Milky Way Rope Bowl

This rope bowl turned out exceptional.

A giant THANK YOU to Pencil Girl for dyeing the rope and all the other things you've done for me. The Milky Way Bowl is winging it's way to her on Monday. It will look awesome on her dining table filled with seasonal fruits.

I just love how these bowls are reversible. I did some orange stitching - getting rid of orange bobbins - on the outside and it looks like the Milky Way.

I tried to get an oblong track out of it but was only slightly successful. Another skill to work on.

This bowl has beefy handles and a beefy knot to match.

Pencil Girl has spent many years as a 4-H leader. Her second kidlet ran off to college last year!  She is scaling back.
This post from 2010 regarding tie-dyeing is still relevant.


I still have a few yards left of this dyed rope - thinking of adding it to another bowl as the top part.

***added next day::: The second bowl.

***just a few more days...SALE continues in my friend's Etsy Shop;
CraftyTokyoMama on etsy. Use Coupon code AUGUST20 throughout the month of August to get 20% off your purchase.

Don't forget about Etsy Love - even if you don't buy anything - just hover over the heart on each listing and tap on it. (thanks!)

A Pint Of Green Juice

I was a good girl this morning. I made a huge batch of green juice for a healthier May. 

The last time I drank my green juice was early in April. I had not been feeling well with my auto-immune and I have a horrible habit of thinking, if I feel so crummy, then I can eat whatever, as I can't possibly feel any worse.

Logically - that doesn't work. I do feel worse -- not being vigilant eating well for my auto-immune. It's funny where internal beliefs drive us.

Then I saw a beautiful bouquet of Mock-Orange in my Instagram feed and when I was all finished cleaning up the juicing operation, I went out and cut myself a bouquet. Right next to these fragrant Mock Orange blooms were these luscious Iris's. Love the deep purple against the white.

 Cleaning out the fridge for juicing, I came across this Cauliflower moldering in the vegetable drawer. I turned it into a quick soup.

Cream of Cauliflower Soup
Non-dairy, non-soy.

Head of cauliflower cut up into chunks, trim off the icky bits.
Steamed in beef stock (or whatever liquid you have lurking in your fridge).
If you use water, you'll need to adjust herbs.
2 tsp. dried Thyme
dash salt

When tender - about 20 minutes, turn off heat and let sit while you finish your juicing clean-up.

Use your stick blender to blend and mush the cauliflower, slowly adding coconut milk until you feel it is the right amount. Between 2 -3 cups. Blend until smooth.


easy peasy dinner for tonight.

 My green juice always seems to taste better in cool glasses.
Thank you dear daughter.

Today's Green Juice.
In your juicer:
3 granny smith apples
1 1/2 bunches of celery

In your blender:
Use juice from apples and celery to blend:
1 giant bag of fresh spring greens - spinach, kale, arugula, etc.
5 baby bok choy's ('cuz baby veggies taste better?)
4 zucchini

and today I added:
Stalk rhubarb
2 tbsps sea kelp
1 cup Hemp hearts

I have heard Rhubarb is  anti-parasitic. My doc thinks my fatigue and depression this spring might spring from a parasite I picked up during my January trip to Hawaii when I was so tired after the Christmas work (63 hrs/wk!).

I grew up with rhubarb and seriously dislike the texture - stewed rhubarb anyone? But I'm willing to try anything and oftentimes, veggies taste better as juice.
The hemp hearts were something new at my store and I thought I'd try them. The sea kelp was bought a while ago and forgotten about.

The only other weird thing about juicing is I prefer the green. If you add blueberries - it's brown. as in - eeuuwhw. If you add beets for the sweetener instead of apples, it's red, which is slightly better than brown.

I prefer green. I can't tolerate too much fruit, so my juice is mostly veggies.

And hubby has asked, "what's that taste like?"  me: "like drinking your veggies". I wouldn't do it if I weren't so sick. I try to use organic as much as possible. It's like 30 minutes to clean up, so I make enough for the week.

My sweet SIL gave me this little garden ornament for my birthday.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

 I buy eggs that come from free-range hens who typically eat a soy-free/gluten-free/non GMO diet.

Last months' eggs included these green beauties - just in time for St. Patrick's Day.

I will eat Green Eggs and Ham, ahem, Bacon from Vogets.

 

 I finally got a pic of my car trash popup  inside my car.   It's dark in my garage, so I snapped this after I got off work. Cute. And it looks awesome.

Dairy-free Cream of Broccoli Soup

Or, was it?

I read about five recipes on-line for Cream of Broccoli Soup and came up with something that is very definitely green but tastes very good.

I took zero photos because the soup was GREEN. I don't think my kids would eat a green soup  if I paid them, but one on-line mom swore her kid loved cream of broccoli soup. Even Gluten-free Girl swears her daughter loves broccoli puree. I don't think you should believe everything you read on-line.

I started off with sautéing some dried minced onions in butter with a dash or two of garlic powder. Then I added 3 cups of homemade turkey stock along with the broccoli, chopped up small.

After seven minutes, I threw in the last cup of broth, realizing I had a lot of broccoli in the pot.
I added some sea salt  (~Tbsp?) and pepper and pinch of Turmeric at this point.

The broccoli took just over ten minutes to get somewhat soft. Tasting it here, I added a dash of hot sauce because we all know hot sauce fixes everything.
I pureed the soup in three batches in my blender and put it back in the cookpot.
Then I added 2 cups of Hazelnut milk (Dairy-free). I had about 2 Tbsp's of whipping cream left in the fridge and threw that in.

The soup was still not quite what I was after. A little too much texture. Not enough creaminess.

I added another cup of Hazelnut milk to get the right consistency and put two batches back through the blender ( not all of the soup - I wanted to keep some of the texture).
That little whipping air into the milk gave it a more velvety texture.

This was a fast-to-make soup, but, unfortunately, is for an intermediate cook who kinda has an idea in her peabrain about what this soup should be like; taste-wise and texture-wise and how to get there.

Here's my recipe - with room for thought:

Dairy-Free Cream of Broccoli Soup

1/4 cup finely chopped onions or 2 Tbsp. Dried Minced Onions
Butter ~ 2 Tbsp ( you could use olive oil here)
Garlic Powder or 1 clove fresh garlic
2 big florets of Broccoli, chopped up
4 cups stock (mine was from the Thanksgiving Turkey)

3 cups of dairy-free milk (Hazelnut)
Dash of real cream?

Definite Dash of Hot Sauce

Sauté the onion and garlic in butter. A minute or two.
Add stock and broccoli. Cook until almost tender ~ 10 minutes.
Puree in batches in blender. Return to cookpot.
Add dairy-free milk
Puree two batches in blender (not all of soup).

Reheat.

This was enough for two tonight with just enough for tomorrow.