Just a minute... in May

These are my favourite posts because they force me to recap what I've been doing over the past month, and I'm pretty sure that's good for my brain! Thanks, as always, to August Street for the 'Just a Minute' theme. Here goes:

Reading... vegetarian cooking books like the Moosewood Cookbook, trying out new dishes like Baba Ganouj (eggplant dip).

Watching... NBA playoffs! Blame it on my boyfriend.

Listening... to songs like "Buttons" by Sia, and "Dance Anthem of the 80s" by Regina Spektor and planning to buy both of their new albums very soon.

Eating... lots of vegan muffins (as you may have noticed)

Knitting... all the same projects I was working on in April, but getting closer to finishing the slippers, mittens and granny square blanket - stay tuned!

Learning... how important it is to get enough sleep, eat well, do exercise, and take time off work every now and then. It sounds so simple when you put it in one sentence, huh?

More muffins! (Banana walnut ones)

Yes, two muffin posts in a row! These vegan banana walnut muffins went down quite nicely with soy chai tea and an afternoon of knitting. I was inspired to bake these after seeing photos on Where's the Beef? but the recipe was originally posted by Vegan Visitor.

>> My obsession with food has well and truly taken hold of this blog, is this going to be a problem? Hmm...

The best vegan pumpkin muffins

This recipe came from Vegan with a Vengeance and is self-proclaimed to be The Best Pumpkin Muffins... This is already the second time I've made them, so I'm tending to agree!

The dry ingredients:
~ 3 cups self raising flour
~ 2 cups raw caster sugar
~ 1 tsp ground cinnamon
~ 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
~ 1/2 tsp ground ginger
~ 1/4 tsp ground allspice
~ 1/8 tsp ground cloves

The wet ingredients:
~ A chunk of pumpkin, chopped, boiled then pureed (about 1/4 of a normal sized pumpkin worked for me; apparently you can also get pumpkin puree in a can)
~ 1/2 cup soy milk
~ 1/2 cup vegetable oil
~ 2 tablespoons golden syrup

What to do:
1. Preheat oven to 200 Celsius, and lightly grease a twelve hole muffin tin (or two 6 hole ones) - I just used the tiniest bit of oil to do this.
2. Sift the flour, sugar and spices into a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, mix the wet ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, then mix.
3. Fill the muffin cups 2/3 full each, then bake for 20 minutes (or until a skewer inserted comes out clean).

>> This batch is destined for stitch n' bitch at Hollie's (of Vegan & Vintage) tonight - knitters need sustenance ;)

The NEW Lost+Found Market

I've been to the new Lost+Found Market (12 Smith St, Collingwood) a few times, and finally remembered to take photos when I was there yesterday - must be something to do with having this week off work cause this is more blogging than I've done in months! Anyway, I didn't buy anything (which is surprising) but there are all sorts of vintage treasures to explore if you find yourself in the area. Even worth a special trip!

>> I had to put up two photos to get the full inside-outside experience; the store goes over multiple levels, and all sorts of different areas, so it was hard to narrow it down to two!

Baba Ganouj

The Moosewood Cookbook strikes again! I made this Baba Ghanouj a few days ago and it's still good! Here's what you need:
~ 2 medium-small eggplants
~ juice from one lemon
~ 1/2 cup tahini
~ 3 cloves garlic, crushed
~ salt & pepper
~ 1/2 cup finely-chopped parsley
~ 1/4 cup finely-chopped spring onions (optional)
~ 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin (optional)

Then how to turn it into a delicious dip:
1. Preheat the oven to 190 Celsius.
2. Cut off the eggplant stems and prick all over with a fork.
3. Place on the oven rack without a tray and roast until wrinkled and soft (about 50 minutes).
4. Remove from the oven and wait until cool enough to handle.
5. Peel off the skin or scoop out the flesh and mash well - or if you have a bamix or blender, use that!
6. Add all the other ingredients and keep mixing.
7. Chill before serving (the recipe suggests drizzling olive oil over, but it's delicious both with and without).

>> Spelling of "Baba Ganouj" has been corrected to match the cookbook, but not sure it's right!

Happy Mother's Day!

Breaking my "one photo only" rule here, but both of these were picked up at the Rose Street Artists Market as Mother's day gifts, and I couldn't pick just one! The first is a card by the ever so talented Able & Game, and the second is an elephant brooch created by Shonah. Both mothers involved were pretty chuffed with their presents, I think.

Yume

I know I've mentioned it before but I had dinner at the Japanese restaurant Yume (367 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy) again last night, and it was delicious! I'm always surprised when there's hardly anyone in there - it's great food, and the menu has recently changed to include more vegetarian options, which rates well with me.

Recommended dishes:
~ Nasu Dengaku $6.80 (eggplant served with sweet white miso and dark miso sauce)
~ Vegetarian Gyoza $7.80 (served with lime soy sauce and salad; 5 pieces)
~ Vegetarian Tempura $7.80 (assorted vegetables lightly battered and crispy fried, served with basil soy)
~ Tofu Don $8.80 (soft tofu, stir fried mixed vegetables with teriyaki sauce on rice; pictured above)

I want to ride my bicycle

I bought this little treasure at the Camberwell Market last Sunday. Nothing like a bit of bicycle bling, huh? ...especially when it has a working clock in it!

The perfect green scarf

I finished this scarf last night! It was basic stocking stitch the whole way but due to the lack of knitting patterns here I'm going to post it anyway...

Stitch: stocking stitch
Needles: size #5 (5.5mm)
Yarn: 3 balls olive green Down To Earth brand bamboo yarn (about 50g each)
Pattern: Cast on 30 stitches. [Knit the whole row then purl the whole next row] repeat to end. Cast off.