Easter Skirt Plans...

I've sketched out my plans for my Easter Skirt...

...I took my Amity to Stuff Mart and matched some material...not exactly what I was looking for...but pretty close and for only $2 per yard...so YAY!...

...it's just a thin cotton sprigged with little purple (lavender) flowers...

...the plan is to recreate a tiered skirt that I got when I was in high school...it was sort of a khaki colour and I wore it everywhere for about 10 years I think...then it was finally so threadbare that we had to part ways...

...but the interesting thing about that skirt was that the tiers were different heights - with the middle one being taller...so that's what I'm going to try...

...it should be super easy and the only notions will be some elastic for the waist...if I don't have any...I may just use a drawstring...we'll see...

...so what are you planning to wear for Easter?...

Asian Lettuce Wraps...

...When we lived in Columbia, SC - there was a wonderful Asian restaurant downtown...they had the best grilled tofu kabobs on earth and I often got them for lunch with a wonderful peanut-y salad of bitter greens...it was just always so very good...

...Scout's favorite was actually an apetizer...but those often easily become meals...and his favorite was the lettuce wraps...crisp with water chestnuts and chopped tofu and ginger and garlic - they were delicious...

...it's been years since we've had those lettuce wraps...but Scout was fondly remembering them...and so we bought some water chestnuts and decided to try and recreate them...

...and Wow!...did we ever succeed...

...this is what the mixture looked like in the skillet - nothing spectacular...but oh - it smelled so good...

...Scout set the table...

...and waited patiently...

...then we dished up...

...and rolled our wraps...

...Scout even suggested that we could make these small for a party and roll them up and secure them with little fancy toothpicks...

...although I like the idea...I think these may be a little bit messy for portable finger food...

...but they were so good...and cute...

...sweet little green pockets of crunchy goodness...you should definitely try these...

Asian Lettuce Wraps

Lettuce for wrapping - Boston Bib makes a cute little cup - but larger leaves that you can roll up like a burrito are nice too...

1 cup TVP cooked for a few minutes with 2 cups of vegan beef flavored bouillon
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1 can water chestnuts, drained and finely chopped
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
1/4 cup blanched almonds finely chopped

For the sauce:
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 cup sorghum syrup (or molasses would probably work too)
2 teaspoons ginger
2 teaspoons sesame oil

Cook the TVP in the bouillon for a few minutes until most of the liquid is absorbed.

Heat the oil in a skillet and add the water chestnuts, onion, garlic, TVP and almonds and sauté until most of the liquid is evaporated.

Then pour over the sauce and cook until everything just holds together but is not dry.

Brace Guards...

...when Scout got his braces on about a month ago...

...he was having a hard time playing his trumpet...

...then my sister emailed me about Brace Guards...

...her boys had used them when they had braces and were in band...

...it was a fun little project...mixing the two putties together and molding them over the braces...

...we made a top and a bottom guard...but Scout only wears the top one...and there's enough putty to make about 3 more guards...he just keeps them in his case and pops them over his braces for band class or practice and they make a smooth surface for the trumpet mouthpiece to press against...he is thrilled to be able to hit his high notes again...

...Scout says they work well...although he refused any photos of himself wearing the guards...

...Thanks Aunty Karen!...

Checking up on Checkers...A Checkers Bag Tutorial

When I ordered Scout's Boy Scout sash from Scoutstuff.org (don't ya jus' luv that name?) - I saw these giant checkers on sale for 88¢ - they're designed for a checkers grid that's apparently printed on the bottom of their tents - which I also thought was a cool idea...but I immediately started thinking of how we could take these big ole checkers camping with us this summer...they come in a black mesh bag - so my first thought was to thrift a red towel and print the black squares on that...but as luck would have it - I was unable to find a red towel for 25¢ - and not being willing to pay $5 for one at Stuff-Mart - I was, however, lucky enough to find a red pillow case for a quarter...and then I thought how serendipitous that was - because it's actually so much better - we'll just tie the checkers up in the pillow case and only have the one thing to tote instead of a towel and a mesh bag...so YAY!...

...the first step was to put some newspaper inside the pillowcase to prevent the paint from leaking through...

...then I laid out the checkers to make sure they'd fit...

...then I measured and divided for the eight by eight grid...

...I had an old scrubber sponge that I cut up to make the square...

...I squirted a little bit of Outdoor Gloss paint onto a plate...

...and mixed it with a little bit of water - I was going for more of an ink effect - and thought that the paint would be too thick...but you'll see in a little bit that I may have watered it down too much as some of the squares bled a bit...I still like it - but if you want crisp squares you'll probably not want to thin your paint...

...then I donned some gloves and dipped my sponge into the paint and started stamping...

...it's not an exact science and I just sort of eyeballed it...when your stamp runs out of ink and doesn't make a perfect square - it's time to dip it in the paint mixture again...

...when all the squares were stamped - I took a Sharpie and drew a line at each end - and this is the one step that I'm wishing now that I had NOT done - as I liked it better without the line...but it's up to you - and of course I couldn't undo it once it was done...

...so there you have it...the finished grid...

...ready to play...

...and then - because I really can't leave well enough alone...I turned the pillow case bag over...and turned my sponge sideways and just sketched in a tic tac toe grid as well...

...now we have two games in one...

...this will be fun to take camping...or just out in the yard...or to the living room floor...

...if you ranked the three of us in this house...guess where I come in...that's right...THIRD...and I'm sweetly reminded of all the games I lost on purpose when Scout was little and learning to play the game...I'm somewhat better at the Tic Tac Toe game...as the Cat usually gets most of them...

...do you like playing checkers?...

LWR Quilt #9...and...A-Line Jacket Progress...not checked off...

...my 9th quilt for Lutheran World Relief...I don't think you can tell it from this photo...but one of the little print squares is turned the wrong way...I don't know how that happened...rushing and not being careful I guess...of course i could take it apart and fix it... ...and the only thing that I didn't check off of my weekend list is the A-Line Jacket back...it's miles of Stockinette Stitch...and I think it might have been a bit over-ambitious to think that I could get it all done in a weekend... ...I do love the little seed stitch border...the Seed Stitch was the first pattern stitch that I learned when I was a very little knitter and I'm still quite fond of it...

Checking things off...

...we've been busy checking things off the TO DO list...the Amity has been blocked...Check - ✓


...my gaiter that I made on size 7 needles and I said was a tighter weave and therefore warmer...well - it really was too tight - so I frogged that and re-knit it on size 10's...while watching Diary of a Wimpy Kid last night...and now it's just like Scout's...so Gaiter - Check - ✓

...The aquarium's been cleaned - Check - ✓

...trouser's hemmed - Check - ✓

...Merit badges sewn on - Check - ✓

...and I didn't have to call the County Commissioner - we ran into him when we were out walking Jack...and we got our meeting all set up for the next County Commissioner's meeting in April...so - Check - ✓

...TO DO...

...so...last night as I was sitting in bed reading (with my hair down - hence the barrette on the nightstand)...I got to thinking about all I wanted to accomplish this weekend...

...now normally - I'm not a list maker - I just sort of go with the flow (story of my life really...) - and I don't get upset if things don't get done...but I was actually thinking about knitting the A-Line Cardigan - and the Easter deadline that goes with it...Oh!...and I've decided on a little purse pattern too...the Isabeau purse in lavender...What do you think?...

...so I tore the bottom off of a pattern I had printed out and sketched out a TO DO list for this weekend...

...and ya know what?...I ran out of room...there are actually more things I want/need to accomplish this weekend...not to mention general house-cleaning and laundry...

...so...are you a list maker?...or not?...

...I'll let you know how I progress with my list over the weekend...

...Bookmark Swap...

...I can finally post about my bookmarks for the Bookmark Swap at Vegan Fox in the Snow...as I'm sure Roxanne has them now...

...I just sketched some iconic people (well the da Vinci quote is sort of a sketch of his Vitruvian Man)...and I've done pencil sketches of Einstein and Ghandi in the same poses before...added one of their 'vegan' quotes onto some card stock...

...originally, I was just going to cut up this original and send it...

...but then I thought I ought to send one to sweet Cassie too - for heading up the swap...and I thought how easy it would be to just copy it again onto card stock...so that's what I did...

...then I just punched a little hole in the top and threaded some black yarn through it...then I combed that out to make it a sort of frizzy tassle...

...I just like the kinky yarn like that...

...then I packed them up in sets of three and sent them on their way...

...it as a fun swap!

Egg-less Salad...Vegan Egg Salad

I made a couple of hard boiled eggs for a garnish for my creamed spinach over at The Vegan Version...and of course I only needed one for the spinach...

...these are so fun and so easy to make...

...they slice and chop up just fine...sort of like real...

...looks real...doesn't it?...

...freaky real...

...anywhooo...I just added a little bit of vegenaise and regular prepared mustard...

...plopped it onto a nice couple of slices of French bread...and topped it with some baby arugula...

...it was so perfect...

...You should try it and fool your friends...I've made 'egg salad' with tofu before...but it didn't fool anybody...I think this seriously would...

Vegan Egg-less Salad

For the 'egg'-white:
Mix 1 teaspoon of agar agar powder in a couple of Tablespoons of water and let stand for 5 minutes. In a small saucepan mix together 1/4 cup soy creamer and 1/4 cup soymilk. Whisk in 1 Tablespoon flour. Cook for a few minutes - it makes a sort of gravy - it should just coat a spoon - not too thick. Then stir in the agar and water mixture and cook for a minute more.

For the 'egg'-yolk:
Cook a small potato. I just microwaved mine but any way you want to cook it is probably OK - if you're boiling it don't peel it first - you want it to be kinda dry. Once it's done just mash it up with a little bit of turmeric - just a sprinkle and a sprinkle of mustard powder as well - just until it's the colour you want. Form it into little balls about 1 inch across.

To assemble:

Pour a couple of spoonfuls of the 'egg'-white mixture into a mold - I used an egg shaped spoon - but I'm going to try this again with one of Scout's old Easter eggs as a mold - plop your 'egg'-yolk in the middle and then spoon on a little bit more of the 'egg'-white mixture - leave it to set up - it will get quite firm. You can see more of the process on the Poached Eggs post here...I just made the 'egg'-whites firmer for these hard boiled ones...

...so that was lunch...

...then because we were sick for St. Patrick's day...

...we had our Irish meal for supper...first I made my vegan Kielbasa sausages - super easy to make...and sausages are always fun...

...I must have stuffed them too tightly - or used cheap aluminum foil - because they burst open...oh well...

...we made some vegan Colcannon and soda bread...there was also some fried cabbage - I don't know why it's not in the picture...

...it was so good - and I'm so thankful that everyone was well enough to enjoy it...