my recent favorite blog header designs.

{you know I looooooved this one with my obsession with laboratory glassware and all…  a blog header for a scientist!!  sweet!}

my friend Lynn of Satsuma Press is guest posting today over on Style Me Pretty.  for one of her posts, she wrote about the process of making paper cranes for her own wedding.  Lynn asked me to create a little illustrated tutorial on how to fold a paper crane to include with the post.  I think it turned out pretty cute!

on another note, Lynn is also hosting a little giveaway over on Style Me Pretty for a fantastic prize of 50 two-color invitations (with printed envelopes) and 50 one-color reply cards (with printed envelopes) from the Satsuma Press Wedding Line. ooo la la lovely! head over to Style Me Pretty to find out how you can win.

this contest has my name written ALL over it.  join in the fun right here.

{from martha stewart crafts dept.}