Vegetari-yum

It's been a LONG time since I blogged about what I've been cooking. It's too bad, because I've made some pretty yummy stuff this fall/early winter. I really felt like the dish I made last night was exceptional though, and I wanted to share it!

CHILLI TOFU ENCHILADAS!

This recipe was one of the best tofu-centric dishes I've ever had. Something about the way you prepare the soy is just so so right. Plus the dish is loaded with fresh veggies to give you an immune system boost going into the wintry illness season. There's a lot of chopping to do though, it's a good recipe to make with a partner or group.

Serves 4, Modified from "The Vegetarian Bible"
 4 Tbsp Flour
1 Tsp Paprika
3 Tsp Chilli Powder
8 oz. Firm Tofu, in 1 inch cubes.
1 Onion, finely chopped
1 Red Bell Pepper, Chopped
2 Cloves of Garlic, chopped
1 Jalapeno Pepper, seeded and chopped (optional)
1 Avocado, Peeled, pitted and cut into 1 inch strips
1 Tbsp Lime Juice
2 Tomatoes, chopped
1 cup Shredded cheddar cheese
8 Flour Tortillas
Sour Cream
Salsa

1. Preheat the oven to 375.

2. Mix together the flour, paprika and chilli powder. Bread your tofu cubes with the mixture and fry in oil until they are golden brown. Remove the tofu from the pan and drain on a paper towel to remove excess oil.

3. Add a little more oil to the pan and saute the onions, garlic, red pepper, and (if you're feeling bold) jalapeno until they are just starting to soften (About 4 minutes). Remove from pan and drain excess oil.

4. Take your avocado pieces and toss them in a bowl with lime juice. Gently mix in your tofu, cooked vegetables, chopped tomatoes and 1/2 your shredded cheese.

5.Put about 1/8th of this filling mixture into each tortilla, and top with a dollop of sour cream. Roll up your enchiladas and place them seam-down in a large baking dish. Cover the entire dish with your favorite salsa and the rest of your shredded cheese.

6. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly and brown. The recipe suggests garnishing with cilantro to serve, but I skipped that.

Oh my goodness, these are so good. They're also surprisingly filling, given that they're mostly vegetables. And the colors in this meal just look so vibrant and fresh, it just plain looks delicious too. Highly recommended for the recently converted or experimenting vegetarian. A+!

Riley vs. Santa

Sometimes special Christmas episodes of TV shows come out overly saccharine and sentimental. The Season 1 Christmas episode of The Boondocks does not have this problem. Instead of our 8-year-old protagonist Riley sitting on Santa's lap, we see him chucking a chair at old Saint Nick.



As "The Santa Stalker," Riley seeks compensation for all the Christmas' he's spent with no gifts from the Jolly old elf. It's a tough reminder that while Santa is a fun holiday icon, his existence is a hard pill to swallow for poor kids who don't have much to open on Christmas morning. These scenes also help you remember that Riley is a kid, who wants to trust and believe in the myth of Santa, even though he is kind of a violent yob.

This is one of my favorite episodes, particularly when the self-hating Uncle Ruckus takes over the Santa gig. It's a got just the right amount of consumerism critique (ala Charlie Brown) cut in with a very honest analysis of the holiday spirit.



Whoa, whoa, hold up...

Corporate Irony

If you needed any more proof that giant brand conglomerates are soulless monsters who will say anything to get your money, keep in mind that the company who made this;



Are the same people who brought you this.

Learn from my mistakes: Hanks.

As a (relatively) new knitter, sometimes you go through projects where you don't really know what the heck you're doing, so you just try and go along and make the best of it. More than once, I've purchased yarn packaged in this manner:

 

This, my friends, is a hank of yarn. When you buy your yarn directly from the spinner (as I did with this pretty purple wool) they usually opt to sell them by the hank, because it's easier for them to polish up and measure their final product packaging it this way. Hanks are also prettier for displays, because they better showcase the texture and subtle qualities of the yarn. If you buy a hank though, it is NOT ready to be used for projects as is. I learned this the hard way on more than one project, and it was a mistake I wasn't willing to make again. If you try to knit a hank as is, you will spend hours and hours attempting to untie the giant knot that your yarn has become. Seriously, it's the worst.

Before you can go to work with a hank of yarn, you have to ball it. There are countless depictions of how to do this in old movies and pictures, usually involving a loved one standing by with yarn stretched over their arms. 

I've seen characters doing this so many times before but never really got what they were doing. Now I know they were saving themselves the headache of dealing with a un-balled hank.

Even if you don't have a cute dutch child on hand to help you with balling, that's ok. You can use 2 handy kitchen chairs to the same effect.  

I actually found this to be a kind of relaxing process, and it helps you get a feel for the materials you'll be working with. I've also read that it's important not to ball your yarn until you're ready to start your project, because balling stretches your yarn out some. Good to know.

The finished product! And here's a complete tutorial. Seriously, this might have been the most important lesson on knitting I ever had.

A Christmas Carol - 1951

This story of the meanest man in town who awakens to the power of kindness is considered a staple of the holiday media diet. When it comes to picking a film adaptation of Dickens 1843 classic, you have a lot of options to choose from. And once somebody picks their chosen rendition of the tale, most people are vehement about defending their film as the one true to their version of the story.

The film I grew up with (and thus the one I consider to be the quintessential, true classic) is the 1951 version starring Alastair Sims as the cold-hearted miser Scrooge.


I think that Sims himself is a huge part about why this version is so wonderful. When Scrooge is reawakened on Christmas Morning, you can really feel his manic joy. In this scene, you believe in Scrooge's transformation, and I don't think any other actor has ever really owned this performance like he did here.



This version is also a fantastic period peice, from top to bottom, and I really think it's the "A Christmas Carol" that stays truest to Dickens' original text. All the witty little 1840's jokes are kept intact, and are still funny and understandable. And this film really delves into the complex relationship between Scrooge, his sister and his nephew, which I think is a key to understanding the miser.

Want more proof this version is awesome? A woman whose name is actually Hermione stars as Bob Cratchet's wife!

But like I said, everybody has their own version of the story that they like best, and this is mine. Which is yours?

Nahla's Hat

Nahla is the little baby girl that my good friend is due to have at the end of the year. I made this hat for her from this pattern. I just love how the twin pom poms give a little bald baby the opportunity to have pig tails.

I actually dug this pattern so much that I scaled it up and made one for myself.


Like my other attempts to adjust patterns in the past, this one ended up a little too oversized. But the floppiness of it actually kind of works. I love love love the yarn I used for mine. It's a gorgeous soft alpaca in these very dreamy colors.

This hat actually really reminds me of something that Molly Weasely might make for her kids. It's got a neat bit of whimsy to it that would help you fit in at Diagon Alley, even if you are a Muggle.

In case you were wondering, I still haven't seen the new HP film. But I'm going to (finally) remedy that this week! I have this terrible habit of never seeing the movie I want to see in the theater. I'm determined that Part 1 of Deathly Hallows won't go the same way as "Alice in Wonderland", "Machete" and "Where the Wild Things Are." I will actually see it!

CaturdayXXV

Cross my palm with Tuna!