Guava Love is quite an experience, let me tell you!

Many many thanks to the talented Guava for crocheting me this awesome kitty hat and sexy glovelets for PIF! Aren't they gorgeous? I need them because Andy keeps the house like a walk in freezer during the winter. Now I will be able to knit, snack, and draw up yurt plans while I watch TV or listen to books on tape.

I'm modeling them in a blueberry field near Mt. Si. Perhaps it was a bit hot that day for a hat, but sometimes it is so hot that one hat can't make a difference. I was there on a meetup for the Seattle Veg Activity and Adventure group on meetup.com.

(I got my hair chopped, around 8 inches. All this nasty 90 degree plus weather we've had forced me to do it.)

Mt. Si was our backdrop for the u-pick blueberries. It looks like I took a blurry pic, but I didn't. It looked like that in real life because of the heat.


As if blueberry picking in the heat wasn't enough, we went on a hike afterwards at Twin Falls State Park. The hike was along this river.

On the way back along the trail we took advantage of a swimming hole. The water was like ice, but somehow I made it in. Not everybody did.

This is me jumping off a rock. It took me forever to get past my fear because you had to run off the dry mossy part and push off from the rock where the moss ended. It really freaked me out because I thought I'd slip and crack my head. I don't want to share my precious vegan blood with a rock.

Once I was back in the frigid waters, I just didn't have the strength to swim upstream to this much easier jump. It was higher up, but better because you were jumping straight down. No running necessary. This is Andy in action. Not the yellow cat, the jumper.~~~~~

This is Tubs earlier this summer. He looks sort of crabby because I'm disturbing his nap.

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PS. Jenna, I will post on Sutra soon. You were right, it was fabulous!

Thrill 'o the Grill

Earlier this month, Andy & I took Thrill of the Grill, a vegan cooking class at PCC. It typically takes a lot of nagging to get Andy to take cooking classes, but not when it's taught by Dawnula Koukol. She really knows her stuff and she is really funny, a good combo in my book.


Chickpea and Potato Fritters with Cilantro Relish. Wow, these were great. Super crispy on the outside and potato deliciousness on the inside. The relish went perfectly with it.



Tempeh and Nectarine Skewers. Grilled fruit with tempeh, need I say more? The main ingredients of the marinade were vinegar, mustard, ginger, chipotle.

Stout Seitan Skewers. I loved these. Especially the mushrooms and pineapple because they are my faves.

Vietnamese Spring Rolls with Maple-hoisin Tempeh with Plum/Apricot dipping sauce. I love a good summer roll. They make such a refreshing snack. If you haven't made these before, they are easy and I'm sure you can find the recipe online. For me, the key herbs are cilantro, mint and basil.

The dipping sauce was very sweet/tart. I thought it went well w/ the roll, but I could also imagine it on vanilla soy ice cream, or maybe in a big glass :).

Dawnula, if you're reading this, I'm begging you to do a class on vegan breakfast / brunch foods, baked goods, appetizers or sandwiches.

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I hope Tubs is comfortable, because he doesn't look like it. Lately I've seen him doing strange contortions. Do you like my piles of clean laundry in the background?

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I'm soooo hungry right now. Too bad I couldn't eat jpg's for dinner.