Friday, March 31, 2017

...Aquafaba Angel Food FAIL...

...just thought I'd keep it 'real'...and post about a kitchen experiment that didn't work out...
...I bought a white cake mix with the express purpose of making it into an Angel Food Cake using Aquafaba...
...so I whipped up some beautiful mounds of aquafaba...it looked perfect for the task...
...carefully folded in the cake mix...
...and baked it up in my Angel Food pan that hardly ever gets used...
...but alas...it did not stay fluffy...nor rise to the occasion...
...the crust and the top were pretty spot on...
...but the center was dense, moist and spongy...
...still perfectly edible...just not Angel Food...at all...

...oh well...I'm sure Vegan Angel Food is coming...but I'm also pretty sure that simple aquafaba with all it's wondrous qualities is not the answer...

...had any kitchen fails lately?...

~Have a lovely day!

Thursday, March 30, 2017

...W.I.A.Y. ...and a Vega review...

...so I made it a point to photograph my food yesterday...
Breakfast - almond milk latte, vegan cinnamon bread toast (I'm going to do a recipe post soon), and Silk Soy Yogurt
...and I had been wanting to try out this protein drink...

...I usually get plenty of protein...but some days...it might be nice to just drink a protein filled smoothie...
...so I just blended it up with some Silk almond milk...
...and you can see that it has a slightly green tint to it...

...and it tastes...truthfully a little bit chalky...with slight veggie undertones...not bad really...but it's not like a vanilla milkshake either...

...so...in the future I probably won't be drinking this plain...but I'll happily add it to my smoothies for a little protein boost...where it'll be mixed in with a bunch of fruit...

Snack - Vega Protein Drink
Lunch - capellini with vegan meat sauce (leftover of course...that's what lunchtime is for...right?), salad, italian bread ...
...dinner was a Lenten Supper at the Church...so I made some Stretchy Vegan Mozzarella Cheese
...and then froze it...sliced and and put it back in the freezer...so I'll have some ready next time I want to make a grilled cheese...
...I just covered the bread with little slices...
...and grilled it with a little Earth Balance in a cast iron pan...

...so...I made my grilled cheese sammie ahead of time...and they sweetly made an entire cooker of vegan potato soup for everyone...YAY!
Dinner - Vegan Grilled Cheese Sandwich, Vegan Potato Soup...and sweet tea...and my plate looked exactly like everyone else's...
...and a pear and walnuts for dessert (that I brought in my bag...they don't usually have any vegan desserts)...and sorry...I ate most of that before I thought to take a photo...

...your turn...what did you eat yesterday?...

~Have a lovely day!

Wednesday, March 29, 2017

...2017 Easter Sweater...and the split-apart yarn...

...as soon as I saw this sweater I knew that I wanted to knit it...in white...to go with a certain suit...that I spent way too much money on...many years ago...and hardly ever wear...

...do y'all have any items in your wardrobe like that?...

...thankfully I don't have many...
...it's the 23-8 Sleeveless Sweater by Pierrot (Gosyo Co., Ltd)...not sure why it's sideways...
...but it's a Japanese pattern...so...not really much of a pattern...

...and I knew that I wanted to knit it in a nice soft white cotton...but I didn't have any...and it's actually not that easy to find...the mercerized crochet cottons are the right gauge...but not soft enough...and the Sugar and Cream that I use for dishcloths is soft enough...but worsted weight...
...so...you know what I did...I took the cotton that I had on the spool...and split it apart...using an old drop spindle and two cardboard spools...
...it was way easier than you think...just a few mindless minutes in front of the TV...and I had two spools of two-strand super soft white cotton...and...the ability to 'make' more if I needed to...
...so then...I got out a shirt that I like the fit of...I know it's a ratty old T-shirt...
....but it doesn't matter...I just want the measurements...
...charted those out...
...knitted a swatch for gauge...
...and started knitting...with a double hem...
...that's the only tedious part...
...the rest of the sweater should be pretty easy...as it's mostly stockinette...and then a twisted rib yoke...

...what's in your workbasket?...

~Have a lovely day!

Tuesday, March 28, 2017

...Tuesdays with Julia...

...I made a slightly sweet and savory carrot side dish...called VEGAN CAROTTES À LA CONCIERGE
...carrots with a beefy creamy sauce with garlic and onions...it didn't really sound like something I would like...but it wound up being really good...

...and of course all of the particulars are over at The Vegan Version...

~Have a lovely day!

Monday, March 27, 2017

...Prom 2017...

...Saturday was Our Girl's Senior Prom...
...and so they got dressed up and went 'downtown' to take a few photographs...(last year's photos here)...
...and here she is wearing the Hematite Prom Shawl...and our resourceful young lady made Scout's bowtie from the excess material she had to trim from the bottom of her gown...how cool is that?...

~Wishing you a lovely start to your week!

Friday, March 24, 2017

...5 Little Things Friday...the FOOD edition...

...so five little things I'm loving...
...my Two Ingredient Probiotic y\Yogurt...
...so creamy and good...
...a yummy 'everything' bagel I made from a plain bagel...
...my leftover almond meal cream cheese...topped with poppy seeds, sesame seeds and some garlic chives from my yard...we used to call them 'onion grass' when I was little...
...I prefer actual everything bagels...so I need to make some of those soon...
...remember a few weeks ago when I made that eggplant dish for Tuesdays with Julia...well...I had some leftover...and I had popped it into a little container and put it in the freezer...so I got that out and had it with some rice...and it was really good...
...and next some crunchy spicy good kimchi...
...the Man's kimchi is so...so good...
...I've been trying to eat just a couple of spoonfuls a day...lots of probiotics in kimchi too...
...and then the Man set up the charcoal grill as a smoker...
...after they were smoked...they were still a little bit moist so I put them on parchment and baked them in the oven...
...perfect smoky tofu...

...what little things have you been enjoying this week?...

~Have a lovely day!

Thursday, March 23, 2017

...Kitten Update...

...well...since I forgot to photograph all my food yesterday...you get to see some cute kitten photos instead...
...see how big she's getting...she won't be a year old until June (something)...here's a link to what she looked like the day the kiddos brought her home from the junk yard where they found her...a new addition to the family...
...so...sound asleep...
...but she still starts purring the second you touch her...
...and then as soon as stop petting her she starts giving herself a bath...

~Have a lovely day!