Thursday, June 30, 2016

...W.I.A.Y. ...

Breakfast - granola with sunflower milk...and cinnamon toast
...this is just a veggie dip packet mixed with almond milk meal cream cheese (leftovers from making almond milk - see procedure here)
Lunch - Flatbread, veggie dip
Dinner - Vegan Fettucini Alfredo (a couple of versions have made their way onto the blog...here, and here), Roasted Broccoli (fresh from a neighbor's garden), salad and vegan french bread

...your turn to share...

~Have a lovely day!

Wednesday, June 29, 2016

...Making Hay While the Sun Shines...

...sort of a W.I.P. Wednesday post...not my work though...
...but the beautiful field beside our house was ready to be cut...
...Mom commented on all of the pretty hay fields in our area...
...our neighbor cut the hay...
...and then raked it...
...and finally baled it in those big round bales...

...and it smelled so very good...one of those nice sweet nostalgic smells from childhood...a horsey smell...a summery smell...

~Wishing you a lovely Wednesday!

Tuesday, June 28, 2016

...the veg on my porch...

...we have entered the season of veg on the porch...

...it happened all last summer...and I'm so happy and thankful that it's happening to us again this year...
...sometimes people ring the bell...but probably more often...they just leave the bag (or bags as the case may be) of fresh garden goodness on the porch...

...this week we got a huge bag of pickling cucumbers...and a big bag of zucchini and yellow squash...
...they're called pickling cucumbers...but I couldn't resist making one into my lunch...just peeled and sliced and placed on top of some Tofutti Cream Cheese and sprinkled with dill...

...perfectly crisp, fresh and delicious...

...how is your garden growing?...

~Have a lovely day!

Monday, June 27, 2016

...a mountain getaway...

...sorry I fell off the internet for a couple of days...

...but we had a spontaneous getaway to the mountains this weekend...just the two of us...which hardly ever happens...
...but we threw a change of clothes into a bag and hit the road...
...and it was a curvy road...
...a goofy photo of me and Jack in one of those big chairs...haha
...a few hours later we arrived at a quaint little Inn in Little Switzerland...
...I think it's adorable...
...and that's our truck parked outside...
...it was like stepping back in time...all of the intricate woodwork reminded me of a lakeside lodge in Minnesota...
...and like that lodge there was a game room too...
...the Man got us a nice room with a balcony on the third floor...so we spent the afternoon doing absolutely nothing...he called his folks for a chat...and I read my book---Twelve Years a Slave...on my sweet sissie's Kindle...and Jack just enjoyed all the sights and sounds and smells as only a Jack Russell can do...
...then we headed to the al fresco dining room...and the man ordered me a root beer...which is funny because I only drink about 1 root beer every 5 years or so...but this one was different...it's 'Not Your Father's Root Beer'...haha...it was good...
...and then I had a delicious kale salad...
...and we just sat out on the deck, talking, and watched the sun set...
...and the lights in the valley twinkle on below...
...and then after a refreshing sleep...we watched the sunrise...and then headed home...we had to be back in time for the annual Hobo Supper...

~Wishing you a lovely start to your week!

Thursday, June 23, 2016

...W.I.A.Y. ...

Breakfast - Vegan Cheese Toast and a pear...and coffee with a LOT of Cashew Cream...
Lunch - Vegan Spanish Rice - really just brown rice and salsa and a Huge Salad with Sweet Mustard Dressing
Dinner - Vegan Frittata, Salad, Veggie Broth, Mixed Veg

...now it's your turn to inspire me with what you ate yesterday...

~Have a lovely day!

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

...W.I.P. Wednesday...

...as I mentioned before...our Youth Group is selling handmade dishcloths as a fundraiser...

...and some of our 'youth' (only the girls so far) have been coming to N.O.A.H. ...our prayer shawl ministry group...and have learned to crochet...
...so the first one that I made is just a single crochet square...
...actually single crochet, chain 1 is the pattern across 35 stitches on the foundation chain...it makes a nice waffle-y pattern...
...I just sized it by a boughten (N.D. word) dishcloth...
...then I got out the knitting needles my sweet sissie had given me for Christmas...

...and cast on for a round dishcloth...it's just 10 little short row wedges over the first 10 of 20 cast on stitches...
...and the little open holes left by the short row turns make a pretty sort of sand dollar effect on the round dishcloth...
...and for the third dishcloth in this little 'set'...a simple stockinette stitch square combining both knit and crochet...just stockinette stitch 32 sts x 44 rows on the same size 10 needles...
...then cast off and single crochet all around...
...and then a scallop stitch around that...
...Youth Dishcloth #1...
...Youth Dishcloth #2...
...Youth Dishcloth #3...
...folded and stacked as a set...
...wrapped and ready for sale...

...what's in your basket?...

~Have a lovely day!

Tuesday, June 21, 2016

...Vegan Chocolate Pound Cake...

...as promised...a dedicated post about Scout's delicious 18th Birthday Cake...

....If I'm making a 'shaped' cake of any sort...I always prefer a nice dense (but still moist) pound cake...they just hold their shape so much better...
...and I wanted two fairly large numbers for this most special of birthday numbers...so I made two pound cakes...each in a 9 x 13 pan...
...I sketched out paper patterns for the numbers...I'm sure you could do this freehand...but I wanted to use as much cake as possible...HA!...
...placed the patterns on the cakes...
...and just trimmed around them...the insides of the 8's were a bit tricky...but I just used a spoon to get that cake out...
...I put all of the leftover cut off pieces in a bag in the freezer...maybe I'll make some cake pops or something like that with them later...
...then I did a really messy crumb coat...as dark chocolate really shows through white icing...
...and then finished with a second coat...these two large cakes used a lot of icing...so you'll need two recipes worth...
...and then I wanted to do some haphazard squiggles of colour all around the edges...Blue and Gold...

...but it turns out that I'm not all that good at the haphazard effect...I'm much better piping 'nice' designs rather than messy ones...HA!...
...and once I'd gone down the messy squiggle decorating path...it was sort of hard to change...I guess I could have scraped it all off and started over...but the Man assured me that it was 'fine'...
...so we went with it as it was...
...and added 18 mismatched blue and gold candles as well...

Vegan Chocolate Pound Cake

Ingredients

Wet (Whisk all together):

3/4 cup non dairy milk
1/2 cup cashew cream
2 tbsp non dairy yogurt
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 Tbsp melted Earth Balance

Dry(Whisk all together):

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder...I always use this delicious Baking Cocoa from Equal Exchange
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Mix wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until well combined. The batter will be thick. Place batter in a parchment lined 9 x 13 pan...
Bake at 350 degrees F for 50 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick from near the center comes out clean...
Cool for 5 to 10 minutes...then remove from the pan and let it sit on the cooling rack to cool completely before carving into shapes...

Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz. Vegan Cream Cheese...any brand...or make your own...
1/4 cup Earth Balance, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
1 pkg. powdered sugar (about 4 cups)

Beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla in large bowl with mixer until blended.
Add sugar gradually, beating after each addition until blended.

...this cake is so rich and delicious...

~Have a lovely day!