Dying of Cute

Yes, my wife is super cute. But this post is about my knitting. After two failed attempts at a hat for her, I went wild and abandoned all patterns to create this lovely red hat for my wife.


I was particularly taken with the decreasing pattern on the top of the hat. The hat's only flaw is that it is perhaps an inch or two too tall, providing a bit of a tufted point on the top of the hat.


That feature, combined with the fact that I alternated patterns to create a horizontal ribbed effect, is why we have coined this hat the condom hat - complete with a reservoir tip. In front of Mr. Man we call it the ribbed hat for the G audience.

But tonight was my proudest moment in knitting thus far. With two nieces/nephews on the way, I've been deep into the baby patterns. To date I have not made a sock, though I yearn to make some as intricate as this some day.

Drumroll please, tonight I shaped my first heel. It is the heel of a little bootie.


Not much to see here, but trust me it will be so cute when finished.


Okay, here it looks like a cock warmer, but it's destined for the itty bitty foot of a newborn baby.

Experiments

Yesterday was Mr. Man's unbirthday. This is otherwise known as my ploy to get him out of bed for his last day of school before spring break. The old - "this is your last day of school as a 6yo" trick. He loves it when I cook puff pastry roll-ups for him (usually with almond butter and jam). But I used up the last slice of disgusting Tofutti cheeze slice (bought in a moment of delusion at the store) and stuffed them with with veggies and tofu. Yes, my son is the only kid on the planet who prefers his tofu plain - straight out of the package. I thought these little gems were awesome. They looked and smelled great. Of the three I sent in his lunch, two came back home. Bugger. I asked him what he thought of them and he said "no". End of review.



So this beautiful Saturday morning, I woke up and took breakfast orders from the family. Mr. Man ordered pizza. I had leftover dough that I had made last night, so I cooked up his favorite and supplemented with broccoli and a side of yogurt.

My wife suggested cinnamon rolls, so I used a ball of the pizza dough, rolled it out, put a bit of melted Earth Balance over the top and sprinkled on the cinnamon and sugar. I wanted mine longer rather than round and high so I rolled it diagonally and got sort of a crocodile head shape. It was amazingly tasty and so simple. Why should I ever go to the vegan bakery for a cinnamon roll again? Why yes, of course, I'd go on a Saturday morning when I'm too lazy to make my own. Until then, fresh baked cinnamon rolls at home are a great start to a Saturday morning when the sun shines.

Welcome Spring

Although it started out cold, the day warmed up and was pleasant. Happy Ostara!


Many things are in bloom here. My plate blossomed tonight as well.


I made alfredo sauce (not the PPK one getting rave reviews in the vegan blog world) and I sauted my hickory links with onions and peppers. Yum.

Prep Cooking

In a beautiful turn of events, I came home to a clean kitchen. It called to me--prepare food for your family! So I made applesauce muffins, both mini and regular.

This recipe is from How it all Vegan, slightly modified with less sugar and oil, suitable for Mr. Man's lunch. I've read others who have been experimenting with making their own granola bars, so when I stumbled upon a recipe just a few pages away in the cookbook, I threw a pan together. I like the sesame seeds on top. Once again, I cut the sugar in half.


Here's what they look like when cut.

They are quite tasty and despite the sugar reduction, still taste like desert. They are somewhat chewy, but mostly crumbly. Next time I'll go crazy and add dried cherries instead of raisins and perhaps tinker with the recipe a bit more to get them chewier.

I was craving more Chick Cutlets, but we were out of chickpeas. So I winged a mockup using white kidney beans. Kidneys are actually much easier to mash by hand and make a smoother dough. I seasoned them with Italian herbs and baked them up just the same and they came out perfecto. We each have one in our lunch tomorrow - my wife and Mr. Man in a sandwich and me with pasta.


Now the dishwasher is running and there are still dishes in the sink.

This Again

Mr. Man has strep throat, not group A which is ordinarily treated with antibiotics, but another strain where antibiotics are optional. After a week of watching symptoms and his cough hadn't improved the doctor decided the antibiotics were in order to avoid strep pneumonia.

It's been a few years since he had to take antibiotics, particularly amoxicillin. I forgot this. Not for long, though. Mr. Man has plenty of energy on an ordinary day. On this stuff it's like he's amped up on speed. He never stops talking or moving. I am so overstimulated I could cry or just grab the bottle of Bushmills that's up in the pantry.

It's officially 8:49 and he's not close to being asleep. There's no school tomorrow. My wife is a saint and no doubt will be going for a long walk when I get home from work.

In food news, I emptied the contents of the fridge and came up with a tasty stir fry. I'm extremely fond of soy curls in stir fry and I've become quite good at making tasty sauces that thicken.


I also made seitan cutlets today for the first time. They're so tasty that there's only one of them left. Mr. Man totally dug them.

Hickory Pear Links

I don't know about vegans and their former carnivorous lives, but when I was a kid, I loved sausage. Loved it! So when I discovered homemade vegan sausage links about a month ago, I was in heaven. I've made several batches, some spicy, some mild, both links and patties. I'll soon be trying Vegan Dad's bratwurst and pepperoni. But I haven't yet made what I've been dreaming about - smoked apple links. And, although I have a fine substitute, I'm still dreaming.

While the rest of my household set off for the peace march downtown, I took some much needed personal time to clean the house and putz around in the kitchen. Using the lovely vegan sausage recipe at Everyday Dish, I set out to make lovely apple sausages with a hickory smoked flavor. I gathered all the dry ingredients and spices.


As I was about to add the wet ingredients, I reached for the Cameo apple I knew we had hanging in the fruit basket--only to find it had been eaten sometime this week. Crushed, I looked sadly at the last of the fruit--a honey tangerine, a navel orange and two pears. Oh, what the hell, I thought as I picked the pear out of the basket.

Instead of the lovely, crisp apple I envisioned, I instead diced this much of a ripe pear.


To offset the sweetness, I made sure to include plenty of kick--paprika, crushed red pepper, freshly ground pepper, 4 cloves of garlic. I added one tablespoon of hickory smoke instead of the 2nd tablespoon of soy sauce.

I steamed them up and had a quiet lunch with another of the morning's brownie waffles and the last of the pear that sacrificed itself for my experiment.


These actually turned out okay. The flavors blended well and the sweet-hot balance was all right. What they needed was more hickory smoke to add even more smoky flavor. Next time I'll omit all the soy sauce and just go with hickory smoke. And hopefully I'll have an apple on hand when I try next time.

Resurrection

From the depths of a busy life, a wonderful family, a bit of depression and lots of inspiration from vegan food blogs and vegan cookbooks--I return.

This morning began with chocolate chip brownie waffles courtesy of the glorious Veganomicon cookbook. (Isa and Terry really are goddesses.) Imagine warm chocolaty waffles with spots of melted chocolate chips and pockets of pecans. Welcome, Saturday morning! Granted, it's a winter Saturday in the Northwest, so there are no fresh berries to pile on top with a dollop of yogurt. No worries, these puppies satisfy with a pat of butter.


And if you thought I fed my family this much sugar without something healthy, fear not, for we had a chickpea cutlet to provide a little protein.

So for those of you who may have missed my life over the past few months, here are some snapshots.


Mr. Man's obsession with legos continues and showed up throughout the holiday season.


One fine winter afternoon we all meandered around the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia Rivers for a cold, wet stroll.


I am officially in my mid-thirties. My birthday meal was amazing and we topped it all off with this banana cake with peanut butter frosting. Mr. Man decorated with chocolate chips and candles.


Mr. Man and I continue to practice Poekoelan Tjiminde Tulen. We both have two stripes on our belt. He has started flow fighting and rocked the house at his first tournament, where he took first place. He's very proud of his fighting gear.


His hair has grown quite long and he takes great pleasure in putting it up in clips or ponytails - "like a girl" he says. Lucky for him his moms are open to the idea that gender is fluid. The rest of the world's response is always interesting. Frankly, I'm happy to see his eyes again and hope the ponytail trend continues.

Life is good. Food is good. Expect more soon.