Art Work: Grandson B's Picture

When B and L were at the Church accompanying their mom, a Cub Scout leader, and their brother, C, the other night, they came to the Family History Center where I was doing some genealogy research.  B asked if I had any paper. I found him a pad of recycled paper.  That was great!  Next he asked for a pen...which I was able to supply after looking around a little.

This is the picture he drew:

B on the left; Grammie in the middle; Something else I cannot identify...

As he drew, he was talking, reminding himself of the parts he needed to include in the picture.  When he came to the Grammie picture I heard him say, "Two round eyes, and a GREAT BIG SMILE."  That was so sweet and really touched me.  The frowsy hair was right on!

He did mention the rectangle on the right, but I did not grasp what it was.  He is four and has very good language skills, BUT we were not on the same page.  It was obvious from what he said that I should absolutely know what it was....

Munchie Monday: Rip's Big Bowl Cereal

Two years ago I attended a Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine Food For Life class.

The class leader prepared three dishes for us to try.  Dishes that turned out to be "animal free".  Vegan dishes.  Surprising me again to find that meals without meat, poultry, fish, dairy (including butter and cheese), and eggs  could be so delicious.

To avoid the likelihood of losing the recipe, the ingredients are listed on the container...

One of the dishes she had previously made and brought for us was called Rip's Big Bowl...from Rip Esselstyn's Engine 2 Cookbook.  The class leader had many topping items.  Dried fruit, fresh blueberries,  flaxseed meal,  chia seeds, walnuts, pecans, and other things.  All these additions add extra nutrition to the cereal.

The Big Bowl Cereal was really nice.  Crunchy.  Flavorful with blueberries, nuts, seeds, almond milk on it.  One of the selling points of this cereal is that there is very little sugar in the components. When I made it at home I chose unsweetened Almond Breeze milk.  This makes one's first bite of it a little disconcerting if one is used to sugar-y cereals....This is solved by adding fruit to the top and eating a bit of fruit in each bite.

Rip's Big Bowl waiting to be eaten.

In the Food For Life class, I asked what size a serving of this cereal would be.  She said, "As much as you can eat!"  I thought that was a strange response.  Hard to believe.  You can't eat as much as you can eat of ANYTHING! Since then, when I have been consistently eating plant-based foods for weeks, I find you really can eat as much as you want without the scales screaming at you to hop off.  In my case, that turns out to be one-half cup cereal, one-half cup fruit, one-half cup almond milk and whatever nuts, seeds, and flax seed meal I want to add.

In case you cannot read the ingredients on the Big Bowl container:

Rip's Big Bowl
6 cups old-fashioned oatmeal flakes (or regular oatmeal but I like a little more structure to the grains so old-fashioned is what I use)
Shredded Wheat spoon sized cereal NOT SWEETENED--16.4 ounces
Uncle Sam cereal--10 ounces
Grape Nuts cereal--29 ounces

Basically, you use one box of each of these cereals.  Mix them together in a giant bowl then store in a tightly covered container.  This makes a lot of cereal.

Food Friday: Soy Curls Shepherd's Pie

Yes!  You can use soy curls to make a creditable shepherd's pie if you are vegetarian or even vegan.

Shepherd's Pie with Soy Curls

Soak 1 cup soy curls in 1 cup water in which you have dissolved 1 teaspoon vegetarian Better Than Bouillon for 10-15 minutes.  Shred in blender or food processor without draining.

Wash 6 small potatoes  and one half peeled sweet onion.  Chop these vegetables into large chunks and cook in Instant Pot on soup setting for 4 minutes.

In a large bowl place shredded soy curls and 1 can corn kernels including liquid.  Add 1 teaspoon garlic granules and 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning and salt to taste. Mix well. Add 1-2 Tablespoons whole wheat flour; mix until flour disappears then place this mixture in casserole dish.  Put in 350 degree F. oven to start warming up.

This shepherd's pie looks nasty but tasted great.  Well, maybe not great, but certainly was tasty leaving us wanting more.

Drain and mash potatoes and onion, saving the juice for vegetable broth in another recipe.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Add butter if you have to.

Bring the started-heating soy curls/corn casserole out of oven and spread mashed potatoes on top.  Return to oven for 20-30 minutes, until sauce thickens.

Makes four small servings.  Or normal (non-piggies ) may serve more.  This was really good and hard to stop eating.

Gardening: Blackberries in September!!! Really?

Last year Dear One purchased four blackberry bushes and planted them in a sunny spot along the edge of our field.  He placed a thick wooden stake to mark them and perhaps keep the lawn mower away from the tender little shoots.  As of this date he has been successful in this hope.

Every so often I have looked down there to see if the plants were still alive.  Yes.  They were.

Two days ago I went out to hop in the car which was parked in an unusual spot, near the blackberry bushes. I saw something white and wondered if a butterfly or moth was plaguing these plants. I went over to get a closer view.

 This is what I found:

What?!  Blackberries blossoming and fruiting in September?  Apparently.

This second photo shows  some more berry fruit that has set.

More berries on the right of the photo...

Now, I wonder....will the fall last long enough to actually ripen this fruit? Quite an exciting thought.

Knitting: Shaker Dish Cloths/Coasters

One of my favorite knitting projects is dishcloths/wash cloths.  Everyone can use them.  They are great for wiping up spills, dusting, washing faces, etc.

When I saw this pattern by Very Pink Knits I broke down and purchased it. (Normally I just knit from free patterns.)    I have been following the pattern as written and have made two so far.

There are directions for dishcloths and for coasters.  Since we have only two cork coasters, I decided to make coasters.

The first coaster was made with  US size 6 needles.  It was way larger than coaster size, but perfect for a small wipe-up cloth.  Next I used US size 5 needles (and the same yarn), which are what the pattern actually calls for.  This also was too large for a coaster, but fine for a smaller wipe-up cloth.

Next I will use US size 4 needles and see what I get.  If that does not work, I will decrease the number of stitches that I cast on.

Harvest 2016 Recipe: Chopped Golden Glow Pickles

When friends give me cucumbers or zucchini that I cannot eat up "fresh", I often make pickles or relish.  This was a new recipe for me.  These are actually a nice sweet pickle.  It would be possible to put the completed pickles through a food processor to make more of a relish, but I eat these on a vegetable or bean burger or on a nice baked potato, even cooked winter squash.

Chopped Golden Glow Pickles
    
6 to 9 large cucumbers
6 large  onions
3 green bell peppers
3 red bell peppers
1/4 c. canning salt

Peel and take seeds out of cucumber.  Chop them into a nice size.
Clean and chop peppers.
Clean and chop onions.
Add salt to vegetables. Mix and let stand overnight (or 8 hours).
Rinse well with cold water (put into colander to do this); drain thoroughly.

Mix together:
2 c. brown sugar
2 c. vinegar
1 tsp. turmeric
1 tsp. celery seed
1 tsp. mustard seed

Combine in a large pot and bring to boil. Add vegetables.  Gently stir with a long-handled stainless steel spoon then simmer 20 minutes (or so) until pickles are glossy (and not yet mushy). Put in jars and seal with lids.

Some people do not hot water can them, but I think it is safer to do so.  Process for 15-20 minutes.

Newsy Bit: Nature Comes Calling!

For years now we have seen wild turkeys in our area.  I have wanted to take photographs but usually have been driving when I we saw them.  Today THERE THEY WERE!!!  Walking through our backyard.

My shock and pleasure kept me in my seat watching them until they were mostly past.  I realized I could finally get a picture so I leaped up and got the camera.

Here is one of several pictures I took through our screened window.  This picture is less that lovely but it shows that we had wild turkeys walking RIGHT THERE!!!  So exciting.  If I had gotten up quicker, maybe I could have gotten a picture outside. It would have been clearer.

Wild turkeys outside our window!

Some day I will actually learn how to use software to turn a photograph into something better...