This recipe post is coming to you from a very sleepy but determined grad student…lately, my life has consisted of 12-hour long days working on final project stuff at school. I’ve still got a long way to go until it’s all over! Anyway, I’m sorry for my absence of content this month–I’ve missed blogging so much.

I want to let you guys know I just published my first Buzzfeed Community post–a curated list of visually stunning crowd-pleasers for your upcoming potlucks this weekend! I urge you to check it out and show the world that vegan food is wonderful and delicious. 🙂

To me, chai spices represent the quintessential flavors of autumn. These tarts feature fragrant pear slices baked with warm chai spices, in a flaky golden crust. A drizzle of maple sweetness and toasty crushed pumpkin seeds complete the experience. I’ve had this flavor combo in mind for a while and I’m so glad I finally have a moment to share it with you.

Last weekend, my friend and former co-worker Richard came over to catch up and we basically had a creative workshop! Richard actually taught me a lot of basics when I first started getting into DSLR photography. Hanging out with other creatives makes me so happy, especially when we can encourage and learn from each other.

Richard’s a multimedia specialist (check out his work here) and I love all kinds of visual media, so we plan to have more collabs in the future–stay tuned! We spent our day geeking out about photography, sharing our creative aspirations, and playing with food. We made a cozy winter soup (recipe coming soon) and these adorable pastries.