Dinner Guests | Warm lima bean salad

I appreciate the challenge people face when they invite a vegan to dinner, and they're not used to cooking without animal products, so I don't flinch (much) when faced with the culinary challenges posed by my guests. Recently, I welcomed a guest who eats no onions, no legumes, no artichoke hearts, no spices, and very few vegetables. I love her so I did my best to accommodate, while still providing food choices the other spice-loving, vegetable devouring guests would enjoy.

The guest of honor requested pasta, so I made a warm pasta dish using quinoa pasta. The dish contained halved grape tomatoes, zucchini spears, sliced mushrooms, kalamata olives, garlic, fresh basil, Italian parsley, toasted walnuts, olive oil, and a touch of coarse sea salt. The veggies were lightly cooked and large enough to be easily picked out if necessary. I had also planned to include browned tofu in a small dice, but completely forgot about it. Along with a big green salad brought by one of the other guests, she had a complete meal that she could eat.



We also had a platter of roasted vegetables with carrots, sweet potatoes, eggplant, turnip, celariac and brussels sprouts — something for everyone — and a warm lima bean salad. I recently read that lima beans are good for your bones, so I disregarded the fact that I've never been fond of limas, and used them in a dish. Now I think that lima beans taste good!



I made the pasta and lima beans the way I often do, by first thinking about how I wanted the final dish to taste, then deciding what ingredients were needed to get the taste I was after. Then I wrote down a list of ingredients so I wouldn't forget them. I did manage to forget the tofu for the pasta, but usually this cooking plan works well for me — except when I want to reproduce a recipe. I have a pretty good idea what was in the lima beans so a recipe of sorts for that dish will appear below.



For dessert we had another golden cake, since I'm still experimenting with pan sizes and frosting ingredients. I used an 8x3-inch straight-sided pan, and it was about 1-inch too high. Now I think an 8x2-inch would be perfect and I'm kind of worried I'm going to own every pan size available before I'm done! Is there a cure for cake pan addiction?

The cake decorations were modest, as usual, but look how pretty the cake looks. At least I think it looks pretty. I used two sweet potatoes in the chocolate-sweet potato frosting — didn't measure but I estimate about 1-1/2 cups of mashed potato. I think I'm addicted to this frosting, originated by the recipe-creator extraordinaire, Ricki Heller. Thank you, Ricki!!! (The next time I make this cake I'm going to add orange zest to the batter.)



Warm lima bean salad (no added oil)
serves 10-12 as a side dish, with leftovers
The amounts in this recipe are flexible and open to interpretation.

• 1-1/2 cups dried baby lima beans, soaked overnight, drained, rinsed and cooked with fresh water, then drained (or 2 to 3 16-ounce cans cooked lima beans, rinsed and drained)
  
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons stone ground prepared mustard
• 2 tablespoons grated palm sugar (or 2 tablespoons dark evaporated cane juice)
• 2 large carrots, small dice (about 1-1/2 cups)
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 2 cloves garlic, minced, (about two teaspoons)
  
• 1 can artichoke hearts in water, drained, rinsed if desired, quartered
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  
• 1-1/2 cups thinly sliced green onions
• 1-1/2 cups chopped parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt, or to taste

1. Cook the lima beans in your preferred way. You can simmer them in a large, covered pot until they are tender, or cook them in a pressure cooker. The pot will take about two hours, and the pressure cooker will take five to seven minutes. You could also buy them already cooked, in a can. (two to three cans) If you cook the beans, save the cooking liquid to use as soup stock.
   
2. Make the dressing by mixing together the lemon juice, mustard and sugar.
3. In a large skillet or wok, steam the garlic, carrots, corn, peas and artichokes in about 1/4 cup of water until the carrots are bright orange and a little tender, and the frozen veggies are cooked, about three to five minutes. Add more water if needed but aim to have all the water evaporate.
4. Add the drained beans and cumin. Cook until beans are warm.
   
5. Turn off the heat and mix in the onions, parsley, and dressing.
6. Add the salt, to taste.
7. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Sweet (birth) day | Stuffed shells | Frosting with cake

Miss E prepares to blow out the candles. Note the chaos in the background.

Valentine's Day has changed for us — it's now officially known as Miss E's Birthday. That's right, the charming Miss E (our little granddaughter) was born three years ago on Feb. 14, and the day now belongs to her. Completely.

Yesterday afternoon I baked a heart-shaped cake, and we headed to Miss E's house for a birthday dinner and an orgy of present unwrapping. Too bad all the relatives who sent gifts couldn't be there to hear the shrieks and squeals. I'm talking to you Grammy and Big Poppy, who sent a pretend wooden birthday cake AND a wooden pretend pizza with all the toppings. And Uncle Lenny and Aunt Ellen — I was summarily handed the old, hand-me-down-excuse for-a-Dora as soon as the new one emerged from the box, and the usually accommodating Miss E would not trade with me. She always gives me whatever toy I want, but she wouldn't give me the new Dora.


Is this not the cutest kitchen you've ever seen?

And what did we bring her? Why, a pretend kitchen, of course. Miss E loves to do both real and pretend cooking, and she's now set to turn out delicious pretend meals whenever she wants. She can make pizza, cake, cookies (a previous gift) or anything her very active imagination dreams up. I'm sure we'll be enjoying many pretend meals with her, along with the real ones.



Miss E's mama made a delicious, real dinner that included scrumptious, creamy stuffed shells with homemade tomato sauce, and a tangy kale and cabbage salad. She got the recipe for the shells from a friend, Brenin Williams, who generously agreed to let me share it with you.



Stuffed shells or manicotti

• 1 cup cashews
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 splash soy sauce (too much will affect color)
• 1 teaspoons black pepper (or to taste)
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 8 ounces silken tofu (soft)
• salt to taste
• 14 ounce to 1 pound firm tofu, quartered
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1 cups steamed spinach (or can be cooked frozen) or sautéed mushrooms
• cooked jumbo shells or manicotti (about 12 ounces)
  
• vegan cheese, as desired
  

1. In a food processor, grind the cashews until smooth. Add the oil, garlic, oregano, soy sauce, pepper, vinegar, soft tofu and salt, if using. Blend until smooth. Add a little water, if necessary, to incorporate.
2. Steam the firm tofu three to four minutes.
3. In a large bowl, crumble the steamed tofu into the cashew mixture with 1/4 cup of nutritional yeast flakes. Stir in the spinach or mushrooms.
4. Stuff into manicotti or jumbo shells and place in a large casserole dish.
5. Cover generously with your favorite tomato sauce and a sprinkle of vegan cheese, and bake at 325˚ F, until hot, about 20 minutes.

Serves six to eight.



...............................................................................

Frosted with WHAT?

You can tell I made the cake by the lame decorations.

Now I have to say a few words about the cake and its frosting. Actually, this will be mainly about the frosting. I want to work on the cake recipe measurements and post it at another time. I got the frosting recipe here, on Diet, Dessert and Dogs. It's made from — hold onto your spoons — sweet potatoes! Well, there's other stuff in there, too, but not big globs of margarine and powdered sugar. I can't say I followed the recipe exactly, no, I can't say that, but I never would have thought to make anything like this without Ricki's inspiration. I wanted more volume, so I actually doubled the sweet potatoes but kept the other stuff pretty much the same. Ricky specifies coconut sugar, and I used jaggery* that I had purchased in an Indian grocery store, and which may or may not be the same. I used a little extra jaggery instead of stevia. And I used cacao powder instead of carob, because for some reason carob gives me a headache. I also used 56 grams of semi-sweet baking chocolate instead of 65 grams of unsweetened chocolate. I had to make the frosting in the morning, then refrigerate it all day before using it, so I whipped it with an electric mixer and added some soymilk and a tablespoon of agave to help it whip to creamy perfection when I was ready to spread it on the cake. In spite of my changes, the recipe worked wonderfully, and I loved it. Thank you, Ricki, for being so impossibly clever.


Jaggery — the pieces are about two inches high

*Jaggery is an unrefined form of sweetener that can be made from the boiled sap of sugarcane, sago palm, arenga pinnatasago palm, date palm, sugar date palm or coconut palm, with date palm being the most prized. It is usually found as a large solid cone, or as rectangular chunks, but can also be found in a granulated form. Jaggery is the most popular kind of sweetener in West Bengal, South India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Also known as known as gur in India, panela in South America, piloncillo in Mexico, hakuru in Sri Lanka, it comes in various shapes and sizes, varies in color from light to dark brown, and can range from dry to sticky. It has a rich, caramel-y flavor that is less sweet than white sugar. Coconut sugar is low on the glycemic index. The information available about the sources of jaggery is a little confusing, so I've done my best to summarize and present what I've uncovered. Coconut sugar is the latest "healthy" sweetener to hit the natural foods market.

...............................................................................

I made this


I've been crocheting again, and Miss E received a hat for her birthday. I made the hat, crocheted a flower and attached it, then added a bit of elastic thread around the bottom so the hat would be a little more snug. I almost wanted to keep the hat — not to wear but to look at — but I managed to part with it and hand it over to its sweet new owner. Am I proud of my handiwork? Yes, in this case, I am.



...............................................................................

Test recipe of the week for Urban Vegan

Hot and sour carrots and lentils

...............................................................................

It doesn't seem like it today, but could spring be coming?


Last week I took a walk with a friend, and it was a sunny, warmish, photo-friendly day. We walked the 2.8 mile path around Green Lake, which is about a block from where I live.



When we arrived back at my house, we noticed the crocus growing in my next door neighbor's terrace garden. This week the temperature is colder, it's raining, and the possibility of snow is predicted for Thursday. But still ...

Socca salad sandwich | Sodium | Getting real

I was hungry as I cruised my blog list and came upon Aimee's post about socca on Bitt of Raw. I'd made baked socca before in the oven, but her husband made it in a pan like a pancake. Aimee had made raw falafels, and her husband rolled his falafels up in a socca wrap. The socca wrap sounded so good and fast, and I was really hungry. I remembered making similar chickpea flour omelets like Zoa, from The Airy Way Blog, did, and not being so fond of the chickpea flour taste. But I've changed my mind about chickpea flour since then, so I was eager to roll something up in socca. Like Zoa, I used an equal amount of water and chickpea flour (1/2 cup) for my socca, plus a teaspoon of oil and a tiny pinch of salt, and I cooked up two pancakes at high speed. (Remember — really hungry.)



For the inside, I made salad with baby greens, tomatoes, avocado and some leftover chickpea chili. I needed both my hands to roll and enjoy it, so no photos. Fantastic!

.....................................................................................

Now for something a little more serious


Do you ever think about sodium? Do you try to reduce your intake? Most of us get far too much sodium in our diets, exposing us to the possibility of high blood pressure, blood clots, heart attacks, kidney disease and certain cancers? Did you know that excess sodium leaches calcium from the body? If you're young and in good health, you may think you don't have to worry about stuff like this, but waiting until problems manifest isn't always the best method for dealing with them. And doctors are finding diseases such as these occurring in younger and younger people. The issue of sodium has come up for me recently as I've been doing recipe testing for someone, and finding the recipes much saltier than I'm used to. For recipe testing I make the recipes as written, and I don't usually mention the salt in my reviews unless someone else at the table complains. But many of the dishes taste pretty salty to me, which has me re-examining my diet.

I went to the USDA's most recent release of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans to see what the latest mainstream thinking is about salt. The general recommendation is this:

"Reduce daily sodium intake to less than 2,300 milligrams (mg) and further reduce intake to 1,500 mg among persons who are 51 and older and those of any age who are African American or have hypertension, diabetes, or chronic kidney disease. The 1,500 mg recommendation applies to about half of the U.S. population, including children, and the majority of adults."

The following offers a little more detail:

"For adolescents and adults of all ages (14 years and older), the IOM (Institute of Medicine) set the Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL) at 2,300 mg per day. The UL is the highest daily nutrient intake level that is likely to pose no risk of adverse health effects (e.g., for sodium, increased blood pressure) to almost all individuals in the general population. The IOM recognized that the association between sodium intake and blood pressure was continuous and without a threshold (i.e., a level below which the association no longer exists). The UL was based on several trials, including data from the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH)-Sodium trial. The IOM noted that in the DASH-Sodium trial, blood pressure was lowered when target sodium intake was reduced to 2,300 mg per day, and lowered even further when sodium was targeted to the level of 1,200 mg per day.46 An intake level of 2,300 mg per day was commonly the next level above the AI of 1,500 mg per day that was tested in the sodium trials evaluated by the IOM."

Americans, especially males, are getting substantially too much sodium in their diets. Many people consume double or even more than double, the highest recommended amount. Where is all this salt coming from? Table salt contains the following:

1/4 teaspoon salt = 600 mg sodium
1/2 teaspoon salt = 1200 mg sodium
3/4 teaspoon salt = 1800 mg sodium
1 teaspoon salt = 2400 mg sodium
1 teaspoon baking soda = 1000 mg sodium

But table salt and salty seasonings that you add to home-cooked food may be only part of the problem. If you are eating many purchased, prepared foods, including breads and other commonly store-bought items, you could easily be exceeding the salt guidelines. Here's a sampling of commonly consumed foods and their sodium content:

Breadcrumbs, seasoned, 1/4 cup - 795 mg
Baking powder, 1 teaspoon - 488 mg
Baking soda, 1 teaspoon - 1,000 mg
Plain bagel - 561 mg
Capers, 1 Tablespoon - 255 mg
Pesto, basil, 1/4 cup - 730 mg
Soy sauce, 1 Tablespoon - 914 mg
Soy sauce, light, 1 Tablespoon - 660 mg

If we eat a lot of snack food, restaurant food, commercial baked goods, etc., we could be getting much more salt than is healthy. Even if we eat mostly home-cooked food, relying heavily on high-salt seasonings also can lead to problems. But what happens to flavor when salt is reduced?

I've been reducing salt in my cooking for years, and at first, everything tasted bland. Then, after a short adjustment period, the real flavors of the food began to intensify for me, and too much salt became an unwelcome distraction rather than an enhancement. When a small amount of salt is used to bring out a food's flavor, it's completely different from when salt IS the flavor. I remember when my mother-in-law had to go on an extremely low salt diet for health reasons, one of the foods on the restricted list was celery. Celery? I couldn't believe it at the time. Celery didn't seem like a high sodium vegetable. Now when I bite into a piece of celery, I can taste the saltiness.



I still use salt, but very judiciously. If anyone wants more, they can always add it at the table. In fact, you will probably consume less salt if you greatly reduce cooking salt (including salty condiments like soy sauce) and add a light sprinkle at the table. Having salt on the surface of the food gives your tongue the impression that the food is saltier than it is. Other foods that taste salty can add a lot of flavor with less sodium. Compare 1/2 teaspoon of salt (1200 mg) with one tablespoon of capers (255 mg.). When buying canned or jarred foods like beans or tomatoes, I choose the no salt added varieties, and if I buy prepared soup stock, it's always the low-sodium kind.

Salt, like sugar, is an addictive substance, and hard to give up. You can compensate by adding more aromatic seasonings like onions, garlic, herbs and spices. For example, I found an amazing, organic salt-free seasoning mix at Costco that we use on everything from broccoli to popcorn, if we want to bump up the flavor. Most vegetables taste delicious to me plain, but if I'm feeling creative, I may add grated garlic, fresh lemon juice and zest, toasted sesame seeds, or green onions and herbs. Real food tastes so much better to me now, I don't miss the salt.

.....................................................................................

What do we really eat?



Everything I post on the blog is something either my husband or I have cooked and eaten, but because I tend to post the better-looking stuff, you may get an unrealistic view of what we eat. Mostly we dine simply, with occasional gustatory splurges. Above you see a simple dish of steamed kale and puy lentils with carrots. The kale was enhanced with crushed red pepper, lemon and garlic, and the lentils were pretty plain, but delicious. This is how I like to eat.



And here's my breakfast — not very pretty but great tasting. It's rolled oats with raisins, banana, walnuts, frozen blueberries, cinnamon and almond milk — no added sugar or salt.



Above is a barley soup made with dried shiitake mushroom stock. (I've linked to a recipe for stock (dashi), but it's pretty flexible and can be made with or without the seaweed. It can also be soaked overnight in the refrigerator. Here's another.)



This was a yummy Indian dish called Batata Bhaji which I found on Holy Cow Vegan Blog.

.....................................................................................

Recipe testing for Urban Vegan


Shamefully simple chickpea chili


Shamefully simple chickpea chili served over rice with broccoli/mushrooms and salad


Tofu with broccoli and black bean sauce


Tofu with broccoli and black bean sauce served over noodles

Okonomiyaki—Japanese vegetable pancakes | Oprah

I was reading this post about Your Vegan Mom's obsession with okonomiyaki, Japanese vegetable pancakes, and her obsession soon became mine. All I could think about were those darn pancakes. I actually had the cookbook they were from, and had even reviewed it on this blog last October, so I fetched it from the cookbook shelf and got to cooking. "Japanese Cooking, Contemporary & Traditional" by Miyoko Nishimoto Schinner is a terrific little cookbook filled with simple but delicious traditional and contemporary Japanese dishes. Everything I've made from it has been wonderful, and the pancakes, from the contemporary everyday favorites section, were no exception.



The batter was thick, white and a little weird, and I wasn't sure what to expect, but the pancakes cooked perfectly on a lightly oiled cast iron skillet. There are five cups of julienned vegetables in the mix, though it's hard to tell that from the photos. I used two cups of Chinese cabbage, one cup of carrots, one cup of broccoli stems and one cup of onion. I used white whole wheat flour for the okonomiyaki, as it has become my all-purpose flour, and I thought it worked very well. The thick and savory pancakes, served with a little tamari and some hot sauce, were absolutely delicious, and I will certainly be making them again soon.

The recipe says it serves six, but I got seven large pancakes, and my husband and I could only comfortably eat one each. It was awfully hard to stop, however, so we split an additional one and put the rest away before we had a chance to eat any more. The pancakes reheated well and were delicious for breakfast the next day. (And the day after.)



Savory vegetable pancakes (okonomiyaki) reprinted with permission

• 2 cups water
• 1/4 pound regular tofu
• 2-1/2 cups whole wheat pastry or unbleached white flour (I used white whole wheat)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 4 to 5 cups thinly sliced or slivered vegetables: onions, carrot matchsticks, cabbage, broccoli, green beans, mushrooms, etc.)

Purée the water and tofu in a blender until smooth. Combine the flour, salt, and baking powder in a large bowl, and mix well. Pour in the liquid mixture, and mix lightly. Add the vegetables and mix well to combine.

Cook large pancakes on a lightly oiled skillet or griddle over medium-low heat until browned on both sides. Serve while hot, with soy sauce. (You can also serve plain or with your favorite Japanese-style sauce.)

.........................................................................................

What we've been cooking


Tofu and kale tostados

One of our old favorite quick meals is tofu and kale burritos, which I first made after eating something similar in a restaurant in Santa Fe. The recipe is here. My husband made tostados recently and when I tasted them I recognized the old recipe right away. It's a very easy to make dish with great flavor, and it worked perfectly on corn tortillas.



My son whipped up a batch of English muffins from Vegan Brunch. He loves these, and has now made them three times.

.........................................................................................

Thoughts on Oprah's vegan for a week experiment
The vegan blogs are buzzing with criticism of the way Oprah handled her show about what happened when she and 378 members of her staff went vegan for a week. You've probably encountered at least one blog review of her show. I encourage you to watch the program if you haven't seen it. I was going to spout off my opinion, but Natala of Vegan Hope has said everything I was thinking much more eloquently than I could, so I'll just direct you to her post instead. I certainly agree with all the negative points vegan bloggers have been making; I couldn't help but be disturbed while I watched. But the show wasn't directed towards committed vegans. Oprah knows her audience well, she has the power to influence people, and she probably did more than we know to encourage people to think about what's on their plate.

.........................................................................................

Some of the recipes I've been testing for Urban Vegan
I've been expending a lot of cooking energy on testing recipes for Urban Vegan's newest cookbook. All this testing doesn't leave much time for other food exploits, but I'm not complaining. It's been fun to try so many new recipes.


Spicy tomato lemon dressing


Earthy eggplant

This was so good. We had it as a side dish the first night, then I added sun-dried tomatoes and served the leftovers over brown rice spaghetti.


Mushy peas


Golden millet pilaf

I loved this dish so much but my husband and son didn't like it at all. I couldn't understand why.


Cinnamon-date scones


Island-style tempeh


Island-style tempeh served with rice, roasted veggies and salad

Fresh tofu | Crochet

Recently, I was reading a blog post about buying fresh tofu and rice noodles in Seattle, and was seized with the obsessional need to find the tofu shop mentioned in the post (Than Son Tofu), and go buy some of my own. I started thinking about long ago in upstate NY, when we lived a block away from a tiny little shop where a Chinese man made fresh tofu every day. When he told me he ate eight small cakes of tofu each day, it almost killed my desire to eat any, but his tofu was so good, it was hard to resist. And I remember when we lived in Madison, Wis., buying fresh tofu from a tofu co-op called The Bountiful Bean. But we haven't bought any fresh tofu since coming to Seattle, just the stuff in the sealed packages. We headed to Than Son Tofu to see what we could find.



When we entered the small storefront, we were faced with large stainless tubs filled with hot, just-fried tofu, as well as all sorts of familiar and unfamiliar items. In the cooler, I found a package of fresh yuba, and there were bottles of still-warm soymilk (soybean juice) in bins at the front of the store. There was a young woman behind the counter who offered us samples of the fried tofu — onion, lemongrass and plain. I'm not a big fried-food eater, and you'll never find recipes for deep fried foods on this blog, but I'm not going to lie, fried food tastes good. Fried tofu tastes really good. And the fried tofu we sampled was irresistible, so into a bag it went.



My attempts to buy plain tofu went something like this:
Me: "I'd like to buy some soft tofu and some extra firm tofu."
Young Woman Behind Counter: confused look.



We went back and forth like this — me using words, and she using facial expressions, for a few minutes until I said, "I'd like to buy some fresh tofu." This got a big smile and the question, "how many?" "Three," I answered, and with a laugh she disappeared into the kitchen and returned with three pieces of warm tofu. I also grabbed a jug of soymilk, or soybean juice as it was described on the label.



So, what did I make with the fried tofu? It seemed destined for an Asian-inspired meal, but that's not what happened. We had a big, fresh bunch of my favorite vegetable — kale — in the refrigerator, and I really wanted steamed kale with sun-dried tomatoes, kalamata olives and crushed red pepper. I just couldn't get past it, so we had the kale topped with fried tofu and green onions, with a side of brown basmati rice.



Next I had to think of something to do with the fresh soymilk. I know a lot of people make their own soymilk, so this would be no big deal, but if I buy soymilk, it's in a carton and rather bland, which is the way I generally prefer it. The fresh soymilk was very intensely flavored and thick — perfect for baking.



With bananas rotting on the counter, it seemed obvious that I should make banana bread, and I had intended to post a recipe for banana-oatmeal bread. Somewhere in the middle of combining ingredients, I lost track of how much flour I put in, and found myself winging it (á la River!) and unable to supply accurate measurements. This is really too bad because the bread turned out so well. I also left out some flavors I meant to include, so obviously I'll have to make another one. Which means I have to eat this one rather quickly, because I can't have two banana breads sitting in the kitchen!



Banana bread wasn't the only thing baking in our kitchen. After reading about Mark Bittman's changes at the NY Times, I followed a link to one of his well-known recipes — no-knead bread. I make no-knead bread often, guided by recipes from "Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day," but I wanted to give Mark Bittman's recipe another try, so I watched this video, and got started. The dough had to ferment for about 18 hours, and then rise for two hours. The bread got baked in a large cast iron pot; I'm sure most of you have seen this recipe — it was hugely popular several years ago. Above you can see my bread (made with white whole wheat flour) rising in its towel cocoon.



I plopped it into the piping hot pot as directed, and put it into the oven.



When it was done, it had a fantastic crunchy crust, beautiful crumb and gorgeous yellow color. But it was rather like a large pancake, with very little rise. It spread out into the pot instead of upward. It tasted great but I really wanted a higher rise. Bittman has posted a newer video with his revisions to the recipe, if you are interested.



This was my breakfast today — not exactly oatmeal. There's leftover kale with sun-dried tomatoes and olives, hummus, cucumber, avocado and Bittman's bread.

...........................................................................................

Crochet something and GET IT RIGHT!!!
Almost a year ago, I mentioned that I was trying to revisit an old interest in crochet. My skills were never highly developed, but I thought I could at least make a hat or scarf or two, and then progress to something more complex. I made a hat and scarf and that was the end of it. But, recently, a friend asked me to take a crochet class with her, and it forces me to keep making stuff since I have to appear at the class once a week with yarn and a project .



My biggest problem seems to be a streak of perfectionism that won't let me finish anything. I made this hat ... about six times! It was too big — ripped it out. It was too pointy — ripped it out. It was too small — ripped. It was ... And so on. I still don't like it but I had to stop ripping before the yarn became unusable. I still intend to make another version and a scarf to match because I really like the yarn.



I also made a "magic potholder." It's a very cool double-layer cotton potholder that can be made in about two hours — or six hours if you make it three times like I did. I think the magic part is that I finished it. (You can google "magic potholder" for directions. I used Sugar and Cream yarn, a size G hook, and I started with 30 chains.)

I'm making a hat for my granddaughter and I'm now on version two, but I promised myself not to make it more than twice.



It looks like I'll be crocheting for a while. Will I survive?

...........................................................................................

This is what I saw when I looked out my bedroom window last evening.



...........................................................................................

A message from Farm Sanctuary



A day to celebrate love in the world is a day to sponsor a Farm Sanctuary shelter animal! Adopt in your name or give a gift sponsorship to someone special in your life. Right now, many rescued farm animals living at our sanctuaries are in need of tender loving care.

A farm animal sponsorship is a thoughtful, cute, fun, compassionate, original, and all-around wonderful way to share some love this Valentine’s Day! It’s the perfect way to help animals and show you care, whether it’s for your sweetheart, your mom, dad, sister, brother, a special friend, or for yourself.

Sponsors receive an adoption certificate with a color photograph of their adopted friend, an adoption card, an invitation to schedule a VIP tour to meet their adopted friend, and other benefits depending on the animal chosen for adoption. See a list of sponsorship packages here.

Whether your loved one has a sweet tooth, prefers a little bling, or would cherish the adoption of a special friend whose happiness he/she makes possible, Farm Sanctuary has something for everyone! And, best of all, your gift will keep giving because every purchase from Farm Sanctuary directly supports the lifesaving work they do on behalf of farm animals.