Designing in Life

Halloween Silliness

We had our annual Halloween luncheon party at work today.  Lots of laughs throughout the day.  My costumes are usually pretty lame, because I need to wear something I can work comfortably in.

Yup, farmer June.  For more silliness, you can check Beau Ties Facebook here for a glimpse of "the parade and here for pictures of my workmates.  Good for a few Friday evening laughs!!

Remnants of Warmer Days

All of my flowers have "bit the dust" so-to-say because of the many days of frost we had.  However, it hasn't been that cold this week and there are still a few little calendula heads popping up from some protected plants near the house where it's warmer.  I've been picking them three at a time and savoring their bright colors, making the endless gray days just a bit happier.

See, aren't they cheerful?

Cooking for your Vegan Friends

I met up with some of my close friends for breakfast on Saturday.  We try to do this about once a month during the colder months, when it's hard to keep in touch because of the weather.

One friend, Barb, is trying to figure out what to make for dinner for her new daughter-in-law and son, who are vegans.  I told her I'd look through some recipes and post one.  So here goes.

Vegan Sheppard's Pie

Serves 8
6 cups peeled, cubed potatoes
¼ cup almond or soy milk
2 Tbs. vegan spread, like Nature's Balance
¼ cup  olive oil
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped (1 cup)
2 15-oz. cans diced organic tomatoes with liquid (check label)
2 large eggplants, peeled and chopped (1½ lb.)
1 Tbs. Parsley
1 tsp.  Basil
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tsp. sea salt
½ cup vegan cheese shredded - (Parmesan or cheddar style)
½ cup dried breadcrumbs (check label)
1 red bell pepper, sliced very thin
1 small zucchini, sliced very thin
1/2 cup frozen corn
1/8 tsp. ground black pepper

1. Place potatoes in large pot, cover with water, bring to a boil, and cook 10 to 15 minutes, or until soft. Drain, and mash with almond milk and vegan spread. Season with salt and pepper, and set aside.

2. Preheat oven to 350°F. Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in Dutch oven (or large pot) over medium heat. Add onion and red pepper - sauté 3 minutes, or until beginning to soften. Add garlic and sauté another 2 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, eggplants, corn and zucchini with sea salt; season with pepper. Simmer 20 minutes, or until vegetables are soft. Remove from heat, and stir in vegan cheese, basil, parsley and breadcrumbs.

3. Pour mixture into casserole dish and spread potato mixture over the top.
4. Bake 20 minutes, or until heated through. (Baking will take less time if mashed potatoes are hot when you spread them on the top of the mixture.)

(If you want to spice this up a bit, add some sauteed Gimme Lean Sausage, which will add some protein.)

I don't know about all of you, but the cooler temperatures have driven me into the kitchen and all I want to do is cook - although I'd be just fine with someone cooking for me!

Fall in Vermont

I'll leave you to your weekend with some photos of what it looks like here in Vermont this time of year.

Middlebury Falls

Maple Tree in Queeche near the gorge.

On the way to work.

Pumpkins for sale.

Have a great weekend, whatever you do.

Designing

My Minnesota friend, Connie, recently asked if I ever thought about doing some designs for wrapping paper.  The answer is "yes."  The question is "How do you start?"  Working full time and designing part time, I've found, is not that easy.  In a perfect world where I'd never have to grocery shop, make meals, take things to the recycling center, run a vacuum cleaner or mop a floor, there would be plenty of time to sit down and design.  I am not complaining.  My life is not so bad, it's just busy.  Anyway, here are a few designs that I made with wrapping paper in mind.

There are many more that I have tucked away.  Hmm, maybe I should start working on doing something with them.

Asian Pear Crisp...Yum!

I was helping Nick close a pool while my sisters were here, so I dragged them along to see what it's like to get soaked when it's 50 degrees out.  The folks who own the pool have 2 Asian pear trees, and told us to help ourselves to the pears because they were going out of town.  JoAnne and Michele picked pears while Nick and I closed the pool. 

I didn't realize that you could grow Asian pears in this climate.  Why I thought that I'm not sure, because you can grow bartletts and other types of pears in Vermont.  If you've never had one you should get yourself to the grocery store and buy one.  They have a very exotic flavor, sort of butterscotch/ginger.  They are a crisp pear, and the texture is, well, different than a regular pear.  They have a shape like an apple. The skin is a bit on the tough side, but I usually peel mine.

So, what to do with the pears?  I decided to make a pear crisp and it was absolutely delicious. 

Oatmeal Pear Crisp
3 c. sliced pears  (use apples if you don't have pears)
3 tbsp. flour (I used spelt flour)
1/4 c. sugar (I used a 1/4 c. of agave syrup)
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/8 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. water
1/2 c. rolled oats
1/4 c. walnuts
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 c. butter (I used a vegan butter substitute)
1/3 c. brown sugar (I used about 1/4 c. agave)

Combine pears, flour, 1/4 cup sugar, cinnamon, 1/8 teaspoon salt and water. Place in a greased casserole dish.  Cut together with pastry blender the remaining ingredients and sprinkle on top of the casserole mixture. Bake 30-35 minutes in 375 degree oven.

Enjoy!

Catch Up

Here are a few pictures from travels with my sisters while they were here last weekend.  Sadly, no pictures of the three of us turned out.

Just above Texas Falls in Hancock.

The falls just above Queeche Gorge.

Glass blowing at Simon Pearce.

Throwing clay at Simon Pearce.Sorry, no pictures of us.  Maybe next time.  It was a wonderful day to go out and do some leaf peeping.

No special plans for the weekend, just a quiet one at home she says knowing that things can change at any minute!  Have a good one.

Halloween is Coming Soon

I'm hoping to have some pictures from a trip to Woodstock and Queeche, VT, that I took with my sisters while they were visiting this past weekend.  Unfortunately, I left my camera in Jersey City the week before and the camera I have to use now is not my favorite.  However, I'll do my best to try and capture some of the wonderful foliage that is still lingering out there.  In the mountains that foliage is covered with about an inch of snow.

So, what will you be doing this Halloween - a party to attend, answering the door to welcome trick-or-treaters, or just secretly eating all that candy you bought on the pretense of giving it to those trick-or-treaters?

So to celebrate all those ghosts and goblins, I thought I'd post a picture of one of the designs I created a few years ago that was made into fabric.

Eek Bow Tie
 
Eek Necktie

Hope you're all enjoying the fall!

Union Square Farmer's Market

I traveled into NYC this past weekend with Beth and Phoebe to buy some things at the Union Square Farmer's Market.  As you'll see by the pictures, it is a spectacular sensory overload.  Anything you want, it's sold in this market.

 

It was in the mid 70's which made browsing through the market a real treat.  I hope to be able to get down there at least once more while everything is still abundant.

An Interesting Guest

I spent the weekend in Jersey City.  It was Phoebe's first birthday.  The weather was warm and a great time was had by all.  I'll post some pictures in detail tomorrow.

Last Thursday night we had an overnight guest who was taking a night off from hiking the Long Trail.  Nick met him when he was hiking a few weeks ago.  James is from southern Australia.  He's been in Europe for the past 8 years teaching along the way.  A month ago, his sister was married in Toronto, so he left the UK and traveled to the wedding.  After the wedding he decided that he should "do a bit of a hike" and settled on the 270 mile walk on the Long Trail.

With clean clothes, a full stomach and a good night's sleep, Nick took him back to the Lincoln Gap to continue.  Each evening we wonder, "Where do you think James is now?"  I know Nick can envision where he might be, because he's hiked all of that northern part of the trail.  We hope to see him again, and certainly wish him well.

A picture of James and Nick before continuing the trip.

 

Well, I just couldn't resist posting at least one picture of the birthday girl opening some presents.

More tomorrow!