Thursday, September 30, 2010

Birthday Giveaway WINNER!

...there were really only three entries - all were followers so they each got 2 entries - not sure that changed anything odds-wise...but we put them all in the bowl this morning before school and drew a name... ...and the winner is the lovely Angie from Completely Blessed...so she'll be getting the birthday package - but if the other two entrants will send me their addresses too - they'll get a little consolation prize too...

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

September 29th - Michaelmas

Don't forget to enter the September Birthday Giveaway! The Man has a calendar with all of the feast days on it - I usually try and do a little bit of research on them (when I realize that we are in the midst of a feast day anyway)...like today...it's Michaelmas... ...the feast days almost always involve some 'special' sort of food - wouldn't be a 'feast' day otherwise now would it... So we simply had to try St. Michael's Bannock...it's a sort of fried bread... ...recipe below... ...first I had to whirr some oats in the 'Emmie' to make oat flour - but other than that I had everything for a vegan Bannock already... ...mix your flours, meal, baking soda and salt... ...mix the creamer, flax seed goo, and Earth Balance in a separate bowl and set aside... ...Oooops - I skipped a step - add your soymilk/vinegar to the dry ingredients and mix well - then pat the dough into an 8 inch circle about 1/2 inch thick... ...then dip your bannock (one side only) into the creamer/goo/Earth Balance mixture... ...and lay gently in a lightly oiled frying pan... ...cook until golden brown... ...then apply the creamer mixture again and cook again... ...apply the creamer mixture and cook again a third time and you're done... ...we had this for breakfast with some Yorkshire Gold Tea, OJ, and some delicious N.C. Blackberry Jam lovingly made by the Man's Aunt... ...This was really good and Scout and I had a nice conversation about the Feast days and Archangels...then it was off to school for him and work for me... ...I had thought that this would be very heavy - but it was not - just like a hearty scone - and the blackberry jam was the perfect accompaniment... Vegan St. Michael's Bannock... 1 1/3 C. barley flour 1 1/3 C. oat meal 1 1/3 C. rye meal 1 C. flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 scant tsp baking soda 2 1/2-3 C. soy milk mixed with 2 Tablespoons of vinegar 3 TBSP agave nectar or brown sugar 1/4 cup flax seed goo mixed with 1 1/2 teaspoons EnerG egg replacer 1 C. soy creamer 4 TBSP melted Earth Balance Mix the barley flour, oat meal, and rye meal. Add flour and salt. Mix the soda and soy milk (start with the 2 1/2 C) and then add to the dry mixture. Stir in agave. Turn out onto floured board and mix (as with all breads, don't over-mix), adding more soy milk if too dry, or more flour if too sticky). Divide dough in half, and roll each, on a floured board, into an 8" circle (about 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch thick). While heating a lightly greased skillet, mix the flax seed goo mixture, soy creamer, and melted Earth Balance. Spread onto one of the bannocks and place the bannock, wet side down, in the skillet and cook til the wet side is browned. Put the creamer mixture on the top side, flip the bannock and cook 'til the second side is golden. Repeat this application of the creamer wash and flipping and cooking until each side has been cooked three times. Do the same with the second bannock. Serve warm with Earth Balance and blackberry jam. This was interesting too... ...According to an old Irish folk tale, blackberries were supposed to have been harvested and used up by this date, too, since it is told to children that when Satan was kicked out of Heaven, he landed in a bramble patch -- and returns each year to curse and spit on the fruits of the plant he landed on, rendering them inedible thereafter. So a dessert with blackberries would be perfect. ref.: Feast of St. Michael (Michaelmas)

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Our Happy Jack

Don't forget to enter the September Birthday Giveaway!








...Scout managed to get a pretty good photo of Jack the other day...so I thought I'd share it here...generally Jack shies away from the camera...

...Look at his sweet little brown eyebrows -and all those whiskers - and his perky little ears - he really is such a sweetie - and we love everything about him...the way he tilts his head enquiringly - the way he prances and chases his ball - and then pounces on it - the way he curls up on the backs of the sofas (like a cat) - and the way he uses his forepaws like little hands - the way he can curl his tail and wag it...puppy love...

Monday, September 27, 2010

Notebook Stencil Tutorial

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...Scout and I wanted to give the Man a new calendar/planner for his birthday - he always used to get a nice red one for free - but apparently they don't do that for the pastors anymore - and it had extra space for Sunday - a lot of planners just have tiny spaces for the weekend days as they think most people will do most of their 'planning' for the Mon-Fri work week - but pastors often do most of their planning for the weekend - Saturdays for weddings and such and Sundays for Church, of course...

...anywhooo - we found one at the dollar store and it was even red...and it has regular sized blocks with lines for Saturday and Sunday - and a blank block of 'Notes' beside Sunday each week - Perfect...

...we wanted to stencil this symbol from the ELW onto the cover in silver - so we copied it from the hymnal and taped it to a piece of Contac paper - I've had good luck with Freezer paper stencils - but didn't think I'd be able to iron the paper to the plastic cover of the planner...

...so, using an exact-o knife - I cut through the paper and the Contac paper at the same time and lifted out the center of the design...

...then I stuck that to the notebook and 'spounced' some silver paint on...not quite as perfect a crisp line as with the freezer paper method - but certainly acceptable...

...the Man liked it a lot...

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Someone Else is Celebrating a Birthday too...

Don't forget to enter the September Birthday Giveaway!







...That's right - my Mom's having a Birthday too!

...and you know how Mom's are - right? They're always there when you need them!
Happy Birthday Mom!

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Someone's having a Birthday...

Don't forget to enter the September Birthday Giveaway!







...that's right - it's the Man's Birthday!...

...you probably guessed that as I've already posted about Scout's and my birthdays this year...

...we had the typical little family celebration - with cards...you may or may not know that Scout is (...was - I guess he's sort of outgrown it now) a huge Popeye fan - it was his favorite cartoon when he was little - we even have some Popeye dvds...anywhooo - we found one of those speaking cards that has Popeye saying "you'll have to eat a lot of spinach to blow out all them candles argh-argh-argh-argh" - so cute and funny...

...and presents - I'll do a little tutorial on the stencil we did on the front of the dollar store planner/calendar...

...the Man collects small icons - Scout was thrilled to find this tiny folding one at the hospital auxiliary sale...

...and an antique weather station - including a thermometer, humidity gauge, and barometer...all the locals are always talking about the barometer falling or rising and what that means - and we thought the Man might like to be able to use that topic for small talk as well...

...then the 'biggie' (do y'all have another word for the really special present of the day?)...

...oh no! the glare! - it's a collection of Doobie Brothers CDs - including their first one - which we had as an album many years ago...

...and then before we took him out for a Birthday Dinner at his favorite restaurant - I made a little amuse bouche - it's Coquilles St. Jacques À La Parisienne - and of course, all of the details are at The Vegan Version...

...it was a lovely day...

Friday, September 24, 2010

September Birthdays...and a Giveaway

...It seems like every family has one month out of the year that is just packed with Birthdays - My family always had a lot of Birthdays in September - Daddy's and Mom's - two of my cousins and one of my uncles - and then when the Man joined our family - we had another one...
...and as I was doing some organizing in the storage room under the stairs (actually I was getting the Halloween decorations out and realized that the storage area was a mess)...I came across a bag with all these old birthday goodies in it...

...I always meant to give them away (well a couple of years ago anyway)...

...you can see all of the items at Scout's Cowboy Birthday...

...Sorry for the bad light - we're having a kind of dreary fall day (I love those 'though)...

...There are 8 cups, and 12 plates, and a whole bunch of napkins (all unused of course)...then there is a table decoration, a table cloth, and two boot shaped dishes - we used those for chips and candy (all slightly used)...

...If you or someone you know can use these items...

1. Then leave a comment and I'll pick a winner on the last day of September...

2. You get an extra entry if you blog about the giveaway (or Tweet it or Facebook it)...

3. And another entry if you are already or become a follower...

...just leave a separate comment for each one...

Thursday, September 23, 2010

LWR Quilt #3


...well - I did get that third quilt top done - and we managed to tie 6 quilts during our work night at church - and for now we have a surplus of quilt tops for our work nights - I'll still be working on a couple for the next work night anyway...

...right now this is what my 'quilting room' (ahem...family room...) floor looks like...

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Signs of Fall...


Y'all know that fall is my FAVORITE time of the year - specifically - I don't know why - but, here are a few of the reasons - the smell of leaves and woodsmoke - the coming in - the warmth of home - the colours, orange/gold/red/brown - the crisp mornings - pumpkin pie and russian tea - wearing sweaters - and knitting them...OK maybe I do know why...

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

...dropping off...and picking up...

...I had to drop some of Scout's gently used clothes off at the local charity thrift store...

...and in the process - I almost always find a treasure to bring home...

...this time it was this lovely turquoise pyrex bowl - I love it's translucence - and it's exactly the shade of chalky blue that I want to paint the front door - I can't seem to convince the Man that the door needs to be this colour....hmmmm...

Monday, September 20, 2010

First Marching Band Parade...

...Scout had his first marching band parade on Saturday - he was so excited about it...


...it was 37 degrees when I dropped him off at the park...

...even with the hood up - he's probably none too warm - these photos were taken through the car windshield - as I'm sure you're aware of how un-cool it is to have your Mom running around taking pictures...

...and since I had an hour to wait between drop-off and parade start time - I got an awesome corner spot to watch the parade - the streets weren't closed off yet - so I just parked there and sat in my (warm) car and read until the parade started...then here comes the band...

...so I got my video camera in one hand and my digital camera in the other and started taking some pictures (I wasn't the only parent doing that now)...Scout was just about in the middle of the middle - so getting a good picture of him wasn't easy...

...he's under the yellow arrow - so you can find him...

...the rest of the parade was just your typical small town parade...the King and Queen rode by - throwing candy of course...

...and the ROTC with all their flags...

...floats about burning up the opposition...

...Police cars and Lions - throwing candy of course...

...class floats (this one's the Sophomore's)...

...tractor dealers showing off their wares...

...the local dance school doing a routine...

...and some fire trucks - throwing candy, too, of course...


...and for your listening pleasure - we've all been humming the 'Hey' song for days now...