To Get Caught Up …

There are a whole bunch of food photos on my Flickr that I have not blogged about at all. Some of these were original recipes, but for the most part they are from The Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau. So here’s a quick run-down of what I’ve been eating for the past 6 months or so.

Spring Vegetable Risotto (from Vegan Table) – yum!

and 

Grilled asparagus and tofu/veggie kabobs. These are heavenly and I could eat them all day.

No Queso Quesadillas, from Vegan Table. Mmm, guacamole.

Mushroom Gravy on top of Drop Biscuits (buried!). The gravy is from The Vegan Table, and the biscuits are from The Joy of Vegan Baking, by the same author.

If you’re interested in vegetarian cooking even in the slightest, these two cookbooks are the best ones to have, in my opinion. And looking at those grilled kabobs makes me really miss summer. We also did an all-vegan Thanksgiving again this year, but I didn’t take any photos. A lot of it was the same as we had last year, so that’s ok.

Our plans for New Year’s Eve include hanging out with the family and playing board games for as long as we can manage without getting too giddy from exhaustion. I’m going to fix Hoppin’ John (from The Vegan Table), which is basically black eyed peas and rice with some veggies and seasonings. In some parts of the country and the world, it’s good luck to have black eyed peas at midnight on New Year’s Eve – and it’s delicious, so who needs an excuse, right?

Anyone out there have any more exciting plans than me??

T-Shirt Quilt

T-Shirt Quilt
Originally uploaded by marleah

So, it wouldn’t be the holidays without me deciding to take on some huge project that I really probably should have started back in August so that I had time (ha!), but instead I decide to wait until I’m on break from school, which means that I only have about one week to make said huge project.

I’ve had this idea for a long time, ever since my younger sister started outgrowing her horse shirts but refused to get rid of them. What better way to use them than a t-shirt quilt? This was my first time making a quilt in any form, and it turned out to be easier than I expected – of course, it also means that it’s a little wonky and off-centered, but oh well. I had some batting leftover from another project, and it’s backed with a plain brown bedsheet (brown is a horse color, of course). It’s all machine-sewn, but the details are hand-embroidered. I worked on it bit by bit over the course of a week (cutting the pieces, figuring out layout) and then one day spent about 6 hours watching season 5 of “Lost” and embroidering.

It’s a bit small, so not large enough for her whole bed or anything, but just about perfect to take in the car. And since it’s made with well-worn t-shirts, it’s super soft!

More photos from my Flickr:

Sugar Cookies

Sugar Cookies

Originally uploaded by marleah

Here is some post-holiday cheer for my poor, neglected blog. The recipe is from The Joy of Vegan Baking by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, of course, as is the recipe for the Royal Icing!

I have a New Year’s resolution (or at least for however long it lasts) to start updating this blog more, maybe even to start another one on a different subject. Not sure how I’m going to find time for that with two jobs and a master’s to work on, but at least one master’s has been completed now. I should have more time then, right?

Ryan is also starting to blog, with a bit of serial fiction here and there. Read his work at Partial Fiction. Maybe instead of a date night, we need to have a blogging night to keep us going!