Just a 'here's what I ate' type post. Trying to get my five-a-day all in one go, right at the start:

So, I think I mentioned a while ago that Taryn had sent me some amazing blackberry jam. It's made by Mountain Fruit Co. Much to my delight, I discovered yesterday that the brand is sold in Lund's/Byerly's (and possibly elsewhere) here in Minnesota! I bought a jar of the strawberry-rhubarb and had to try it out this morning, even though the blackberry isn't quite finished yet. I daresay that Mountain Fruit Co. has started a jam revolution for me.

Because I'm a slave to my whims, I made potato salad for lunch:

I used equal parts Nayonaise and Sour Supreme, so it WOULD be vegan. . . if it weren't for the boiled egg I added. I didn't have any fresh dill, so I minced up a tiny dill pickle and threw that in (along with some minced red onion, a pinch of paprika, and salt/pepper). It tasted of summer. I ate it alongside a lettuce and spinach salad with broccoli, sweet corn, and fake ham, which made for a really nice warm-weather lunch. I wonder what'll happen when I step out into the below-freezing temperatures outside...

Hooray! It's a sunny day today, so I finally managed a couple of decent photos of the craft room. Er, office. Christmas tree room? Anyway, here's my new workspace:

Ever since we tore down two false ceilings, ripped up the carpet, and painted, the craft room has been one of the coziest spots in my house. But I don't do as much sewing these days, so I haven't spent that much time enjoying it. Last week, I decided to shuffle things around a bit, and I really love working in here!

I put up a little Christmas tree in one corner, which I haven't photographed yet, as there aren't any presents underneath. Soon, though. S and I spent a good portion of our Thanksgiving weekend reading on the daybed:

Did I ever post a picture of the new quilt in here? It's just from Target, but I got it on mega clearance -- I think I paid $15 for the quilt and $5 for an entire matching sheet set. The cats are really pleased that we're spending more time in this room -- for Beany, there's just so many bits and bobs and nooks and crannies to explore (and destroy), and Booty likes for everybody to hang out on the bed with him.

So that's your craft room update!

Hello there. I'm writing from my craft room, which is now technically my office. And craft room (minus the sewing machine). And guest room. I needed a change from the old cave-like office, so last night I wrangled the old school teacher's desk down to the basement and brought up the white table that used to live in here. Today has been so overcast that I can't manage a decent photo of my new workspace, but here are some pictures of other things:

We're not doing anything. They're making plans for later destruction. Of what, I don't know, but I'm guessing I'll find out soon enough. Look at all those pointy ears! Having one cat instead of a pair of cats now seems unfathomable.

I made this for my afternoon tea:

It's soy yogurt (plain, unsweetened Silk brand) with a little bit of powdered sugar, ginger, and blackberry jam. The jam was from Taryn and got lost (unopened) in the sea of condiments in my fridge door, so I was really excited to find it this afternoon. I baked the yogurt for twenty minutes, because I keep thinking that it will change the texture -- which it does slightly, but not enough to justify heating up the oven. Next time I'll be happy with just the yogurt and the jam -- maybe mix in a bit of stevia if it's not sweet enough.

At the start of the summer, I put my green ivy plant out on the back step. I wanted to have other things in my plant hutch, and I was tired of its constant demands to be kept alive.

I brought it back inside today. It's gone a bit. . . autumnal. I wonder if/how long it will stay like this? It was green all last winter, so it must be the low temperatures outside rather than the short days that have done this. Neat.

So, at some point last week, there was mention of making French toast on Saturday. I liked that idea. I liked it so much that I had to get carried away and wound up turning it into much more of a to do than necessary. I started with the idea of making baked French toast, right?

See, there's a decent Saturday morning breakfast. You wouldn't make it before work during the week, but it's not ridiculous, is it? Except it had a dark side. A caramelized-brown-sugar, walnut-studded side. That side was the bottom, which became the top, like so:

There was also sugar and nuts between the two layers of bread. There was no need for maple syrup with this French toast, which was part cinnamon roll. And because I made slightly too much almond milk mixture, it was also a bit custardy in the middle.

I really liked it, as did S, but we've agreed that if I make it again, there should just be one layer of bread, so the custard gets absorbed more evenly instead of creating a soggy bottom and dry sides. But the sugar and nuts are staying. And possibly being added to everything else I eat.

Just a quick post this morning, to get these photos out of the way. Yesterday I made a flat bread sandwich in my panini press -- black beans, tomatoes, sauteed chard, cilantro, green onions, and a little bit of soy mozzarella.

I don't often buy fresh cilantro, because it seems you always have to buy such huge bunches of it, and I can never use it before it goes bad. But what a great combination of flavours! I wasn't sure about the chard -- it needed using up, and I wanted something to fill out the sandwich, so I threw it in on a whim -- but everything seemed to work perfectly together.

And then (speaking of perfection), I made the Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever.

I'd been wanting to try out the recipe in Vegan With a Vengeance for quite a while; it seems like people rave about it, and the photos always look amazing. I finally broke down and gave it a go yesterday, and ohhhh man. Perfect. Perfect! I halved the recipe, and subbed two of the eight tablespoons of margarine for two of applesauce. And cut two Tbsp of sugar. And added a hint of cinnamon. But if you've been searching for the softest, tastiest chocolate chip cookie, you HAVE to buy VWAV. Yum.

Imagine being the sort of person who runs out of applesauce and can't do anything about it. I've been really into warm applesauce with my breakfast lately, but those glass jars seem to run out so quickly. Since I've been fairly busy lately, I haven't had a chance to run to the supermarket in a couple of days, but luckily I DO have apples on hand. And frozen peaches.

Twenty minutes later, apple-peach sauce. I made just a small batch -- two me-sized servings -- by combining 125g of peeled, chopped apple (I had Granny Smiths on hand), 70g frozen peach slices, and half cup of water. I covered it and let it simmer on low for ten minutes, then added another half cup of water and let it cook for another ten minutes. I stirred in some cinnamon at the end and bashed it up good with a wooden spoon until it was the consistency I wanted. No sugar added -- the fruit and cinnamon have plenty of flavour on their own! Easy peasy, almond breezy, as they (I) say.

Other things: Peek into my fridge. And also my fridge door. There's a lot of unlabeled stuff in there as well (can you tell I was playing with the MacBook?) and a LOT of stuff that needs throwing out in the fridge door. Salad dressings do not last forever, but they'll sure hang around for a long time if you don't do something about it. Anyway, just a bit of snooping for you to do there.

I've also got myself all worked up about next year's garden, and there's nothing I can do about it. I should have known better, really. First, I started reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle again (I started it a while ago, and then it got sidelined by other reads), and then I found this flickr set. When I saw the set listed, I knew -- knew -- I shouldn't open it, for sanity's sake, but it was too tempting. Now I've got a hastily scribbled garden plan for next spring, while the wind howls outside and it threatens to snow.

All that's still standing from this year's garden are the broccoli plants. There's about a serving's worth of tiny florets that I should pick soon (assuming I can brace myself against the wind), and those leaves are looking mighty fine. Anybody have a good broccoli leaf recipe? Sauteed garlicky broccoli leaf. . . casserole?

This picture is almost exactly the same as the last one. Except with different things. And later in the day. But otherwise -- EXACTLY the same.

See, I usually have hot cocoa (or now a latte) around 8:00-8:30 in the morning, and by 10:00, I'm good and ready for breakfast. This might sound dumb, but I've decided to get stricter with myself about eating more, earlier. If I don't pay attention, I wind up eating far too little throughout the day, in order to eat a lot at night. And that? Not so nutritionally sound, especially considering what I tend to eat at night.

So I made some pumpkin scones to get myself off to a good start. (Recipe if you click the 'continue...' at the bottom of the post.) They're not very sweet, but they're low fat and very tender. I like to spread a thin layer of Tofutti cream cheese on both sides and sprinkle them with cinnamon sugar. I paired it with warm applesauce this morning. I mixed cinnamon and raisins into the sauce, and it wound up being a very autumn-flavoured breakfast.

'Round about one, I'm ready for lunch:

I bought some plastic-lidded glass containers the other day, as I'd like to get away from using plastic bins for storing leftovers. These are working great -- the only problem is that they're so much fun to eat out of! With a flat bottom like a plate, but edges like a bowl, you can get a really satisfying nest of food in there.

I made my current standard for tofu. (I don't have exact measurement, but I mix up 2 tsp tahini, 1 Tbsp soy sauce, and sprinkle in garlic salt, paprika, chili powder, Cayenne pepper, regular pepper, and a bit of cumin. It'll cover about 1/3 - 1/2 a block of sliced tofu. After carefully tossing so all sides are covered, I lay it out and sprinkle over rice flour and a tiny bit of cornmeal to give it a good 'crust'. Fry in a pan on all sides until crisp -- no need to use lots of oil.)

I also picked and ate what might be the last of the broccoli from the garden, but who knows? It got down to 20F last night, and this afternoon the broccoli plants were all, 'Oh, really? Twelve degrees below freezing, you say? I guess I might have felt a draft.'

Behold! A new age is upon us, and it shall be known as the Era of the Cold Brew.

Finally, an almond milk latte. All is right with the world.

Sara told me about cold brew coffee this past summer, and I immediately fell in love with the idea -- coffee concentrate that's brewed without heat, has a smoother taste and lower acid, lasts for weeks in the fridge, etc, etc. The possibilities! Heat water in the kettle for a quick Americano, add ice and cold water for an iced coffee, and of course -- the almond milk latte.

But I thought a person needed to buy the fancy kit to make it, and I don't like to spend money. But then! I found this! And a mere month later, I got around to trying it. I just let the water and coffee grounds sit overnight, then strained it through a wire mesh food strainer, poured it into my French press, and used that to get rid of the smallest grounds. And it worked!

I'd still love to have a Bialetti Moka Express someday, just because I think they're a bit magical, but this is such a great solution if you're not willing to give up counter real estate to an espresso machine. I always order Americanos (espresso + hot water) when I'm at a coffee shop, because I don't like the taste of soy milk (and I consume so much soy from other sources; I really don't need an entire cup of it!). But a quarter cup of this concentrate mixed with a cup of original, unsweetened Almond Breeze (heated first in a sauce pan) -- I swear it's better than anything you'll ever get at a Starbucks.

This photo is neither here nor there, really, except the sprouts look nice.

I won't say that I don't sometimes go a bit crazy at, say, Target or get excited at a clothing store, but they have nothing on grocery stores for me. Whenever I find myself near a supermarket or errands take me past a co-op, I can always think of something I can't live without. I stopped in the Linden Hills co-op yesterday, Cub the day before, somewhere else on Friday, Byerly's on Thursday, Linden Hills on Wednesday. . . and that's all the further back I can remember. S has remarked a couple of times lately on how well-stocked the fridge is (I'm assuming he means 'packed past the point of convenience'), and I think he might just be right.

Anyway, I don't usually go to Byerly's (the prices of a co-op, but with none of the exotic fake-meats), so there were some new finds for me this time around. Particularly on the pita and flat bread front. A pita with flax, oat bran, and only sixty calories? Bring on the hummus.

I cracked open the door to the craft room last night:

I've been so apathetic about sewing lately (in case that hasn't been apparent by the total lack of crafty posts). Up until six months ago, maybe, sewing was all about the details and clever pockets, etc. But the thought of cutting fabric and ironing and piecing, etc, etc is just so overwhelming these days. I stop before I even get started. Did I mention I actually BOUGHT my current messenger bag? For shame.

So this is a ridiculously simple little bag, about all I could get myself worked up about. But it'll do the job. And it's got the perfect pocket for my passport -- if I wanted somebody to steal it! Obviously, I won't actually keep it there, but it looked nice for the photo.

Do you guys find that you have a finite amount of creative energy? Mine's always pretty high, but it definitely tends to focus on only one thing at a time. In high school and part of college, it was all about making music. During college, I got really into more visual arts -- playing around with drawing, painting, and photography. Then, of course, came crafting. And now my energy is spent on food.

So the piano gets played less these days, I don't pick up a paintbrush very often, and now I hardly ever fondle fabric. But you should have tasted the stuffed squash I made the other night!

I spend a lot of time thinking about what to eat. If here is the acceptable amount of time to be thinking about food, I'm just there, on the other side. I blame food blogs. So maybe I can make you think about food too much too.

Let's start with breakfast. My favourite meal of the day? Certainly the most anticipated. I've been on a huge toast/tomato/basil kick lately, though I'm quickly running out of homegrown tomatoes. Last night, I made the tofu basil 'ricotta' from Vegan with a Vengeance -- substituting the olive oil called for with Sour Supreme. Yum.

On to lunch! Wait, THIS is my favourite meal of the day. I usually microwave potatoes when I want a 'baked' potato -- who's got the time for all that actual baking, eh? But I had to roast tomatoes for soup today, so I stuck this yam in the oven too (after brushing it with olive oil and sprinkling all over with salt, pepper, and rosemary).

Monosyllabic expressions of pleasure. I have gone back through all my memories, and I have never had a baked tuber to match this one. The meltiness, the creaminess, the flavour. Sweet inside! Salty outside! The miracle of Sour Supreme! Forget curries, forget burritos, forget tempeh (no! Don't forget tempeh! A slip of the tongue!) -- all things I've sworn I could eat every day. It's roasted yams for me from now on.

Ah, and now my favourite meal of the day -- afternoon tea! I made this yesterday, and although it's not the most attractive tart ever (this is probably as good as it'll ever look), it's really delicious. Just a cup and a half of unflavoured/unsweetened yogurt, a quarter cup of (sifted) powdered sugar, about a tsp of cornstarch. . . blueberries. I made a crust with crushed wholewheat digestive biscuits and oil and baked for about 25 minutes at 350F. I think it probably could have come out sooner, although I'm not really sure. I'm not convinced that the cracking on top could have been prevented, even with a shorter baking time -- it seems akin to a skin forming on pudding. And it's hardly even a dessert. More like breakfast, I should say.

The cats still eat in the hutch, in case you were wondering. Somebody slipped when they were pouring the food this morning, and instead of it all falling neatly into the green glass bowl, some of the food fell on the eating pedestal. And yes, they drink water out of a Pyrex teacup. And this? Is nowhere near spoiled, compared to some cats I know.