Asian Market Adventures.

Hello everyone, I don't really have any crafting updates to give today. I did finish the first in a pair of socks for Jose though.

School started for me yesterday, so unfortunately the time I have to work on my business/craft is probably going to be reduced. I will try to continue updating the blog, and maybe even have some art school-related things to share.

Today I went to the "local" Asian market. I put "local" in quotations because it's not in my town and kind of a chore to go over there. It's called H Mart, and it's huge. I've been to several Asian markets, but this one has been my favorite for a while.

I picked up a lot of things (fruits, veggies, nori because it's so much cheaper there...) but the real reason I wanted to go was for one specific ingredient: sesame leaves.

I had bought sesame leaves before, but I didn't know what to do with them and they went bad before I got around to using them. I was talking to my half-Korean friend Morgan yesterday, and she was telling me about how in her family they use them to wrap around rice and other fillings. I decided to go ahead and buy these mysterious leaves.

I was feeling pretty lazy, so I didn't feel like making any other fillings than rice. I made sushi rice that I seasoned like I would for sushi so it would have a bit of flavor. I was actually very surprised by these leaves and really enjoyed them. They have kind of a minty flavor to them, and it added some subtle flavor unlike other wrappers (lettuce, rice paper...).

I don't think I'll be able to get Jose to try sesame leaves like this. I have several left, and I found a recipe for Korean pancakes that uses these and other veggies. It will be pan-fried and not healthy, so he should be up for trying it ;)

I picked up one other thing at the market that I had never tried before: starfruit! If you remember, trying starfruit is on my list of 25 Things Before I Turn 25. That's one crossed off now! I shared it with my friend Rachel who had never tried it either, and we both really liked it! It's kind of like an apple in taste and texture.

That's all for today, so I hope you all enjoy your weekends!

-- Laura

Sushi, Sushi, Sushi!

I go through sushi phases. Every now and then I get into these moods where all I want to eat is sushi. I think about sushi, look at pictures of sushi, and eventually make sushi.


Just to get this out of the way.... I posted on Twitter the other night that I was going to make vegan sushi, which resulted in some questions about how you can make sushi vegan. Well, in case you didn't know, "sushi" does not mean raw fish. "Sushi" refers to vinegared rice, and doesn't have to have meat in it at all.

I haven't made homemade sushi in a while. My friend's sister taught her how to make sushi recently, which came up in conversation a few times. There were also Facebook pictures of said homemade sushi. I became envious. Why did I not have homemade sushi?

So, I decided to make sushi. I went to the store and gathered some carrots and cucumber. I also picked up some chopsticks "for special guests," just in case we ever have special guests over (okay, we used them ourselves). I didn't get sushi rice or nori sheets because I already had them.

Or so I thought. As I started the preparations for sushi, it was discovered that I was indeed out of nori. We had pizza that night.

Then last night, after the ingredients were actually gathered together, I made sushi. I made too much, and Jose and I could not finish it all. It is a shame that sushi does not store well at all.

Today, I made sushi again, because my sushi craving was still there. This time, I decided to be fancy and make one of my rolls an inside-out roll.

I am no sushi master, but I complied some links that could be helpful if you're interested in making your own sushi.

Video of the authors of Veganomicon making sushi
Some vegan sushi recipes
Steps for rolling sushi
Vegan Black Metal Chef makes asparagus tempura sushi (has profanity)

Cake Adventures and a Yarn Shop.

Yesterday I had lunch with my friend (who was my yearbook adviser/teacher back in high school) at my favorite restaurant: Spiral Diner. Spiral is 100% vegan and everything is so delicious! My favorite thing to order is a Spiral burger with a nut patty plus cheese with potato salad on the side. Yum!

Jose and I are getting the wedding/grooms cakes there, and because they don't do cake testings I snagged one of each flavor they offered today: red velvet, chocolate, and strawberry. I knew we didn't want chocolate or strawberry for the wedding, but it was an excuse to eat cake ;) I think I'm going to ask if they can make chai cupcakes, so if they do I'll have to special order a dozen so I can taste them pre-wedding.

After Spiral, my friend and I headed over to JenningStreet Yarns, which is only a few minutes away from Spiral. My friend is going to become a grandma in November and wanted to find some cool (i.e. not pastel and pink) yarn to make things for her future granddaughter. I didn't know what I wanted, but I had fun fondling every skein of yarn.

I had been to JenningStreet before, but it had been a couple of years so it was fun to re-explore. That is probably going to become my local yarn shop when Jose and I move in January (I don't have one now in Denton). I found this super soft yarn that I fell in love with, and even though it was in tiny skeins I decided that I didn't care how much it cost, I wanted one or two. I flipped it over to see the contents, and it had bison, cashmere, and I think silk. I flip it a bit more, and each of the tiny skeins was $52! I know I said I didn't care about the cost, but there is no way I could make something with just one skein. I "settled" for some Cascade Heritage Paints sock yarn in Londonberry. Yep, more sock yarn. That seems to be my go-to lately when I don't know what to make.

Until next time,

Laura

Pasta Salad.

Yesterday was Independence Day for those of us here in the United States. To me, that means the three Fourth of July Fs: Family, Food, and Fireworks. Almost every county in Texas has a burn ban right now, so unfortunately there were no fireworks for us. That only left two things: family and food.

My uncle has some land about an hour and a half south of where I live, and we tend to go out there for holidays in the summer. It's a great little area with a lake and a nice little house for when it's too unbearably hot to be outside (like it is most of the time). Most of my family is very meat and potatoes, and as I'm a vegan, I normally try to plan a dish to bring so there will be something I can eat among the barbeque and cheese dip. I decided on my favorite pasta salad.

My favorite pasta salad is an adaptation on the pasta salad in Yellow Rose Recipes, which is a vegan cookbook I highly recommend. I've made some changes to suit my and Jose's tastes better and to add some more fiber and protein. You'll notice in the picture that I used regular pasta, but whole wheat or a gluten free pasta would be great as well. Also, with this recipe you can easily swap out veggies to suit your tastes or change the ratios of veggies.

Pasta Salad adapted from Yellow Rose Recipes
1 lb. penne pasta (regular, whole wheat, gluten free, etc.)
1.5 cups frozen shelled edamame (soybeans)
1.5 cups broccoli florets, cut into bite-size pieces
3 Tbsp vegan mayonnaise
2-3 Tbsp sesame seeds
Salt to taste

Dressing
2 cloves garlic (or more if you love garlic like me!)
1 Tbsp fresh parsley (I was out so I used 1 tsp dried)
1 Tbsp fresh dill (I was out so I just omitted it, but the dill adds a nice flavor)
6 oz (about half the package) silken tofu (can use lite silken tofu as well)
2 Tbsp tahini
Juice from 1 small lemon
1 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Cook the pasta and the edamame to package directions, rinse with cold water and drain, set aside.

While pasta and edamame are cooking, steam the broccoli for only a minute or two, until the broccoli starts turning bright green. Rinse with cold water and set aside.

In a food processor, combine the garlic and fresh herbs and process until finely chopped. Add in the rest of the dressing ingredients and process until smooth.

Transfer the pasta to a large bowl and stir in the dressing until evenly distributed.. Add in the edamame and broccoli and stir. Add in the mayonnaise and stir. Add in the sesame seeds and stir. Taste, and add salt to taste if needed.


That's all for today. I am almost done with my table (I'm sealing it tomorrow!) so there will be final project photos coming soon. I'm also working on a couple tutorials about unraveling sweaters, but I'm not making any promises about when they'll be done. :)

-- Laura

Introduction.

I love to make things. Whether it's crafting, making art, or cooking a delicious, vegan dinner for me and my fiance, I love it all. The satisfaction of spending hours, days, or even months working on something and having it finished is one that can't be beat easily. Even better when I can use recycled materials, because transforming something old into something new just adds to the fun.

What This Blog Will be About

Yarn Things

If you haven't figured it out already, this blog will mainly be about things I create. My main craft of choice is knitting. I have been knitting since I was 15 (I just turned 21 about a month ago) and am obsessed with it. I also dye yarn, which I sell in my Etsy shop (www.gynxyarns.com) so there will occasionally be updates about that. I can crochet, but I prefer to knit if I can. Most things I knit are from yarn I recycle from thrift store sweaters, both to benefit my wallet and my environment. I also started spinning yarn about a year ago. The only thing I haven't done is sheared a sheep! You can expect pictures of projects, tutorials/patterns as I come up with them, links to patterns I'm working on, and anything else yarn related as it comes up.

This is the first sweater I ever knitted back in 2007. It's an altered version of the Big Sack Sweater from the Stitch n Bitch book.

Other Crafts

I also sew a bit and reconstruct clothing on occasion, but not too terribly often. I have really gotten into the idea of restoring and re-purposing furniture, and am currently working on a table that I will post as soon as it's done. I just got engaged to the future Mr. Gynx (a.k.a. Jose) on June 10th and we are having our wedding in January hopefully, so you can expect some wedding crafts as well in the coming months. Here you can expect more of the same: pictures, tutorials, links, etc.

Food

I love cooking and baking, so there will be some deliciousness from time to time. I'm not too terribly creative in the kitchen and tend to loosely follow recipes instead of try to create my own new recipe, but there will be some original recipes along with links to others that I love. Oh, and everything I eat is vegan. If you're not vegetarian or vegan though, don't let that scare you away from trying things!

Vegan chocolate/raspberry cake from Vegan With A Vengance for my 19th birthday.

Handmade Goodies

I love my own handmade swag, but I also love supporting other artists. I will from time to time feature artists or products as I come across them that I think are worthy of having a shout-out. Anything I post is because I truly do love it, not an endorsement.

Life

I'll keep the personal stuff to a minimum, but there will probably be a fairly regular mention of my two cats, so I should probably introduce them.

This is Othello. Othello is just a bit over a year old and is an orange male tabby. We adopted him from a shelter when he was about 7 weeks old.

This is Augustus. He's just under a year (his birthday is next month!) and is a male tuxedo cat. He was adopted from the same shelter Othello was.

This post has already been quite long, so I will leave it there for now.

-- Laura