If you thought the hat was cute before...

...check it out now!!!
Wee One is modeling the Punkin' Hat for the Neighbor Wee Friend To Be, due on Halloween. I think I will cast on for a Wee One version but make it a bit bigger, his noggin is apparently growing more than I realized. For some reason, this week his fingers, head, and legs suddenly look so much bigger. I know it didn't happen overnight, but I didn't see it happening over time.



I made some vegan raspberry tarts this week to celebrate Mabon (autumnal equinox) and the Wee One's three month birthday, which happened to fall on the same lovely day. They were really good and Nature Boy gave them a 7.5 on his Yumminess Scale, which is quite good for him. My scale is much easier. Things are either Yum or Yuck. These were Yum. Here's a kind-of recipe:


Make pie dough (enough for one crust, or like me, I doubled the recipe and froze a ball of dough for a rainy day when company might be coming and I need to whip something up quick) using any recipe you like.


Make two larger heart-shaped "dishes" out of the dough, pinching the dough up along the sides. Put on bottom of pie pan (I used one pan for each tart). Throw some raspberries, sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar (I like lots of each, maybe 2T sugar and maybe 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon), sprinkle about a T corn starch over each tart and then add a pat of Earth Balance buttery vegan spread. I then put a little heart on top, brushed with some water (to help it brown and make the toppings stick) and sprinkled with more cinnamon and sugar. I baked these babies for almost an hour at 350--I would say to set your timer for 30 minutes and then start checking them every 10 minutes until the dough appears to be baked. I use see-through glass pans and check the top and bottoms for brown-ness until it looks good to me.


Sadly, they are now gone and my sweet tooth is starting to activate again. Thankfully there is a birthday on the horizon and that means cake!!!


So the Forest Footfalls Sox. I may just gift one sock for the birthday which depends on me finishing said sock in time. The birthday is this weekend. I have two hours today to possibly knit before You-Know-Who comes through the door. I also have laundry as well as feeding and changing the Wee One to compete for time. Then I have tomorrow to possibly knit while, you guessed it, washing nappies, feeding, playing with and changing Wee One. If I get it done, I will wrap it up and gift it to Nature Boy this weekend; if not, I will hopefully have a whole pair to gift to him come Yule.


The Wee One Yuletyde Stocking is coming along well. Nature Boy also pointed out that it needs to be completed by Thanksgiving so it can go up in front of the fireplace with our stockings. I had been calculating more of a Yule finish date, so this is definitely upping the pressure. Oh my.


Now for some stuff about the city I live in, which I love. Some of you out there who read this might not know about the free coupons from Penzey's. If you've never been, they are located in the Strip and sell spice. That's right, spice. If you sign up for their free monthly catalog, it comes with a coupon for FREE SPICE. The last one was for cinnamon. The one before was for Pasta Sprinkle, a blend of their own creation. I've been told by the sales clerk that even if the coupon expires they will honor it since they often don't have the free spice in stock when you get there with your coupon. I also really really love the Mural of Flavor mix, really yummy on steamed veggies, pasta and tofu. Make sure you smell it if you go! So sign up for the catalog, get your coupon, and go get your free spice 'n at.


The other thing I need to talk about is the G-20. I'm glad it's here, but I don't get what our fair city is doing about it. We close off half the city and our visitors from around the world see a ghost town, not Pittsburgh the way it truly is, bustling and thriving and noisy and exciting. Then they tell protesters to apply for a PERMIT to protest? So if you are against what the government (local, state, national, what have you) is saying/doing/wants to do, you are expected to talk to them and then be surprised when they don't grant you a permit to protest? Why do we have the sometimes meaningless document called the Constitution then? Doesn't that give a person the right to say what they want to? Whether they have a permit or not? Don't get me wrong, I love the city and want no harm to come to it, but when peace-loving groups want to protest something and do not harm or threaten anyone in getting their message across, do we really need to stop them because they have no permit? I really thought I woke up in the USA today but maybe I am wrong...


And lastly, GO STEELERS!!!