Vegan Po' Boy with Corn Fried Tempeh on Bernard Clayton's Monsieur Monfort's French Bread (The Joys of July And Gardening in 110 Degrees!)

I'm sitting inside next to the only open window I'll allow for daylight to stream in when the outside temperatures match a setting on my oven. We've reverted to "cave" mode officially. No daylight is allowed in the house after eleven or so. If I wake up more surly than usual--the blinds don't even get parted. The laptop has been given hiatus status because in my mind, why add to the misery and use up precious cold molecules to cool down a computer? If you are thinking, My god! She doesn't turn on her laptop?! No. I don't. There are days (d-a-y-s) when I do not even bother "logging" in. Sometimes I think my mind may shrivel up and "forget" all of my accumulated technological know-how. So far, that hasn't happened.

Peach Pie with Super-Flaky Crust (Vegan Vanilla Ice Cream "Mandatory"!)

I am the only person feasting on this amazing pie. It's criminal, I know. What's a girl to do when she has a craving so overwhelming she is willing to schlepp peaches from the store in the middle of one hundred-plus degree temps and buying out nearly half the store inventory of "locally-grown"? Well, make peach pie, of course--in a 425 degree oven, no less! Godforbid . . . am I acclimating to this semi-jungle climate, that I think nothing of cranking up the old stove for pie-baking in July? Heat be damned! Me of Northern roots and all? Hubby is not a fan--of the peach. Shame. And I cannot get him to budge on the matter either, even as I give commentary during each and every bite. (OMG, this is sooo good . . . my crust--it turned out PERFECTLY! I LOVE this pie!)  

Vegan Red Velvet Cake with Creamy Vanilla Buttercream Frosting (The Story of A Hero, A Father, A Son)

This is the kind of cake you could take to a funeral. And we did. . . have a funeral, that is. But this cake didn't make it there. Instead, we have been enjoying its company for dessert this past week--for three nights so far, two pieces remain for tonight. I thought it about time to pop in here. I had family comment: "Noticed you've not posted in a while". Not that I'm a person who is easily swayed by anyone's concerns, this just happens to be the god's truth.

The Garlic Harvest (Lessons Learned . . . I May Have Moles, But No Vampires!)

"I shall cut off her head and fill her mouth with garlic, and I shall drive a stake through her body."

--Bram Stoker's Dracula

So I planted garlic cloves last year. Probably not when I was supposed to. But I know I planted them "somewhere". I pulled several (that I could find) from the ground this morning, and here they are curing in the sun. They won't be ready to use for another week or so. I have to just leave them be until they've dried out.

Vegan Coffee Cake (Gooey Cinnamon, Pecan And Raisin Filling . . . Moving On)

Here we were again. No cake. Like my mother before me, I am a sucker for cake for breakfast. I was forced to eat many-a-coffee cake from the freezer section of our local grocery store when we ran out of the long plastic sleeves of powdered donuts. I never complained. I don't recall a homemade coffee cake ever entering the picture. I'd probably have laughed if someone tried telling me you could make your own coffee cake! 

Vegan Empanadas with Smokey Chipotle Peppers (While Knitting A Summer Cardigan)

Yesterday afternoon, in the heat of the day (temps hovering around a hundred or so degrees--give or take), I hauled myself out of my knitting stupor. I'm currently working on this darling cardigan: Amiga from Knitty, using a nice cotton blend yarn to keep the wool-itchies at bay. Summer knitting is a love/hate thing for most knitters in the South--me included. Some going so far as to swear off the needles until temps are more favorable for dragging sheep and alpalca wools over the tips of fingers. Do I really want to work on that wool blend throw, or very cool looking Wurm hat I am dying to wear in December when it's a hundred outside . . . today? I have found that my knitting speed suffers if I take the summer hiatus. So instead of going cold turkey, I keep the clicking going by changing up my fibers.

Vegan Chocolate Chubbies by Sarabeth Levine (Hello. . . Here's Chocoloate, There's The Locusts, Here's The Veggies, That's My New Treadmill)

We've been tap dancing around the subject. Last week hubby asked, "Did you have a new post you wanted me to read?" He knew by the look I shot him that the answer was "no". Then I added, "Unless you happened to have missed the Maggie good-bye." We both knew the answer to this. The subject was dropped and not a word mentioned since.  

Godspeed Maggie Mae (Let Our Hearts Heal)

Maggie Mae. The best girl ever. We said good-bye to her Monday. Nicknamed "Moonpie" because of the little carmel top on her head, split right down the middle with a streak of white, just like a moonpie. We didn't know her exact age--she was a rescue. There's never enough time. We just know every single day with us she brought more joy than seemed possible.

Learning To Fly (My Pilgram at Tinker Creek Moment)

A few mornings ago while I was enjoying my coffee, making my to-do list for the day, I heard this loud screeching and tweeting. I knew what this was immediately. I wouldn't say I'm an Annie Dillard (though I aspire to such greatness)--I do consider myself a little more "appreciative" and "curious" about the natural world than most. Okay, and a bit afraid of it, too. As an undergrad, I took a course entitled: Women And Nature Writing--not that taking this class made me an expert on "nature"--though I think probably a little more than most--I still consider observing all things in nature one of life's greatest pleasures. This class was not concerned with Walden Pond musings. Just the girls on nature: Rachel Carson, Terry Tempest Williams, Louise Erdrich. Loved this class. Loved it.

Vegan Lemon Bundt Cake with Fluffy Lemonade Buttercream Frosting (Learning to See . . . Again)

Another cake. Another week. I don't know what it is that compels me to want to turn on the oven when it's a blistering ninety degree day. Somehow I felt having a cake was a necessity. Of course, this being St. Louis, we have since had a cool down so dramatic that last night we had a fire in the fireplace. This cake was comfort food for the enormous stress my husband and I have endured the past few weeks.

First, husband's eyes and the need for the "procedures" to make seeing better (the first one completed last Thursday--all went swimmingly). But cripes all mighty, we walked into the waiting room of this eye surgery center and it was as if we'd left Missouri and were in a retirement community in Florida! Blue rinses everywhere! I thought I'd be ushered over to the "children's corner" to play with Tonka toys I was so much younger than everyone else. I leaned over into Dr. Thyme's ear and said, "Uh, wow. Even YOU seem young in this crowd!" He said back to me, "Yeah, well this is one minority group we ALL get to be a part of eventually, so get used to it." Touche.

Curried Pea And Potato Somosas in Phyllo Dough (My Garlic Growing Lessons: Scapes Abound!)

It was over ninety degrees yesterday, overcast, humid and on again-off again thundering and lightening. I had plants to get in the ground, bushes to dig up, re-locate plus a ton of flower seeds and bulbs to get in the ground. (Purchased in February with visions of mild spring days and me carefully tending to new bedding spots, pulling my wheelbarrow behind, gingerly stopping here and there, imagining new spots of color.) Uh, not so much now. I abandoned most of those leisurely moments of planting to mad dashes in and out, taking cover if I saw a flash across the sky. Not a drop of rain fell. It was so strange.

Asparagus Lover's Pasta (How My May Garden Grows, A Good Book And Other Life Stuff Keeping Me from "Here")

I am still recovering from my trip to Home Depot yesterday: twice! For future reference--if I should EVER want to attempt Mother's Day insanity again, I shall recall the following: navigating the parking lot took fifteen minutes, a quarter tank of gas and several near misses of folks wandering aimlessly, weaving in and out of moving and non-moving cars, throngs of people hovering over plants, grown children (all with mothers I'd assumed), wondering aloud or to complete strangers if this or that plant . . . bird feeder . . . plant stand, patio chair or, believe it or not, riding lawn mower--might be something mom would like? (For the record: Yes. To all of the above.) I sort of have issues on Mother's Day. To alleviate any and all pain, I immerse myself in all things "outside". With DH by my side, we dug holes, argued, laughed, put up a fence and finally at the end of it all, spent the evening telling each other how much fun we had--and how it was a miracle neither one of us ended up divorced, needing a tetanus shot, breaking a bone or a fracturing a hand. It was one of those days only a married couple together nearly fifteen years could survive.

I add something to my garden to-do list every day. Going to sleep right now is a real joy. No sooner have I settled in to read (I'm currently reading: Blood, Bones & Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton and I LOVE it!)--than does some other little nifty "project" creep in. Since I am the "project doer"--I must immediately leap from bed, grab a pen, and up goes yet another Post-it note with said reminder on it. It's all quite maddening right now--these gardening to-do lists.  

Vegan Bittersweet Chocolate Brownies (Sister Time, New Knitting Project And Returning to My Kitchen)

I returned to my kitchen yesterday and first order of business: bake something chocolate, dammit! It was like seeing a long lost friend again when I pulled out my little brownie pan. I was having withdrawl from not baking. And don't ask me why no cake in a while? All I can tell you is that I get distracted easily. Having my sister here for a week was a welcome change given all we have going on around here right now. However, I am in a bit of a "state" as we are heading into some procedures for hubby in a few weeks. My sister can attest to my rather wired self right now, watching me try to 'live in the moment' through all this drama--and do so calmly, telling me: "You need to RELAX! Try Meditation for crying out loud! Are you like this ALL the time?" And my answers: What is relaxation. . . I relax when I sleep! Meditation: Ha! And yes, I am like this ALL the time! Ah life.