Blueberry Muffins

Yesterday, I made a quick batch of our favorite muffins for breakfast. Anything on Sunday morning has to be quick - the Man has to be at the church by 8:00 - the Man-Cub and I wander over about 9:00 - so our Sunday morning is a bit more leisurely.

It's an old recipe from a Betty Crocker Cookbook - easily veganized:

3/4 cup milk - I used soy milk
1/2 cup oil - but I used applesauce instead - your pick
1 egg equivalent - I used flaxseed goo
2 cups all purpose flour - I used 1 cup AP and 1 cup Whole Wheat - you could probably use all whole wheat - but I've never tried it - it might be a bit heavy.
1/3 cup sugar
3 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries - the recipe says to thaw them but I don't - they seem to hold up better frozen. Also, I don't mix them into the batter when I do mini muffins - I just drop 3-4 berries on each muffin and press it into the batter with a spoon. When I'm making big muffins I do mix them in.

Heat oven to 400°. Grease bottoms only of 12 muffin cups or 24 mini muffin cups. Bake until golden brown. There is also a note that if you are using Self-rising flour to omit the salt and baking powder - but you probably already knew that.

In other news the caroling with the youth went well.

COOKIES!

Our Youth Group got together to bake cookies last night - they will deliver these Sunday when we go caroling - and they had made Christmas Cards at a previous meeting.


They had a good (and noisy) time and baked 12 dozen cookies.

Christmas Cards!

I love Christmas Cards! I love getting them and sending them. These finally went into the mail today - they have a lot further to go this year. I loved the Madonna and Child stamps this year, and our Thrivent rep sent us some pretty return address labels with some pretty seals.

Santa Lucia Crown

Saint Lucy was a martyr from Syracuse in about 304 CE. Her feast day is tomorrow - Dec. 13th. You can read more about her here
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09414a.htm

I made a St. Lucia Crown (saffron bread)




I used the recipe here http://www.breadworld.com/recipes/recipedetail.asp?id=68 with obvious modifications - Soy milk for the milk and Earth Balance for the butter - and flax seed goo for the egg. Oh, and I couldn't find saffron powder here, but found the threads so I just ground those up in my little mortar and pestle. The bread is very good, but very saffron-y - so if you don't like that flavor, maybe don't use the full 1/8 teaspoon.

Things that make me smile...

Here are some holiday pictures that warm my heart this Christmas Season:
The Christmas Teapot my sister gave me years ago - it makes its appearance on the counter every year - I'm having a cup of Earl Grey as I type...

The Man-Cub decorating the tree - he has so much fun doing this - almost as much as me...



Vanilla Candles in the dark...


Our little house...after dark...

Quelle Surprise!!!

Guess what was delivered at 9:00 this morning? A Cable-Nelson upright piano. I've been playing it just about ever since it got here - but I had to come and do a quick post about it - I love it so. So now I know what the Man was sneaking around talking on the phone about.




The bench is from the Kohler & Campbell piano that I played when I was growing up. Thanks to Mom and Karen for sending that to me. I don't think they had any idea that it would be paired with a new piano.

The piano is used and has all of the dates of service penciled in under the top. When I find out more about it's history, I'll post about that. It has a nice tone 'though and some light wear on the keys. I can't wait to give the Man-Cub his lesson on it this afternoon.

I love-love-love my new piano.

The Stockings are hung...

We we have no chimney - so they are hung...on the bookcase...

Tonight we'll finally put all the ornaments on the tree. I have put up stockings and the wreath, and the little blue candles in the front facing windows. So, by Christmas Eve I should have just about all the decorating done. The first two stockings were knitted during our first year of married life - which technically makes them antiques - and the Man-Cub's stocking wasn't knitted until he was two - we had a little felt Baby's First Christmas stocking the first year - and somehow I didn't get one knitted for his second Christmas so we used the First Christmas one again - sad I know...

I am, of course, frantically working to finish 4 North Country Hats for 4 of the Man-Cub's friends and the 3-way scarf that he picked out for his teacher.

I'm knitting it in a pink variegated from Bernat 35003 Funky to match her coat - picture here http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7036/3818/1600/100_2932b.jpg.


Have I mentionned that the Man-Cub is crazy about Legos. He gets about 15 minutes of free time on the computer each day - he can spend longer on educational sites. He spent about a weeks worth of days, paging through the instructions on Lego.com to make this creature. He's really proud of it - I am too!

Tree's Up

The Man-Cub picked the perfect Christmas tree this year.














It's a Balsam - and it smells better than any Christmas Tree we've ever had - the whole house just smells like Christmas. So the tree is up and it has lights on it,
but no ornaments yet and I don't know that we'll get to them before the weekend this week is cram-packed with events. We had two funerals yesterday - nothing like standing at a graveside with a -20 windchill.












Tonight we have the WELCA Christmas party and I'm in charge of the program. I'm showing a video "Women of the Early Church". It's pretty good, then we'll have some discussion and a potluck dinner.














I'm taking a tray of fudge - it's super easy Microwave Fudge. I've made a couple of batches now and it turns out perfectly.

Microwave Fudge
3 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
2-3 Tablespoons soy milk
1/2 cup Earth Balance
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup chopped black walnuts

Just put it all in a microwave for 2-3 minutes until bubbly - then pour it into a greased dish, let it harden and cut it into squares.

And I'm also taking my pretty divided snowflake dish with peas on one side and glazed carrots on the other
- it seems like they never have enough just plain veggies at a potluck.

Finished Object - Cozy Shawl

I finished a soft and cozy shawl - this was a quick weekend project - started when I should have been finishing - socks - or Christmas presents - or even working on the stashghan - I need to post a picture of that 10 year old project as well - as some of you may remember it from when I used to cart it around with me in a cardboard box - LOL. I also finished the Man-Cub's Camo Scarf. But I saw the pattern and wanted a shawl just to drape over my shoulders when I get chilly in the computer room.


I love it - it's very cuddly. The pattern is free at Lion Brand it's the Easy Triangle Shawl Lion Brand® Homespun® Pattern Number: 60301 - I used Deco and just a little over 1 skein. I think you have to register to see the pattern - http://cache.lionbrand.com/patterns/khs-triangleShawl2.html?noImages=0

I'll seam up the Man-Cub's Camo Scarf tonight and post a picture later. Sadly, the North Country hat, that it was to match, has disappeared - the Man-Cub says it disappeared from his cubby at school. Whoever has it will never be able to wear it in public in such a small town - someone will know who it really belongs to. Now, I'm going to have to buy more camo yarn and make another one - he liked it so well.

Vegan Oreos

I have fond memories of Oreo Cookies – you know they used to have lard in them - now they don’t but they still aren’t vegan. I also know that no vegan mom wants their vegan child to feel excluded. So the Man-Cub and I came up with OVEG cookies. It was a lot of fun and the Man-Cub loves them.

First of all – the Man-Cub got one of those little packets of Oreos in his Trick-or-Treat bag. We made some salt dough and made an impression of the top of one of the cookies. Then we took a toothpick and changed the OREO to OVEG – do a mirror image thing here. Let it dry for several days – until it is quite hard.














Vegan Oreos or OVEG's

1 ½ c. flour – I used all purpose – but you could probably use rice flour too
¾ c. cornstarch
2/3 c. cocoa
1 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
½ t. salt

Whisk all this together in a medium sized bowl.

Then cream together:

¾ c. Earth Balance
1 c. sugar – I used turbinado
½ c. egg replacer goo – I bring ½ c. water and ¼ c. flax seed to a boil and then strain the goo through cheesecloth.
1 t. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350° . Add the dry ingredients to the wet - I used a heavy-duty mixer to mix this dough and it is quite stiff. Then make little balls of dough.


Dip your little cookie press in flour – you have to do this each time you use it or it will stick – then tap off the excess flour and press the little ball until it is quite flat. Oh, and make sure you use parchment paper to line your cookie sheets. The cookies are very thin and take only about 5 minutes to bake. Let them cool a little bit before you try to remove them from the cookie sheet.








While they are baking – make the filling.










Filling:

2 c. confectioner’s sugar
2 T. canola oil
1 t. agar agar powder
Approx. 2 T. water

Mix together and fill a pastry bag to pipe the filling onto the cookies. I’m sure you can just spread it with a knife too – but the Man-Cub loves the piping thing.




We got 51 ½ cookies from this batch – and from a little distance – you can’t tell the difference.

What a nice snack!

And a fun time was had by all…..

We had our Pack meeting Monday night, and the theme was Knights in Shining Armor. We had cardboard shields and tunics cut out and ready to be decorated, and then a procession afterwards to the tune of three blind mice.

We Are Knights
We are Knights!
We are Knights!
We wear our swords!
We wear our swords!
We fight and joust and go off to war!
We save fair damsels and slay dragons galore!
We’re loyal to King Arthur and Camelot’s soil,
Oh, we are Knights


Here we are lining up for the procession.

We had a ton of awards to give out, including the Good Turn award for all the boys who collected food on November 18th, and we had 4 new Bobcats.









We collected still more food for the local food bank.















My Den performed their skit perfectly and got a big laugh from the audience.














My karaoke microphone worked and then it didn’t work and then it worked again – so I was a little hoarse by the end, but all the boys had fun and it went pretty smoothly. Now we’re planning a Bowling Party/Christmas Party and a regular Pack meeting for December. The theme is Every Scout’s a Star – and I’m trying to line up an astronomer to come and speak to the boys and maybe (if it’s not 30 below) go outside and look at some stars.

Our Weekend and the Vegan Feast

On the Friday after Thanksgiving we rented one of those carpet machines and shampooed our carpet. It is unfortunate that we inherited an off-white (and already stained) carpet - it's just really difficult to keep clean. It took all day Friday of scrubbing and I wish I had taken before and after photos to show you the dramatic difference. Last year, we had the professionals come and clean the carpet, with less than stellar results. We were much more pleased with the do-it-yourself results, we even got out stains that the pros left behind.















Yesterday, we finally had our family Thanksgiving Feast.














I made my vegan version of the MIL's Cornbread Stuffing.

3 c. cornbread
1 c. biscuits
1 c. diced onion
1 1/2 c. diced celery
1/2 t. sage
1 t. poultry seasoning
1/4 t. salt
dash of Black Pepper

I crumble and mix the cornbread biscuits and all of the seasonings. Then, I cook the onions and celery in about 1 cup of water in the microwave until tender, then pour the entire contents cooking water and veg into the cornbread mixture and mix with my hands until it is moistened, then press into an oiled cast iron pan and bake at 350 until lightly browned.

Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Marshmallow topping.

I baked 2 sweet potatoes in the microwave, then peeled and mashed them, added a little bit of brown sugar, Earth Balance and cinnamon and spread in a tart pan, then topped with VeganSweets Marshmallows and baked until the marshmallows were puffy and lightly browned.

Green Bean Casserole - this was truly delicious

1 package of frozen French Style Green Beans
1 3 oz. can of French Fried Onions

1 c. Silk Soy Milk Plain
1 cube vegetable bouillon
1 small can mushroom stems and pieces - do not drain
dash of cayenne pepper
dash of black pepper
1/4 c. flour
1/2 c. water

Heat the Soy Milk and dissolve the bouillon in it. Then drain the mushroom liquid into the pot. Season with the peppers. Mix the flour and water and slowly add to the pot stirring constantly with a wire whisk, keep stirring and cook until the mixture thickens. It should have the consistency of a thick white sauce. Remove from heat and add the mushroom stems and pieces.

Pour this over the Green Beans and bake at 350 until bubbly. Top with the entire can of onions and bake until just browned.

The broccoli is just steamed, and the pumpkin pie is Bryanna's and I've posted about it before
http://www.fatfreevegan.com/desserts/pumpkin_pie.shtml - we love it.

It was a lovely meal - one to be Thankful for.

Kon-Tiki

I re-read Kon-Tiki after my sister posted that she was reading the book. It had been a long long time since I had read it - so it was like reading it for the first time. Then, while I was searching for the dvd for the movie Kon-Tiki (1950), I came across this blog, from this year - Thor Heyerdahl's grandson was on an expedition to repeat the Kon-Tiki voyage.

http://tangaroa.nettblogg.no/english.html

It was a fun read too.

Happy Thanksgiving

Just a quick post before the festivities begin. We are thankful for pies:


















The first one is Bryanna's Vegan Pumpkin Pie and it is really good.

And the Second One is sort of from the Better Homes and Gardens issue that I was browsing while I was waiting in line at the grocery store.

















This is what I did:

I adapted my Flaky Pie Crust recipe to add some whole wheat - the pie in BHG had a whole wheat crust. I used the same crust for the pumpkin pie too.

Whole Wheat Pastry Crust:

1 1/4 c. flour
1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 c. oil3-4 tbsp. cold water

Mix oil and water together and add to flour, mix well and roll out between two sheets of wax paper.

I cut the little hearts out of leftover pastry and dipped them in sugar - to match the picture on the BHG.

For the Tart filling:

2-1/2 cups fresh cranberries
1/3 cup water
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

I mixed that all together and microwaved on high for about 5 minutes - until it was bubbly and thick and the berries started to pop. Then I poured it into the crust and baked at 350 for about 40 minutes.

Happy Thanksgiving!

More Crafty Goodness Chez Affectioknit

The Man-Cub said the other day that his Ninja Turtle lunchbox was too "babyish"
and he wanted a Camouflaged one.









So we searched in vain for a camo lunch box - I guess we should have done this at the beginning of the school year when Stuff-Mart had a bunch of lunch boxes. Now we could only find barbie and batman lunchboxes. Never fear 'though the Man-Cub is rarely deprived.




















We simply took model paint (which we already had) and painted a camouflaged design on top of the Ninjas. He was so pleased to take his lunch to school today.

What we’ve been up to…too busy to post…

First thing Saturday morning we took our Operation Christmas Child (http://www.samaritanspurse.org/OCC.asp?MPGID=1) boxes to the drop off location about 65 miles from here. We had to be back by noon, because the Man-Cub’s Pack was doing a Food Drive at the local grocery store. Luckily we got to stand inside and hand out flyers and collect food and money.





















They did very well – and collected about 500 lbs of food and about $185 to help the local food bank during the holidays. By the time we delivered the food and got home it was 8 PM, and we still had Sunday School lessons to prepare.
















Sorry this is so dark - it's inside the warehouse where we took the food.

Then Sunday, of course, we had our regular service at church, then the Man helped me set up the tables, tablecloths and candles for the Community Thanksgiving Service, which our church hosted this year. We got home about 2 PM and I made a quick potato soup and cornbread lunch, because we had to be back at the church at 4:30 to finish setting up. For the “little lunch” after the service I made the MIL’s second gingerbread recipe. The Man said the first one she sent was not “cakey” enough. The service was very nice and after clean up, we got home again about 8:30. So I don’t think any of us felt like we had much of a weekend. Good thing this is a short week.

Monday is Cub Scout day around here – but right after school, one of the ladies from church asked the Man-Cub over for hot cocoa, so we did that first, then set up for scouts. First we had to make our Bear masks and practice our skit for next Monday’s Pack Meeting – it’s really cute:
















C and D walk to the tent.
C – Well it’s time to turn in for the night.
D – Oh no – it looks like the tent will only hold one person.
C – let’s flip a coin for it.
D – Heads
C – flips coin - Tails – well goodnight – C crawls into tent
D lies down outside the tent
Wild bears come and attack D – then run away
D – C C wake up quick – these bears just attacked me – let me in
C – there’s no room – go back to sleep
D lies down outside the tent again
Wild bears come and attack D again – then run away
D – C C you have to let me in – these bears just attacked me again.
C – OK all right – I’ll switch places with you –
D crawls into the tent and C lies down outside.
The Wild Bears come back , but stop before the attack
J – Guys, we’ve attacked that guy outside twice now – let’s get the guy in the tent.
Line up and take a bow.
















Then we went to a local historical house for a tour – it was wonderful – the house was built in 1906 so it’s 100 years old and it belonged to a doctor. This young couple bought it and completely renovated it – it was even featured on Bob Villa’s Restore America. She told us the whole story and the cubs were fascinated and very well behaved. Then we toured the oldest church in town – it’s an Episcopal Church and sadly now only has about 30 members. It was tons of fun and we all learned a lot. Some of the parents who went with us said they had lived here all their lives and had never been in the old church.


Here the scouts are listening at the back stairway to a speaking tube that was used to call the servants from upstairs.













Here the scouts are examining a pocket door that was walled up and only found during the restoration.

A Table for One...

The Man is out of town for the day and of course the Man-Cub is in school, so I'll be setting the table for one at lunch today. I'm making my favorite lentil stew thingy - it's so easy - I cook some regular green/brown lentils for about 30 minutes with a bay leaf. Then I remove the bay leaf and add one can of Organic Tomatoes
(they actually do carry these in the grocery store here), and a couple of handfuls of frozen corn. Cook that for about 10 more minutes and it's done.

Served here with a nice cozy cuppa hot tea.