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

...it had been really cold here...but now it's starting to warm up a little bit...but cold and rainy again today...

...anywhoo...I wanted something warm for breakfast...

...so I had some Malt-O-Meal with Brown Sugar...and Coffee...

...for Lunch I made an Everything Baked Potato...just zapped in the micro and topped with everything...the star of that show was the homemade vegan sour cream...which was just some of my homemade yogurt drained until it was the consistency of sour cream...I also had a roll...some salad...and some pickled beets...kind of an odd combination...

...and Dinner...was rather uninspired...a Boca Chicken Patty (just oven-fried), Vegan Biscuit, Brussels Sprouts, Salad

...for Snacks...

...I had read that you could freeze persimmons...

...and then let them semi thaw and have a frozen custard treat...and that worked perfectly...it was yummy...

...and then later in the afternoon...but before dinner...I whipped up a (rather large) single serving of macaroni and vegan cheese...

...and that was pretty yummy too...

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

~Have a lovely day!

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

...Our N.O.A.H. knitting group at Church has a winter retreat coming up next Saturday...and our theme project this year is Little Hats Big Hearts...

...so I browsed the NOAH yarn closet for some red yarn...and found these two vintage skeins...

...y'all know how I love to research the history of old price tags like this one from Zayre...

...who knows how long these have been in that closet...the last Zayre store closed in 1990...and although we never had one in the little town I grew up in...they had one in Kannapolis...some fun old photos here...

...and another interesting thing...way back in the day...you had to be really careful that you got all the yarn for your project from the same dye lot...and these two are NOT the same dye lot...and although they appear to be the same colour...one is labeled 503 RED and the other is labeled 503 SCARLET...

...it won't matter for my sweet little One Hour Baby Hats though...

...I plan to make as many as I can before next weekend...hopefully 10...I'm thinking I can get 5 from each skein...

...so here's #1...

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

~Have a lovely day!

...Tuesdays with Julia...

...one of our Christmas Eve side dishes was Julia's VEGAN PURÉE DE MARRONS [Vegan Chestnut Purée]...and I tell the story of how I almost didn't complete that recipe because I got sick eating chestnut purée when I was in France years ago...

...it's funny how that works for me...I still can barely tolerate portabella mushrooms after a similar incident with them...

...and this puree turned out exactly how I remember it...sweet...creamy...earthy and very rich...

...I ate a small amount...and I didn't get sick...and it made for an interesting side dish...that no one else had ever tried...which is always fun...

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

...have you ever tried puréed chestnuts?...did you like them?...I think I liked them before I got sick...it's really hard to remember any pleasure associated with them though...

~Have a lovely day!

...Over the Weekend...

...y'all probably already guessed that this was un-decorating weekend...

...but since it's also Scout's last weekend of break between semesters we planned a big brunch to get everyone fueled up for undecorating day...

...I whipped up a quick vegan sausage from some seitan, veggie bouillon and the sausage TVP crumbles from the SDA store...and some rubbed sage...(I'm pretty sure that's all I put in there)...

...and fried those up...

...and then because Scout requested French Toast...I mixed up some almond milk with some garbanzo flour...nooch...a pinch of turmeric and a pinch of cinnamon for the egg-less batter...

...dipped the bread in...

...and flipped it over...

...and threw it down on the griddle...

...it turned out perfectly...

...sprinkled with some powdered sugar...and drizzled with maple syrup...it was delicious...

...then for snacks I whipped up a smoky vegan cheese...basically the same recipe that I always use for the Vegan Pepper Jack cheese...just without the pepper...and additional smoked paprika...

...it was so pretty molded in the bowl...

...and it was delicious too...

...have you un-decorated?...

~Wishing you a lovely start to your week!

...Dinner and a Movie...

...I saw these new to me pasta shapes at the grocery store and bought them...'cause they're cute...and lumaca is Italian for snail...so these are snail shaped pasta...

...cooked those in water...

...and whipped up some tofu ricotta...

...and I started piping that into the little snail shells using my largest tip...but it was still too big...so I just took it out and piped it into the shells without a tip...and it worked fine...

...filled up an au gratin dish with filled shells...I have three of these little dishes so one for each of us...

...and topped with marinara and vegan parmesan cheese...and baked...

...so that's what we had for dinner...it was good...really it tasted pretty much just like lasagna...but it was kinda different...and it was CUTE!...

...then for the movie we watched another episode of the Vietnam War series on PBS...and I think I'm pretty much done with that...it was so incredibly sad...they interviewed the mother and sister of Denton “Mogie” Crocker Jr. ...and I'm sure you have already inferred that his is a tragic story...you can read a little bit about it here...and see a sweet photo of him in uniform...

...so what have you been watching lately...

~Have a lovely weekend!

...Friday Favorites...

...the season for persimmons is quite fleeting...but I had bought several at the grocery store while they had them...

...and I used a couple of them to make a yummy chopped kale salad...(I don't know why there is a pomegranate in the photo...I didn't add any to this salad)...

...I just roughly chopped them and added them and a handful of cranberries to the chopped kale...

...they just add sweetness and the cranberries add both a little sweetness and tartness...

...it was good...

...what have you been experimenting with in the kitchen lately?

~Have a lovely day!

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

....for my first What I Ate Yesterday post of 2018...

...for Breakfast...I had Avocado toast...I love this stuff...and I've been having a quart of lemon water every day...you know Vitamin C is supposed to be good for your immune system...

...for Lunch...I had some leftover Yukon gold potatoes that I had stuck in the fridge because I didn't want to waste them...but really now...who wants leftover boiled potatoes...

...so I got out my Veg-O-Matic (Grandma's actually)...and 'hashed' them up with the dicer blades...

...then sprinkled them with some seasoning...and put them in the George Foreman Grill...of course...

...and then I made some little lettuce/burger boats...I think I've shown y'all this before...it's just re-hydrated TVP with some mustard and ketchup served on a lettuce leaf...

...and finally for dinner...I just pulled a container of chickpea Tikka Masala out of the freezer...made some rice...and dinner was served...you gotta love freezer meals...

...snacks for the day...were a delicious pomegranate...

...and I do mean delicious...

...and some kale chips...

...I think that's it...what did you eat yesterday?...

~Have a lovely day!

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

...just some food prep goin' on...

...I made a batch of soy yogurt...and it's probably the thickest I've ever made...I let the soymilk cook down a bit before I cooled it enough to add the probiotic capsule (vegan of course...and I don't add the little capsule...just the powder)...so this was pretty much perfect as unsweetened yogurt...

...and then I strained/dripped about half of it to make a really yummy cream cheese...

...also on the food-prep front...I made a big batch of succotash...I love this stuff...

...and then froze it in my muffin tins in individual servings...so handy...

...and I also mended a small hole under the arm of my favorite red cardigan...

...have I mentioned that the Man is a cardigan-hater...he says they're old lady sweaters...haha...well...if the shoe fits...or I may resemble that statement...anywhoo...I'm a cardigan lover...

...what's in your workbasket?

~Have a lovely day!

...Tuesdays with Julia...

...as promised a simple veggie side dish VEGAN CAROTTES VICHY ...from our Christmas Eve Dinner...

...Julia says the assumption is that the non-calcareous water makes a more delicate carrot...

...and these carrots were so tender and delicious that it must be true...

~Have a lovely day!

...Over the Weekend...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

...we rang in the New Year...by remaining quietly at home...

...playing games...

...and working puzzles...

...and just enjoying each other's company...before things ramp up with the busy-ness of the new year...we did stay up and watch the ball drop...kissed and sang Auld Lang Syne...

~Wishing you a blessed and peaceful 2018!