Rush of Fools WONDER OF THE WORLD I've been enjoying the debut album for quite some time now. And now, just now I finally downloaded the second album from iTunes. I don't know why I waited so long... I guess I wanted to make it a birthday present for myself... and now that it's finally my birthday... well... in a few days... I bought it. Two songs that I really like - are the album title song: "Wonder Of The World" and "You Are Glory" I wanted to sing along so I went looking for lyrics online - but seems this album is still too new... so I submitted them myself - and did the best I could... there is a part of You Are Glory that is a bit hard to understand - I think they are singing Deo Gloria... so that is how I submitted it to LyricsReg.com. They are submitted but still pending... so enjoy the lyrics below for now. To listen, go to Youtube.com and look for songs - it's that easy :) Rush of Fools Wonder of The World Father, How can it be that you are...
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Best Ever Hot Cocoa Mix Oh my! This is THE BEST. I was laying awake last night trying to decide what else I can give to my in-laws for Christmas... I know... it's only 2 days away... and I really wanted to come up with something that is like something I would give and that they would use . I realized I could give hot cocoa mix together with some hard candy dipped spoons - they could use this together instead of stirring those into coffee or tea. So, I opened up my Make a Mix cookbook this morning and saw the Hot Cocoa Mix recipe there. I was thinking, I've tried this before and it wasn't that good. So I got online and went to recipezaar.com . I looked through almost all of the mix recipes they have listed there when I came across two that used white chocolate chips - and specifically said to use the mix with hot milk - not water. I thought on it for a while and went with this recipe - even though there were only 3 reviews - they were all good reviews. Then after I was finis...
Mint & Peppermint Treats Delicious recipes that are perfect at Holiday time or anytime Chocolate Mint Cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World Recipe Review As always, delicious. All of Isa & Terry's recipes turn out so good - especially from this little tiny cookbook - it's no wonder that it won "Cookbook of the Year" from VegNews and that everyone else is raving about it, too. I couldn't quite get my frosting to set up and hold it's texture - that's because I couldn't wait till they completely cooled... I wanted to eat one so badly. No biggie - the taste is what counts - and it tasted fabulous. My husband who does not generally care for mint flavored items - really liked these... he's becoming converted to more and more mint desserts. Peppermint Stick Ice Cream Just some stuff I threw together in the food processor Recipe Review Yup, that's right - I just threw some stuff together in the food processor. I think the easiest way...
Short & Sweet Child's Cardigan Free Crochet Pattern 70455AD I can't remember if I've already said this in another post - but I'll share it again just in case... When I was 12 years old - in the Young Womens - I learned how to crochet. Joy Gagon was our teacher. I think she's infamous in Douglas Country. She was the home-ec teacher at Douglas High School for many years - that was before my time. She was also a really cool substitute teacher. I had her a few times in the elementary school for a sub. But I knew her best as just another older lady at church. I guess I'm pretty lucky to have met her - she taught me how to knit and crochet. I cannot really remember how to knit though - and I just loved crochet - once I finally figured it out. For YW, each girl bought her own supplies, crochet hook and yarn and made an afgan. We donated the finished afgans to the local convalescent center. I felt really good about it and enjoyed the craft so much that I made severa...
White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake I know a lot of people like cheesecake and to be honest, I was one of those few rare people who did not. I even have a best friend who use to work at the Cheesecake Factory in Baltimore, Maryland and she worked in the dessert section. So I had access to really good cheesecake but I never ate any. I think that is because there are two kinds of cheese cake. One kind of cheesecake is made with cream cheese and it tastes good. Then there is this other kind made with a different kind of cheese and it's more crumbly - less smooth and that is the kind I did not like. So, in 2007, I was visiting the U.S. and we were there for my brother's birthday. He is one of those guys that doesn't want a traditional birthday cake. He got a Cheesecake Factory sampler from Costco Wholesale and everyone had a good time. Initially, I was not going to have any... but then someone mentioned the words: White Chocolate Raspberry... and I was like - I'll give tha...
"You Got Peanut Butter in My Chocolate" Cookies by Dreena Burton from cook book Eat, Drink & Be Vegan recipe review: YUMMY First off, I like that most of her cookie recipes make just enough - one or two batches in the oven and your done. They are fairly simple to put together. She does use some expensive ingredients though - like maple syrup and agave nectar. But I just happened to have them so I got to make these yummy treats. I think they would turn out okay with an alternative ingredient like appelstroop in place of the maple sryup - if I were to do this I'd probably add a bit more sugar to the mix. So a few months ago, I think it was August, I was considering going Vegan. I bought 4 vegan cookbooks to help with the transition. I really love Vegan with a Vengeance. It's been my favorite so far and I've tried more recipes from that one than the others. Okay, my second favorite is Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World - it's all desserts so of course, it...
Surprise Avond Well, it is tradition in the Netherlands to have a Surprise Evening with friends. This is always right around December 5th - it coincides with Sinterklaas - He's like the Dutch Santa Claus - but like he's a saint and he comes from Spain (traditionally) but perhaps he really came from Turkey. And he comes in a steamboat with "Zwarte Piet" - aka black pete... (There are like hundreds of black petes, not just one but they all have the same name) and a horse named Amerigo. And when it's time for him to come the children put their shoes out and they put a carrot in the shoe for Amerigo - the horse, and then Sinterklaas leaves them a gift, like candy or a mandarine fruit (he's from Spain afterall). But the older kids and adults know that Sinterklaas is fictitious, so they do something different so they can still have fun and get presents. Here is what they do. Before, the Surprise evening, friends take turns drawing a name and then they prepare a gift...
Kailea's Christmas Stocking I did one for Ella first, then for Kailea. It's complete... was much faster this time because I used the sewing machine for the stocking itself - the other stuff is all hand-appliqued though. I really enjoyed this craft... I'd like to make some more. I want to make one for Mark next. I actually made one for him when we were first married - but it turned out kind of crappy... I'd like a retry at that since I've gotten better... I also made one for Maxine -- hers also turned out kind of crappy so I will try again on that one, too... this year though... I'm not sure about that. But anyways, here is Kailea's stocking:
I DO! I've already blogged about this recipe... but I decided to revisit it again... today while making Punk Rock Chickpea Gravy (VWAV)- I was reading the recipe notes and the author says "You will make this at least once a week. I just know it." And I thought... wow, she's right... we have had this at least once a week. It's become quite the staple in our home. I always follow the recipe exactly - except that ever since I ran out of nutritional yeast, I've had to use up some Parmasan cheese - I can taste that the gravy is cheesier - it's still delicious to me... I don't think Mark has noticed the cheese... at least, he hasn't said anything... it would be nice if you could buy nutritional yeast in a regular grocery store because I haven't managed to go across town to our local health food store to get more... 37 weeks pregnant... will do that to you :) This gravy is amazing, but cannot stand on it's own - in my humble opinion... I was on t...
Peanut Butter Cups - Veganized. Recipe found here - link Um... these were a bit of a pain to make because the chocolate - it's hard to get it to stay put... I don't think I used enough chocolate though... and next time I definitely want to try them with white chocolate - of course, they wouldn't be vegan then... but I bet they would be awesome... We don't have these in the Netherlands... well, at least, I've never seen them sold over here - so it was fun to make them - or shall I say... it was fun to eat them :)
A Diner's Breakfast One morning I felt like frying up an egg - here happens to be one of the most perfect breakfasts according to me... remember... I do like diner food! What I did was fry the onions first in some margarine, then when they are good and golden brown I add the whisked egg - it fries up with some Cheddar cheese. I serve it with toast, chocolate milk and OJ. Delicious and very satisfying!
Almond Orange Coconut Cupcakes Got this recipe via vegweb.com - link really yummy and we went ahead and used the idea from Isa's book Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World by scooping out the middle of the cake, putting in frosting and strawberry preserves, topping them with a bit more "glue" frosting and a fresh strawberry on top. Nice presentation when sprinkled with sprinkles and they were very delicious. The frosting I made up myself. I wanted something that would compliment the cakes so I whipped together 4 Tbsp Halvarine* and 2 Tbsp margarine. Then I beat in about 1/2 cup powdered sugar. I then beat in 1 tsp orange extract, 1/2 tsp almond extract and 1/2 tsp coconut extract. Then I beat in another 1/2 cup powdered sugar till smooth. It's a very rich flavor and went awesome with the cupcakes. *In a lot of recipes from Vegan Cupcakes... the frosting recipes call for vegan margarine or vegan shortening... I always use Halvarine in place of the shortening.
Sassy Kailea Lately, she likes having her photo taken - and she will do all kinds of poses - I liked this one a lot. It shows a different side of her - the side I see a lot. She's wearing the dress that my Mom sent her from the U.S. I love the little girls dresses from the U.S. They are so different from the European dresses - so much cuter in a way :)
Creativity! Last week I prepared a VT message using the talk from Sister Beck about what is the purpose of RS? It was a good talk and reminded me that even though we are doing a good job we need to step it up a notch. I enjoyed reading it... then my VT partner also prepared a lesson but she used the talk from President Uchtdorf titled: Happiness - Our Heritage. And that one I enjoyed more. He is such a wonderful speaker. But the part that I was really struck with was the section on Creation. How we as women are co-creators with the Father. This really applies to men, too. The part I liked was how he talked about creating something out of nothing. Creating a smile on a friend's face for example. I do, however, like to create something out of something! Lately, I have been working on many crafts and baked goodies - as you can see from recent posts. And I love doing this - I feel a special kind of energy when I'm creating something. My most recent project is a Christmas Stocking t...
The Best Lunch Ever vs The Worst Lunch Ever For me the best lunch ever is your typical diner meal: grilled cheese and tomato soup. I tried the vegan thing for a while - but the vegan cheese, seriously, in my opinion, SUCKS. One of my most favorite things is a grilled cheese sandwich but this Tofutti vegan cheese just does not compare with regular dairy Cheddar cheese. The vegan cheese doesn't even really melt. It's just like plastic. The thing I like to pair with my grilled cheese is tomato soup, celery sticks and an apple. And of course, the best thing to have with the Best Lunch ever is good company. Good company: Kailea eating her sandwich and fruit The Best Lunch Ever: grilled Cheddar cheese, tomato soup, celery, apple The Worst Lunch Ever (which is actually an attempt at the Best Lunch: failed)
I've been a fan of Rush of Fools for some time now. They came out with their second album a few months ago and I haven't been able to pick up a copy yet. It sits on my wish list for Christmas or Birthday so I know I'll get it soon. So, in the meantime, I've been listening to their songs on Youtube - thank goodness for youtube. I've also heard clips of all their songs on iTunes... I really look forward to making a copy of their CD for the car once we download it from iTunes. Kailea has even been starting to sing along to some of their songs from the first album because we listen to it in the car almost all the time. I'm going to try and add a video from Youtube of their song Wonder of the World - also the title of their second album. It's a beautiful song - I'm hooked - I love it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27SG75Yh8ek Anyways, i'm having trouble with this embed code thingy - it just won't copy the whole thing - really ticks me off... oh well....
The Lion Brand Crochet-Along This year I decided to participate in the Lion Brand Crochet Along. This is something I've never done. Until recently, I've been crocheting from patterns and I think that means I've come along way in my hobby. When I first learned to crochet, I was 12 years old. We learned in Young Womens. It was part of a service project. Each of us bought our own yarn and hooks and made a Granny-Square Afgan to be donated to the local convalescent center. I remember that mine was red and beige. I really enjoyed crocheting and made several more afgans - all Granny Square. I later picked up a book with other simple stitches and practiced those but whenever I attempted to follow a pattern I failed horribly. So for years I would just make up my own patterns - crocheting bags, hats and scarves. Using simple stitches - single crochet and double crochet. So last year I bought this book: Crochet Me. And I finally attempted to make something with it. I chose a pattern ...
Cupcakes Galore! I was very busy this weekend making cupcakes for my friends. Friday night we had a few over for Institute class and our Halloween planning meeting... So one girl requested the coconut and Lime Cupcakes. I was happy to oblige. I probably wouldn't normally have chosen those ones - but I'm glad I made them because they were really yummy... and easy to make and I like that the twisted lime was so easy to do and made them so cute. Saturday night we had a Talent show at the church and I never do performing arts - I prefer painting and baking. In the past I have shown some of my paintings, but this time I brought 48 little cupcakes. I made the Chocolate Cherry Creme Cupcakes, Banana Split Cupcakes and Oreo Cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World. Another awesome book from Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Romero. I was going to also make the Blueberry Lemon Tall Cakes - but I decided at the last minute to use strawberries instead of blueberries. This way I ju...
HEAVENLY PEANUT DREAM (ICE CREAM) Story: I came across this one blog called VeganIceCream - some good recipes there but most of the recipes use soy creamer and since I live in a country where some of that stuff is hard to come by I came up with this recipe when I was being creative one day. It's now my most favorite thing to whip up for company :-) Enjoy it again and again! Description: No eggs and no dairy and it's so easy and delicious! Ingredients: 4 cups coconut milk (not cream) 2 cups peanut butter 1/2 to 1 cup maple syrup (more or less to taste) 1 Tbsp vanilla extract 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp ground ginger Directions: Combine in a blender, or food processor fitted with metal blade, and blend until smooth. Then turn on your ice cream maker and pour in the peanutty mixture. Freeze according to manufacturer's instructions. Move frozen - slushy mixture into a freezer safe container and freeze until firm or ready to serve. Suggestions: Excellent with some chocolate...
MASHED POTATO MIRACLE I actually found this one on Allrecipes.com. It has become one of my all time favorites. It's good for helping rotate the potato flakes in my food storage as well. My husband doesn't mind the cream cheese in them either. I've also tried it with flavored cream cheeses as well - like the garden herb variety or garlic-paprika variety. Delicious! Just a side note, the leftovers aren't very good so be sure to use it all up - half the recipe if you must. This also does not freeze well. Ingredients: 3 cups water 1 teaspoon [sea] salt 5 tablespoons butter [or margarine] 2- 3/4 cups potato flakes 1 onion, minced 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese (I've done it with one 150g package and that was sufficient) 1- 1/2 cups milk 1 (6 ounce) can French fried onions Directions: 1) Preheat oven to 200 degrees F (95 degrees C). 2) In a medium saucepan bring water and salt to a boil over medium heat. Add butter or margarine and stir in potato flakes, onion and cream...
PEANUT BUTTER SPICED COOKIES Found this one at WW and although I have't tried it yet - I plan to next time I'm in the mood for PB cookies: "These large, peanutty cookies not only taste wonderful, they also pack a fiber- and protein-punch thanks to our secret ingredient…canned chickpeas." Ingredients 1/2 cup canned chickpeas, not drained* 1 cup Skippy Super Chunk Roasted Honey Nut Peanut Butter, or other brand 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar 1 tsp vanilla extract 1 large egg(s) [or egg substitute of choice] 1 cup whole wheat flour 1/2 tsp table salt 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, or more to taste Instructions: - Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper (or coat with cooking spray); set aside.- *Pour chickpeas into a 1-cup measuring cup and pour in enough chickpea liquid just to cover the beans; puree chickpeas and their liquid in a blender or mini food processor.- In a large bowl with an...
Review: Lemon-Poppy Seed Muffins (page 46) from VWAV - Isa Chandra Moskowitz This was the 2nd most boring recipe I have tried in VWAV. For one thing they are not very sweet. They were really dense and the Lemon taste just wasn't there. I would probably use 1 tsp lemon extract in place of the vanilla extract - since they are supposed to be LEMON! And yes, they could use some more sweetening... and perhaps less oil. Okay, but other than that - I'm impressed that every muffin recipe in this book that says makes 12 - is very accurate. And I like the Punk Points suggestion for this recipe - to freeze half of them in cupcake liners and then you just add 8-10 minutes on the baking time and then you always have fresh muffins - I may do this for the Pumpkin muffins recipe because seriously - those are the best muffins - in my opinion. I'm so happy that Halloween & Thanksgiving are approaching because I'm going to make Pumpkin muffins for both those occassions :-) Me So Happy...
Etsy I've been enjoying etsy for a few months now. Mostly just browsing stuff I'd like to buy. I have created a list of my favorite stores. I'm waiting for Cristin, my roomie from college to start her own store - b/c she makes the cutest stuff, seriously, I'm going to be her first buyer! Well, I've been thinking about putting some of my stuff up there. So today I started my own etsy store. Bummer thing is the time you have to put into listing your items there. It only costs 20 cents to list an item and they list it for 4 months. Then they do take a percentage of the sell cost. No biggie though. I've gone ahead and listed one of my paintings. I tried to list another but for the life of me I cannot find the image I made of it - the photograph I mean, so I'll just have to get out the trusty camera and take another. Oh well... the other thing is they ask you to list the shipping cost and honestly I have no idea what it costs to ship stuff -- but I went ahead and...
Lentils and Rice with Caramelized Onions and Spiced Pita Crisps from Veganomicon (Vcon) by Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero This was one of the first recipes I've tried from Vcon and I like it. This is a big book and I haven't really been sure what to try. We buy onions in bulk and often times I have to throw some out that go bad - so when I saw that this recipe uses almost 2 pounds of onions I thought I'd go for it. The only thing that was holding me back was the amount of olive oil called for in the recipe. It's 3/4 cup olive oil. That seems like a lot to me and I bet if I were still on weightwatchers then this recipe would be a big no-no. But since I'm pregnant I got to enjoy it. It says that it's also called Mujadarah or Enjedra in the Middle East and Terry says she could live off it. They describe it as "comfort food." How can something with so simple ingredients taste so good? Sometimes it's the simple foods that taste best. So w...
Orange Sesame Tofu from: eat, drink & be vegan by Dreena Burton This was a pretty easy meal to put together. That's what I liked. It wasn't too time consuming and it was pretty good. However, it didn't taste all that much like orange. I think maybe some of the other ingredients over powered the orange juice. Maybe it's because I eyeballed the rest of the ingredients and didn't measure exactly - even so - this wasn't as good as I hoped it would be. The problem is we've already tried another recipe called "Orange Chicken Style Tofu" from vegweb.com and we loved that. So when I said I was making Orange Tofu tonight and then it didn't look or taste like the other - I think Mark was disappointed and I was a little bit, too. But I said to Mark, this is baked and so probably lower in fat or whatever. And it was easy to put together but even so we prefer the other recipe over Dreena's. Also, I haven't tried a lot of recipes in her book yet...
Mashed Potatoes with Punk Rock Chickpea Gravy from VWAV by Isa Chandra Moskowitz Oh Yummy - delicious. We had this two nights because of all the leftover gravy. The first night I made the mashed potatoes with the sauteed garlic variation. Delicious. Then we served it along side some vegetarian filet patties with extra gravy on top. The second night - which is pictured - we made the mashed potatoes regular but stirred in some fried up tofu pieces and then topped it off with sauteed onions and mushrooms. Makes for nice presentation and tasted great, too. We also served it along side green beans and apple sauce. A very down home meal and we loved it. Well, to be honest, I liked it a lot and Mark loved it. He was like "oh my gosh, this is so goooooood" He even pronounced "goooooood" just like that because that's how much he liked it. So, this one is a keeper for us - we will do it again.
African Peanut Soup This soup is so good - everybody loves it. Originally my husband claimed to hate peanut butter - but for some reason he loves it in this soup - it really makes the soup something special. 1 medium onion, chopped 3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped 1 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 1 can (400g) canned chopped tomatoes 2-1/2 cups water plus 1 veggie-bouillon cube ½ cup tomato sauce 1/4 cup fresh mint leaves, minced, divided [if you can't find mint, just seep a bag of mint tea in the soup while it simmers and take it out before you serve] 1-1/2 teaspoons mild chili powder [if you don't have mild chili powder – you must adjust the seasoning to your taste - i use 1/2 tsp hot chili powder] 1 teaspoon ground cumin 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes or mild paprika powder 1 cup frozen chopped spinach 1/3 cup chunky or smooth peanut butter Hot pita bread Combine the onions, garlic, and olive oil in a large stockpot and cook and stir over high h...
Premortality, Mortality and Sexuality Well today I came across two interesting things. The first is that I got reconnected with this girl from Phoenix. She is writing a novel about premortality and mortality - it's a Fiction piece all completely made up from her own mind. I like the idea of the story because it's something I've thought about. What exactly happened in premortality. How can Heavenly Father know each of us so intimately? Mark has said it this way to me. That premortality - part of eternity - just going the other direction - as no beginning - no time. So even though Heavenly Father and Mother have had billions of children - they have raised each of them and therefore know each of them personally. And that obviously has taken a really really really long "time". So back to this book that Autumn* is writing - it's interesting because she writes it about a girl named Emily and that her twin from premorality is now her "devil" tempter on eart...
How to make your own grape juice: Get a lot of fresh grapes from your garden at the end of the season. Put them in the food processor fitted with the metal blade. Pulse a few times. Then strain into a big bowl. This produces the best grape juice you will ever taste. So much better than store bought - so wholesome and delicious. Just look at that juice - it's not all watery and clear like store-bought - it's thick and the taste is out of this world. Now I can see why some people spend hundreds of dollars or euros as the case may be on those juice machines. I'd really like one especially since we plan to continue growing more grapes and other fruits and veggies in our own little garden. I'm looking forward to the harvest!
The Best Cinnamon Rolls with Shiny Sweet Glaze These are real easy to make if you have a bread maker to make the dough. I suggest getting one. Some people don't like bread from the bread maker as I discovered yesterday while chatting with a friend. I said to her - you can just let the machine make the dough and then bake it in the oven - that way you still get that classic bread-loaf shape - or so you can make cinnamon rolls and other happy treats like this one - that comes from one of my most favorite cookbooks - Make a Mix. I got this book from the DI thriftstore in Delta for like 50 cents. You can't beat that. It's an old book written by some Mormon ladies. And these recipes are tried and tested on big families I bet. These are really good. I've made them lots of times but this time was my first time making them vegan without the eggs and dairy milk. I think they turned out awesome - just goes to show you don't really need eggs at all. The recipe - I put it her...
Yummy Pumpkin Recipes I tried several different pumpkin recipes recently. Here is my rundown on the recipes. The first one I tried was the Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Cinnamon Icing from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World (page 126). These were delicious. I especially liked how they were not too dense or gummy like muffins sometimes are - and they were not too oily. They were just the perfect cake consistency like they should be. And they really really were delicious. I shall make them again soon. My husband Mark who does not like Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies - like the ones they sell at Smiths Food & Drug - he likes these cupcakes a lot. They are not too over powering with pumpkin flavor - that might be why. So, we give this recipe 2 thumbs up. The next recipe came from vegweb.com - Pumpkin Chipolte Soup with corn and pine nuts. This was a spicy soup indeed. Almost too spicy. I liked the combination of corn and toasted pine nuts - but I would have preferred having it ta...
Ginger Peanut Soup from vegweb.com submitted by Helen -------------------------------------------------- Original Recipe: 1- 1/2 cup chopped broccoli 1- 1/2 cup chopped cauliflower 1 medium onion, chopped 1 Tbsp ginger, grated 3 cloves garlic, minced or crushed 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp pepper 2 Tbsp olive oil 3 cup vegetable stock or water 1 28oz can diced tomatoes 5 Tbsp peanut butter In large stock pot, saute onions in oil until soft. Add other veggies, ginger, garlic, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper until veggies are just tender. Add stock or water, canned tomatoes, and peanut butter. Reduce heat and simmer for 20-25 minutes. ------------------------------------------------- I like to serve it with pita bread. It makes a delicous meal. We like to eat soup for our main meals quite regularly. This one is really yummy. The only thing I usually do differently is use 1 1/2 t ground ginger and I occassionally add other vegetables - like this time I made it with sliced ...
Zen Spiral Afgan - Pattern #: 70629AD Lion Brand Yarn I recently finished this afgan. It was fun to make because I had never made a circular afgan before. I had always just made those classic granny square afgans - so this was a nice change. But it was difficult in the beginning because I misread the instructions and increased every 8 stitches instead of a total of 8 stitches around each side as it got bigger and bigger. I don't think the instructions were very clear for a beginner - such as I. Not that I'm a beginner because I've been crocheting for years - but I'm a beginner when it comes to reading patterns. Anyways, I caught on pretty quick that I had it all wrong and had to undo the whole thing. That made me pretty mad. But I was back to the round I should have been on correctly very quick. Once I started doing it the correct way I finished it in about 2 weeks. It was also nice because once I started doing it correctly I noticed a pattern - that I was making like ...
Six Years Anniversary! (Sept 7) So we decided to spend the day in style. We drove a lot - and when we got where we were going we had lots of fun. We saw the cube houses in Rotterdam and then we ate vegetarian Chinese food at De Oude Plek. It was delicious. Photos of the Cube houses are featured on the other blog - mod homes in the Netherlands. Photos of the food are here! I had this bird's nest thingy. It was sweet n spicy. It had cashew nuts and the vegetarian chicken - I think it was made from wheat. It was delicious. I had it over noodles. Yum. Mark had the babipangang - i probably just spelled that wrong. But whatever - it was super sweet and delicious. Mark had really been looking forward to it. Ever since we went vegetarian he had been craving his favorite thing to eat at these Dutch/Chinese restaurants. He was so satisfied with the meal that he said: I can't wait to come back! Too bad we didn't get any take out - next time we will. We also started the meal with sweet...
Friday Night Dinner & Dessert (5 Sep - 2008) Soy-Sweet Tofu with Mango Salsa & Cucumber-Melon Sorbet We served it over a bed of cous cous and a side salad sprinkled with pine nuts. Yummy. Delicious. I found this recipe on weightwatchers a few years ago and I've veganized it. The recipe goes like this (Serves 4): Marinate 1 pkg firm, pressed tofu cut in blocks in 4 T maple syrup (or brown rice syrup, agave syrup, corn syrup or molasses) and 4 T low sodium soy sauce or Tamari. Set aside. Combine 1/2 mango (canned or fresh) chopped, with 4 T lime or lemon juice, 1 T dry ground coriander and 1 small onion, chopped. Set aside. Cook tofu in pan with oil till browned on all sides. Serve with mango salsa on a bed of couscous. Complement with salad tossed with oil and vinegar and topped with chopped nuts. I used pine nuts. Also good with peanuts or macadamia. I also sprinkled chopped hazelnuts over the mango salsa. Gives it an extra dimension. This is the Mango Salsa. It is made wit...