Tuesday, October 31, 2017

...Reformation Day...

...did you know that today is not only Halloween?...

...It's also Reformation Day!...and the 500th anniversary...so...it's a pretty big deal in the Lutheran world...

...we celebrated Sunday with a High Church processional service...
...and the 95 Theses were nailed to the Church Doors...
...then later in the afternoon...there was a community service for about 17 Lutheran Churches in our area...
...it was a beautiful Church...
...and a beautiful service...

~Have a lovely day!

Monday, October 30, 2017

...Trunk or Treat 2017...

...in preparation for Trunk or Treat...I packed up a baggie with Vegan S'mores fixin's...because there's going to be a bonfire...and I don't want to miss out on the S'mores action...
...one of our deputies set up his car to block the entrance to the parking lot so it'd be safe for the little ones...the other entrance is blocked by a firetruck...and they're giving firetruck tours there as well...
...everyone started gathering before dark to set up their trunks...
...Scout and Our Girl went with an Egyptian tomb theme to match their costumes...
...and right at dusk...the crowds of costumed trick-or-treaters started arriving...
...there were hayrides around the graveyard...
...the bonfire and S'mores...
...lots of treats and games in the shed...
...and spooky pathways...
...there was a huge community turnout which is always nice...and everyone had a great time...
...oh...and the vegan s'mores...
...they turned out perfectly as well...

~Have a lovely day!

Saturday, October 28, 2017

...Dinner and a Movie...

...the Man suggested Kielbasa sausages for dinner...so I whipped up a batch...haha...it takes over an hour...
...but it made for a delicious TV dinner...with Grandma's Mashed...and fried cabbage and a 2 ingredient probiotic biscuit...

...and since he had paitiently observed all 4 episodes of Endeavour...I let the Man choose...and he chose The Apartment...an oldie but a goodie...just a funny/serious story about some people...I was surprised that Fred MacMurray was not a nice person in this film...

...What have you been watching?...

~Have a lovely weekend!

Friday, October 27, 2017

...VEGAN CANDY CORN...

...did you know that most candy corn is not vegan...it often has gelatin or egg whites in it...weird...

...this was so much fun...such a colourful project...and you know I always like playing with food...this was just like playdough...
...It looked at A LOT of recipes on the internet...and came up with what I thought would be easy and use ingredients that I had on hand...and not make 50K corns...

VEGAN CANDY CORN

1/4 cup clear corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon coconut oil, softened...and I'd recommend refined so that your corns don't taste like coconut...
1/4 cup powdered sugar
a pinch of salt
3/4 cup tapioca flour (plus 2 tablespoons for kneading)
food colour, yellow and red
...just mix it all together...it will seem pretty dry at first...
...just keep kneading until smooth and pliable...
...divide into three balls...
...colour one ball yellow (I used 4 drops of food colouring)...and one ball orange (I used 3 drops yellow and one drop red)...and keep one ball white...
...I put on gloves for this part...just knead the colour in until it is uniform...of course...
...now the playdough part...just roll the dough into snakes...
...one of each colour...about the same length and width...
...line your snakes up with yellow in the middle...actually...you can put them in any order you like...
...and just pinch and press them together into a smooth rope...
...press it down on top to flatten it just a bit...
...and then cut triangles back and forth...so some of your corns will be white on the top and some will be white on the bottom...
...lay them on a parchment paper and let them dry overnight...and they'll develop that little bit of a shell with a soft and chewy center...
...then put them in a pretty dish...
...these turned out so perfectly...they don't taste exactly like I remember candy corn...but they are sweet and delicious and chewy and colourful...so pretty much perfect!

~Have a lovely day!

Thursday, October 26, 2017

...30 Calorie Vegan Pumpkin Latte...

...just about every morning...we have a little bit of coffee left in the pot...just about a cup or so...

...and you know how I am loathe to waste food...

...so I often make it into a flavored latte drink later in the day...usually a cold one...

...this one has the following ingredients:

1 cup cold coffee
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
1/8 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
5 drops flavored Stevia

...that's it and you have a refreshing 30 calorie vegan latte...

~Have a lovely day!

Wednesday, October 25, 2017

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

...I added some sticky felt to the bottoms of my crocheted slippers...that way the felt will receive the wear not the yarn bottoms...and they'll last longer...

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

~Have a lovely day!

Tuesday, October 24, 2017

...Strawberry & Pear 2-Ingredient Sorbet...

...there's really not too much to say about this one...
...take some frozen strawberries...and a slightly overripe pear (not frozen) and give it a whir in the food processor...

...perfecty sweet and tangy semi frozen dessert...

~Have a lovely day!

Monday, October 23, 2017

...Over the weekend...

...I had taken Jack to this little State Park near our home every night this week...
...so the second I got his leash...he ran straight for the car...they learn so quickly...hoping he won't be disappointed if we don't make it every day now...but...he's certainly happy in the moment...
...the path was super nice...I love fall...and it's still pretty early fall here...the leaves are really just starting to turn...
...not sure if you can see it....but this is a persimmon tree...they're not terribly common around here...but some of the ladies make a persimmon pie and/or pudding for Church covered dish suppers...(not vegan though... )
...this is the bottom of a two tiered lake system...I love the reflection of the sky and trees...
...on the way back to the car...we passed the persimmon tree again...
...and this time I couldn't resist plucking a ripe fruit...

...I remember Daddy talking about eating wild persimmons...but I think this is the very first time I've ever tried one...I liked it...but found it rather odd...the texture of it felt kind of like a cross between a tomato and a peach...and the flavor was just sweet and mild...not peachy or tomatoey...

...have you ever tried a persimmon?...
...I had gotten up super early...so I could take care of my dog-sitting commitment...and get the shopping done so that I could meet up with my dear friend Amy here...at the Gibson Mill Antique Mall...I had never been...but it was the venue of Scout and Our Girl's prom...
...it was super crowded...
...but we went in and wandered up and down the crowded aisles...I actually found some of my Liberty Blue plates at a good price and we lugged them around (taking turns)...but in the end...the queue to the check out was so long that we put them back...
...anywhoo...we had lunch at the little deli in the mall...and they had lots of vegetarian options...so I got a panini and asked for no cheese or butter and the guy cheerfully offered to add avocado instead...so nice...
...then early afternoon...we decided to wander around the little town...downtown...and we passed this crazy Halloween decorated house...there was quite a crowd of people 'admiring' it...
...and we went to the little chocolate shop...and got a delicious vegan cake...we were going to get vegan ice cream at that shop too...but we were too full...

...it was such a fun afternoon...Old friends are the BEST!
...then Sunday after Church...this happened...

...just a few people left and we were about to lock up...when we walked up the hall to the exit and smelled electrical smoke in the Handbell room...there's really not much in there that could be on fire...but the fire department was called and quickly arrived...and this being a small community and all...everyone stopped to offer assistance...and find out what was going on...
...so here is the crowd gathered around the culprit...an old cd copying station...that's not used anymore since the AV equipment has been upgraded and is all digital now...but the AV person used to take the master cd from the old system into this room and they could make 5 copies at a time on this old system...and it was just left plugged in in there and nobody was using it...and the power supply caught fire and burned up the inside of the PC...

...we were really super lucky that it happened on a Sunday afternoon when people were still around...

...and that's all the excitement I have for now...

~Wishing you a lovely start to your week!