Trying to get back on the train

I’ve been in a bit of a blogging rut lately.

Okay, for a good loooong while. But I’m trying to get better.

I haven’t been knitting much lately, but what I have been doing lots of is sewing. Please excuse the word light post in exchange for some pretty pictures.

Hip bag. Not hip as in hipster or cool, but as in it sits on your hip. Two buttons and a clip make the closure. I’ve since changed the clip to a split ring.  It attaches around the waist. It could go through belt loops, but I’m too lazy for that. A simple zebra cell phone pouch that slides onto my belt. I’ve also got a pink one. I’m not afraid of zippers anymore! And my passport has a place to live. My herbs are doing well. My cactus… not so much. My tomato plants are looking strong.

I’ve also been cooking a bit. Nothing too exciting, but still some good stuff. In June I’m going to be taking part in Oh She Glow’s Salad A Day challenge. If you follow me on twitter or just want some awesome salad ideas, keep your eyes peeled for #saladaday.

-Cheers folks!

Birthday Cupcake Trial

Vegan muffins? Yup. Vegan burgers? Yes. Vegan chocolate cake? Mmhmm. Vegan pancakes? Indeed. Vegan cupcakes? ……

I had tried my hand Veganizing a few recipes before, but seeing as I didn’t really have much use of my old kitchen, and Mr’s kitchen being tiny (Even smaller than the Smitten Kitchen kitchen!), I didn’t do much baking. None really. We made pizza from a pizza crust we bought at the store, but I don’t count that. Now that I have a decent sized kitchen and all my baking stuff to go with it, I’m baking again!

I spent a chunk of time on the 15th trying out my first vegan cupcakes. I based them off of these from Life in Limbo. Mister wanted “a chocolate cake. No! A chocolate vanilla swirly cake thing. With cherry filling!” Changing from the original idea I mentioned a while ago about a roll cake, I omitted the cherries, and changed it into cupcake form, and this is what I came up with.

Awesome cupcakes. I added a chocolate mint frosting to them once they cooled. Sooooo good.

We devoured the entire batch (2 dozen minis) far quicker than I had imagined. I had hoped to be able to save at least a dozen for the party (which is tomorrow), but alas, we ate them all. So now I get to bake a batch of lime cupcakes today (they will have coconut milk frosting), and then tomorrow will be another batch of these (with chocolate mint frosting), and a batch of cherry cupcakes (with cherry frosting).

Now I must go bake.

-Cheers folks!

Vegan Oat Bean Burgers

I made these just after the banana muffins, but haven’t posted yet. Oops.

I based them off of Angela’s recipe from Oh She Glows, but changed them up as to what I had in our fridge. No carrots? Leave them out. No bread? Means no breadcrumbs. No parsley, no almonds, no sunflower seeds. So basically these are black beans, carmelized onions, green peppers, oats, soy sauce, cumin, chili powder, soy sauce, garlic and flax eggs.

They came together really nicely, but I think next time I’ll use a little less flax eggs as it seemed I had to add way too much flour and oats (even to make up for the lack of bread crumbs). It may also have been due to the fact that it was raining when I made them. (Me + humidity in the kitchen can be quite the crap shoot.) I got 12 patties out of the mix, and found out that the tiny storage containers I got from Ikea when I first moved to Ottawa fit a single patty really well. Makes it so easy to grab one out of the freezer, toss it in the microwave or onto a hot pan, and voila! burger. The Vegan Mister wholeheartedly approved, and wants more. We topped them with loads of pickles, huge slices of tomato, lettuce, relish, ketchup, mustard, and I added a bit of cheddar (I’m vegetarian, not vegan, but enjoy all these awesome vegan recipes). Also we couldn’t find any hamburger buns that were completely free of milk or eggs (Mister avoids anything that says “May contain…”) so we just had them on toast.

Tonight I’ll be trying Vegan Dad’s Sausages. My beans are simmering on the stove, and I’m soon to head to the local Blahblahs to see if I can find Vital Wheat Gluten and Nutritional Yeast. It might mean a trip up to the health food store if it’s not in the big chain. We shall see.

Also keep your eyes peeled for Mister’s Birthday cupcake trial run. I had hoped to keep a dozen or so for the actual party, but we ate them all. Darn.

-Cheers folks!

Hello Friends

It’s been far, far too long.

Since my last post, I have moved. Twice. Been given a sewing machine. Got lots new kitchen stuff. Knitted a plethora of things. Taken pretty much no pictures of anything. Been back to Halifax three times. Baked numerous yummy items. Gone vegetarian. Become attached to a vegan. Been given a Derby name (Gwen Stacy).

So I’m just going to start from today.

Banana muffins.

Vegan. Recipe from The Clean Eating Mama. I used pumpkin pie spice instead of all the individual spices because I still haven’t gone through all the spices I have since the move. Also, I have a paper bag labelled “Katie Spices” which I got at a going away party for a Derby friend where she told us to pretty much take her entire kitchen contents. The spices in said bag, are in individual bags though. Not just a mash of rosemary, thyme, crushed red pepper flakes, etc.

Speaking of kitchens. This is mine. It’s the first time that I’ve really been able to get my kitchen the way I want it. And the table is awesome. You can’t see the stove, or sink, but they are there behind me. Trust me.

Please excuse the mess of boxes. If you can believe it, we have already been through a garbage week and gotten rid of most of our moving boxes. What I really want to showcase is the cereal shelf. We tend to go through a whole mess of cereal. And not just the sugary crazy rot your teeth kind. There is a box of Raisin Bran, and some Almond Crunch. And there are containers of Special K and Shreddies in the actual cupboard too. It all goes well with Fruit Loops, Reece’s Peanut Butter Puffs, and Chocolate Cheerios (which I am still not 100% on).

I also made a vegan chocolate cake from a recipe I found on Instructables. Haven’t tried it yet, but we shall see. I just made an 8’ square cake, but this is supposed to be a birthday cake for the fella. He asked for a chocolate cake with cherry pie filling. I was thinking a Roll cake, but I don’t know if I can pull it off. If not, I could also do a round layer cake with cherry filling. Chocolate frosting or a glaze? Or a veganized ganache?

I hadn’t heard the animals for a while, so I went investigating.

Found this in the bedroom, then I looked up to my right.

He apparently didn’t like my investigation. Either that, or he just wanted a little loving.

Let sleeping dogs lie.

 

-Cheers!

Finishing and Forties

I’m a bad blogger. I know I am, but I’ve been a little busy, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.

I finished my green cabled sweater though, and I’m in love.

My only issue is the length, I would have liked it to have been just a touch longer, as it is now it’s okay, but just another inch would have been wonderful. I used a very simple hook and eye clasp for the closure. Knowing that buttons would have been too heavy I had first attempted a snap sewn onto the button band, but it pulled too much and looked funky. So I sewed the clasp right to the edge of the band. Now it doesn’t pucker. It’s also so simply elegant that I love it. More pictures on my Flickr.

In other news, I had the week off last week from OLT. Having just finished up Honeymoon at Graveside Manor (which was 5 weeks of insanity and fun), and knowing that Inspecting Carol was right around the corner, I specifically set out to not be involved with EODL. I needed some “me” time. But, now I’m back; two weeks of rehearsals on stage, then three weeks of the show. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, I really need to learn to say “I’ve had enough”.

I’ve been trying out some new hairstyles the last couple days, yesterday I went with a 1940s down-do, pretty much the same as this. She actually has a bunch of tutorials on youtube about 1940/50 style. In fact, I used this video as a guide. I did use my new 1.5” curling iron to put some more curl in the hair that I left down, but I wish I had a smaller diameter curling iron… New purchase? Yea, like I need an excuse. I then had on a dress I bought a couple years ago, which is fairly flowey and almost 1940s-ish. Obviously, for shoes I had on my spectators. I don’t have a picture, but I was looking pretty good.

That’s all for now, I say it all the time, but I am going to try to post more often. I promise.

-Cheers folks