Impossible Pumpkin Pie

Last night the Man-Cub and I made the impossible pumpkin pie from http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2006/10/and-answer-is.html and it is really good. The only sub I made was for the EnerG egg - I used my trusty flax seed goo and the pie has a good texture. I like a crust and this one doesn't form much of a crust, but the texture and flavor of this pumpkin pie is excellent.



















We also made the No-Knead Bread from this NY Times recipe
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/dining/08mini.html?ref=dining
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/dining/081mrex.html
The video is cute - The Man-Cub thought it was funny that he says a 6 year old can make better bread than most bakeries. The bread was very good - I served it with a white bean soup (flavored only with bay leaf).
















After about 18 hours - I put the covered bowl in my oven with the light on - it creates just enough warmth and there are no drafts.















Then all you do is fold it over a couple of times.















and put it on a floured towel.
















Let it rise again for about 2 hours.
















Heat your dutch oven in a 450° oven for about 30 minutes - this one is very old - it belonged to the Man's Mamaw back in the 1930's - I was concerned about the lack of any oil - I didn't want it to stick, but if your dutch oven is good and hot it shouldn't be a problem.

















The top isn't as nicely round as I would have liked, but the bread stuck to the towel a little bit, so it didn't plop right into the pot the way it should have done. But the crust browned nicely and it tasted great.

Tea Cozy

I promised to post about the tea cozy. It's actually a couple of years old, so I'm not claiming it as a FO for this year, I got the pattern from Sugar and Cream and I just checked their website and it's still available, although you have to be a member to get it (that's free too).

http://www.sugarncream.com/pattern.php?PT=k

It's under the heading decor/pets. I made mine in white, it was pretty simple, and I like the result on my Brown Betty teapot.

Toasty Toes

The Sacha Slippers are finished and I'm really pleased with them and I'm really glad that I changed the sole to fit the shape of my foot. For the tops I followed the pattern exactly, but left off the little embroidered flowers - not my style really...































The bazaar went really well - I served in the kitchen from about 8:00 - 1:00, then we cleaned up and met some friends at the theatre for the "Flushed Away" matinee. It was cute - and I knitted on my latest socks - really my TKD project, but it was handy and portable.

Pies...Pools...and More Pies...

I made two peach pies for the Bazaar - I figured the Southern Girl should make the peach pies.

For the filling:
1 pint frozen peaches
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1 t. cinnamon















Flaky Pie Crust - I found this on the web a long time ago and I made a card for my recipe box - but I don't remember where I got it - so I can't give proper credit.
9 INCH - 2 crust pie shell:
1 3/4 c. flour
1/2 c. oil
3-4 tbsp. cold water

Stir oil and water. Add all at once to the flour. Mix and roll out between sheets of wax paper.
Assemble pies and bake at 425° for about 30 minutes - until juice is bubbly and crust is brown.















Then we took the Man-Cub to the pool - there were about 30 other children there so he had plenty of people to play with.

Diving...

Climbing...

Making a vortex...All of the kids got together in the area where the slide used to end - and started going around and around in the same direction until they created a votex in the center - it was dizzying to watch - but they had a lot of fun. One of the workers told us that they have ordered a new slide and it will be installed by the 20th of December - so we're looking forward to that.

When we got back home - we had a snack and sort of ruined our appetite for dinner, but I made some "Fried Apple Pies" anyway. Mom used to make these when I was little - she really did fry hers - I call mine Fried Apple Pies, but they are really baked.

This was some leftover pie dough from the Peach Pies. Just roll it out between two sheets of saran or wax paper.

Then put some apple filling in - I chopped up a red delicious apple from the fruit bowl - but a tarter apple would be even better. Since it was a sweet apple, I only added about a Tablespoon of Sugar and some cinnamon and a little flour. The little pies don't hold as much as you would think.















Then fold them over and press the sides together with a fork.




















The edges got a little too brown, but it was delicious non-the-less. I'll post about the tea cozy another time...

Vegan Brunch

Proving once again that being vegan is not about depriving yourself of anything. There was no school today for the Man-Cub so we slept in and had a big breakfast:

I fried up some veggie bacon strips in about a teaspoon of oil:
















Then I made a pretty dry roux with the oil and some flour - browned it a bit.
















Added about 1 cup of soy milk:















Stirred constantly over med/high heat until it boiled and thickened.














For the biscuits I used the Alpro Soy Creme that I had bought for my coffee - then decided it was no good for that - but it makes wonderful light creamy biscuits.



















For each biscuit use about 1/3 cup of Self-Rising flour and enough Alpro Creme to make a dough. You can roll them out or drop them onto a baking sheet, but Mom gave me a wonderful cast-iron biscuit pan a few years ago for Christmas, and I use it all the time.

Pop them in the oven at 450 °.













Bake until lightly browned (not such a good picture).













A little better...













Served here with cafe-mocha (Coffee mixed with Earth Balance Chocolate Soy Milk), Cranberry Juice, and the MIL's Strawberry Jam. YUM!


Later today we have planned a trip back to the indoor pool for the Man-Cub and then Bazaar setup - we have to be at the church about 7:00 AM tomorrow - good thing it's not far...

Bizarre... or Bazaar???

The Man-Cub asked me why we called it a Bizarre - what was weird about it. Haha. The Church Bazaar is Saturday so I spent today peeling and chopping the wonderfully sweet carrots from our garden for the soup we are going to make tomorrow morning - 9 lbs. I had stored them in a box in "cold storage" (aka the garage)after harvesting them a few weeks ago.

Step One - scrubbed and peeled.

Step Two - Washed and topped
Step Three - Chopped and packed

Ready to go.












While I took the Man-Cub to Tae Kwon Do tonight - the Man made a yummy supper -

this squash - it's called a Buttercup - I don't remember seeing it down south, but it's really good - I just bake it - really that's it - it doesn't need anything else - no sugar, salt or butter - it's good just like it is.















...And TACOS

Refried Bean Filling:
1 can pintos
1/2 t. Chili Powder
1/2 t. Cumin
pinch garlic powder
Mash and stir and heat.

















Tofu Sour Cream - it's better than you think...
1 box extra-firm silken tofu
3 T. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
Blend until very smooth.

Frosty Mornings

These are some pictures of a frosty morning here - they don't quite capture the quality of the light though - they're still nice. That's just a heavy frost on the trees - not snow...










The den meeting Monday went well. The theme for November is Knightly Scouts - so we created Coats of Arms - then a Castle Pencil Holder - then we jousted - I tied a ring from the doorway and they ran with a lance and tried to spear the ring. They had a lot of fun.















I've also started another scarf for the Man-Cub - he wants a camo scarf to match his Northwoods hat. I've knit about 50 rows - it's just simple stockinette stitch - so I'm guessing about 350 rows will be a nice size scarf - or whenever I run out of yarn.

An Un-cheese kinda day

I got the Uncheese Cookbook by Joanne Stepaniak in the mail today – I can’t wait to try some “uncheesy” recipes. With the cookbook – I ordered some Red Star Nutritional Yeast – I’d never had it before but I read about it on the Vegan Lunchbox - http://www.veganlunchbox.blogspot.com/ and wanted to give it a try. So for lunch today I wanted some “cheese grits” – being the southern girl that I really am at heart – I will never give up my grits. I made Jim Dandy grits and after they were cooked I added about 1 teaspoon of the RS Nutritional Yeast – a dash of paprika and a dash of pepper – no recipe really – I just wanted to experiment with the yeast and see how palatable it was. It was pretty good – not terribly cheesy, but nice. I can’t wait to try some of the proper recipes using the yeast now.

The Man-Cub is having a sleepover with 2 of his best friends tonight – so that should be tiring and then the last day of lefse making tomorrow from 8-12 – then I’ll take the boys to the sledding hill and see how the snow runs.

Sacha Slipper Update

Well I have actually knit almost two slippers - the first one was a boat that would have fit the Man.

It is really just a long rectangle and didn't fit my foot well at all. I haven't frogged yet - but I will to get the yarn for the real second slipper as soon as I finish this one.
I started over and shaped the sole to my foot as I went - I did like the ballet slipper effect of the first one so I'll redo the top from the pattern - then add the strap a button. I think it will turn out nicely.













Tonight is the 3rd night of lefse making and also Scout Roundtable - So I'll try to do both again. Roundtable is usually 7-9 - so I guess I'll be part of the cleanup crew tonight.

Alien World

Just a quick Happy Halloween














I took snacks - Boo Bags (Popcorn, Pretzels, and raisins) and Witches Brew (Orange Juice, Pineapple Juice and Grape Juice)- it makes a muddy water looking drink that tastes pretty good.

Here's a snap of the Man-Cub (as the green Alien) and Me (as the Alien Commander).


We had a great time at the Fall Festival - I manned a Golf Putting game for the first hour - then we made the rounds of all the games and candy and the Haunted Library.










It was a lot of fun - then we left the school and went Trick or Treating in the snow.
That was fun too.


















The Man-Cub asked on the way home if he could sort his candy before doing his homework - of course I said OK - you have to sort the loot - so you can eat all your faves and still have the not-so-fave stuff at Christmas.