Hooking: Purple Spider Net Beret

Posted by Taimhyr on August 26th, 2009

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Found on Creative Yarn but originally from a PDF. Modified from CY which was modified from the PDF.

Starting at top
Ch 3, join with sl st to form ring
1st Round: Ch 3, work 11 dc in ring (12 dc, counting ch 3 as 1 dc), sl st in top of ch 3.
2nd Round: Ch 3, * dc in next dc, ch 1. * Repeat from * around, sl st in 3rd ch of ch 4 (12 sp).
3rd Round: Ch 6, * dc in next dc, ch 3. * Repeat from * around, sl st in 3rd ch of ch 6 (12 sp).
Piece should measure 3 1/2” in diameter.
4th Round:Ch 8, * dc in next dc, ch 5. * Repeat from * around, sl st in 3rd ch of ch 8.
5th Round: Ch 10 * dc in next dc, ch 7. * Repeat from * around, sl st in 3rd ch of ch 10.
6th Round: Ch 12 * dc in next dc, ch 9. * Repeat from * around, sl st in 3rd ch of ch 12.
7th Round: Ch 14, dc in next dc, ch 11. Repeat from * around, sl st to third ch of ch 14.
8th Round: Ch 16, dc in next dc, ch 13. Repeat from * around, sl st to third ch of ch 16.
9th Round: Repeat Rnd 8.
10th Round: Repeat Rnd 7.
11th Round: Repeat Rnd 6.
12th Round: Repeat Rnd 5.
13th Round: Ch 3, 5 dc in ch space, dc in next dc, 5 dc in ch space. Repeat from * around, sl st to join.
14th Round: sc in same st as joining,skip 2 dc, 5dc in next dc, skip 2 dc, sc in next dc. Repeat from * around, ending with a sl st in first sc of round.

Culinary Comfort: Curry Bake

Posted by Taimhyr on August 25th, 2009

currybake

The sauce is rich, thick, flavorful, and creamy. The vegetables perfectly paired and the cheese adds a strange but delicious accent to the already delicious curry. It is one of my comfort foods and perfect for a casual or fancy dinner at home, to make for one, two, many, or to take to a potluck and, of course, the more you make the more meals you can enjoy it for. It doesn’t usually last long in our house, though.

It’s really very simple, the recipe is one I got from a very dear friend and have made it many times over the last few years. I am a big fan of curry and this is my favorite home-made curry dish.

The only problem with sharing the recipe is that I never measure the ingredients when I make it! I put in enough veggies and quorn to fill the dish, make enough sauce to coat it all, and flavor the sauce to taste, so this will be less precise cooking and more whatever works for you. It’s easy to add things like different veggies I haven’t listed, I sometimes include zucchini for example, or you could omit something that you don’t like.

Ingredients:
1/2 a Yellow Onion
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Potatoes (red, yellow, and gold – or whatever you prefer)
Quorn Chicken Tenders (real chicken would probably work fine, though I’ve never made it with it and you might then want to cook it first?)
1 can Coconut Milk
1 to 2 cups vegenaise
Curry Powder
Salt and pepper
Cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large baking dish (I usually use a 13 x 9 x 2 glass/pyrex dish) combine veggies cut into small pieces and frozen quorn chicken, approximately equal amounts of chicken, broccoli, cauliflower, and potatoes though you can add more/less of some if you wish. I usually use a somewhat equal amount of red, yellow, and gold potatoes with skins for added color, usually one or two each depending on how big they are.

In a bowl combine can of coconut milk with vegenaise and whisk to combine. Mixture should be fairly thick. Vegenaise encourages the sauce to thicken when baked, though I’m unsure what could be substituted for vegenaise.

Add curry powder, salt, and pepper to coconut milk/vegenaise mixture to taste. I use approximately 1 1/2 or 2 tablespoons of curry powder and a dash of salt and pepper. The more curry powder used the stronger it will taste, obviously. Can also add garam masala, garlic powder, or some cayenne pepper to give it a bit of kick. The flavor is completely up to you, so I suggest you play around with it.

Cover veggies and etc. with the curry powder sauce, stirring once to be sure to coat everything.

Bake in 400 degree oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes stir it carefully and test potatoes for firmness. Cook until potatoes are done or easily pierced with a fork (usually about 15 minutes longer).

Cover with a sprinkling of cheese, I usually use cheddar or a cheddar/pepperjack mixture from Tillamook. Wait for it to cool a little, and enjoy!

This recipe can easily be made vegan by omitting the cheese and quorn chicken (has rehydrated egg white in it) or using vegan cheese.

Hooking: Purple Openwork Handwarmers

Posted by Taimhyr on August 25th, 2009

Hooking: Bow Headband

Posted by Taimhyr on August 24th, 2009

It took me a while to figure out how to make the headband, I was doing it all wrong. But once I figured it out it was super easy!

Pattern from Creative Yarn

Headband:
Ch141
Sc in second ch from hook and in the next 29chs (30sc), ch80, sc in the 30th ch from the begin of previous ch loop, and in next 29chs, ch1, turn.

Bow:
Ch20, hdc in third ch from hook, and in each ch across, turn.
Row 1: ch2, hdc in next st and in each across, turn.
Rows 2-6: repeat row1.
Cut yarn and weave in ends.

Attach!

Culinary Comfort: Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

Posted by Taimhyr on August 23rd, 2009

pcr

I found this recipe last year via the Vegetarian community on LiveJournal, just in time for Thanksgiving. That was the first time I made them, and let me say, they made Thanksgiving last year. They are amazingly delicious, if you like cinnamon rolls or pumpkin you will love these!

The recipe is for vegan pumpkin cinnnamon rolls (use Earth Balance or another vegan margarine), but you can (of course) make this non-vegan by using regular milk and vegan or non-vegan margarine. I made it vegan, though I’m not vegan but vegetarian, but I don’t really do milk and I already had soy milk, so it was just due to not wanting to buy cow’s milk. I’m sure it’s delicious either way.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

Dough:
1 package dry yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)
1/4 cup warm water
3/4cup Pumpkin Puree
1/4 cup soy milk (or cow’s milk if you prefer)
1/4 cup margarine, melted
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 t ground ginger
3/4 c all-purpose flour
1 T vegetable oil

Filling:
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons chilled margarine, cut into small pieces

Glaze:
3/4 cup sifted powdered sugar
1 tablespoon hot water
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a large bowl, combine the warm water with the yeast and whisk together with a fork, let stand for 5 minutes. Add the pumpkin, milk, melted margarine, and sugar in with the yeast, and lightly mix. Sift in the first two and a half cups of flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger, and beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth.

Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Take the remaining 3/4 cup of flour and use it to flour the top of the dough and your surface a tablespoon at a time, as needed to keep the dough from getting sticky as you knead it. Knead the dough for about ten minutes, the dough will be elastic but soft and still a little sticky to the touch without being floured.

Place the dough in a large bowl coated with oil, turning to coat the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, for 45 minutes or until doubled in size.

Punch the dough down; cover and let rest for 5 minutes.

Combine the sugar, brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Cut in margarine with a fork until mixture resembles coarse meal.

Roll the dough into a 12 x 10-inch rectangle on a floured surface. Sprinkle with brown sugar mixture. Roll up the rectangle tightly, from the long side, pinch seam and ends to seal. Cut roll into 12 (1-inch) slices. Place the slices in a 9-inch square or round baking pan coated with cooking spray. Cover and let rise 25 minutes or until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 375°.

Bake the rolls for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 15 minutes in pan on a wire rack.

Sift the powdered sugar into a small bowl. Add the water and vanilla, and whisk until smooth. It should be thick, but easy to drizzle. If it’s too thick, add another 1/2 teaspoon of water.

Life: Made it to Seattle!

Posted by Taimhyr on February 9th, 2009

For those of you who don’t know I moved to Seattle about three weeks ago, January 17th.

It was an interesting trip, and it’s so amazingly wonderful to be out of Utah. We packed all our stuff up and put most of it in a UPS truck that we rented 6 feet of (via SelfMoves USA), rented a car (or, more accurately, our neighbormates rented it and drove us), and drove from SLC to Seattle with four adults, one child, four cats, and two snakes. It was insane, but actually pretty fun.

Hooking: Rainbow Blanket

Posted by Taimhyr on November 30th, 2008

I took a close-up so that you could see the colors, it’s done with lion brand homespun style yarn, in candy apple (red), saffron (orange), golden (yellow), florida keys green, colonial (blue), and grape (purple).

This is the first blanket that I’ve made, and it’s very simple, really, nothing fancy about it, just lines of different colors from red to purple done in double crochet. It has six colors, five rows per color, and four blocks of the colors (red to purple).

Here’s a picture of it on our queen sized bed to give you an idea for the size of it (it’s huge!). I’m very excited about it being finished, and it’s nice and warm too!

I’m really happy with the colors I’ve been using as well, it’s a very muted and kinda earthy rainbow instead of a bright one, which goes along with our room rather well. I’m not sure if this will end up being used on our bed or not, it may end up in the living room.

Culinary Comfort: Vegetarian Pot Pie

Posted by Taimhyr on November 25th, 2008

We were too busy devouring it for me to take the picture before it was cut into, hehe. It was the first thing that was done, so we were all hungry by then. I got the recipe from here at , mine was made slightly differently:

Filling:
1 large yellow onion
1/2 bag frozen crinkle-cut carrots
3 idaho potatoes (or vulumetric equivalent)
3/4 bag frozen peas
1 bag quorn chicken tenders
1 cup soy milk
3-4 T corn starch
2 T margarine/oil
2 C butternut squash soup stock

Crust:
Pie crust I had made the night before

Chop and saute onion until soft and sweet in margarine or oil. set aside.cube carrots and potatoes into 1/2 inch cubes and boil with soup stockand milk (add water to cover) until cooked but not soggy. Mixcornstarch with a little milk or water and pour into pan with veggies.boil until thick. add peas and onions.

Put bottom crust in oven about 10 minutes at 400 degrees. pour bag of quorn chicken over bottom crust (they will cook in the oven, adding them sooner makes them mushy), pour filling over quorn chicken. coverwith top crust. Put back in oven for 10-15 minutes.

Culinary Comfort: Spinach and Mushroom Quiche

Posted by Taimhyr on November 25th, 2008

I got the base recipe from foodnetwork.com which called for bacon and yada yada, which I didn’t do. Here’s my recipe:

Quiche:
6 large eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
Salt and pepper
1 large yellow onion
3/4 bag chopped fresh baby spinach
1/2 container mushrooms, chopped
1 container feta cheese
pie crust I made the night before

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Combine the eggs and cream in a mixing bowl, whip until frothy.
Saute onions until sweet and carmalized, add spinach until wilted, add mushrooms until cooked.
Layer the onion, spinach, mushroom mixture in the bottom of the piecrust, add feta cheese, then pour the egg mixture on top.
Bake for 35 to 45 minutesuntil the egg mixture is set.

Culinary Comfort: Yes We Did!

Posted by Taimhyr on November 4th, 2008

Just 75 days and some odd hours until the current administration and the last eight years become a memory, and Barack Obama becomes the 44th President of the United States. I am overwhelmed.

From my election party tonight:

Obama cupcakes (from scratch, yes, I made them myself including the icing. It was all vegan and sugar-free, though you wouldn’t know it if I didn’t tell you).

Red, white, and blue martini – Mango or Pomegranate Vodka (we had both, it called for cranberry but the only cranberry vodka at the liquor store was smirnoff), blue curacao, and red pop rocks on the rim of the glass (like fireworks!). The vodka and curacao were layered, the vodka on top of the curacao, though it’s kinda hard to tell in the photo.