Not the Best for Blogging

So, I'm doing the Through the Loops Mystery Shawl KAL 2017. It's been a fun knit so far, but I've realized it's a terrible match with blogging. Why? You can't show any spoiler photos of the shawl. So this is what I can show you:

Pretty boring, huh?

But I can tell you all about my breakfast this morning: the Morning Detox Smoothie.

It comes from my newest cookbook acquisition, Oh She Glows Every Day by Angela Liddon. I love her first cookbook, so I was thrilled to discover she'd come out with a second one.

Her recipes are all vegan, and this second book also has a lot of gluten-free recipes, too. I am neither vegan nor gluten free, but I do try to include a lot of vegetables in my diet, so vegan cookbooks work out well for me.

Tomorrow I'm going to make my first green smoothie. I'm not sure how I feel about it, but it just seems like such a healthy thing to consume!

Lastly, thank you all so much for your kind words about my sketches. It really boosts my confidence because I am such an amateur!

The Way Life Should Be

I am sure I am not the only teacher -- or employee of any type -- who feels that real life only happens in the summer. School is just so overwhelming. This last week has been magical. I can take life at a reasonable pace and do the things that are important and that I love.

Today I had a refreshing bike ride in the cool morning air and ended up at my parents' community, where I had breakfast with them.

The bike path near my house.

I had time to restart the beaded collar in colors that I really like:

Twenty inches of this and I'll be done.

A friend wanted to try polymer clay, and I had a few hours to teach her. I made some beads for the first time in a couple years:

Do you see a lot of pink today?

I cooked a recipe that I've wanted to make for ages, the enchilada recipe from the Oh She Glows Cookbook -- a book I learned about from a blog friend, perhaps Nichole of Frontier Dreams? The filling features sweet potatoes, black beans, and spinach. Really amazing dish.

Sweet Potato & Black Bean Enchiladas

I spent time weeding the yard, decluttering the house, and even doing paperwork for school. But without the frantic pace and demands of school, it was all enjoyable. There is something terribly wrong with our modern life. Americans work more hours than any other people in the world, and we pay a terrible price for it, both physically and emotionally. I wish there were more jobs that allowed Americans to have a life!

I am grateful for summer break. Tomorrow Keith and I take our annual sojourn to Door County, the "thumb" of Wisconsin. The weather forecast calls for warm, sunny days. I hope your weekend is filled with blue skies and fun.

Weekends Are For Family And Food, Right?

This is embarrassing, but I made it to the Farmers Market for the first time (this year, that is) Saturday. It took a visit from my cousin Eli and his wife, Mary, who visited from Chicago. The market rings the Capitol and is very pretty:

It was so much fun having them in town. They spent Friday with my parents and Saturday with us.

We had a wonderful time shopping downtown. I even discovered yarn at the Market. The vendor doesn't have an online presence, so the market is the only place you can buy her naturally colored wool. It's all sheep colors, except for a yellow that is plant-dyed.

And then there was my downfall. I just couldn't resist this cow-shaped cookie:

With one sweet bite, 19 days of my no-sweets diet came to an end. Strangely, I don't think I've mentioned this diet on the blog. A few years ago, my friend Tsela came up with the idea of just cutting out all desserts and other sugar-heavy foods. It worked. She lost 12 pounds without altering anything else in her diet.

I did it for 30 days a few years ago and did drop a few pounds. I have a very demanding sweet tooth, so the first week is a struggle. But, I swear, if you can stay away from sweets for 7 days, the cravings subside. I have been stuck at a weight that is not only higher than what I want, but above the healthy range for my height, so I dropped sugar at the beginning of September and have been losing a pound a week painlessly.

And then I messed it all up yesterday. I will say that the cookie was VERY good. Still, I'm kind of mad at myself. But I can't un-eat it. All I can do is reset the clock. It's almost bedtime and I haven't eaten any thing sweet today. Let's call it Day 1. Again!

ETA: I did NOT eat the whole cookie. Mary and I shared it!

All Good Things Must Come to an End

Well, it's the very last day of winter break. It's cold and snowy here, which is just fine with me. I was hoping to have a pajama day and just laze around.

It's been a good break, especially since my daughter was home for all of it. I've also enjoyed spending time with friends. I even worked for a few hours yesterday! That will make my week start out a little smoother.

During the school year, I can get pretty casual about cooking. But in Rachel's honor, I did quite a bit of cooking over the last couple of weeks. I made one of my all-time favorites from the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook: Baked Squash Galette with Carmelized Onions.  You can't possibly go wrong with butternut squash, Vidalia onions, and Fontina cheese:

My knitting has been random. I've been hopping from one project to another. My first-ever charity knitting is going well:

These are mittens for children ages 6 to 8, which I will be mailing to the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, one of the poorest areas in the country. There is a Ravelry group here.  The pattern is my variation on the Ann Budd mitten pattern. I need to get it written up before I forget it, so I'll post it eventually.

I hope you have a relaxing Sunday and are ready for Monday, whether that means work or not.

Welcoming the Cold

The weather here went from summer to fall overnight, which gave me the opportunity to cover myself with hand knits:

I am wearing a hat from a Vogue Magazine pattern; mitts from a free Internet pattern; basic ribbed leg warmers knit with Kidsilk and Cascade 220; and a very simple shawl. I love fall!

We ate outdoors last night -- in a temporary structure called a sukkah. The sukkah is part of the Jewish celebration of Sukkot, a harvest celebration.

It was a potluck, and most of the dishes were vegan. It seems like more and more people I know are vegan, which I find challenging to cook for. I make a lot of vegetarian dishes, but many of them have cheese or eggs.

Are you running into this, too? My friend Tsela recommends two books: Vegamonicon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz, and Vegan Planet by Robin Robertson. I am going to check these out. It's not that I plan to ever become vegan -- no more cheese? forget it! -- but I  want to be able to make food for all my friends.

Are you running into more vegans these days, too?