Wednesday, March 31, 2021

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

...I got last year's Easter sweater out of the tote that I put it in when we didn't have an Easter service last year...(well...we had a totally virtual one)...you can see what it looked like then here...
...and it looks exactly the same now...because...I've not touched it in over a year...

...Kitten is approaching the new thing very trepidatiously...
...she's twitching she's so nervous about it...it must smell really different to her...
...but of course...it's on the floor...so it's hers...she says...

...I've taken off the last few rows and I'm going to redo them with the leftover bits of yarn from the sleeve skeins...that I broke off to make them match...that way I'll use up all of the pretty yarn and the sweater will be a little bit more oval...and longer over my bum...
...and I've made a little more progress with the Vegan Shearling Jacket too...one sleeve is almost finished...and it's going to be really chilly this weekend too...but the jacket will not be finished...

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

~Have a lovely day!

Tuesday, March 30, 2021

...3.30...Tuesdays with Julia...

...we made VEGAN PUREE DE POMMES DE TERRE A L’AIL - or garlic mashed potatoes...I was kind of surprised that we hadn't already done this recipe...just because we all love mashed potatoes...
...so you make a sort of garlic gravy...and then add it to the mashed potatoes...
...we had ours with vegan sausage and cabbage...
...it was good...creamy and garlic-ky...and all of the particulars are over at The Vegan Version...

~Have a lovely day!

Monday, March 29, 2021

....3.29...Over the Weekend...

...well...let's see...I just uploaded a bunch of photos...so it must have been a busy weekend...right?...
...I ordered and picked up some groceries...this week we did not get asparagus...and I was really hoping to get some too...oh well...we're trying the new-to-us Birdseye cauliflower bites...I got the spicy ones and the plain ones...just in case the spicy ones are too spicy for me...haha...probably...haha...

...we also put their crispy green beans in the cart...but did not get those either...and YAY!...I finally got some almond milk...

...and I don't normally buy prunes...don't know why...because I do like them...but the Man is going to make some Steak Sauce...it's from a Posta Negra sauce recipe that he saw at Glen and Friends Cooking on Youtube...more on that in a little bit...except for the dead animal...it's vegan...ha...
...next up...the local (and by local...I mean 1/8 of a mile (200 M) up the road from us)...fire department was having a fundraiser Corn Dog truck...and we, of course, want to support them...but we don't want to eat a corn dog...there were no vegan options...so...before we went...I set about making some vegan corn dogs...

...we've done it on the blog before...this fried version...and they were really good...and then this little muffin version that was really easy and really good too...

...and I probably should have just done the muffins...because this took a lot of time...but I'm going to try a fat free baked version this time...

...so I cut some squares of parchment...
...and wrapped it around a spice jar to get a corn dog shaped sleeve...
...and then I also wrapped that in foil...
...making sure the seams didn't line up...
...I got some veggie dogs out of the freezer...

...when I buy vegan hot dogs...which I don't eat that often...I immediately take them out of the package and separate them with cling film and then freeze them...so that I can take them out one at a time easily...
...I stood the little sleeves up in my popover pan to hold them semi-upright...and halfway filled them using Our Girls favorite little toy...

...and then slipped in a veggie dog...and topped each one off...
...and stuck in a chopstick...and baked them for about an hour...they really turned out good...I wished that I had some yellow cornmeal...but just used the white that I had on hand...they browned nicely...and had just the right about of crunch...
...so at the food truck...I got a tray of french fries and a lemonade...
...and brought that home to enjoy with my vegan corn dog...it was a really fun and delicious lunch...
...checking the weather...before I head out for my daily bike ride...CRAZY weather for March...I should be wearing shorts...
...so then I snapped this photo from my bike...so you could see how leafy the trees are getting...it's cloudy and threatening rain...but I had a really nice ride...
...this came in the mail from a local realtor...reminding me that it's time...you know...

...but I stuck it on the fridge as a reminder and to try and check off one item each day...instead of tackling them all at once...
...after some afternoon storms...we were treated to a gorgeous sunset...you can see the last light reflecting in the puddles the storms left...
...the Man fired up the grill...
...and we had grilled tofu...with his sauce...I said it smelled like Christmas when it was cooking...but in the end it tastes a lot like A1 sauce...so I'd recommend it...
...when we got to Church...this sweet basket of Easter goodies had been left outside the Man's office door by the Youth...so SWEET!...
...it was Palm Sunday...and we had a really nice service...not the usual one...but very nice...
...and we saw this little guy (he's just about a foot long) skittering along the Church sidewalk...pretty sure it's a King Snake...

~Wishing you a lovely start to your week!

Saturday, March 27, 2021

...3.27...Dinner and a Movie...

...supporting our favorite local Thai restaurant...again...they are still only open for takeout...and I'm sure this pandemic has been really difficult for them...
...but I'm really happy that they are able to stay in business...and hopefully things will start to get more normal as more people get vaccinated...
...I got the same curry I always get...I love it and I just can't make myself try anything new because I always want this...they recognize my voice when I call...and they laugh at my spice-wimpiness...I ask for .5 and they think that is so funny...

...the Man actually chose the movie...but he chose it because he thought I would like it...now y'all probably know that Groundhog Day is one of my favorite movies OF ALL TIME...we watch it every single year...it ranks right up there with A Christmas Carol/Scrooge...it's just so sweet and hopeful and so indicative of human nature...

...so you may have already guessed that the movie he chose was The Map of Tiny Perfect Things...and it's a LOT like Groundhog Day...boy tries to get girl...except this time...there's a girl stuck in the time loop too...but it's a very sweet story...they try doing lots of things to break out of the loop...just like in Groundhog Day...and I won't spoil the ending for you...I enjoyed it and thought it was very sweet of the Man to choose it for me...because it's definitely not his idea of a good movie...I think I may have to watch the History Channel with him next week...haha...

...what have you been watching lately?...

~Have a lovely weekend!

Friday, March 26, 2021

...3.26...Friday Favorites...

...Of course there's a favorite little video of Our Girl...she's so precious...
...playing in the wind in Okinawa...it's windy here too...listen to her sweet little 'hhmmmnnn' when she walks out and feels the wind...

...I thought I'd post a little update on those stretchy silicone covers that I love so much...
...there are lots of different sizes...the smaller ones are perfect for stretching over fruit...and there's a really big one that I use to cover the end of a cut watermelon too...
...and I love how they neatly cover oddly shaped bowls like this pressed glass one... ...I got them just from Amazon just over 2 years ago...because I first mentioned them in this post...haha...

~Have a lovely day!

Thursday, March 25, 2021

...3.25...What I Ate in a Day...as a Vegan...

...I'm afraid this is a pretty boring 'regular' vegan eating sort of a day...
...breakfast was a bowl of mixed cereal and an apple with some Silk Cashew/Almond milk...I'd have regular Almond milk if I had any...
...for lunch...the Man says I got a couple of hockey pucks out of the freezer...haha...one of a rice mix and two of a black bean chili...
...and I made a sweet potato in the Foreman grill...and added a spoonful of sauerkraut to my bowl...
...in the afternoon...I got hungry so I did what I often did in college...made a bowl of ramen...I think this used to be called oriental flavor...now it's called soy sauce flavor...and I ate the whole thing...haha...
...dinner was baked tofu, carrots, cabbage, potatoes, and a small cucumber and tomato salad...I put Heinz 57 on my tofu...
...after dinner and before bed...I made some peanut butter and banana nice cream...

...what did you eat yesterday?...

~Have a lovely day!

Wednesday, March 24, 2021

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

...I suppose y'all know that Easter is just around the corner...
...and you probably also know that I can't seem to stay focused on JUST ONE project at a time...

...so when I saw Gina Michelle's cute one square bunny pattern...I thought I should probably make one and get it into an APO box to the kiddos before Easter...

...and in the stash was this cream coloured chenille...I think I got it for the trim on the Shearling jacket cover...but decided to use the 'curly' Homespun instead...and this fuzzy mostly synthetic chenille is quite different from the dark brown cotton chenille...anywhoo...
...this is definitely a quick little one evening project...you just knit a square in stockinette stitch...
...I actually wound up using the back side of the fabric for my bunny...I just liked it a little bit better than the vertical stitch 'front' side...
...and then you make a couple of seams to form the bunny into a bunny shape...
...and stitch up the ears...this bunny holds a cup for candy in it's midsection...but Gina Michelle has a stuffed lovey style bunny pattern as well...
...I embroidered on a sweet little face...
...and added a little white cottontail...
...and left the back open for a cup...
...I already had one just the right size...
...it just nestles right in the middle...
...and then fill it up with whatever you like...
...it turned out really cute...and I'm sure you still have time to make one for Easter...
...and here it is packed into this week's APO box...there's a bunch of spices/herbs in there double bagged...Our Airman was saying how expensive it would be to restock all of their spices...and I said wait...we'll send you one each of ours...we buy ours in bulk and always have too much anyway...Tigger is in there and a couple of books and some blocks, Easter cookie mix and cutters...you know just a homey assortment of things from home...
...now on to the Vegan Shearling Jacket Cover...I knit a couple of plackets to cover the pocket openings...
...turned under and stitched one side...
...positioned it over the pocket hole...here I'm deciding which side of the 'seam' I want it to line up on...
...finished the fake seams up the front...
...positioned the plackets over the pockets...
...and stitched them into place...

...it's really getting to be springtime here...so I'm certain not to wear this jacket until next winter...I only have the sleeves and the collar to go...and then of course putting it all together...and I think I want to make some sort of toggle closure as well as the zipper that's already on the jacket...we'll see...

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

~Have a lovley day!