Filed under: quilting
I made this quilted pillow from Freddy Moran’s quilting pattern. As soon as I put the cats in the window ,I knew it was for Tallulah.
The flower pillow I made for Mojdeh. It is my first hand applique.
The 2nd pillow is for Pixie. She said fireflies gave her good luck which she definitely needed with her diagnosis and surgeries. We just celebrated her 80th birthday! She surprised us all. Hallelujah.
The third pillow is for Hanaleah. Like Tallulah’s pillow, there is hand quilting in the Japanese Sashiko style.
Filed under: quilting
This is the third quilt I made for Hanaleah, The first one was for her freshman year at college, the second one was for graduate school and the third one is for the first house she purchased. I know you are supposed to bring salt and bread to someone’s new home, but I bought a quilt.It is also a queen sized quilt. The first 2 were twin size.
Filed under: quilting
One year after Chris’s cancer was declared in remission, he died from it.
I met Robin at the Hope Lodge in NYC where we were both helping our husbands as they fought cancer. After Chris died. Robin sent me all his t-shirts. Chris was a PE teacher at community college, entered into many tournaments with friends and loved sports. His t-shirr quilt is a memory quilt for his wife Robin. Robin displayed it at Chris’s celebration of life.
Filed under: quilting
I met Haley when we. went to Hanaleah’s graduation. Haley too received her Masters degree in Public Health from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill . Days after very pregnant Haley had her first baby, a boy she and Sebastian named Felix.
Filed under: recipes | Tags: daikon radish, Japanese style vegan soup, vegansoup
We had a hard freeze the 4th week of December, 2022 and I still have many vegetables in my refrigerator When I saw the bag of 3 daikon radishes, I knew I needed to deal with them right away. I have been putting them in salads all week, but they are spicy so this is slow. But, when you cook daikon radishes they loose their spiciness and are quite mild and delicious. so I decided to cook a Japanese style soup with them, The soup came out so good I made it again 2 days later. I decided to use gram measurements since I just bought a new kitchen scale. If you like you can add more veggie broth.
Ingredients
- 250 g Daikon radishes
- 150 g carrots
- 10 g dried Shitake mushrooms
- 8 g ginger
- 4 grams Arame seaweed dried
- 2 TBSP olive oil
- 2 TBSP soy sauce
- ! TBSP mirin
- 1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 star anise
- 1 TBSP corn starch in 1 TBSP water
- 600 grams veggie broth
- 300 grams of water
- 4 scallions, white and green parts both
- cilantro leaves and tender stems
Directions
- Soak shitake mushrooms in very hot water.
- Peel daikon and carrots and cut in large matchsticks
- Peel ginger and cut into small matchsticks.
- Add oil to thick bottomed pot and heat on medium
- Add daikon radish, carrot and ginger to hot oil and sauté for 3 minutes.
- Slice shitake mushrooms and add to put along with their soaking water.
- Add water, soy sauce, Mirin, vinegar, pepper and star anise. lLt simmer for about 25 minutes.
- Take out star anise
- Turn off burner and add corn starch mixed with water to hot soup and let sit for 5 minutes.
- Serve with chopped scallions and chopped cilantro on top.
I usually make Mushroom Barley soup with button mushrooms, but a friend gave me some Lion’s Mane mushrooms he grew so I decided to try making soup with them. I left out the celery and carrots ifrom my regular recipe and added a cashew cream. It came out a little thicker than I suspected. And after being in the refrigerator overnight it thickened even more. Perhaps the mushrooms did this? The taste was very good. If I get some more of these healthy mushrooms I might make this again.
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups of diced yellow onion
- 2 TBSPs of olive oil
- 1 cup of tomato juice
- 8 oz. of chopped mushrooms, Lion’s Mane
- 2 TBSPs soy sauce
- 3 cups of vegetable broth
- 4 cups of water
- 2 TBSP nutritional yeast
- 1 cup of barley
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp of paprika
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
- 1/2 cup raw cashews
- 1/2 cup unsweetened soy milk
- 2 tsp of lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
Directions
- Sauté onions until soft
- Add garlic and stir for one minute
- Add tomato juice, mushrooms, soy sauce, and cook for 5 minutes on medium low.
- Then add the barley, the water, the broth and garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, salt and pepper
- Cover and cook for about 45 minutes on medium low stirring occasionally. Simmer, don’t boil.
- Place cashews in hot water for 15 minutes
- Drain cashews and put in a Vitamix like blender on high with the soy milk until smooth.
- After the barley is soft, add cashew mixture and lemon juice or vinegar to soup.
- Turn off and let it sit for 10 minutes to meld the flavors.
Filed under: recipes
I have been making this tofu sald since I lived in a spiritual community in Tennessee. With many permutations over the past 542 years ,the following is now the recipe I use. It is great with Texas corn chips, salted or unsalted, but also good on a sandwich with lettuce and tomatoes. It is my son Max’s favorite tofu salad. Feel free ot make your own adjustments.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds of tofu
- 3 TBSP of nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp of salt
- 1/4 tsp of black pepper, freshly ground
- 1 tsp of paprika
- 1 tsp of dried Basil
- 1 tsp of dried Mexican Oregano
- 1/8 tsp of cayenne or more to your taste
- 1 TBSP Tamari or soy sauce
- 1 tsp of onion powder, freshley ground from dried onion
- 1 TBSP of apple cider vinegar
- 2 TBSP of lemon juice
- 2 TBSP of yellow mustard
- 2 Tbsp of dried Parsley or 4 TBSP of fresh
Directions
- Drain both blocks of tofu for about 15 mintues and pure off water.
- Crumble first block of tofu with your hands in a bowl.
- Add all ingredients on top of ccrumbled first block.
- Mix with a fork.
- Add a second block of tofu, crumbled and mix until you get a uniform color.
- Refrigerate for an hour so spices can meld, overnight is even better.
Filed under: recipes
Persian Eggplant Stew or in Farsi,-Khoresh-e Bademjan ,is a delicious way to use up an abundance of eggplant.
My son has veganized the recipe and it takes time to prepare and cook, about 1.5 hours. But is well worth it. If you don’t have sour grapes you can substitute lemon juice or Tamarind paste or sour limes. I prefer using the Japanese style long skinny eggplants with the skins on, but you could probably make it with peeled Italian globe eggplants too. I’ve just never tried it that way. I prepare for making this dish in the Spring by gathering and freezing unripe wild grapes in my neighborhood.
Ingredients
- 5 Japanese eggplant, medium to large
- 1.5 cups sliced white onions
- olive oil approx. 2 TBSP
- 7 Campari tomatoes, halved
- 2 TBSP tomato paste, dissolved in 1.5 cup water
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1.25 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup sour grapes
Directions
- Cut eggplant the long way into 1/2 inch pieces.
- Brush olive oil on the bottom of a cast iron pan. Heat on medium.
- Brown eggplants slices on both sides in approximately 3 batches. Re-oil pan for each batch.
- Put epplant slices in the bottom of a a heavy duty pan with a lid.
- Put tomato halves, skin side up. on top of eggplant.
- Add 1 TBSP of olive oil to the cast iron pan. Heat on medium and add onions.
- When onions are brown add tumeric and pepper. Shut off heat(electric stove) and stir well.
- Put onions on top of eggplant slices and tomatoes
- Place sour grapes on top of onions.
- Add salt to diluted tomato paste. Stir and then pour the mixture over the vegetables in the pan
- Cover and cook over medium-low heat for 30 minutes.
- Uncover and cook for 15 more minutes
- Serve over Basmati rice.
If you don’t have Campari tomatoes use cherry tomatoes or any you have.
I TBSP of tamarind or 1 TBSP of lemon juice can substitute for the sour grapes.
I harvested eggplant, zucchini and okra from the garden and roasted them in the oven. I want to make a dipping sauce for them and decided on Peanut Sauce, John’s favorite. But I also wanted to use Tamarind paste and this is what I finally came up with.
Ingredients
- 2 tsp of grated ginger
- 1 large clove of garlic
- 1 TBSP soy sauce
- 1 tsp maple syrup
- 2 tsp of grated ginger
- 1/3 cup peanut butter
- 1 TBSP lime juice
- 2 TBSP Tamarind paste
- 1/3 cup water
Directions
- Pulse the garlic in a small food processor.
- Add ginger and pulse again
- Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well
- Use a silicon spatula to make sure everything is mixed well and pulse again.
Filed under: recipes | Tags: vegan salad dressing. blended cashew salad dressing
I am really enjoying learning to cook with cashews. And the results. I do use a Vitamix, which is a high speed blender, to make the dressing extra creamy and smooth..
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups raw cashew
- 3/4 cup cold water
- 2 TBSP rice vinegar
- 2 TBSP lemon juice
- 1 scant tsp sea salt
- 1.5 tsp garlic powder
- 1.5 tsp onion powder
- 2 tsp dried dill
Instructions
- Soak the cashews in hot water for 10 minutes. Drain. Put soaked cashews in blender
- Add the next 6 ingredients to the blender and mix on high speed for about one minute.
- Add the dill and pulse once or twice.
- It is ready to use but will thicken in the fridge.
Eat Veggies, save the planet 