Good Old Rudolph

Back in the 80s my mother in law made this Rudolph wreath for me.  I copied it and made some for my sisters.  It's corny, askew, and a little crazy, and I still love it!  

Navigating the Parties

What do vegans eat at dinner parties?  Well, this one has not been eating very well.  At the last one, I thought I'd try to eat vegan as much as possible.  So when the appetizers came out, I had crackers but no cheese.  Then the salad had fresh parmesan cheese grated on it.  I didn't eat the chicken, but did have some of the pasta with alfredo sauce.  I think I need to start hanging out in the kitchen and getting my plate filled early.  If I'd done that, I could have asked for salad before the cheese was grated on it, and for pasta before the sauce was added.  We'll see how I do in the next round of parties.

Perennial Favorite

Sweet little oxalis!  I forget it's there until a rainy day makes it bloom.

Christmas Toys

I put Christmas decorations that are toys on all my windowsills.  The grandchildren have been playing with them ever since I put them out.  

The Gift of a Quilt

I know I posted this picture last week because I finished it, but I'm posting it again this week because I got to give it to my son at Thanksgiving.  He and his wife asked for this quilt over 2 years ago, and it's taken me this long to get it to them.  I loved making it, and yes, they loved getting it.  My daughter in law said they will put it on their bed in the winter and hang it on the wall in the summer.  I think it's my most creative design that is in a traditional format, so that was very satisfying.  But giving it away was even better.

A Vegan Break

I cooked a turkey for Thanksgiving.  We just polished off the leftovers today.  It was good, but I will be happy to get back to our vegan diet on Monday.

Favorite Plants - Sage

Here's another plant that tolerates neglect well and stays alive anyway.  It will also be the star of our Thanksgiving feast.  Sage - delicious, pretty, and easy to grow.  Gotta love it!

Wonderful Visit

I'm so happy to have had my grandson visit us for the weekend.  Even though it meant he had to fly by himself on a plane, we all had a wonderful time.

Finally Finished!

It's finished!  The quilt that took 2 and 1/2 years to make!  

No Apologies Here Either

Yes, I will eat turkey for Thanksgiving.  And pumpkin pie made with milk.  With whipped cream.  And mashed potatoes made with butter and milk.  It will be a true feast.  And I will be all the more grateful, because I don't eat like this every day.

Favorite Plants - Mexican Mint Marigold

This Mexican mint marigold had just started to bloom a few weeks ago.  

Now it's covered in yellow blossoms.  It dies in the winter, but comes back every spring.  And it's edible!  For southern climates where tarragon won't grow well, this is a great substitute.  They survived the drought with no problem this year, but they are a little smaller than in rainier years.

Grandchildren in the Garden

It's time to pick all the tomatoes, many of which are still green.  So while picking tomatoes, we found a couple of big green tomato horn worms.  My grandchildren instantly adopted the creatures and named them Crawly and Zebra.  I let them keep the worms in an old fishbowl, and feed them with fresh tomato leaves.

Back from Houston

Here are some examples of the fabulous quilts I saw last weekend in Houston at the International Quilt Festival there.  If you quilt, you should try to go to the Houston festival at some point, because it is amazing!  Now I'm inspired and excited to finish my projects and start some new ones.

from portrayals of nature

to abstract shapes . . .

from realistic

                     to . . . interesting

Structures such as . . .

primitive houses

art deco

 spiral

and just plain lovely!
I love quilts!

Living on Lara bars

Sometimes it can be hard to find vegan food when you're traveling.  Thanks to my savvy daughter-in-law, I had a box of Lara bars with me.  My schedule was so tight I often ate the Lara bars for breakfast and sometimes for lunch too.  They're made of fruit and nuts, and that's it.  No sugar high, no subsequent crash, just food.  Now that I found their link, I realize they have a lot more flavors than I realized.
http://www.larabarstore.com/

Houston!

This week is the Houston International Quilt Show.  And this year I get to go!  So no more blogging for the rest of this week.  I'll be busy looking at quilts from all over the world, at the world's biggest quilt show.

Vegan Cookbook Review

The Happy Hervivore by Lindsay S. Nixon is a cookbook with all kinds of recipes.  From Vegan Worcestershire sauce to tofu chocolate icing, Lindsay has it all.  I tried out her recipes for cornbread, tamale pie, and blue corn chickpea tacos.  They were good!  There are lots of recipes that call for tofu or seitan or nutritional yeast, which I'm not quite ready to eat yet.  The recipes are fairly simple - some are so simple they are more ideas than recipes: like fresh applesauce made from fresh apple slices ground in a food processor, or salad made with "dinosaur" kale and salt.  But those are good ideas, and I had not thought of them before.  One recipe, the "5-Spice Harmony Bowl" is a lot like what I cook when I'm not using a recipe (minus the spices).  Overall, I liked this book because of the wide range of recipes, the simplicity of the recipes, and it has things that I may be able to try someday if I get up the nerve to eat tofu or nutritional yeast.  The recipes I tried turned out well.  You can see her recipes and try them for yourself on her website, www.happyherbivore.com

The asters are blooming!  Like all my favorite plants, these asters are easy to grow.  Once you plant them you don't have to do much at all, and they reward you by blooming every fall.  

Scary Spiders

This is a great activity to do with grandchildren.  We started with styrofoam balls and washable poster paint.  I didn't have black, so we used purple.  (The other Halloween color)  After the paint dried, we glued on two googly eyes and poked in 8 black pipe cleaners.  It's kind of tricky getting them to stand up, but don't they look like they could skitter around pretty fast on those long spider legs?  Scary!

Quilts, again

Today I worked on a quilt for a friend with cancer.  Hoping to send a little comfort her way.  Also, still basking in the glory of the two ribbons my quilt won at the quilt show.

Greens

I love greens!  This is a basket of swiss chard my granddaughter and I picked from the garden.  There is also  basil, rosemary, oregano, chives, thyme, and sage in there.  We sauteed onions and the herbs and greens, and added those and some tomatoes to our lentil soup.  Yum!

Ribbons!

My little kaleidoscope quilt won a blue ribbon and the Judge's Choice award at the quilt show!  I knew the quilting turned out well, but it's so different from what a judge usually chooses, so I was very surprised.  And happy!

Turk's Cap

This is one of my favorite garden plants.  First of all, because if I neglect it, it doesn't die.  Second, because it can grow in shade or sun.  In shade it gets lanky and tall like in this photo, and in sun it looks more like a bush.  Third, the flowers are such a bright tropic red they just pop out of their green background.  Fourth, they are perennials so they don't have to be replanted.  Is that enough reasons?

The Haunted Tent

My grandchildren started planning for Halloween in August.  I tried various activities with them - making candy, decorating the dollhouse for Halloween, and getting down all the decorations for our house.  But what they really enjoyed is making plans for the Haunted Tent.  Next week we'll set it up in the back yard, and they will get to scare their parents, grandpa, and uncle and aunt!  What could be better?

Kindle Cover

My son gave me a Kindle for Christmas.  It was getting scratched up in my purse, so I made this cover for it.   My friend was using a sock for hers, so I made her one too.

Vegan at the Steakhouse

What did the vegan order at the steakhouse?  No, it's not a joke.  It's my dilemma every weekend.  After eating my vegan cooking all week, my husband is always ready for a steak dinner at a good restaurant on the weekend.  So what did I order?  A house salad without cheese, a baked sweet potato without any toppings, sauteed mushrooms (to put on the potato), and asparagus.  It was plenty to eat and I just ignored the fact that the mushrooms were sauteed in butter.

Grateful for Green

When we were visiting a church in a small town, the person giving the prayer said, "We're grateful for the recent rains that have filled our tanks and greened up our fields."  Those words came to mind today, seeing our formerly parched lawn starting to "green up."

Volunteers

These sunflowers pop up in my flower bed every year.  They don't go with the landscaping plan, but I keep them in anyway.  They feed the birds and they make me smile.

Pretty Pumpkins

                                                  

Yes, this is an activity to do with grandchildren. My grandson would never pass up the chance to work with sharp objects. So it does require lots of supervision. These pretty pumpkins are made with craft store pumpkins, ordinary straight pins, small clear beads, and sequins.

Draw your design on a foam pumpkin from the craft store.  Then load a straight pin with a clear bead and a sequin, and push in the pin.  Use a thimble on your finger.  The perfect activity for a rainy afternoon.

Why Quilt?

Some of my quilting friends do most of their quilting for charity. They donate astounding amounts of quilts to organizations and individuals. Others quilt for competition, winning awards and ribbons at quilt shows. I do some charity donations and I've won some ribbons, but I think the main reason I quilt is to perfect my skills. The quest is a life long one, because there is no way you could perfect every quilting skill in one lifetime. There is always something new to learn, and some skill to get better at. And that's what I really love the most about quilting!

Vegan Cornbread

Cornbread without buttermilk???  without butter???  without sugar???  It seems impossible, but there is a great cornbread recipe in The Happy Herbivore by Lindsay S. Nixon.  The cornbread is good with jam, and also on top of tamale pie (another recipe in the book).  I made some changes in the recipe to make it gluten free for my husband, who has had to avoid wheat all his life.
Here is my version:
Vegan Cornbread
1 cup corn meal (this can also have a couple tablespoons of flax seed meal mixed in)
1 cup corn flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup non-dairy milk
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl.  Then mix the rest together and put it into the dry ingredients.  Pour into 2 small greased loaf pans.  Bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes.

Soccer Moms and Grandmas

I watched my grandson make four goals for his team in his soccer match today.  That was exciting.  Several players sustained minor injuries, mostly by tripping over the ball or their own feet, and no injuries were worse than knees covered with grass.  The injured players on each team ran off the field after the injury occurred, straight to their mothers, who hugged them until they were ready to play again.  Watching my grandson make a goal was exciting, but watching him run to his mother after he fell was sweet.

Favorite Plants - Basil

I love the smell of basil, and the taste of it.  This hot summer our basil plants did just fine.  But the heat kept me out of the garden, and the grass took over.  That means re-digging everything this fall.  Guess I will be getting my exercise.

Activities with Grandchildren: The Family Book of World Records

My sister had a great idea.  We want to make a family book of records, like the Guinness book of world records, but just people in our family.  I'm wondering what my record will be?  My niece says her dad has the record for the most sneezes.  My grandson probably has the record for most goals in a soccer game (7).  I can't wait to start compiling the records.  And for the ensuing competition to break them!

Halloween Costumes part two

This cape was made from the same pattern as the Little Red Riding Hood costume I posted earlier.  I love the skull button my grandson chose.  I made two capes, but the smaller one was unavailable to photograph, as we couldn't take it off my younger grandson.  His had a button that looked like a spider in a web.
I tried to take a shortcut by not stay-stitching.  Then the boys wore their cape linings while I worked on the capes.  The linings got stretched out and it was hard to fit the cape to the lining.  Should have stay-stitched!

Vegan Green Salsa

I made some salsa for the tailgate party this weekend that turned out well.  It was a combination of some other recipes.

6 tomatillos
1 anaheim pepper
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
fresh oregano
1 teaspoon cumin
dried cilantro
1/2 teaspoon sugar
Chop the onion, tomatillos, and pepper and saute.  When they are soft, smash garlic and add to it.  Then add oregano, sugar, cilantro, and cumin.  Keep cooking and kind of smash it until it is the consistency you like.  I like mine chunky, so I don't cook it for too long.  If you want it smooth, you can always blend it with an immersion blender.

Rain = Blossoms

Look what a little rain can do!  These plants survive heat and drought, but when it rains they get gorgeous!  At the top is Texas Sage, in the middle is Salvia greggi (autumn sage), and at the bottom is dwarf ruellia (Mexican petunias).  

French Club

I wanted to teach my granddaughter to speak French, but she wasn't too interested.  So I found two other girls her age and started a French Club.  We meet once a week and do learning activities and games.  They aren't speaking French yet, but are getting an introduction and learning some vocabulary.  And, most important, having fun.

Disaster Relief

These are a few of the quilts I got to help make for our church group's donation to our Disaster Relief program.  I liked doing the simple bindings, with the back folded over the front.  It was amazing to me to see how fast we completed so many quilts.

Herbs as Food

Do you think of herbs as a decoration?  Like a small piece of parsley on a plate?  Or as a flavoring?  A teaspoon or two added for taste?  This recipe changed my outlook about herbs - it uses herbs as a main part of the salad.  And after the first time I made it, I doubled the parsley.  The recipe comes from the book The Gluten-Free Vegan by Susan O'Brien.  It's good, too.

Mock Tabbouleh Salad
6 kalamata olives, chopped
3 small green onions, chopped
1 small red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 large tomatoes, chopped
3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 cup quinoa, cooked and cooled
juice of 1 lemon
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
fresh ground pepper
Place the olives, vegetables, and herbs in a large salad bowl.  Add the cooled quinoa, lemon juice, and oil.  Toss together.  Season with salt and pepper, and chill before serving.

Tailgating

Some people think that a good tailgate party includes a grill and a TV, but what I like is great friends, great food, and shade.

Garden Favorites Part 2

This is my favorite way to garden:
1.  Carefully prepare the soil
2.  Plant the seeds
3.  Water for a few weeks
4.  Forget about the new plants
5.  Ignore them
6.  Neglect them
7.  Notice that they have flourished and spread despite the neglect
8.  Cut big handfuls to add to our dinner

Not many plants thrive under my favorite gardening method, but chives are the exception.  Now they are blooming, and soon they will make black seeds that I will scatter in some of the empty spaces in the garden.  They seem to do better if you plant (or just scatter) them in the fall and wait until spring for them to come up.  I love their grassy looking leaves that curve gracefully over.  And aren't the flowers pretty?  But don't be tempted to put them in a vase inside, or people will walk by and say, "Ew what's that funny smell?"  Better just cut a handful of leaves to use whenever you want a mild onion flavor.

Work Tag

Last week the grandchildren were getting rambunctious and I still had some chores to finish, so we played a new game: "work tag".  I was "It" and whenever I caught one child, they all had to do a small chore.  We got everything done and I got my exercise.  They have been asking to play this every day since!

The Amazing Mazelle

This looks like a lot of quilts, right?

 Then add all these, and you get an idea of the fabulous quilt show we had tonight.  Our own guild member, Mazelle Williams, made all these quilts.  All but two were hand quilted, and several were hand pieced and appliqued as well.

This was hand made lace, hand appliqued onto a quilt, and hand quilted.  You can see why I call her  Amazing Mazelle.  She is the first speaker to get a standing ovation at our guild meeting.  Not only are the number and quality of her quilts amazing, but her sweet loving personality makes her dear to us all.

Vegan Parameters

When deciding to go vegan, I set some rules for myself, and I made some allowances.


Servings Goal:
5 or more servings 100% whole grains
1 or more serving beans
unlimited vegetables and fruits
small amounts of nuts, seeds, olive oil


Because of personal taste I have a "no" list
no fake meat
no margarine
no tofu
no egg substitute
no fake ice cream

If someone cooks for me, I smile, eat it, and thank the cook, whether it's vegan or not.
When it's not possible to be vegan, be vegetarian.
It's OK to cheat a couple of times a month, but keep working toward a more perfect vegan diet.

Football

Today I took my granddaughter to her first football game at the University here.  Even though it was hot and humid, we both enjoyed the game, the show, and buying the T-shirt.

Garden Favorites

These Strawberry Fields gomphrena flowers are amazing.  I bought one package of seeds 10 years ago, and every year they have re-seeded all over the flower bed.  This year, some came up in the grass near the flowerbed.  The grass is brown because of the drought, but the flowers are blooming and thriving.  They survive heat and drought, and brighten up the place with their red color.  For my son's wedding reception, I cut several bouquets of these flowers and put them in small white vases.  They last a long time as cut flowers, and they can be dried also, but their color fades.  Maybe next year I'll plant some purple ones . . . or white ones . . .

Activities with Grandchildren: The Summer Lego Challenge

This past summer I organized a Lego challenge with my grandchildren here, and my sisters' children who live in another state.  It worked like this:  One family would create a Lego structure, then post it on Facebook.  The other family had to create their own version of that structure, then create a new one and post them both.  We went back and forth until we had ten creations.  The children got to know their distant cousins a little better, and had a lot of fun with the challenges.  They made a lighthouse, a two-headed go-bot, a surfer's beach, and many other things.  The first challenge was "The Wall".   

Halloween Costumes part one

My granddaughter wants to be Little Red Riding Hood for Halloween.  I found a pattern in the book Little Things to Sew by Liesl Gibson.  Her instructions are clear, and her ideas are simple and creative.  You do have to trace each pattern before using it, since they are all printed together.  I recommend top-stitching the capes 1/8" all the way around the edge as a finishing touch.  Since it's almost as easy to make two things as one, I made one for her younger cousin also.

Vegan Milk

I eat oatmeal for breakfast every day, so it was important to me to find a good substitute for milk.  The best one for me is almond milk that I make myself.  I use 1 cup of almonds, soaked overnight and drained, and 4 cups of cold water.  Put it in the blender until it's small chunks, then pour it through a cheesecloth - lined sieve into a bowl.  With the nut pieces in the cheese cloth, squeeze the milk out of them into the bowl.  Some people add vanilla and sugar and agave nectar, but I prefer it plain.  This milk is not thick like the Silk almond milk from the store.  Tip:  don't ever try to double the recipe unless your blender is a lot bigger than mine.

Controversy in the Book Group

This month our book group read Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.  We were divided right down the middle into people who really liked it and people who didn't like it at all.  Made for a great discussion.  I love it when we disagree!

Garden Weeds

Sometimes I leave certain weeds in my garden, like these brown ones, because I love the way they look inside my house.

Activities with Grandchildren: Reading Lessons

At the beginning of this summer our 4 year old grandson was very active, had no interest in writing, wasn’t sure of the alphabet letters, and hated to sit still.  So I decided to give him reading lessons!  I used the old Dick and Jane book.* (“Grandma,” he told me, “Robin’s real name is Dick Grayson!”)  We went shopping for some lined school paper and a washable ink stamp pad in “Batman black”.  BW has always loved playing with my old stamps, so he was excited.  After doing lessons 2 or 3 times a week for most of the summer, he can now read the first six stories in the Dick and Jane book.  He started preschool today, and I hope he’ll have confidence in his own academic ability.  He is still very active and doesn’t like sitting, but now he knows his letters, a few words, and can read a few stories. 

*Have you heard all the controversy over the Dick and Jane books?  Educators criticized them for using sight words instead of teaching phonics.  They said the language in the books was unnatural and without literary merit, and the books had no cultural diversity.  I agree with all that, but, I think it’s good for children to have some sight words they know well, so they can have some words to refer to when learning phonics.  As for the rest, well, these books weren’t meant to stand alone.  Parents and teachers (and grandparents!) can be reading lots of other books to the child – books with beautiful language, literary merit, and cultural diversity, or even Batman comic books. 

How to Block a Quilt

To block my quilts for the upcoming show, I borrow (OK, I steal) my husband's heavy metal bent ruler.  I lay the ruler next to the inmost border first, pull the wet quilt so it's perfectly straight, then pin it to the floor with straight pins.  After the inner borderline is done, I do the next border, and the next, and last the edge.  I push the pins straight in to the carpet.  Some places need a pin every half inch, other places don't need much pinning.  Now my quilts are drying, perfectly squared, with pins stuck all over them.  Tomorrow I'll put all those pins back in the pin cushions, and spread my quilts over the quilt rack so they don't get wrinkled before the show.

The Weekday Vegan

Going vegan is a great way for this grandma to stay healthy.  But I couldn't do it cold tofurkey!  So I eat vegan meals at home on weekdays.  On weekends,when we're going out to eat or over to friends' homes, it's harder.  I'm still trying to figure out how to cope with that.  Meanwhile, here is my favorite vegan recipe so far:

Potatoes with Veg topping

4 medium red potatoes

1 onion

4 stalks celery

1 can petite diced tomatoes

Fresh basil

Garlic salt

Boil the red potatoes until they are soft.  While they are boiling, sauté the onion and celery until softened and maybe a little brown around the edges.  Open the  can of tomatoes and pour a little tomato liquid into the onion mix.  Stir until it’s absorbed, then do the same thing again until most of the liquid is drained from the can.  Then stir in the tomatoes from the can, sprinkle with garlic salt, and add the fresh basil.  Stir, turn off the stove, and put a lid on the pan.  Drain the boiled potatoes, slice onto a plate, and top with the veg topping.

This is good served with a broccoli salad and grilled asparagus.  And there are plenty of leftovers for tomorrow's lunch.