sneak-peek!

Biking season is fast approaching and I am excited to be introducing these to my etsy shop very shortly!. Each cap is made with salvaged clothing and includes an elastic band on the back to ensure a snug and conformable fit. They are lightweight and each and everyone is made by hand in Seattle.


For the tags I've decided to use a collection of family bicycle photo's including these-

Be there!

Here come's the rain

We went on a short road trip this weekend to pick out our pumpkins. We also picked up some green tomato's (I kind of fell in love with fried green tomato's recently), squash, and Brussels spouts! I'm excited to have a week full of baking, crocheting, reading and listening to the rain. We also went on an amazing hike, which I will post about later!

Camping at Lake Cushman

This past weekend we went on what will probably be our last camping trip of the year. We had a great time kayaking, eating smores, sitting by the lake, telling ghost stories(well, trying to at least) and hovering over a nice warm fire!
Here are a few of my favorite pictures!

This was the amazing view of the Olympic National Park we had while kayaking on Lake Cushman.

By morning the fog was so thick we could hardly see the other side of the lake! And Brr... it was freezing!

It definitely feels like the beginning of fall. It is now time to test this vegan Irish Coffee recipe and snuggle up with a good book!

Vegan Empanada Recipe!

These empanada's don't take long to make and the dough can even be made the night before which is a huge time saver!
Empanada dough:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 Earth balance, cold & cut into cubes
1 egg substitute
1/3 cup ice water
1 tablespoon vinegar
Combine flours and salt in a large bowl and stir. Add earth balance and use your fingers to blend until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

In a small bowl, whisk the egg substitute with the ice water and add in the vinegar. Slowly pour into the flour mixture and use a fork to gently incorporate it. Gently knead the dough until it comes together into a ball.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least an hour.

For the mushroom filling I used this pretty simple recipe that can easily be changed. If you have herbs such as rosemary or thyme on hand they make a great addition!
2 cups mushrooms, chopped.
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon earth balance
Start by cooking the mushrooms with the soy sauce in a saucepan on medium heat. Once the mushrooms have cooked for about 5-8 minutes you can add the other ingredients. Heat everything together, stirring often. Once everything is well mixed you are ready for the next step!

Roll the dough flat on a floured surface with a rolling pin until it achieves about a 1/8 inch thickness. You can use a cookie cutter to cut the circles or use the top of a pint glass. Once you have the size circles that you would like you can start adding the filling. I did about a tablespoon of the filling for each and it seemed to be a perfect amount. After you have filled them you can fold them over and seal the edges with a fork. Bake at 400 in a preheated oven for 20-25 minutes.
Dusting the tops with earth balance or oil and herbs before baking is recommended!
Enjoy!

Soup, salad and bread, oh my!

This was our dinner last night. I wasn't sure how the vegan baguette would turn out since I had to substitute a few ingredients, such as the milk and butter, but it turned out amazing!

Carrot Ginger Soup.
4 cloves garlic, minced.
6-7 large carrots, diced.
Small chunk of fresh ginger, minced.
2 cups veggie broth.
salt, pepper and cilantro for garnish.
Start by cooking the garlic and carrots in a saucepan with oil until the carrots are somewhat soft. Add ginger and continue to cook on a medium heat, stirring occasionally. Turn off heat and let cool before blending in a food processor.
At this point you can do a taste test and see if more ginger is needed. Once you have achieved a smooth texture, return mixture to the saucepan and add veggie broth. After the soup is completely heated through it's ready to serve! Salt, pepper and cilantro make a great garnish for this soup.

Vegan Baguette recipe can be found here. I simply substituted the milk and butter and had great results!

Cucumber Salad: One whole cucumber (I don't peel it because I like the crunch!), handful of cherry tomatoes, tablespoon of balsamic vinegar, a dash of salt and pepper.
Chop up both cucumber and tomato in small chunks.
Mix all ingredients in small salad bowl and refrigerate until chilled.
It's a very basic salad with a great flavor!

a few of my favorite things.

I just found these super cute vegan shoes. I think I might just have to order some soon!
Also, I found this cute website that allows you to take photo booth pictures with your computer! Make sure you turn the volume up so you get the whole experience.
go here and take all the photo booth pictures you want!
If you are in the Seattle area there is a great french restaurant on Capitol Hill that I recently fell in love with. It's called Thomas Street Bistro and is tucked away in the residential area of the hill. It is a small yet comfortable place with amazing vegan options.

yummy cake!

This past weekend I made the most amazing vegan cake. Chris loves peanut butter, so I found a great chocolate cake(with a hint of coffee flavor) and chocolate peanut butter frosting recipe. I had fun making these cake toppers as well :)
Here is the recipe. I suggest adding the coffee instead of just water

6 years...

Today, we celebrate our 6 year anniversary! Chris took the day off so we could spend more time together. We enjoyed vegan donuts and muffins for breakfast and amazing Seattle roasted/brewed coffee. Hot toddy's, lots of reading and playing cards (my grandma would be proud)were also a huge part of our day. Now we are off to a surprise dinner that chris arranged. I can't think of a better way to spend a rainy Seattle day :)

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Here are a few of my items that you will find here!