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LA Times- Artisanal LA

Even the LA Times thinks we are hot! Check it out! http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/dailydish/2010/10/4-food-events-you-should-know-about-sabor-da-bahia-at-angelli-caffe-history-of-wine-making-in-san-ga.html

Weekend marketplace: Artisanal LA kicks off on the weekend of Oct. 23. On both Saturday and Sunday the event will host producers of sustainable and handmade edibles in the penthouse of downtown's historic Cooper Building. Expect a local craft beer and spirits tasting; arts and crafts workshops; speakers and chef demos; giveaways and door prizes; DJ Bryan Davidson; and shopping from more than 75 local craft vendors such as I Heart Pies and All Jarred Up. $10 in advance online (tickets are available through Eventbrite) and $15 day of event at the door (cash only), capacity allowing. Part of the proceeds benefit LAUSD Edible School Gardens. 860 S. Los Angeles St., 11th-floor penthouse, Los Angeles, www.artisanalla.com.

-- Betty Hallock

LA Weekly- Artisanal LA article

Next weekend, I Heart Pies will be a vendor at Artisanal LA!! We are SUPER excited! It's already getting press from LA Weekly!! We are singled out in this article!! And even have the honor to be tagged!! :D

Check it out: http://blogs.laweekly.com/squidink/eat-and-drink-calendar/artisanal-la-fall-show-downtow/

Artisanal LA Debuts: 40 Local Vendors and Counting
By Christie Bishop, Fri., Oct. 15 2010 @ 2:45PM

​While there's certainly a place for big-time food corporations in the world -- if not, McDonald's wouldn't have sold its gazillionth hamburger -- we can't help but root for the little guys. The producers of small batch, homemade jams and jellies. The curators of salami and sausage whose garage first served as an aging room. And the chocolatiers who temper and hand-dip their chocolates, one at a time, without assembly lines ala I Love Lucy.

So it should come as no surprise that we've marked our calendar for October 23th and 24th, when Artisanal LA will gather the makers of many of L.A.'s finest local, sustainable and handmade goodies together in downtown's historic Cooper Building.

Come hungry because you're in for a ton of cookies, cupcakes, chocolates, olive oils, vinegars, meats and produce from more than 40 local vendors, including Compartes Chocolates, Cake Monkey Bakery, I Heart Pies, Silverlake Farms, Lindy & Grundy's, Lemon Bird Handmade Jams and Chicks With Knives' Perishable Pickle Shop.

Between bites, get schooled on how to use local and seasonal produce, the basics of beekeeping, the difference between sustainable and organic (and what's more important), and even starting your own local food business during Artisanal LA's many panels, cooking demonstrations and workshops.

If you can't find a babysitter, not to worry; kids are not only welcome, they'll be entertained in pumpkin crafts classes that, lucky for Mom and Dad, run all day. Admission is $10 in advance online (tickets are available through Eventbrite) and $15 day of event at the door (cash only). Event organizers are expecting about 5,000 visitors per day, so pre-buying your tickets online is probably a good idea. Full events details at ArtisanalLA.com.

Tags:

Artisanal LA, Cake Monkey Bakery, Chicks with Knifes, Christie Bishop, Compartes Chocolates, I Heart Pies, Lemon Bird Handmade Jams, Lindy & Grundy's, McDonald's, Silverlake Farms

LA Fashion Week Shopping Party Event

Last night we had the honor to be apart of the LA Fashion Week Shopping Party Event hosted by Refinery 29, LA Vintage Exchange and Rossmore.

Huffington Post had a blurb about the event - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/15/refinery-29s-la-fashion-w_n_764243.html#s157927

Bachelorette Party!

A little something to devour for an amazing bunch of ladies!

A yummy trifle (description from the bottom - up):

Chocolate Cake
Vanilla Buttercream
Fresh Strawberries
Vanilla Cake
Peanut Butter Mousse
Dark Chocolate Chunks!

Mango, Strawberry & Blueberry Tart

Welcome Spring!

All fruit came from the farmers market -
Two types of Mangos, Strawberries, and Blueberries.

Vanilla Pastry Cream, Fruit & Tart Shell

It's A Boy!

Worked on a Bee Themed Baby Shower!

I created fondant bumble bees for the cake and favor boxes

Made a Bee Hive Cake out of Chocolate Cake & Chocolate Mousse.
Decorated with fondant Bumble Bees

The favor boxes included Honey Marshmallows, Chocolate Chip Cookies w/ Sea Salt, a Chocolate Cupcake w/ Vanilla Buttercream and a fondant Bumble Bee.

The favors were held in our natural brown recycled boxes, tied with a beautiful blue ribbon

Happy 50th Birthday Jean!!

50 Beautiful Years deserves not one .... but two cakes!
You go girl!

Vanilla Cake with Fresh Strawberry Mousse
&
Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Mousse

Almond Joy Pie

"We only see the guy eating Almond Joy's!"

This pie was created for a man who only eats Almond Joy candy bars around his co-workers. And come to find out, he actually takes out the almonds and doesn't eat them!!
You should try a Mounds, dude? They don't have almonds!

OR a Bounty Bar! My favorite candy bar from Europe!


But anyways....
I created an Almond Joy Pie for the guy :)

A Chocolate Graham Cracker Crust with a Coconut Cream Custard and Whipped Cream, topped with Toasted Coconut & Almond

Popcorn Mafia Live Podcast with Diablo Cody!

I Heart Pies catered desserts for Popcorn Mafia's 100th live podcast event
at the New Beverly Cinema!

We provided:

Peanut Butter S'more Pies
Strawberry Almond Pies
Chocolate Chip Cookies w/ Sea Salt

Peanut Butter S'more Pie
Graham Cracker bottom, Chocolate Ganache, Peanut Butter Mousse, topped with a toasted handmade marshmallow

Strawberry Almond Crumb Pie
Fresh Strawberries from Oxnard, CA

And the classic... Chocolate Chips w/ Sea Salt

Haupia Pie!

Haupia Pie, a traditional Hawaiian dessert, was brought to my attention last year by a dear friend returning from Hawaii. It's one of her favorites, so for her birthday this year... she got it!

A graham cracker crust, filled with a layer of coconut custard and a layer of chocolate coconut custard- topped with whipped cream and toasted coconut!

And to quote her directly, "(it was) Orgasmic!!!"

Chocolate & Stout

What happens when you combine gooey Chocolate Chip Cookies with Sea Salt & Homemade Irish Stout? Watch and learn.....

= OMG!! Amazing!!

Special thanks to Randy for experimenting! :D

Bungee Jumping Cupcakes!

Made some kick-ass vanilla cupcakes with chocolate buttercream for our friend's surprise birthday party!

The surprise was a 5 mile hike to the Bridge to Nowhere in Azusa, CA, bungee jump off the bridge, then hike back 5 miles.

By the end of the day we needed some sugar and these seemed to work out perfectly! :)

Super Birthday Cake

4 layers. 2 tiers. All chocolate.


One very special friend received this cake for her birthday.

Chocolate cake covered (inside and out) with chocolate mousse.

I Heart, You Heart, We All Heart I Heart Pies

When I phone Emily Kitlas of I Heart Pies at our pre-ordained interview hour, she’s in the middle of what she dubs “a very chocolatey day,” having just put the finishing touches on two orders; a chocolate cake with chocolate mousse and a chocolate flourless cake with chocolate glaze. It’s all in a day’s work for Kitlas and her burgeoning made-to-order pie, cake, tart and bar business which launched just before Thanksgiving three years ago after the sweet treat champion graduating from Le Cordon Bleu.

“Pies are the top,” Kitlas proclaims of her culinary obsession. “Pie and tarts are really what I love to eat myself. You can eat a piece of pie and just be happy. I love that.” Over the years, Kitlas has mastered a multitude of baked delights, from decedent Red Velvet Cake to the most addictive Meyer Lemon Bars imaginable, but asked if she has any personal favorites, she coos, “Apple crumb. Or pecan pie. Oh! A strawberry fig we do. I love it! That’s my favorite.”

But I can’t help but ask what she thinks of Hostess pies.

“What are Hostess Pies?” she asks, genuinely unsure, before laughing at my description of something that comes out of waxy paper from a 7-11. “No, no, no, no, no,” she cries. “I’ve never even had a McDonald’s apple pie! My mom made everything from scratch. I would come home every day and there would be a chocolate chip cookie batch or brownies, and she made it. I was a chubby little kid and I’m proud of it because she taught me so much [about] really good desserts.”

Specially for Easter, I-Heart-Pies has rolled out a dessert that will surely make a mama proud. It’s a Peeps Pie. That’s right, from those florescent chicks that stare you down from the aisles of Rite-Aid, Kitlas has devised a cloud like confection that could make the Easter Bunny green with envy.

She begins by melting Peeps in a double boiler, then folds the rendered golden marshmallow goodness in with whipped cream and bits of chocolate and pours it over graham cracker crust. “You’d think it’d be really rich but it’s fluffy and light,” Kitlas says. The one downside of the pie? Watching the Peeps meet their demise.

“It’s sad. You see the Peep eyes melting. I’m like, ‘I’m sorry I just killed you.’”

Fear not, those Peeps are in a much better place.

I Heart Pies is available through email special order only: orders@iheartpies.com

Large Pie: $20, Four Mini Pies: $10

You can also friend I Heart Pies on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/iHeartPies/178430909521

Or follow them on Twitter: http://twitter.com/i_heart_pies

Via http://myhollywoodbites.blogspot.com/2010/04/i-heart-you-heart-we-all-heart-i-heart.html

Easter Peeps Meets Demise!!

We got featured on the NBC LA food blog, Feast! Check it out:

Emily Kitlas of I Heart Pies launched her burgeoning made-to-order pie, cake, tart and bar business just before Thanksgiving three years ago after the sweet treat champion graduating from Le Cordon Bleu.

“Pies are the top,” Kitlas proclaims of her culinary obsession. “Pie and tarts are really what I love to eat myself. You can eat a piece of pie and just be happy. I love that.” Over the years, Kitlas has mastered a multitude of baked delights, from decedent Red Velvet Cake to the most addictive Meyer Lemon Bars imaginable, but asked if she has any personal favorites, she coos, “Apple crumb. Or pecan pie. Oh! A strawberry fig we do. I love it! That’s my favorite.”

Specially for Easter,I-Heart-Pies has rolled out a dessert that will surely make a mama proud. It’s a Peeps Pie. That’s right, from those florescent chicks that stare you down from the aisles of Rite-Aid, Kitlas has devised a cloud like confection that could make the Easter Bunny green with envy.

She begins by melting Peeps in a double boiler, then folds the rendered golden marshmallow goodness in with whipped cream and bits of chocolate and pours it over graham cracker crust. “You’d think it’d be really rich but it’s fluffy and light,” Kitlas says. The one downside of the pie? Watching the Peeps meet their demise.

I Heart Pies is available through email special order only: orders@iheartpies.com Large Pie: $20, Four Mini Pies: $10

via NBC LA FEAST

JADE

Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting!
Happy 1st Birthday Jade!

You're GR-R-REAT!

Made a fun Birthday cake for a client!
Brings me back to my childhood... Best. Cereal. EVER!

Tony the Tiger gets poked into the cake when assembling candles ;)

Nothing's better than Chocolate Chips!

I received an order for Chocolate Chips ... so I had to make a FULL batch :)

Topped them with Pink Himalayan Salt ... DELICIOUS!!

I made them in three sizes.
Tiny (1/2 ounce), Medium (1 ounce) and Large (3 ounces)!

The large ones are nice and chewy on the inside and crispy on the out!

Strawberry Mousse

I was commissioned to make this Strawberry Mousse Birthday Cake for a Post Production Company!

A moist vanilla cake filled with strawberry mousse and covered with both vanilla buttercream and more strawberry mousse! Divine!

Only in California can you find fresh strawberries in the farmers market in JANUARY!

Charles Phoenix's Cherpumple & The Cherpumple Trifle

A couple nights before Christmas, Nick showed me this awesome video created by Charles Phoenix called The Cherpumple (WATCH IT!!)

We were instantly motivated and came up with our own adaption!
We created the Cherpumple Trifle!!

Layers of Spiced cake, Whipped cream, Pumpkin pie filling, Cranberry pie filling, and Chocolate mousse!!

This is me serving the Cherpumple Trifle!


***After Christmas I posted our triumph onto Charles Phoenix's website. They not only created a page for our submission, but Charles Phoenix himself responded to it!!

"What can I say????….I think this is BRILLIANT and truly inspired!" - Charles Phoenix

I Heart Pies Thanksgiving and Christmas 2009 Sales

I Heart Pies was VERY successful with our 2009 Holiday sales! Thanks to all that ordered!

Thanksgiving Menu:
Apple Crumb Pie
Pumpkin Pie
Pecan Pie


Apple Crumbs cooling....

For our Christmas Sale we started offering 9" pies AND debuted our 3" mini pies!!
We also added 2 new pies to the menu!
Chocolate Mousse Pie AND Cranberry Meringue Pie!

Cranberry Meringue is said to taste like "... a cherry pie and a key lime pie made a delicious baby!" - Nicholas C.

Mini Cranberry Meringue pies without the meringue....

Kettle Korn!

I heart Kettle Korn!

Such an adventure trying to get behind this guy for a picture!

Love it!

KCRW's 1st Annual Good Food Pie Contest

November 14, 2009

I entered into my first ever pie contest. It was KCRW Good Food's first pie contest too.
They definitely need to improve on a lot of aspects for next year's contest (in my humble opinion). But it was a learning experience for all.


I entered into all four categories:

1. Fruit/ Nut Pie
2. Cream/ Custard/ Chiffon/ Mousse Pie
3. Savory Pie
4. Interpretive Pie

There was a HUGE turn out. Look at all those PIES!

Evan Kleiman, host of KCRW "Good Food" radio show, hosted the contest.

Here is Eric Greenspan - Chef & Owner of The Foundry on Melrose tasting one of my pies.
All the ribbons.....

Although none of my pies won a ribbon, my Chocolate Mousse Pie came in as a Semi-Finalist! Yay!

Here is Nick's beautiful pie he created. It's a Purple Potato and Red Onion Pie with Homemade Ricotta Cheese!

Here's the classic - Apple Crumb Pie

And for the interpretive, I created a Boston Cream PIE.
There are two layers of Pastry Cream with a slice of vanilla cake between and Chocolate Glaze covering the top! And of course its encased in a pie crust! Intense!

Heidi and Jeff's Wedding Celebration

140 Cupcakes + One 6 inch Cake = Totally Vegan!

My amazing sister, Heidi and my new Brother-In-Law, Jeff tied the knot on October 10, 2009!!
Their ceremony & celebration overlooked their new hometown of Beacon, New York. It was a cool, crisp and a little windy, but absolutely beautiful day!

Overlooking the Hudson River... just beautiful!
Chocolate Vegan Cupcakes with Vanilla Icing, topped with fresh Raspberries and Blackberries!
That's me standing next to my masterpiece!
(My 91 year old Grandmother is standing to the left!)
Heidi and Jeff cutting into their cake!