fall – The Witty Child

Yes, that’s a bad pun, if it even qualifies as one. (I’m sure dads the world over are shaking their heads and taking an extra step away from me: “We’d never make a joke that bad.”)

This is just a short one, because I have no real backstory for this, but: just in time for Halloween, I managed to complete “Cat in the Moon” by Handblessings.

Cat in the Moon 1

This stitched up fairly quickly thanks to the negative space for the moon and the half-cross stitch. I debated leaving the witch charm off because its shiny silver-like finish detracted (in my opinion) from the cat and everything else. In the end, I painted on a thin coat of black enamel paint: light enough that you can still see the relief on the charm, but dark enough to almost “match”. It’s just a shade larger than 4″ square, and makes an excellent addition to my minimalist Halloween décor.

Thanks for looking – I hope everyone’s having a happy Halloween! 🙂

Or is that “щi виз”?

Although I’m not thrilled about the cold autumn mornings, I love that the cooler weather means I can break out the soup pot again. Honestly, I could quite happily eat soup every day, all year round, but (sigh) not everyone shares my obsession with the stuff, so the cooler weather means that the rest of my audience will be equally enthusiastic about a steaming bowl of goodness.

Much to my chagrin, I had never heard of shchi before, but when I found a recipe for it on the Post Punk Kitchen, I knew I had found my next undertaking.

Mmm…soup! I used parsnips instead of potato or a potato/parsnip combo, and between that and the black pepper found the end result to be quite, well, peppery despite its unassuming appearance. The dollop of Sour Supreme on top helped immensely to temper it.

But man, er, domestic goddess cannot live by soup alone, right? Enter Garlic-Dill Bread from Julie Hasson’s Vegan Diner. As a non-yeasted bread it comes together quickly, using baking powder and beer as leaveners. Sending me to the store for beer is a little like sending a nun to an adult novelty shop (Not. A. Clue.), but I think I did all right for myself. I used Fort Garry Dark Ale, but can’t say I noticed either an overwhelmingly positive or negative taste. (So, yay me!)

The very best part of it all: I have an almost-full pot of shchi in the fridge, ready to be warmed up again for supper tonight.

Tag: fall

“Familiar”-ity doesn’t always breed contempt

Shchi whiz!!