The Last Valentines...probably...

Scout has always made his Valentines from scratch... I loved last year's Valentines with the turtles and the frogs...
...and the V-alien-tines - were perfect the year before...
...as were the Colour My World ones the year before that...
...and of course I've scrapbooked each year's version...
...so naturally I thought we'd do something similar - or something 'monstrous' - this year...
...Not so...

...I had already arranged with his core teacher to bring cupcakes on Friday in honour of Valentine's Day - and she said there would be a little bit of time for exchanging cards - although some kids wouldn't participate this year - and it wouldn't really be a 'party'...

...so I asked Scout what kind of cupcakes he wanted and he said 'Marbled' so I mixed up two batches (one vanilla and one chocolate) of my trusty Vinegar Cake Recipe and got those going...

...and when I asked what he wanted to do for a card this year - he said he didn't think he'd do a card - just the cupcakes...
...so of course - I didn't want to push the issue - I asked how he wanted the cupcakes decorated if they were going to serve as his 'card' this year - and he said they should just say 'Happy Valentine's Day' - no hearts or anything...

...so he came up with the little paper cupcake toppers - very simply just the words 'Happy Valentines Day'...

...we got out toothpicks and glue and paper - he printed out the words he wanted in two columns...

...first you put a little glue on the back sheet and put your toothpick on that - then spread glue on the back of your little sheet with the words on it and lay that on top of the toothpick and paper - press down to seal well...

...then just cut out the words in a sort of free form design...

...we made 24 of these plain little cupcake toppers...

...we iced the cupcakes with part chocolate and part vanilla icing - I did have some cute little heart shaped candy sprinkles for the tops but Scout put the ix-nay on hearts of any sort...

...we stuck the little cards in alongside a lollipop...

...oh and I would have put these on a pretty glass platter - but Scout requested a box that he could throw away...
...11 year old boys can be quite funny...

There's still time to enter the drawing! Have FUN!

Contest Hints

I thought I'd throw out a couple of hints about the contest.

#'s 11 and 12 are sort of the same and would never be used in anything sweet.

So go on back and try again - or try for the first time...

...then head over to The Vegan Version there's a new recipe up...

We had Choucroute Braisée Á L'Alsacienne - [Braised Sauerkraut] for supper last night and it was delicious...

There's still time to enter the drawing! Have FUN!

Vegan Snow Cream

Mom used to make snow cream for us when we were little - and it was such a treat!

...such an ephemeral treat...

...first you have to wait until it snows (here that's not a long wait - but in NC growing up it wasn't an everyday occurrence)...

...then once you make it, you pretty much have to eat it right away as it certainly doesn't last and you can't freeze it - believe me I've tried and you get a rock hard mass of ice...

...the recipe can't be too precise - you just have to taste it to know when it's right...


Mix about 1 cup of soymilk with about 2 Tablespoons of Maple Syrup and 1 teaspoon of vanilla - then sort of drizzle that over your fresh snow - stir until it looks creamy - taste and adjust...

...get a boy up on the counter to do the taste test...

So sweet and so good!

...then use up the leftover by mixing it into some cold Teecino for a sweet afternoon pick-me-up - YUM!



There's still time to enter the drawing! Have FUN!

Shall we play a game?....

I know that really dates me...
I did love that movie though...

...but that's not the game I wanted to play - I've been to the closest Health Food store - 90 miles away - and I always come home with this big bag of vegan goodies...

...and I thought it was time we did another giveaway chez affectioknit...

I left the photo big - so you can click on it and get a better view - If you want to play the rules are simple - just post your guesses to all of the vegan foods above - if only one person gets it right - they will of course win - but if not we'll have a drawing - and you'll get an extra entry if you follow this blog - and a third entry if you follow The Vegan Version - and a 4th entry if you post about it on your blog - so play along - it'll be fun!

WHAT YOU'LL WIN!

...a brand new copy of Mollie Katzen's Enchanted Broccoli Forest !

The Drawing (or announcement of the winner and all the correct answers) will be St. Valentine's Day!

Italian Slipper Bread - AKA - Ciabatta

I love the name Ciabatta - so named because the bread is said to resemble a well loved and well worn slipper...

I used the recipe in this book
but I found a link to this one online for you - Ciabatta-Italian-Slipper-Bread - it's much the same.

Make sure you allow plenty of time - the sponge has to 'develop' for 12 hours - so probably best done the day before...


It really is a wet dough and difficult to manage - make sure you flour your hands very well when you shape the loaf - and resist the urge to add any more flour.

But it is so worth it!

This loaf was perfection - crispy on the outside and a little bit chewy on the inside...

Check out The Vegan Version to see what we ate this with today...

The Vegan Version

Yep! I did it - I've got a brand new blog out there...

It's called The Vegan Version and it will be dedicated to my attempts to veganize some/most of Julia's recipes - come on over - it'll be fun!

Make your own Aquarium Background

Now that we've painted the walls - the aquarium needed a background to hide all of the wires - we looked a several online - but none of them fit the ancient ruins 'theme' that Scout had going in the aquarium...

...so we discussed what he wanted - same colour as the walls - thought about just painting some poster board with the room colour - thought about just black (the rocks are black) - or black with some specks of neon green to match the rocks - or pale blue - it was hard to decide...

...but we finally rolled out some newsprint...

...painted that the same green as the room...

...let it dry...

...then sketched an ancient ruins scene with a sharpie - in case it gets a little splash of water it won't run...

...it's sorta hard to see throught the bubble curtain...

...let's turn that off - Scout is pretty pleased with the new background - it's hard to tell about the fish...

The Green Room - repairs

We had a huge hole to patch in one wall of Scout's room (sorry I didn't take a before picture) - Mom and Karen will remember what it looks like - because it was exactly like the hole I kicked in my bedroom wall doing gymnastics on the bed - ha!

So I filled in the hole and then realized that I didn't have any of the textured paint that was used on the walls - so I improvised, of course - I painted the spackling with primer and then I just rubbed on some of the sand left over from the big pyramid project - let that dry and then painted on another coat of primer...

...it's a pretty good match - and no more hole in the wall - YAY!

The Green Room and the Great Fish Tank Caper

Y'all know I'm a white wall kinda gal...

...I would seriously love pure white walls with walnut trim throughout my house - for some reason this does not appeal to everyone...

...Scout wanted his room painted green - it was white of course...

...so we went to the local paint store - our small town still has one - and perused the paint chips...

...Scout settled on a colour somewhere between neon and celadon green - it's really an odd shade - and the pictures don't really do it justice - I'll try and get some of the finished room in natural light...

...Scout is such a helper - and so thorough - he loved the little trim painter thingy (he must get his gadget-loving gene from me) - and the roller - back and forth and up and down - making sure no white was left showing at all...

...the painting was the easy part - in order to paint the wall behind the aquarium - we had to move it - 55 gallons of water up the hallway and back - I would have strung the garden hose in the window but it's frozen...

...and he's such a good fish-parent as well - gently moving the fish in and out of the tank - all survived the night...

Another Swap

Sweet Magarida at By Daisy and I did a little swapsie - I sent her one of my Peace ornaments and she sent me this lovely bag - can you make out the little stitched heart - such attention to detail and such a perfect little bag - how come it always seems to me that I get the better end of any swap...

Thank you so much Margarida!

Lutheran World Relief - Quilt #1

Well, I finally finished my first LWR quilt for this year's shipment (coming up in May)...

Mom sent the solid green and I managed to match it up perfectly with a vintage green/yellow print - I really like it a lot...

The backing is pieced - mostly Mom's old bright green - but I had to add a little of a darker shade from my LFS - aka Walmart...

I really love how this one turned out and I have it's twin cut out and ready to go too...

More about Lutheran World Relief Quilts here!

Isabel Poems

If you're familiar with Ogden Nash - then you're probably familiar with Isabel (I thought it was so sweet that his daughter is named Isabel) and her adventures...

One of Scout's assignments was to write an essay comparing and contrasting the Isabel poem to another fairy tale - he chose The Three Billy Goats Gruff - and he did an excellent job with the essay...

Then he also had to write a poem in the 'Isabel' style...

Isabel, Isabel met a giant troll.
The troll wanted to eat her, and put her in a bowl.
Isabel, Isabel didn't worry.
Isabel, Isabel didn't scurry.
Isabel calmly picked up her axe.
Cut the troll's head off and fried it in oil of flax.

It's pretty gruesome and not at all vegan, but, I love that he used 'oil of flax'