October is...

...wearing your Laura Ingalls Wilder costume while
prancing through the prairie.

This year's LIW dress is a little less sexy than the
Gunne Sax one I'd been wearing every October since
1994 and finally outgrew this year. The smokin'
low-cut bodice on the old one wasn't historically
accurate, anyhow. Still: I'll miss you, dress!

Here are some early Halloween photos from my
own private prairie.

Let them eat vegan blueberry shortcake

In the summertime, Ben and I have blueberry shortcake--and sometimes strawberry--for dessert several times a week!

Here's our recipe!

1 c. unbleached all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

2 tbsp. sugar

2 tbsp. soy margarine, softened or melted

Ener-G egg replacer equivalent to 1 egg

small amount of soy milk

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Whisk together the dry ingredients, then stir in the soy margarine and egg replacer until just mixed. Don't overstir or the batter might turn out tough. If necessary, add soy milk a little at a time until dough is moist but not too sticky (truly it is a fine line).

Turn the dough out onto a floured board or counter and flatten it into a rough square. (It helps to put some flour on your hands before you do this.) Next, use a knife with a long, smooth blade (not serrated) to cut the dough into four even squares. You could use a round cookie-cutter or glass to make your shortcakes prettier, but we're not fancy here.

Put the four pieces on a lightly oiled cookie sheet. Bake for about 10 minutes or until your shortcake passes the toothpick test.

These shortcakes are so nice with blueberries and whipped cream! We use Rich's Richwhip (luuuv Rich's brand). Richwhip is what Ben and I term "accidentally vegan" and is available in conventional grocery stores. It's not organic, but it is about three bucks cheaper than the vegan whipped cream you sometimes see at the co-op!

Alright, I definitetly wasn't going to admit this, but since it's visible in the photo I will 'fess up to the fact that we sometimes put a little bit of soy ice cream on our shortcake, too. That's right: between the buttery shortcake and the fluffy Richwhip is a delicious layer of vegan ice cream. Decadent. Now you know the whole truth.

KnitKnit

The book in which I am generously referred to as a "fiber artist" will be out in September! If you're gonna look for it--it's called KnitKnit: Profiles and Projects from Knitting's New Wave, by Sabrina Gschwandtner. The publisher even flew a photographer to our house in Wisconsin to take pictures of me and my projects!

The work of my hero Debbie New is also included. Her knitted teacups and barn-sized reproductions of photographs (in yarn) are pretty breathtaking. Total knitting nouveau.

http://www.knitknit.net/book/

An herb blurb

Because I couldn't dig a backyard vegetable garden this year due to my being temporarily wretched, I planted an indoor herb garden instead. My devotee Maria gave me the seeds and pots, and soon Ben and I will be cooking with homegrown basil, marjoram, chives, and--best of all!--cilantro.

Awake!

When I first came home from l'hopital (or, as my friend Barry called it, "the joint"), I slept for most of the day--every day. Pulling off the rare five-hour nap when circumstances were right, I slept and slept and slept. This situation of affairs continued for about a week.

Then I began to read novels, which exactly suited my pep level.

Then, finally, I started to knit again! This suggests, I guess, that I have more energy/brio/strength these days, if not exactly more get-up-and-go (a feeble and piteous hobble-walk is still crimping my style). Incidentally, if you don't think knitting calls for a certain amount of stamina and fortitude, forgive me, but you have never tried intarsia.

Here's a photo of the hat I knit this week for Maximo, the new baby of a childhood friend.