Apricot Oat Scones

This is one of my favorite breakfast foods. Being single, I freeze half the pan for mornings when I do not want to cook. That is most mornings. Besides being delicious, they are very nutritious.

Apricot Oat Scones

SIFT TOGETHER dry ingredients
1\2 cup .....soy flour
1\2 cup .....whole wheat flour
1 cup .....unbleached flour
1\2 teaspoon .....salt
1 teaspoon .....baking soda
2 teaspoons .....baking powder
1\3 cup .....brown sugar, packed

STIR IN
1 cup .....apricots, chopped coarse
1\2 cup .....almonds, chopped
1 tablespoon .....orange zest, chopped

WHISK wet together
3 large .....eggs [or 4 medium]
1 cup .....plain yogurt [or use vanilla and omit sugar]
1\4 cup .....canola oil

ADD to wet; let set until oats are totally wet
1 cup .....rolled oats

MIX wet into dry to moisten dry

OIL a round cake pan

SPREAD batter in pan

SPRINKLE with .....cinnamon sugar

BAKE at 350 for 35-40 minutes

ENJOY!

Native American Proverb

“It takes a thousand voices

to tell a single story.”
Native American Proverb

Every Action or Inaction Matters

“Every action in our lives
touches on some chord
that will vibrate in eternity.”
Edwin Hubbel Chapin

Chickpea Salad Sandwiches

Well summer finally arrived in Brunswick, Maine. It was almost 70 degrees today; sunny with a nice breeze. A great day for these sandwiches. I love them with sliced almonds; my friend is allergic to almonds so I used chopped green olives. Both ways are good. Maybe next time I'll try both together.

Chickpea Salad Sandwiches
4 – 6 open face sandwiches

MIX together, in a container with a lid,

2 cups .....chickpeas, slightly mashed
1 cup .....celery [about 3 ribs], chopped fine
1/2 cup .....green onions, chopped
1 teaspoon .....Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons .....fresh rosemary, minced
several grinds .....black pepper
to taste .....sea salt

COVER and refrigerate for an hour or a couple of days
[I like to mix this up while cooking something else.
Then I have another meal all ready to go.]

ASSEMBLY
cut thick slices of really good bread, cut in half if desired
BRUSH with olive oil

TOAST

PLACE toasted bread on plates

TOP with
1/4 head .....lettuce, slivered or chopped

COVER with the Chickpea mixture

Garnish with either or both of the following
1/4 cup .....smoked almonds, chopped
1/4 cup .....green olives, chopped

SERVE with either soup or salad depending on the weather.
ENJOY!

The Problem Quilt

I decided to make a baby quilt for the little girl I've been caring for. She is now past 5 months old and I knew 6 months before she was born that she was coming. Still, I'm presently struggling with making a crazy quilt design. I thought it would be easier and more flexible and more forgiving than squares. My premise is that I will be able to have lots of interesting fabric for a little one to look at. I've collected a lot of specialty prints, and dug out anything bright and\or what I think might interest a child.

PROBLEM: It is getting full of ripples and tucks and all sorts of odd things. It will never consider lying flat. I used a very thin fabric for my base because I thought it would might get to heavy if I used something firmer. Now I'm wondering if I should have used paper.

Any suggestions welcome. Not sure If I can save this one, but next time . . .

Some of the fabric I've used is the only piece I had. Can this quilt be saved.

Life's most urgent question

“Life's most urgent question is:
What are you doing for others?”
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Quilted Blouse Yoke

BACKGROUND:
A couple of years ago I was at Joann's during one of their red dot sales. In case you are not familiar with these sales, Joann's has a discount table where marked down fabrics are piled. Usually there is nothing wrong with the fabric. They must have a system of some kind. I usually find a lot of bargains. When they have a red dot sale, they charge half of the marked down price.

At any rate, I found a dyed fabric that was also stitched all over into squares on point to the grain. The piece was big enough to make a top. Now I haven't sewn much since I did a layette in 1964. However, I decided I would design it myself so that it didn't have any button holes. Well it was a bit strange. I wore it a couple of times, then it went to the back of the closet. Then about a year ago I happened upon this gorgeous flower fabric on the red dot table during another sale. This time I bought a pattern. It required several buttons. I already decided I would just sew the front up and make a placket so as to eliminate most of the buttons. I really hate doing button holes. The only reason I was finally able to make these is because of a tutorial on how to finish a small quilt using cording by Terry Grant. She still has this wonderful tutorial on her blog. Thank you Terry.

I used McCalls pattern M5587 style B without the belt. To me the idea of a BIG shirt is to flow over the stomach, not emphasize it. For quilting the yoke, I put a thin fabric, then a piece of flannel, and then the flower fabric on top. I think I learned a lot about my machine while trying to follow the flowers. Hopefully, I've gained a little skill. One thing that I found really frustrating was using the black thread on the black background. I had to feel to see if I had totally stitched an area. For me, black thread on black fabric is really had to see. However, if you look at the difference between the quilted yoke and the unquilted fabric, there is a difference. The quilted flowers become even richer and most lustrous than the original gorgeous fabric.


Blouse Front


Blouse Back

Close Up of Blouse Back showing thread detail.

Tomorrow is a New Day

“Finish each day and be done with it.
You have done what you could.
Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in;
forget them as soon as you can.
.
Tomorrow is a new day;
begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit
to be encumbered with your old nonsense.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Secret of Life

“One of the deep secrets of life
is that all that is really worth the doing
is what we do for others.”
Lewis Carroll

Stir Fried Tofu, Broccoli and Mushrooms

Broccoli is one of my favorite vegetables so I use it as much as possible. This week both broccoli and mushrooms were on sale. I usually have some extra firm tofu in the freezer, so a stir fry seemed obvious. Freezing tofu gives it a lot of texture and also allows it to absorb any flavors with ease. I really like the slight bite this gets from the marinade.



Stir Fried Tofu, Broccoli and Mushrooms
serves 4 hungry people
.
MIX Marinade
2 tablespoons..... Mirin or sugar water
1 tablespoon..... rice vinegar
3 tablespoon..... soy sauce
1 tablespoon..... grated ginger
1 tablespoon..... garlic-ginger sauce
.
POUR marinade over tofu; let sit while preparing vegetables
14 ounce..... frozen extra firm tofu, thawed, squeezed dry and cut into 1/2” cubes
.
PREPARE all vegetables before starting to stir fry
.
PREPARE bean thread noodles, rice or other. Set aside.
.
STIR FRY garlic and tofu in oil until tofu is browned. Remove all from wok.
2 tablespoons..... canola oil
1 tablespoon..... garlic, pressed
.
ADD to wok
2 tablespoons..... oil with ginger [I used grape seed oil with ginger]
.
ADD the vegetables
3 stalks..... broccoli, cut-into bite size pieces [about 5 cups]
1 cup..... green onions, chopped into bite size pieces
8 ounces..... mushrooms, cut into bite size pieces
.
STIR FRY until vegetables are crisp tender.
.
ADD browned tofu back to wok.
.
SAUCE
MIX together;
2 tablespoons..... cornstarch
1 cup..... cold water [or use vegetable broth and no miso]
1 tablespoon..... miso
2 tablespoons..... soy sauce
.
ADD to tofu and vegetables.
.
STIR until sauce thickens and becomes clear.
.
SERVE over noodles or rice.
.
optional GARNISH
chopped cashews or peanuts
green onion ends
.
ENJOY!