...5 Little Things Friday...

...so...just five random little things making me happy this Friday...

...Fresh organic Pluots...

...Wiki says...there are multiple hybrids between apricots and plums...called...pluots, apriums, apriplums, or plumcots...depending on the percentage of each fruit...

...Pluots are genetically one-fourth (25%) apricot and three-fourths (75%) plum...the Man loves plums...

...one of our parishoners left us a generous bag of fresh home grown sweet potatoes...so thankful for that...

...vegan banana pudding...YUM!...(vegan vanilla wafers are surprisingly difficult to find)...maybe I should try making some...

...y'all know the N.O.A.H. closet of yarn over at the church...well...it has a bunch of donated yarn in it...and I found these skeins with old price tags still attached...I'll tell you about the little project I've started with them soon...

...and finally...we defrosted our big freezer...so happy about that...and I found a couple of pints of corn...and a couple of greens from last year that need to be used up...

...what's making you happy this Friday?

~Wishing you a lovely start to your weekend!

...W.I.P. Wednesday...on Thursday...

...a day late because yesterday Affectioknit was TEN years old...

...it's a ruffle-y scarf for my dear friend Amy's birthday...which was in JUNE!!!...

...obviously I couldn't post about it and ruin the surprise...and it's taken us that long to get our schedules meshed for a get together...

...just a simple knit over 5 stitches...I used the same method I used for my sweet sissie's Starbella scarf...

...this is

...and then I tucked it inside a little travel case that says 'blessed'...

...we had such a nice visit...

...what's in your work basket this week?

~Have a lovely day!

...TEN...

...this little internet space we call Affectioknit is TEN years old today...

...I remember that day pretty clearly...Link to first post...titled "Hello World"...HA!

...we'd just gotten home (North Dakota home) from a visit home (North Carolina home)...and I was really just looking for a way to keep in touch with all my peeps in NC...and SC too...

...but this space has become so much more...I have 'met' so many wonderful people through this little space...some of you in person...and I hope to do more of that too...but most across the internet...

...Blogger tells me that I've made 3523 posts and had 525171 pageviews...

...so Happy Birthday Affectioknit!

~Have a lovely day!

...Tuesdays with Julia...

...as promised this week...a much prettier post over at The Vegan Version...

...we made another Vegan Duck dish...Vegan Caneton aux Cerises/Caneton Montmorency this time...

...so delicious...I highly recommend it...

~Have a lovely day!

...Awesome-Sauce...

...I used the last few apples that my Mom brought to me on her birthday visit to make some apple sauce...I just quartered and seeded them...

...cooked...

...and ran it through a food mill...

...and we had one bowl of the most perfect applesauce (AWESOME-SAUCE) on the planet...

~Have a lovely day!

...another Birthday...

...and it's the Man who is another year older...the final birthday of the year for our little family...

...Scout lit the candles...reminding me of when he was little and we'd light them over and over again...just for the fun of blowing them out...

...the Man blew his out with gusto...and I barely managed to get a photo...

...the cake was followed by some presents...

...just a bunch of small things all in one big bag...

...oh...and we had a super nice Birthday Dinner at his favorite Trattoria...

...the cake is the VEGAN BISCUIT AU BEURRE...

...I'd not made it in a while...and it turned out perfectly...my best one yet I think...so buttery and rich and moist and good...

...and then iced with the Man's favorite Caramel Icing...I've blogged about it before...but not sure I've ever included the steps...

...first you cook together the margarine (we used Earth Balance), brown sugar, salt, and soy milk for a couple of minutes...

...then let that cool...

...and stir in the powdered sugar...

...and the pour it over the cake...I often do a bundt cake shape and it looks pretty with it sort of dripping over the sides...but I tried to keep it all on top of this simple sponge cake...

...it really is delicious...and I should probably make it more often than just on his birthday...dontchya think?...

Caramel Frosting:

2 Tbsp. vegan margarine
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup soy milk
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

• Melt the margarine in a saucepan.
• Add the brown sugar, salt, and soy milk.
• Bring to a boil over low heat and boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
• Remove from the heat and let cool.
• Add the powdered sugar and the vanilla.
• Beat with an electric handheld mixer for about 3 minutes, until smooth.

~Have a lovely day!

...more fun with homemade tortillas...

...y'all remember those cute little tortilla shaping pans my Mom gave me for my birthday...

...we put them to use with the homemade tortillas...we just smooshed a tortilla into the pan...

...and baked it for a few minutes...I'd say about 8-10...

...and this is what pops out of the pan...a perfectly shaped...free standing shell...

...that you can fill with whatever you want...

...we filled ours with salad and seasoned black beans...for a fun and yummy dinner...Thanks Mom!

~Wishing you a lovely weekend...

...Happy Fall Y'all...

...we have a bunch of Water Oaks around the house...and the leaves are not changing yet...

...so I took my camera when I took Jack for a walk around the Church...where there are all kinds of trees...oak...hickory...maple and poplar...so there were lots of pretty and crunchy leaves to walk through and photograph for the new header...

...do you have any fall colours or weather yet?

~Wishing you a lovely first day of fall...

...W.I.P. Wednesday...Knitted Knocker F.O. ...

...my first knitted knocker is finished...

...I didn't really like the cone shaped back of the pattern...so I set about just making a soft round circle...

...and now that I think about it...I'm probably just going to back future knockers with some nice soft T-shirt material...

...just a simple stockinette stitch flat circle...

...checked the fit...

...stitched the edges together...

...leaving a small opening...

...and stuffed it to a size 'C'...

...and wrapped and ready to go...

...what's in your work basket...?...I hope you'll add a knitted knocker or two...

~Have a lovely day!

...Tuesdays with Julia...

...OK...I promise my next Julia post will be more interesting than this one...

...and that's setting a pretty low bar...

...this is just the boiled down cooking liquid from the Stewed Mushrooms...boiled (i.e., reduced) until it's almost a syrup...

...then I just put it in the freezer...not sure what I'm going to use it for...maybe some VEGAN POTAGE VELOUTÉ AUX CHAMPIGNONS...as that really was the best mushroom soup I've ever eaten...

...anywhoo...checking off another recipe...all of the particulars are over at The Vegan Version

~Have a lovely day!

...a weekend baby shower...

...we got the invitation to a Baby Shower at the Church over the weekend...

...so I quickly got out a skein of baby blue yarn...

...and cast on for one of my Super Simple One Hour Baby Hat...

...and finished it right up...

...they're always so tiny...that you can hardly imagine that they'll fit on a baby's head...

...then I headed over to the fellowship hall...which was neatly decorated in a nautical theme...Ahoy...It's a Boy...so cute...

...the Mama-to-be opened the little hat...

....and the B.A.B.Y. Blanket from the Prayer Shawl Ministry N.O.A.H. ...

...Baby Showers are always so much fun!

~Wishing you a lovely start to your week...