Summer Fun!

Whee! We have some friends in from out of town and we've been having fun!! These kinds of things are what really make summer great!

We went strawberry picking and last night we had Strawberry Rhubarb Pie and we used this recipe, substituting 1 C sugar for 1 C honey. We also skipped the arrowroot and just used 1/4 C flour and 1 T cornstarch. And we used this recipe for the crust! Thanks Kittee! It turned out soooo super nice, although we used regular wheat flour instead of pastry so it was hard to handle without cracking... BUT it did not get soggy (even when we forgot to prebake it) and it was so tasty and good! Oh, and we doubled it to make a lattice top- so pretty! My friend did such a great job with it, I'm afraid she got stuck with the tricky dough while I made Tofu Paprikash. She also whipped up a great warm vinagrette type dressing with some spring onions from her garden for the spinach and it was so yummy! Did I luck out or what?

Pie crust;
1 C flour
1 C ww pastry flour
2/3 C vegetable shortening
1 t salt
up to 1/2 C water

Filling;
4 C rhubarb cut into 3/4" pieces
1 C sugar
2 C strawberries
1/4 C flour
1 T cornstarch
1/2 t cinnamon

Make dough, cutting shortening into flour, then adding water SLOWLY until dough sticks together and handles well. Roll out half of the dough and fit into pie dish. Cut 2nd half into strips.
Meanwhile, mix all filling ingredients together.
Pour into pie crust, cover with lattice, weaving strips over and under each other and bake at 350 degrees for one hour.
Mmmm.





























My friend also brought some hummus she'd made from some garbanzo beans she ordered- she had had them at an Indian restaurant when they lived in Japan and the translation from Japanese is 'black garbanzo'. It makes a really good hummus! You can see the color is kind of caramel-y and the texture is more texture-y.

Hope you're enjoying the summer too! It's finally here!

Dunno.

Hey guess what? I read a book this weekend, and my, it was dark.
I read "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy. Yes, another post-apocalyptic novel. This time, no speculation/allusions are made as to why it happened, or what really caused it.
It was good.
I actually read Cormac McCarthy in college, maybe sophomore year, out loud on a long trip across America.
At first his writing style grated on me- it's very sparse etc. etc. And I always catch myself asking "Why does everybody love this guy?" BUT there is a SPOILER happy ending so I guess that I can forgive all. Plus he ends it so well. Lots of hope. Kind of a perspective shift.
He really is excellent at communicating a lot with just a few words. There are many times in the story where he just alludes to one thing and it gives off this whiff of a whole world of things.
I think it hit home because I have kids now and some of the story is sort of how a parent's baggage can impact how you raise your child. Also, zombies. No, wait, no zombies, just Eaters, no wait, he doesn't call them that...























These pictures are of mock orange blossoms. Apparently they smell very good, I couldn't tell you because I have horrible allergies. Ah well. I thought they were pretty. No, that's not my table, we were at Grandma and Grandpa's this weekend.

More knitting but then all of a sudden I realized that I knit a wedge backwards and had to rip back- arrrrrrrgh!

I totally made it!

I totally made the Lentil Salad from Veganomicon! I used all four of the radishes (wow- were they ever sweet and good!) and left out the carrots and tomatoes (didn't have any). Actually, I didn't have balsamic so I subbed apple cider vinegar, didn't have red onion so subbed yellow. I also added a wee bit of sugar. Oh yeah, and I used brown lentils instead of French. And it turned out well, a nice change of pace. A great start to summer!

Lentil Salad (as made by me)

4 C water
heaping T veg broth powder
1/2 t thyme
3-4 leaves Indian bay
1/2 t tarragon
1/4 t salt
1 C lentils, uncooked
1/4 onion, finely chopped
4 small radishes, grated

Bring broth, thyme, bay leaves, tarragon and salt to a boil in large pot. Add lentils and bring to a low boil, cover, leaving a gap, and cook 20m.
Make dressing meanwhile.
Drain lentils in mesh colander and pick out bay leaves.
Toss with dressing in a large bowl and chill until ready to serve.
Serve over lettuce.

dressing
2 T olive oil
1 T cider vinegar
1/4 t sugar
1 T dijon mustard
1 t bottled lemon juice
1 T water
1 clove garlic

pulse in blender until garlic is gone.

Stay cool!

CSA!

Woo! We got our CSA veggies in!!! It's all so gorgeous!
top to bottom, left to right;
broccoli, tatsoi
bok choi, spinach
radishes, lettuce!

I am particularly psyched about the spinach!! It looks so good.
I googled tatsoi, and I guess mostly you eat it raw, but you can saute it, too!
We will be gone this weekend, so we're taking it on the road... sharing the bounty, as it were.
Most of this we'll just eat raw, I'm thinking. Seems like the right thing to do. Maybe a light saute/stir fry of the bok choi. We had some of the lettuce for supper last night and it was so good!!

Hope your weekend it great!

Simple is Better

Well last night I made red lentil soup, which is always an exercise in restraint, because sometimes simple is better!

Red Lentil Soup

3 C red lentils
8 C water
1/4 C olive oil
1-2 onions, roughly chopped
3-4 cloves garlic*, sliced
1 t cumin
1 t coriander
1 t salt
1/2 t lemon

In a large, heavy bottomed pot, saute the garlic and onions until the onions are browning and carmelized.
Meanwhile, rinse lentils until water runs clear.
Add spices and salt to onions, mix well, add lentils, mix well, add water, stir, bring up heat to a boil, lower heat and simmer until lentils are soft.
Remove in batches to blender, adding water if necessary to get a consistency you like.
Stir in lemon juice and serve with bread.

*depends on the strength of the garlic-- some garlic is stronger than others!!

No reading, no knitting. Lots of tea parties and birthdays were celebrated yesterday (yes, I live with a 3 year old).

I leave you with this.

Great Caper Bake

This, I thought, was reaally good!! It's Isa's Cesar Salad Dressing from Veganomicon, baked.

I have these capers I bought a long time ago for some reason I can't quite remember (pizza was involved somehow?) and so I've been wanting to use them in something. Well, I looked and looked and found cesar salad dressing recipes. But I didn't have any tofu. So I made this and it was great!!

This is Isa's recipe halved without the tofu. Am I weird that I just took dressing and made it a sauce? And I find it humorous that I look for a recipe to 'use up my capers' but it really only uses 1 t of capers. Next time I'll double it and make a 9 x 13" casserole, plus it was so good, I'm glad I've got lots of capers now!

Great Caper Bake

2T whole, slivered or sliced almonds or 1 T almond butter
2 cloves garlic
2 T olive oil
1 t capers
1 T caper brine
1/2 t sugar
1/2 t prepared dijon
1/4 t pepper
1/2 t salt
1/2 C water

1/2 pkg. Morningstar Farms chick'n strips
1/2 16 oz box or 3 C uncooked pasta

Blend sauce ingredients. Place chick'n strips in a large bowl and pour sauce over to marinate while you prepare the pasta.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Boil water and then pasta.
Drain pasta and add to sauce and chick'n, mixing well.
Pour into oiled 9 x 9" casserole.
Bake, covered, at 350 degrees for 30-35m (sauce should be thick on the bottom or mostly absorbed).
Enjoy! (8 points per fourth).

SOON! Soon! we will have our CSA delivery!!!! I cannot wait! Veggies, ho!

Minimal knitting. A few 'wedges'. No reading, sorry folks.

I was recently introduced to the work of Swedish artist, Carl Larsson, and I particularly liked this picture- it looks like someone has just left their knitting.

Eating Rajmah

Last night we had... yes, I know I need a new opening line!
Hmm, how about, 'After a rousing bout of Uno...' (we did not play Uno) we ate Rajmah. Kinda sounds like we ate some poor hapless guy, don't it? But no cannibals are we. Rajmah is an Indian dish made with kidney beans. Susan already did it. But I found a recipe that uses canned kidney beans, of which I had many. I doubled everything except the spices, didn't add salt because the canned kidney beans had salt and I added 1 T sugar because it was pretty tangy, I don't know why. It was pretty good and after eating it for a while, I really liked it (?it had to grow on me?).

Rajmah

2 cans kidney beans, drained
1 can tomatoes, drained
2 T oil
1 onion, chopped fine
1 clove garlic, minced
1 t Trader Joe's ginger jarred (was this the tangy culprit?!)
2 t coriander
2 t cumin
1 t tumeric
1/2 t chili powder
1/2 t garam masala
bay leaf
pinch cardamom
pinch cloves
pinch cinnamon
1/4 t pepper
1 C water

Saute onion and garlic, add ginger and spices. Add tomato and beans, cover with water and simmer until thick.

I called one of my favorite yarn shops yesterday to see if they had more of the yarn I'm using and they did, so I asked them to hold it for a week. I wasn't sure if I'd have enough to make this short rows scarf I'm working on. So I told myself that if I knit like the wind for one week, then I'll use up the skein I have and know whether or not to get the second.

Well, I then proceeded to rewind it into a smaller centrepullball than the centrepullball I'd already wound, checking to see if the repeats of color made enough for another length of scarf, which they did. Hey, why are you backing away like that and shaking your head? Hey, where are you going? Come on, now, don't you wind into a centrepullball skeins of yarn that are already made to pull from the center? What? No?

Anyway, it turns out that I have enough yarn for a whole 'nother repeat plus a little more. So I should have enough. But I'll still try to knit like the wind this week and see where I end up. So no reading, probably.

Everytime I make rice lately I end up pondering something while I stir and stir the rice with my fingers under the faucet in the wire strainer- I read somewhere that if you rinse the rice, you rinse off all the vitamins and stuff they spray onto the rice, but if I don't rinse my rice, it makes a terrible mess in my rice cooker*. This conundrum is completely representative of so many things in my life I can't even tell you. Next time I think of one I'll tell you and call it 'the white rice conundrum'.

*Not to mention the fact that I SHOULD be using brown rice anyway!! And the fact that I'm wasting water as I wash the rice under running water!! Agh!

More, more, more!

Well, this weekend I made lentil walnut dip and pancakes (amongst other things*).

First the pancakes. I used my standard go to recipe for the pancakes from vegweb- Easy Pancakes. Except, this time I really broke with tradition and *gasp* didn't wait the recommended 5-10 minutes between mixings, hey! I didn't even mix it twice, really, just folded the chips in after blending everything in the blender.

Seriously, it takes 2m or so on one side to cook, then 1m or so on the other, twelve pancakes, do the math, starving kid and husband... not gonna happen.

And guess what? The world did not collapse around me! Ha ha, no, really they turned out fine. The first few pancakes are always kind of strange anyway, right? Right?!?

Easy (Blender or not) Pancakes

2 1/2 C AP flour
2 T sugar
2 T baking powder
1 t salt
1/2 t cinnamon
2 1/2 C soymilk
1 T veg oil
1/4 C chocolate chips

Dry, then wet. Or just dump everything (not the chips!!!) in the blender and mix, stopping to scrape sides.
Do not overmix or they will be rubbery.
Fold in chips.
Cook on med high (I start at 6, then 4 then 3 as the skillet get hotter).

One time I reserved 1/4 C of the batter and added 1/4 C applesauce and 2 t cinnamon and then used it to pour swirl patterns into the freshly poured pancake. Fancy.

Lentil Walnut Dip

















The dip was gooood! I had this veggie soup I'd frozen that I thawed out and then added some teeny tiny stars pasta to it that I had gotten at the Mexican grocery. But it was a pretty light soup, so the dip and crackers made for a really nice lunch.

Then I turned the dip into casserole, but I blogged that yesterday.

This weekend we worked on the garage and I had a chance to organize my stash a little. Still needs work, but I'm one step closer.

No reading. You guys are going to think I'm some sort of book dilettante or something. Must. finish. Distraction.

Must get more yarn! Must get fun new spice to try experiments with! More later!

*we tried these smoked apple sage sausages and were they ever good and juicy!!

I Can Has Drape?

Well, last night we had casserole. Yes, my favorite thing to do with leftover sauce is make casserole, you got a problem with that?
I had made Lentil Walnut Dip, which, by the way, was great, it just made a lot, so...

















Lentil Walnut Broccoli Casserole

11/2 C lentil walnut dip
1 C plain soymilk
2 C rice, uncooked
1 T oil
1 onion, diced
1 t salt
1 package frozen broccoli, thawed and stems removed
1/2 package fake chicken, cut into small pieces

Saute onion, chicken. Cook rice. Mix dip with milk, salt, onions and broccoli. Mix rice in when done. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 30m and 10m uncovered.

This was kind of bland. Hearty, yes. Filling, yes. Wholesome, yes, pretty much. But bland. So next time I'd add !more oil!, more salt?, garlic and some spices. Now, what spices go with lentils and walnut? I imagine things like sage and thyme. But really, this was mostly a way to use up that dip and get a supper out of it- mission accomplished.

I stopped reading Distraction with much excitement when SPOILER the author let slip that the protagonist was going to screw over his love interest.

In the world of short row scarves there is excitement! I finally have knit enough to determine that the scarf will have nice drape!!!! Isn't that cool?!? And the prognosis for "Does she have enough yarn to actually pull this off?" looks good.

See ya!

Business As Usual

Well, this was supposed to have looked a lot different than it did, folks, but I ran out of time! It's Kibbeh and it came from this post. What I ended up serving was the mixture before you let it cool, knead it and mix it and then shape it into ovals. What can I say... I have two small children? Yes, that's it.

Kibbeh

1 C red lentils
2 1/2 C water
1/2 C fine grain bulghur (#2 grade)*
2 T olive oil
1 onion, diced fine
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 t tomato paste (I used 1 T ketchup, I cannot tell a lie)
1 1/2 t paprika (could have used more)
1 t tarragon
1 t salt
pepper to taste
1/2 t lemon juice

*or grind it in a coffee grinder

Ideally you are supposed to cook the lentils in the water until they are mushy (20-30m), meanwhile sauteing the onions and garlic, and then dump the lentils over the bulghur and let that set for half an hour. But I was in a hurry, so I nuked 2 C of water 'til boiling (5 min in my microwave in a 2 C pyrex measuring cup) and dumped that over the bulghur while the lentils cooked. Then I drained the bulghur and dumped it into the pot where I had mixed the onions, garlic, spices and red lentils and cooked it until it was thick.

You can make lots of different kinds of kibbeh- with potato, in a tray, with pumpkin (scroll down, it's in the comments), or even in soup.

I even found this recipe which made me curious about sumac, and got me thinking about those sumac growing up at my parents-in-law! I call ultimate locavore if I grind my own sumac and use it!

Well, that's it for today... no reading yesterday and some knitting. Making some progress again after changing it all up one more time.

Well hello there...

Last night we had Esme's sauce with brown rice and edamame.

Esme's sauce

2 T tahini
2 T miso
2 T soy sauce
2 T olive oil
1/4 C nutritional yeast
1 T prepared mustard (I used dijon 'cause I'm fancy like that)
1 clove garlic, minced fine

Mix together and heat over stove. Add water to get sauce consistency you like!

Distraction continues apace. Suddenly there has been a reversal! Actually, I was thinking about it and it is an interesting question to consider whether things in our world will continue on like they always have amid dire predictions, or if, finally, some of our actions will come home to roost and the world will be very changed for our children. We feel a lot of guilt and possibly premonition about our future and so I guess that's why apocalyptic fantasy is fun/cathartic.

Ahem, I have changed the knitting pattern yet again. I would lower my eyes in shame except that I make no apologies for wanting to try new, fun things. Dudes, it's my hobby! So now I'll be experimenting with a new stitch for a bit to see what that gets me.

Oh yeah, so last night there were no bowls left in the house, and my husband likes to have a bowl of cereal sometimes before bed. So I come into the livingroom and see this measuring cup with a spoon in it with traces of soymilk there in the bottom and I look at him and say "Using a measuring cup for your cereal, huh?" and he says yes and then I say "Desperate times call for desperate measures." and then I realize what I've said is sort of a pun so I go, "Measures, measuring cup, desperate measures! Get it?!? Ha ha!". I hope you have enjoyed this moment in our lives.

Spicy Black Beans and corn tortillas

Last night we had spicy black beans with corn tortillas and refried beans. It was really filling and good! I got tired of looking at that Maseca in my refrigerator and not knowing what to do with it, so I improvised a tortilla recipe using my flatbread/tortilla recipe (left out the brown sugar, only used 1/4 C oil) and it turned out well! I found the spices from a post on vegweb but of course I couldn't find it again for the love of me!

1/2 C TVP (or you could use Boca or even tofu, frozen and crumbled)
1 can black beans
1 can diced tomatoes
1 T chili powder
1 t cumin
1 t garlic powder
1 t onion powder
1 t oregano
1 t salt
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 T oil

Blend/food process together 1/2 of the can of tomatoes and 1/2 of the can of beans.
Saute onion and garlic, add spices and TVP and mix well.
Add to the onion and garlic the other half cans of beans and tomatoes and the blender ingredients.
Cover and bring to a boil, uncover and lower heat and simmer until thick.

Corn tortillas

1 1/2 C AP flour
1 1/2 C MaSeCa
1/4 C oil
1 t salt

Mix together, then slowly add water until it makes a ball; I used roughly 1 1/2 C water, your mileage may vary.
Make into a ball, flatten out a little and cut into eighths. Roll out thin and cook on a hot skillet until bubbling up and then flip and cook other side until brown spots appear.

Finished the exit wounds book- double meh. She ends the story with this wide open hanging open type of deal, you never find out what happens with the characters- lazy! No, I mean, it really bothers me. Maybe I'm supposed to all just 'decide on my own' what the rest of the story is, possibly she's trying to empower me or something, to free me from the restraints of the traditional reader/story constraint, but really? please. Lame.

Started Distraction by Bruce Sterling- it's ?I think? supposed to be sort of canonical sci fi, like really early good stuff and so far it's pretty good- different than recent sci fi, but that's to be expected. Mostly it's an exploration of what might happen in America if certain things (the internet, freedom of information) exploded. Pretty masculine. But I like it. I'm kind of waiting for a twist or I guess the climax of the story.

In knitting news, still cranking on the scarf, actually knitting it now instead of just trying to find a satisfactory way to knit it. Am afraid I will run out of yarn. Should have left provisional cast on on so that scarf can suddenly be a cowl.

Cheazy Hamburger and Mac

Well, there it is in all it's glory! I made my standard 'hamburger helper' recipe with the new golden cheaze sauce and it was good!

1 can beans (anything but black)
2 C water (one can full)
1/4 heaping C nutritional yeast
1/4 C pimento/chopped pickled red bell pepper
1/4 C ketchup
1 t onion powder
1 t salt
1/2 t yellow mustard
Blend.
1 onion, chopped
1-2 packets Boca ground beef
1 T oil
Saute.

6-8 oz pasta

Add blended ingredients to sauteed. Add pasta. Bring up heat and simmer until pasta is done and sauce is nice and thick.

Makes approximately 4 C at 26 points total to give you 6 points per cup.

Started a new book, it is a comic type of thing called exit wounds by rutu modan. Kinda dark so far.

And of course I didn't keep the knitting the same. But NOW I think I have the perfect pattern. Enough so that I'm continuing on past the first section, which I swear I have ripped out 20+ times. That pink yarn was looking preeeety fuzzy.

DIY Shrinky Dink Experiential

We just did this and it was so fun!!!!!!
First, get your #6 plastic and cut it into reasonable pieces with no imprints or anything.
Then, get your magic eraser and scrub and scrub them...
















'til they look like this;



















Then color! We used some permanent markers and some colored pencils. The colored pencils gave a much more iced/blurred/frosted look than the marker.


















Haha, oops, yes that is my coffee mug...


















The color will look like hardly anything, but remember, as it shrinks up, the color will concentrate.

Now you can cut and hole punch holes in them. The hole punch sized hole makes a perfect small hole for a jump ring.























Bake at 350 degrees until they stop shrinking- they will contort and curl and look all crazy but do not fear! Eventually they settle down! I used parchment paper and they came out all nice and flat.
Now you can sand them or whatever! Those sharp corners are sharp!




















The second one from the left was the colored pencil one and it's design was less sharp. I colored on both sides and got a cool layered effect from it! I really liked the marker ones... if you cut out quarter sized circles, they make nice stitch markers or zipper pulls!



















Woo! Have fun!

Ribz Redux

Okay, I changed my mind... writing and saying, especially, ribz, with that zzzzzzzzz at the end, is just too fun!

Let's see, what else did I make this weekend? We went to the farm and I made a Baked Lentil casserole, but doubled it and added some other stuff to jazz it up, like onion powder, garlic powder, onion soup mix, grape jelly!, and veggie broth. Much better. Put that over rice and shazzam! it's an easy, good casserole. At least I think so. Next time I make it maybe I'll make it with molasses for the honey, or maple syrup!

I also used the rest of the pumpkin almond sauce mixed with some spaghetti, put it in a casserole, put some bread crumbs on top mixed with sage and paprika, drizzled it with some olive oil and had a nice spaghetti bake. Also easy.

I might give up on the fire book, because it's so boring to read about these characters that I've already met. Their backstory is just not that gripping when you're like "Oh, yeah, I knew that about Juney." or "Oh wow, so that's how Mike and Signe hooked up.". It sort of loses the romance when you already know the outcome. Perhaps I will start yet another book.

I have been knitting, and ripping, and knitting and ripping the short row scarf and think I finally have something I like, but talk to me tomorrow. Not too many stitches, nice shaping, complicated yet mindless in it's own way. Oh, plus I thought up a baby cardigan that might be fun. I know, how is this a knitting blog with no actual things to show, right? Sorry peeps. So far I'm keeping everything under wraps. You'll just have to come here for the food.

aaaand...casserole!

So last night I did what I said I'd do with the rest of Lachesis' Alfredo Sauce and made a casserole. I was so pleased when it turned out!! It was a rainy, stormy night and a casserole pulled out of the oven seemed just right.

Green Bean Casserole

sauce;
1/2 C Earth Balance
2 C soymilk
1 pkg extra firm silken tofu
2 T white cooking wine
2 T onion powder
1 T garlic powder
2 t salt
1 t pepper
pinch nutmeg
2 T cornstarch

Mushrooms, 5-6, diced
1 can green beans
1/2 onion, diced
1 T oil
2 C minute rice
1 pkt Boca ground beef
1 1/2 C water

Blend all ingredients in blender except cornstarch. Make a slurry of the cornstarch with a little water. Pour blended ingredients into medium size pot on stove. Heat. Add cornstarch and bring up heat, stirring constantly until thick and just bubbly.

Use 2 C of the sauce and reserve the rest for yummy, yummy pasta.

Mix 2 C sauce and sauteed onions, Boca and mushrooms, a can of green beans, and 2 C minute rice. Add 1 1/2 C water and mix well. Pour into oiled 9 x 13" pan and bake at 350 for 30 minutes covered, then 20 minutes uncovered or until browned.


Tried again to work the short rows scarf with larger needles using garter ridge, just could not make it work. Even though garter uses more yarn than stockinette, I'm sticking with it. Trying a new way to proportion the stitches over the needle, back to garter. We'll see how this works out.

No reading yesterday.

Hit me with your best shot

Last night I tried Lachesis' Alfredo Stroganoff and it was gooooo-oood!

Alfredo

1/2 C Earth Balance, softened
2 C unsweetened soymilk (I used powdered that we keep around for baking/cooking)
1 pkg extra firm silken tofu
2 T white cooking wine (I used red 'cause that's how I roll, no, that's what I had)
2 T onion powder
1 T garlic powder
2 t salt (cut this down to 1 next time)
1 t pepper (cut this down to 1/2 t next time)
pinch of nutmeg
2 T cornstarch

Blend except cornstarch. Mix cornstarch with approx 1/4 C water. Heat sauce on stove. Add cornstarch mixture and bring heat up, stirring constantly until thick and just starting to bubble.

Serve over pasta.

This made a TON, like 3 1/2 C at 3 points per 1/4 C. It is rich.
I think I'll use the rest as a sauce in a casserole.

Every morning I see this guy on my coffee (yes, I drink instant).
Doesn't he look smug?
Or is he grimacing, because he knows he'll never get $15 mil like this guy...

Tried a new stitch for my short row scarf, hated it, back to my beloved garter.

Blog if you want to...

Last night we had Dan's Saturday Night Special.
It does not matter that the picture above is slightly blurry, because this is not much to look at, really. But it's good and fast. This is a further riff on the Cheaze Sauce I tried.

Dan's Saturday Night Special

1 can white beans (I used cannellini)
1/4 C + 2 T nutritional yeast
1/4 C pimento/cooked sweet red pepper
2 t chicken flavor powder
1 t lemon juice
1 t onion powder
1/2 t prepared yellow mustard
1/2 t salt
2 C water

Blend in blender.

1 onion, chopped
1 T oil
1 can corn
1/2 can diced tomatoes
1 C minute rice
1 pkt Boca ground beef

Saute onion, add corn, onion, rice, ground beef and sauce and mix well.
Bring to a boil, covered. Lower heat and simmer, uncovered, stirring often, until rice is just tender (10m or so). Remove from heat and cover 5m or so. Serve right out of the pot. Mmmm.

Gave up on Jackfish. Started Dies the Fire by Stirling. Whee! Escapist literature (well, literature may be a stretch)! The question is, would YOU survive if suddenly electricity and guns didn't work? Practiced your swordplay lately?

I am thinking about trying this seitan, but it sort of seems intimidating... for more information about developing your gluten, see here... uhhh, gee. I get sort of flummoxed when recipes give me options but don't tell me what the difference might be. It's like, oh crap, if I don't allow the gluten to develop overnight in the refrigerator, then my seitan will be subpar!! Oh noes!! But if I do refrigerate the seitan overnight to develop the gluten, then I need to cook it longer in the crockpot because it's cold, but how long!!! Augh! Then I have to remember to tell myself to chill out. And I found this recipe and maybe I'll sort of mix 'n match or something.

I am now contemplating new stitches for the short rows scarf. No, I could not leave well enough alone, you know that!

Do you grok me?

Where to begin, where to begin?

Weeel, tonight, we had hummus and flatbread. Not much, but good. I personally find the flatbread to be sooooo yummy! I tried something different with the hummus- instead of 2 cans garbanzos, I did 1 can garbanzos, and 1 can cannellini beans (white kidney, you could use any white bean). It was cool.

Elizabeth's Quick Yummy Flatbread

1 1/2 C ww flour
1 1/2 C flour
1 T brown sugar
1/4 C + 2 T oil
1 t salt

Mix all ingredients in mixer, then add 1 C water 1 T at a time until it forms a ball and cleans the sides of the bowl.
Roll out into a snake and divide into 6.
Roll each sixth into a flat circle and cook on skillet until bubbles start to form (1-2m) and then flip and cook 1m.

The night before we had pasta, fake chicken and broccoli with... wait for it... sauce. Tried a new one, it was pretty good.

Pumpkin Almond Sauce

3/4 C pumpkin puree
1/4 C almond butter
1 pkg soft silken tofu
2 T nutritional yeast
1/2 C water
3 t vegetable broth powder
1/2 t salt
pepper to taste

Blend. Heat on stove. Makes approx 2 C at 17 points total.

The pumpkin was left over from some pumpkin muffins I made Friday morning. They were pretty much the same as ones I've made before. I was going to be all different and make a loaf, but then ran out of time so it was muffins again. MMmmmmmmmmmmmuffins.

I also made Camel Pockets this weekend.
















Not much to look at, huh? Well, here's the money shot, as they say...

















Camel Pockets (makes 16)

1/4 C oil
2 onions, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 t salt
1 t pepper
2 t cumin
1 t coriander
2 T parsley
2 T paprika
1 pkg firm tofu, frozen, then thawed
2 cans garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
2 C water

crust;
5 C flour
2 C water
4 T yeast
1 T + 1 t salt
1/2 C oil

For the crust;
Preheat oven to 170 degrees. Mix all ingredients in mixer. Knead 3m in mixer. Place dough in oiled bowl. Place dough in oven, covered with a towel and turn off oven. Let rise 30m. Knead on floured counter until smooth, divide into 16 and roll out into circles.

For filling;
Saute onions, garlic, add spices and crumble in tofu. Add beans and water and simmer until thick.

Preheat oven to 425.

Place 1/16th of filling on half of the circle, wet edge and fold over (like a calzone) and seal. Place on an oiled baking sheet and bake for 15m.

These are my favorite. I thought I found them on vegweb, now I can't find them. Of course halve the recipe if 16 seems extreme.

*When I get home from the store, I stab the tofu package with a knife (just the top!) and stick it in the freezer right away. Then I am committed to making camel pockets. The morning of, I dump it into a sink of hot water and wait until it is thawed. I am sure somehow you could nuke it.

Okay, onto something else.

Reading Jackfish, it. is. so. hip. The guy actually uses the word, 'grok' as in 'to grok something' (to know it, understand it). There are parts where his descriptions are so awesome and it just takes you right there, but I'm not sure I'm going to hang with this one.

My wonderful husband went to the library and got me the other Stirling book, the something something fire one, AND IT'S THE PREQUEL to the one I read!!!!!!!!!!!! Can I tell you how irritating I find that?!?! They should make it mandatory to number books so you could tell which one was first in the series. Aaaaugh! Not like I mind reading it, I'm sure I'll enjoy it, it's just that I made every effort to get the first one and then the next and now it's all backwards, wah!

Starting a (suprise) short row scarf. You will love it.

Oh, I'm Sorry...

I went to the doctor yesterday, thinking I had a sinus infection, but no, it's allergies.

I'd almost rather have had the sinus infection because then I could take antibiotics and have done with it!

Anyway, he did the normal check out my throat, my ears, then he's like "Let's take a look inside your nose." to which I responded something like, "Sorry. Fun for you, huh?" all apologizing for his having to look in my nose. What kind of weird response was that? I always trip myself out with my odd behavior when I'm at the doctor. Since when do I apologize to you for your having to do your job? Next thing you know I'll be sitting out on the curb waiting for the garbagepeople/persons just so I can say "Oh, gosh, sorry about all this garbage, what a drag for you...". Humph.

Esoteric thumbs

I tried this recipe last night and it was good! Kinda reminded me of Real Chili
in Milwaukee... gosh, I didn't know that place was so unique!
Anyway, I made some mods, but of course. Halved it, and used Boca ground beef.

Red Bean Chili

2 pkts Boca ground beef
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T oil
1/2 C water
1/2 t onion soup mix
2 T chili powder
1 1/2 t cumin
1 1/2 t cocoa powder
1 C diced tomatoes
1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 t salt
1 t cider vinegar

Saute onions, then Boca, then garlic.
Add 1/2 C water mixed with 1/2 t onion soup mix (I used this instead of veg broth).
Stir in the chili powder, cumin, cocoa and tomatoes. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, 10m.
Add the beans, salt and vinegar, mix well. Simmer uncovered 10m.

I don't think the 10m has to be done twice, really, as we're not dealing with real meat here folks. So this was a quick meal that was satisfying!
Next time I'll try it with beer instead of water/broth.

Finished The Protector's War- yes, there is a sequel, something something Fire. Will have to see if our library has it. Can't wait, now I'm all invested in these characters.
Started Jumpfish, about someone from Atlantis. It's nice in the sense that it's not so gripping that I want to read and read, so I can actually put it down (and knit!).

Started messing around with the thumb part of my pattern, thought I could improve it, but I don't think I've invented anything new, alas. Thought I had this clever way of doing it differently, but actually, what I have works best. I guess I could pick up the wraps or something, but now that I'm wrapping the wraps tighter, it doesn't show as much (the wraps). Esoteric enough for you?

Bread and Soup

Yesterday I made Crockpot Corn, Bean and Coconut Soup

2 cans black beans, undrained
1 can tomatoes, undrained
1 can corn, undrained
1 can coconut milk
2-3 cloves garlic
1 t cumin
1 t liquid smoke
1/2 t salt
1/2 t ancho chile powder


Blend tomatoes, cumin, liquid smoke, salt, ancho chile powder and garlic.
Pour into crockpot.
Add beans, corn and coconut milk*.
Cook on low 3-5 hours.
Serve with bread.
Makes approximately 7C at 2.5 points a cup.


*Trader Joe's makes a nice one that's pretty reasonable as far as calories go...

Still reading The Protector's War. It's getting veeeerry close to the end and I don't see it all wrapping up, so I'm guessing there must be a sequel?

Got great pics from my test knitter, so cool to see my pattern knit up by someone else!! It lives!! Mwa-ha-ha-haaaaaa!

Barn down!

We were gone over the weekend, so it was with surprise that we read an email from our CSA; it turns out that the storm we had at my in-laws (dime sized hail) was down here in the cities as well, and blew down the (old) barn at the farm our CSA rents! Perhaps we will have an actual and true barn raising!!! No one was hurt (although a hen and a cat are unaccounted for) and I am guessing that what crops they had in were short enough that they didn't blow down or get too damaged. She said everything out in the field got a 'power wash'. This weekend is 'planting day' and I can't wait!!!

My inlaws had a visit from some bears- 2 yearlings. They took down quite a few bird feeders and dragged them off into the woods. One we were never able to recover! I guess that a week or so before she mates, the mother drives off the yearlings so our guess is that this is probably what had happened. You can log any bear sightings here.

So we visited a little Mexican grocery this weekend and it was full of crazy stuff like pigs feet (augh!) and dried shrimp but also lots of spices I'd never seen, like chamomile flowers and tamarind and lime? Anyway, I bought a few things.

















This is savila, not to be confused with salvia.

















And these chips were okay, but kinda gritty.

Well, we had leftovers last night, so nothing to post.

I continue to be sucked into my book, when I should be knitting, knitting, knitting. Must wind my yarn into a centrepullball first, then get started. We'll see if I make any progress.

Super Specialized Sock Sewer

Did you know that they make these special little needles now that you can use to kitchener your sock with? Made by Chibi, just like my good old standby needle, seen above, they are thinner and shorter and jabbyer.

It was a little weird, because I'm used to the longer length and I kept 'losing' the needle, but I guess if you really felt like your old tapestry needle was too big, then you should get this.

I just started reading The Protector's War by Stirling, and it's really good!!!!!! So far he's weaving all these threads together of the different groups that survived and I forsee a big climactic ...something... coming. Why didn't anyone tell me there was a whole post-apocalyptic subgenre in sci fi/fantasy?!?!?! I look forward to lots of enjoyment ferreting out the good from the bad there...

Maybe I'll bake some bread today for the week to come.

Ciao!

bringing you the strange

Mmmmm...
Last night we had Cheeseburger Macaroni.
Aghghlaghl...

Here's what I did;
1 16oz box farfalle (bows, you know)
6 T Earth Balance
1/2 C flour
2 C water
1 1/2 t salt
2 T soy sauce
1 1/2 t garlic granules
pinch tumeric
1/4 C oil
1 C nutritional yeast
1 pkt. Boca ground beef

Cook pasta.
Get the rest of the ingredients ready and at hand.
Mix the 2 C water, salt, soy sauce and pinch tumeric, and nuke in a microwave safe thing- uhh, I use my Pyrex 2 C measuring cup. Nuke for 2-3m; do not let boil over.
Melt the Earth Balance over low heat. Wait and wait and wait for that butter to melt.
Mix in the flour a little at a time, whisking constantly.
Slowly add hot water a little at a time, whisking* constantly. Cook until it thickens and bubbles. Add the oil, nutritional yeast and Boca. Add one cup of the pasta water if it's too thick.
Drain the pasta (don't drain real thoroughly) and dump everything together into a large bowl and mix well.
Oil a 9 x 13" casserole and pour in the stuff.
Bake, covered at 350 degrees for 15-30m. Leave uncovered for 10.
1/8th = 8 points.

*A good whisk is essential, people. I had this rubber coated monstrosity that we'd gotten in an effort to save our teflon pans and last night I just bailed and used the metal attachment one from our mixer. Smaller, better.

Woo!

Okay folks, last night's supper was super simple and pretty good, nothing to serve to the guests, though;

Take one can of Manwich,
Dump it into a pot with 1 C elbow macaroni
and 1 C TVP (or 2 packets Boca ground beef)
1 T oil
and 2 cans of water (4C water)

because I love you, (and because I hate being imprecise), I measured what one can of water is and it's 2 C. Maybe you all knew that!

Bring to a boil, cover, lower heat and cook until macaroni is done.
Stir often if you are using TVP because it tends to stick, but maybe that's just me. Or my pot. Or something. Maybe it was the weather.
Probably you should saute onion and garlic in that oil first, but I was lazy. Also, it was an experiment. Also I didn't have enough time to let it simmer uncovered to thicken into a stew-like substance, so I (gah!) added a heaping T cornstarch. Now you know my dirty secret...
p.s. don't ever add cornstarch to actively boiling liquid, it just turns into a clump.
p.p.s. mix the cornstarch with a little water, then a little of the sauce, THEN dump it in.

Did you know that the Cure has a new album out and they're releasing a single off it every 13th of the month (how goth) until the CD is released and I heard one last night and it sounded just like their old stuff... very disturbing. Something about 'it makes my head go crazy'.

Also, at my eye doctor, I saw these contact cases for sale, they were all enameled up with gold swirls and stuff and I got all on my imaginary platform in my head and huffed "They're not contact cases! They're contact case cases!!!!" Besides which, like, who needs a case for their case?!? That just seems riduculous to me. But here you go.

In other news, I finished the Blue Sword. Meh.
Must try to get to library Friday.

Also sent pattern off to test knitter! Yay Ravelry!! I found her on Ravelry.

Here's how I feel about sending it off- It's my bayyyybeeee! Like I'm a mom sending her kid off to summer camp or something.

Here's to more proper eating in the future, like tonight. We'll see what my fevered imagination comes up with.

Oh noes! Rice two nights in a row!

Last night I made a successful curry.
If you just happen to have onions, garlic, a few carrots and a few potatoes, you're golden!

2 carrots, sliced into thin rounds
2 potatoes, diced small
1 can peas, undrained
1/2 C red lentils
1 can light coconut milk
1 onion, diced
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1 T oil (I used peanut!)
1 T curry powder
1 T brown sugar
1 t salt
1 t jarred ginger
1 1/2 cans water

Make rice.
Dump* everything in a pot and bring it to a boil, lower heat a bit and cover for 10m or so to cook carrots and potatoes.
Uncover and simmer for a long time, as long as you have.
There are a million recipes on the web for curries, so go forth and curry!

*Okay, so dump is a generalization here. First, saute onion, then garlic in oil. Then add potatoes and carrots and cook a bit, then add curry powder, mix well, then red lentils, mix well, then salt and sugar, mix well, then ginger, mix well (do you see where I'm going with this?), then the peas undrained and then the coconut milk and then the water. 1 1/2 cans of water is a poor measure, I apologize, but it was what was at hand and really, you need to cover the veggies plus a little.

Knit the mitts in Heilo, an on the thicker side of sport weight sport weight yarn. Found another error- just a wee one!

No reading. Must get to library- stat!
I will give you a retroacted ?grandfathered in? book review (meaning, I read this a while ago).
My local bookstore has this thing where if you're a member, you have access to this one shelf where they put all the books they are sent by publishers ahead of time. So I was in there, looking at Artisan Bread in Five Minutes (props to Minnesotans!) and I checked out the shelf. I'm scanning, scanning... Doctorow! Little Brother. Well, I've read Cory Doctorow's stuff online, and really enjoyed it, so I grabbed it right away. It was a truly fun read and I learned a lot. It's aimed at young adults, but it's such a fascinating (I think the term is 'cyberpunk') world he creates and you get pretty attached to the characters. It made me really paranoid. Like even when the SPOILER love interest is introduced I was all like "She's a plant! She's a spy! She'll kill you in your sleep!" Gah, I must be getting old, I couldn't even watch the latest in the ?what's that trilogy of movies with the dude and he's like, always running from the government?...
anyway! How's that for a review.

I have lapsed in my not double spacing after a period ways.

I made something yesterday.

















Be gentle, it's my first tutorial...

















Here's what you'll need.
A bunch of flowers, I found one with three roses on the stem. And some filler plant like things.

A scissors.

Some florist's tape.

Some pens.

1. Remove cap from pen.

2. Cut one of the flowers off of the main stem (if doing the filler, skip this). 'Cut'; I use the word loosely, what I did was cut the plastic around the wire, then bend and bend and bend while muttering "Fatigue, d**n you!" under my breath.

















3. Start wrapping the florist's tape around the base of the flower, being careful not to get any of the leaves trapped in there. Stretch the tape as you turn the flower- this is how florist's tape adheres to itself! When it stretches, it gets sticky! It's really cool! I had to Google that!

















4. Okay, once you've wrapped the base of the flower a few times, stick the (non-writing) end of the pen next to the flower, with half of the width of the tape over the end of the pen. Stretch the tape around once and then start working your way down the flower (without stretching), on a diagonal, with just the edge overlapping the previous wrap.

















5. When you get to the bottom, cut your stem again if need be, wrap the florist's tape straight around once, then start wrapping back up.
Oh yeah, if you're going to do any little leaves branching off on the side, take the leaf off on the way down and then on the way up, stick it on there and wrap the tape around the base, sort of sticking it onto your pen.

6. When you get back up to the top, carefully streeeetch the tape tightly around the bottom of the flower and rip off. It takes a few tries to get this down so that they tape adheres nicely, I found that if I can sort of wrinkle it in there above the pen and below the base of the flower it works nicely.
7. Tada, you have made a flower pen.

















Now, this may seem cheesy, and it is, but if you have a preschooler, and they need a gift for their teacher, it's nice. I think it's cheesy, but when I was teaching, I got one from a student, and it became my favorite pen because I could a) always find it and b) it was identifiably mine. Plus, writing with a flower!!!!

Paprika Stains

Last night we had Tofu Paprikash.
I guess you can call it goulash, but paprikash is so much more fun to say!!
The original recipe was here, (please ignore annoying narrowing window within which to view said recipe) but I've changed it up a bit.

Tofu Paprikash

2 onions, chopped fine
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 C olive oil
2 T sweet Hungarian paprika (or you can double this, we are weak)
1 small can tomato paste (approx 1/3 C)
1/4 C nutritional yeast
1 t salt
1 t pepper (again, add more to taste)
2 T brown sugar/organic grape jelly
6 C water
1 pkg extra firm tofu frozen, thawed and drained, then cubed or crumbled*
1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

Saute the onions until just browning, then add garlic.
Meanwhile, blend together 1 C of the water with the tomato paste, paprika, nutritional yeast, salt and sugar/jelly.
Pour blender mixture into the pot with the onions and garlic, mix well.
Add chickpeas and crumble tofu into mixture, mix well.
Add 5 C water and, covered, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 1 hour, stirring and adding water to thin as needed.
Serve over white rice, or with bread or whatever.

*I go back and forth on the cubed/crumbled thing. When you freeze tofu, it gets all spongy and then when you cook it it soaks up whatever it's cooked in, which is great for marinade, but with this thicker sauce, the tofu was waterlogged, not saucy. I think it would be better just crumbled into the sauce. Or of course, you could skip it, or not freeze it and then add it cubed.

I loved this, it was so yummy! I'm always so psyched to find a saucy dish that doesn't have cheese as a main constituent. I never ate anything like this and it's a nice suprise to find out that we like paprika based dishes. Let me tell you about my camel pockets sometime.

No books, no exciting update on the fingerless mitts. Can't read, too busy knitting.