Recipe: Chickpea Pumpkin Loaf

Sunday, July 26, 2026

This chickpea pumpkin loaf is pretty good. Satisfies the sweet tooth without making you want to eat half of it in one sitting! Chocolate and pumpkin pie spice is hard to beat...

INGREDIENTS

• ~1 c chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 c smooth almond butter
• 1/3 c pumpkin purée
• 1/3 c maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 c almond flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• Pinch of salt
• 1/3 c chocolate chips + more for sprinkling

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 F and line a loaf pan with parchment paper.
2. Blend the chickpeas until completely smooth.
3. Add the almond butter, pumpkin purée, maple syrup and vanilla and blend until smooth.
4. Add the almond flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice and salt and mix until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.
5. Spread into your prepared pan and sprinkle with extra chocolate chips.
6. Bake at 350°F for 40-45 minutes, or until edges are set and the center is still slightly soft.
7. Let them cool completely before slicing.

Watercolor: Glazing

Wednesday, July 22, 2026

While many folks do not care for watercolor because it shows everything...that can be used to some nice effects.

These are just some initial practice, playing around with the technique. Learning, always learning.

Painting: More Acrylic Ink!

Sunday, July 19, 2026

Highly productive!

Sort of have to be, as the dried out leaves/ferns are waaaay more difficult to work with. They become too delicate to pull cleanly off dried pieces.

At least I have my paint assistant to lend a paw.

Painting: Botanical Acrylic Ink Diptychs

Friday, July 17, 2026

Scale is a finicky thing with these acrylic ink pieces. Too large, and they look like wallpaper!

So I started splitting my 11x15s in half with tape. Really like the effect of these split diptychs.

Painting: Acrylic Ink without the Botanicals

Wednesday, July 15, 2026

With all this botanical printmaking, I did experiment a bit with not using leaves and ferns, to some interesting effects.

And then there's when you use botanicals...but the final pieces don't really look like you did!

Still pretty though!

Painting: Large Acrylic Ink Botanical Prints

Sunday, July 12, 2026

Lots and lots of experiments with different foliage...dripping ink on top, pressing into ink, water levels, etc. etc.

Some come out great, others come out murky and looking like wallpaper!