Cajun Skillet Dinner (pantry staple friendly)

My husband loves cajun food of any variety, so I try to keep some andouille sausages in the back of the fridge or the freezer.  If you like your food extra spicy, feel free to top with a little extra hot sauce.

Cajun Skillet Dinner 
Serves 4

Ingredients:
1 12 oz package fully cooked andouille (I used Aidell's), sliced into half moons
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 large carrot, peeled & diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can red beans, drained and rinsed
1 can of diced tomatoes
2 tsp Cajun seasoning (Recipe to make your own.)
Olive oil
Salt & pepper
Fresh parsley for garnish (or use the celery leaves!)
White rice for serving

Directions:
Start a pot of rice, or set your rice cooker to have the rice ready for dinner time. 

While the rice cooks, drizzle a little olive oil or a spritz of cooking spray in a large skillet, over medium heat.  Cook the sliced up sausages for a few minutes, so they take on a little color, and their flavor infuses the oil in the pan.  Once they are lightly browned, remove them from the skillet with a slotted spoon, leaving the oil in the pan.

Add the onion, celery, & carrots to the pan, and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes.  You want them softened but not mushy.  Add the garlic, and cook about 30 seconds, stirring well so it doesn't burn.  Add the red beans and tomatoes. 

Sprinkle in the cajun seasoning, and a few grinds of fresh pepper.  Taste, and add salt if needed.  (The beans, tomatoes and cajun seasoning all have salt in them, so you might not need any.)  Cook about 5 minutes, until the tomatoes and beans are heated through, and the tomato juices have formed a sauce in the pan.  Add the sausage back into the pan, and stir to combine.

Serve the sausage and veggies over the rice, and garnish with fresh parsley, or chives from your garden, or some celery leaves.

Mediterranean Red Lentil Soup (vegan & pantry staple friendly)

This delicious soup was warming and hearty, and best of all it was easy to make with things I already keep in my pantry.  It is perfect for dipping some no-knead bread, toast, or naan that you squirreled away in you freezer a few weeks ago.  It made 6 servings, so we had it for dinner twice, and froze the rest for later this month.

Mediterranean Red Lentil Soup
Ingredients:
1 medium onion, diced
2 carrots, peeled & diced
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tablespoon cumin
1 teaspoon coriander
1 Tablespoon yellow curry powder
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 1/2 cups dried red lentils
4 cups (1 tetrapak) vegetable broth
1 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 Tablespoon harissa paste
2-3 Tablespoons lemon juice (fresh or bottled)
Sour cream or plain yogurt for serving
Chopped fresh parsley, cilantro, chives, or celery leaves for serving

Directions:
Drizzle some olive oil in a large saucepan or soup pot, over medium heat.  Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent, about 4-5 minutes.

Add the garlic, cumin, coriander, curry powder, and turmeric, and saute another minute until the garlic becomes fragrant.  Don't let the garlic burn!

Stir in the carrots, dried lentils, vegetable broth, and tomatoes (with their juice), and 1 cup of water.  Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer.  Simmer uncovered until the lentils are soft, about 20-25 minutes.

If the soup thickens too much, you can add a little more water while it simmers.

Remove from the heat, and add in the harissa paste, and lemon juice, stirring well to incorporate them.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream, vegan sour cream, or plain yogurt on top, and sprinkle with fresh herbs if you have them.

Irish Bangers and Mash with Onion Gravy and Buttered Peas

Happy Saint Patrick's Day my friends!  While we are all in social isolation and cannot share a pint together tonight, I thought we could at least share recipes.  This year I found some Irish bangers at Aldi, and couldn't resist making up a little feast for DH & I while we're home together.

Irish Bangers and Mash with Onion Gravy with Buttered Peas

Bangers & Mash
1-2 packages bangers
2 lbs gold potatoes, peeled and large chopped
1/2 stick butter
Milk of choice (I used cashew milk)
1 tsp dry mustard powder

Onion Gravy
1 Tbsp butter
1 large onion, sliced
4 cups (1 tetrapak) vegetable broth
1 cups red wine or water

Peas
1 16oz bag frozen peas
3 Tbsp butter
2 tsp sugar
3 cloves fresh garlic, minced
Salt & pepper
1-2 Tbsp fresh mint, chopped

Directions
Preheat oven to 200 degrees, or whatever the lowest setting is.

Cook the sausages in a skillet over medium-low heat until nicely browned on all sides; transfer to an oven-safe dish or pan and move to the preheated oven to keep warm.

Place the potatoes into a saucepan with enough water to cover them, over medium-high heat, and boil  until tender, and easily pierced with a fork. About 15 minutes. Drain and return to the pan. Sprinkle over the dry mustard, salt & pepper.  Add in the 1/4 cup of butter, and a splash of milk.  Mash to your desired consistency.  I like mine with a few chunks. Set aside.

While the potatoes are cooking, start the onion gravy.  Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat; add the onions and cook until they are translucent and starting to brown, about 8-10 minutes.

Reduce heat to medium, and pour in the vegetable broth and red wine.  Boil the mixture down gently, until it's about half the volume it was. It should take about 10-15 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper, and keep warm.

When the gravy is close to done, heat a medium skillet over medium heat.  Add the butter, peas, sugar and garlic.  Cook, stirring occasionally until the butter is melted, and the peas are heated all the way through.  About 5 minutes.  Stir in the mint, and remove from heat.  Season with salt & pepper.

To serve, place a large dollop of mashed potatoes on one side of the plate.  Place 1-2 sausages on top of the potatoes, and smother them both with a good ladle full of the onion gravy.  Place the peas on the other side of the plate.

Pretend that the vegetables on your plate make up for the whole stick of butter in your dinner.  Pour a favorite beverage, and enjoy with someone you love.  Keep each other close in your hearts & spirits right now, even if we're kept apart in person.
Slàinte!

Recycled Silk Tuck-Away-Tote

For my first quarter Fiber & Textile mod project on Lettuce Craft, I decided to run a Spring Greening Challenge.  The assignment was to craft an item that replaces a commonly used disposable version, such as dishcloths, cloth napkins, paperless-towels, etc. 

For my own contribution, I knew I wanted to make something out of a recycled yarn.  I dug through my stash and picked out a few cakes of Darn Good Yarn's silk blend sport weight yarn, in colorway Burgundy Blossom.  It's made from reclaimed sari silk and viscose. 

I searched Ravelry for a grocery tote pattern, and found this super cute Tuck-Away Tote pattern, that contains a pocket, that the tote can be folded up into!  You can easily tuck it away to carry in a purse or coat pocket. 

 The round pocket is positioned along the bottom of the tote.  I finished it off with a pewter Celtic button that I had in my stash. 

All tucked away, ready to go on a shopping trip.  ...whenever we're finally allowed to go out again!

Makers Gonna Make Ruler Holder

This quick little project was made for a challenge over on Lettuce Craft.  My dear friend Emma, aka sheepBlue, ran a challenge on the Decorative & Functional Board, asking folks to repurpose an item that they would normally throw out from lack of use, or wear and tear.  A few weeks ago I bought some new silicone kitchen utensils, and they came with a rather ugly holder, in bright teal plastic.  I knew I'd never use it, and tried to think of ways to repurpose it, but failed, so it went into the recycling.  Look how boring it was!

Fast forward to Friday, when I was cleaning the house.  I was putting away some stray bits and bobs in my studio, and I noticed the canister I had my tall rulers in.  It was a repurposed pirouette cookie tin, that I had covered in scrapbook paper to match my craft room/husband's office, back when we lived in Bowling Green 6 years ago.  The colors no longer match my space, and it's lightweight, and prone to tipping over.  Brain wave!  Go grab the utensil holder out of the recycling, and give it a makeover.

The cut file came from the Silhouette design store, and it had lots of cute little stars all around it.  Sadly they did NOT want to transfer with the text.  But that's fine.  I kinda like the cleaner look without them.  And here it is, corralling rulers, and keeping the little felt Scotsman company.

Citrus Olive Oil Cake

I was so excited to have the lovely pottermouth and her daughter stay with us last night.  In honor of the occasion I decided to make a Mediterranean diet-friendly olive oil cake to celebrate.  This recipe was adapted from a recipe by Katiebird Bakes.  Here's my version.

For the cake:
1 c whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 c granulated sugar
3/4 of the zest from one large grapefruit
2 large eggs
1 cup yogurt (I used non-dairy coconut yogurt)
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large grapefruit
1 orange
1-2 tangerines

Glaze:
1/3 cup fresh citrus juice
1 tablespoon granulated sugar

Icing:
2 tablespoons glaze (see below)
1 cup powdered (confectioner's) sugar
1/4 of the zest from the grapefruit
Pinch of salt
Sliced almonds for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and grease a bundt pan well with cooking spray, and sprinkle in some granulated sugar.  Set aside.

Zest & juice your grapefruit.  Juice your orange & tangerines, until you have close to 1 cup or mixed citrus juice.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, & salt; set aside.

In a large bowl, rub the sugar and grapefruit zest together with your fingers until the mixture is fragrant. 

Add the eggs, yogurt, olive oil, vanilla, and 1/2 cup of citrus juice to the sugar, and whisk it all together until well combined.

Add the flour mixture into the wet mixture, and stir until just mixed.

Pour the batter into your bundt pan, and bake for 35-40 minutes, until the cake is golden around the edges, and cooked through.

While it bakes, prepare the the glaze and icing:

Glaze: Place 1/3 cup citrus juice and 1 tbsp granulated sugar in a microwave-safe measuring cup or bowl.  Microwave on high until bubbling and sugar has melted, about 1 minute.  Whisk together and set aside to let cool; reserve 2 tbsp of the glaze for the icing.

Icing: whisk together 2 tbsp of the prepared glaze, the powdered sugar, remaining grapefruit zest, and salt in a small bowl until smooth and pourable.  Set aside.

When the cake comes out of the oven, immediately poke holes all over the surface of the cake with a wooden skewer or toothpick.  Pour the glaze over the hot cake slowly, allowing it to soak in.

Let the glaze soak into the cake for 15 minutes, then turn the cake out onto a wire rack.

Once the cake is released and cooled, pour the icing over top, and garnish with slivered almonds.

D&D Convention Badge Holders

These badge holders have been on my To Make list for months now.  While browsing through Pinterest I saw the pattern come up from Kidgiddy on Etsy.  She designed them for quilting conventions, but I knew right away I had to make some for my husband to go to Gary Con, a Dungeons & Dragons Convention, this year.  He went last year and loved it, and even texted me from the event to say he definitely wanted to attend again. 

 

The inside features 2 zippered pockets.  I dug through my stash of mixed colored zippers and picked two that worked with the dungeon map and stone castle fabrics, all of which came from Spoonflower.  I figured the different colored zippers might also help when trying to remember which pocket you tucked the item you're looking for.

 

The back features a cell phone pocket, with room for a pen or pencil.  The whole thing is held closed with a pearl snap.

 

Since I was worried about trying out a new pattern with the specially ordered fabric, I made a practice one, for a friend of Jim's who will be coming over from Ireland for another D&D Con later in the year.

 

I was so thrilled to have finished these well in advance of the con at the end of March.  No last minute all-nighters!  Sadly Gary Con, like every other event right now, has just been cancelled.  So they will have to wait till Covid is under control or there is a vaccine in place for Jim to get to use them.

Miniature Dragon Egg Dice Bags

These little wonders were created specifically for a challenge over on Lettuce Craft.  My friend PerfectlyBohemian, who mods the Art Board, challenged us all to miniaturize our favorite crafts.  Are you kidding?  You want me to Miniaturize My Craft?  Well buckle up Buttercup.  I've got a teeny tiny craft just for you!

 

When I saw this challenge, I was so intrigued with the idea, but I had no idea what to make.  After kicking around some ideas with crafty friends, I realized one of the things I'm known for crocheting is dragon egg dice bags.  And in my jewelry making stash, I just happened to have some itty bitty aluminum scales.

I whipped out my smallest crochet hook, and some lace weight silk yarn and got to experimenting.  My normal sized dice bags are made with 144 'small' sized scales, that each measure 14mm x 22mm (or 9/16" x 7/8"), and use #4 or Medium weight yarn and a 5mm crochet hook, and are finished with glass pony beads, about 1cm wide.  The finished full size bags measure 12cm tall (or 4.5").

The miniature bags were made with 27 'tiny' sized scales that measure 7mm x 11mm (or 1/4" x 7/16"), and used a #0 or Lace weight yarn and a 2.25mm crochet hook, and are finished with 4mm Swarovski crystal beads.  The finished bag measures 3cm tall and 2.5cm wide (or 1.5" x 1").

One of the only problems I encountered was that the hook didn't fit through the hole in the tiny scales.  The pattern I use for the full size bags calls for you to crochet through the scales, to attach them to the bag.  Since that wasn't an option here, I sewed them on.  I crocheted 2 rows beyond the row I wanted to add the scales to, then went back and stitched them, so that the thread wouldn't accidentally catch the yarn, or I wouldn't accidentally sew a stitch closed, that I needed to get a hook back into.

Each finished bag is about the size of a standard D20, though one doesn't really comfortably inside.  I knew that in order to display the tiny bags, they would need tiny dice.  But I was just not up for making itty bitty polyhedral shapes.  I felt sure that way madness lies.  So I picked up some 5mm micro dice from a maker on Etsy.  I adore how cute they are with my bags!