Rays of Sunshine: Year-End 2020

My husband remarked sometime this fall that future historians of our era will have to microspecialize in 2020, as in, "I'm an expert on October 8, 2020."  It has been a year in which we lived a century.  Here are some (not-so) quick takes from an epic year.

1. We survived Covid in the early days of the pandemic.  My infection was brutal (but not hospital-inducing); the rest of my family less so.  

2. My kids learned to get along with each other during the six-month lockdown in this tiny house, and continue to develop their relationships with each other in unexpected ways.  Yes, they still fight, still annoy each other, still know how to push each other's buttons, but on the whole, the four of them can rub along okay, which is something I never thought I'd be able to say.  We did many puzzles and played lots of Scrabble and other word games this year.

3. The kitchen garden was a source of delight to me all summer and fall, and I'm looking forward to digging in the dirt in the late spring.

4. While I wrote less this year, my final Slezkine essay remains my favorite, although my latest Crawford tribute comes close.

 

5. I'm pleased to announce that my novel, All This Without You, will be published in mid-February.  I'm working through the final formatting and galley proofs now.  Pre-order will be available in a few days.  My first novel, Deliverance, finally got the cover I wanted from the start.

6. The kids discovered shchi, kuleyabaka, and pirog this year, and my fasting menus got a bit easier as a result (if more labor-intensive).  

 

At the same time, I crossed some kind of culinary Rubicon this year, and have enjoyed making some nice-looking meat, fish, and cabbage pies (with pre-made crust; I'm not that invested).  

 

The food shortages of the spring put my long-neglected bread maker to work. 

After 8 months of heavy use, it went to the Great Appliance Store in the Sky.  RIP, you served us well.

 

7. I fell down a few crafting rabbit holes this summer and fall, including jewelry-making, which I completely enjoy, and dyeing, which I do not. 

 

 

I also returned to making art this spring and summer, and am holding these new creative endeavors under the broad umbrella of This Living Hand Designs. 

 8. After stalking various listings for used pairs, I finally found a pair of Blundstones on ebay for a great bargain, and they are pretty much the best things ever. My transitional shoe crisis solved! So stompy.  

9. With hair salons closed for months, I learned how to cut both boys' hair, and have continued the practice since.  My husband had me trim his hair once in May in desperation, but has since returned to his barber, much to my relief.  I trimmed the girls' and my own hair once, since we don't need regular cuts.  It's not perfect, but it will do!

 

10. My sewing stalled out this year, but I made a few things I really loved, including my cropped linen Emerald tops, and a laundry cycle's worth of underwear.  

11. I dipped my toes into more challenging knitting, including lacework and colorwork, and find I have a an appetite for charted work. 

I also discovered some new-to-me designers and have enjoyed some new patterns.

12.  I discovered some truly enjoyable book series this year, including the All Souls Triology, The Court of Thorns and Roses series, and the Throne of Glass series.  The Throne of Glass series was an unexpected delight, and I binged all seven (rather large) books in about a month's time this fall.  I dipped back into the Court of Thorns and Roses series again this week in anticipation of the next book's release in February.  I guess I'm into supernatural fantasy now?

Wherever this year has taken you, and whatever difficulties you've experienced, I wish you peace and joy in the year ahead.

 

Happy New Year!

See ya on the flip side.

Pottering About

I don't have anything pithy to share today; we have a short stretch of remote schooling, and my mind has turned to mush.  I also realized this weekend that I feel best when I'm doing stuff that is not computer- or phone-based, and so have tried to limit my time where I can.  (Yesterday was a complete disaster in that regard; turns out being off my phone and computer for more than 48 hours left me with a lot of loose ends that needed tying up).  Today has been more intermittent, so that's good.

I'm pottering with jewelry making, and made an orange bead necklace to match the earrings I showed earlier this month.  I've been wearing it with an orange jersey dress I thrifted last month.

The silver earrings below are a pair I bought last year on etsy (they are styled after Aethelflaed's earrings on The Last Kingdom) and I love them, but the original earring post was so thick that they hurt my ears.  I realized if I swapped the post out for an earwire, the earrings would be a lot more wearable.  It was a three-minute fix and I've worn them a bunch of times since then.

A while back I cleared out a bunch of jewelry I wasn't wearing any longer either because it was too heavy, not my style, or was broken, and I realized I can harvest them for parts for new pieces.  I have in mind to make some gifts as well. The owl charm (below) was a pair of earrings originally, and while I like the owls (it is our school mascot), they were too big for my face.  So I separated them from the earwires, added a jump ring and put one on a necklace chain.  I'm saving the other one for a possible teacher gift.  I made the earrings to coordinate.

On the Thanksgiving prep front, the turkey went into the crock pot last night and spent the night cooking.  The smell was disorienting in the night, but it looks pretty decent today.  I had ordered a breast and, much to my dismay, got "upgraded" to a full turkey for free.  The frozen turkey was bigger than the space in my freezer and I couldn't quite fit it in my 7 qt crock pot.  In a bit of a panic, I baked it frozen at a low temperature for two hours yesterday, covered with foil and sitting in a water bath, just to make it flexible enough to break the sternum and rib cage so that I could fit the thing into my crock pot.  It was a tight fit, but I made it!  

Today I roasted the sweet potatoes, and made one of the pies.  I need to take things in small bites, so I have a list of what I need to make each day, so hopefully on Thursday, I only have to reheat most of it.

We're nearly into the Nativity fast as well, so I'm also trying to have us eat down the non-fasting food in the freezer and fridge.  

 

Andrea Mowry came out with her Stripes pattern last week, and I immediately threw my knitting queue to the wind and dove into my stash to cast it on--I very rarely do this!  The picture above is from my attempts to figure out which colors to put where.  I think I have enough to make it, and in similar colors to her cropped version on the cover of the pattern (which I adore, by the way).  I was determined to make this a stash-buster sweater, so I am using light worsted superwash on a few stripes, but my tension is such that it works out okay.  I've just had to adjust my row count. The not-nice thing is having to swatch all the yarns for gauge, but at least three are the same yarn in different color ways, so that helps.  

I don't love short rows, but I found a little tutorial for picking up wraps that is better than anything else I've seen, so that helps.  I also figured out how to read on my kindle while knitting, so I've been enjoying Sarah J. Maas' Throne of Glass.  I just finished re-reading the Court of Roses and Thorns series (ahead of the next book's release in Feb) and was eager to stay with the author's style and genre.  I don't like Throne of Glass quite as much (and her writing has improved since that one), but it is a long series, so I can see sticking with it.

That's it for me today!  I'm off to knit a few more rows....

Foodie Friday: Lovely Slavic Things to Make with Tinned Salmon

I'm not a huge fan of fish.  At least not the stinky whole-head variety.  That said, I don't mind white fish like flounder or haddock or branzino, and my dad is an avid fisherman when he can get to a lake, so we sometimes had fresh water fish in the summer when I was a kid.  I also grew up eating canned tuna in various forms (casserole, salad, etc) and really like that, but sadly developed an allergy as an adult and can no longer eat it.  *sniff, sniff*  I challenged it unsuccessfully with my allergist sometime in 2012, but perhaps I could try again in the next couple of years.  When I lived in Russia, one of my favorite things to get at a kiosk for lunch was "crabovie salat" (kрабовый cалат), which is fake crab legs (pollack, usually), white rice, mayo, corn, and pickles.  I sometimes made it myself at home too.  Delish!!

My tolerance for other fish has dropped along with my tuna allergy (no shrimp or tilapia, or pretty much any fish I haven't had prior experience with, because I'm careful), so my fish consumption has dropped and I've not had a crabovie salat for years.  As a practical matter, that means fish days in our house are pretty much either breaded or battered frozen white fish in some form or another, or salmon.

Now, I like salmon a lot, but my kids do too, and fresh fillets make for an extravagantly expensive meal for our family.  I do have a recipe for salmon patties that I've adapted into a hash for fish days that uses tinned, but that was the extent of my canned fish repertoire.  And by the way, most of the tinned salmon I was able to find locally was also eye-wateringly expensive. 

Until now!  

The Apostles' Fast (which ends on Sunday) has a LOT of fish days.  Like, a lot.  This week alone there were four if you count Sunday.  I've been experimenting with different Russian recipes for fasting times particularly, and decided to have a go at a few with fish this week.  I was able to find tinned salmon in a 12-can flat for a really good price on amazon a few months ago and have been getting a flat every couple of months since my recipes tend to use several cans at a time. Everything I made this week went over reasonably well with my unpredictable eaters, and even my potato-hater loved the fish cakes (since I didn't tell her they had potatoes...sneaky, sneaky).

In the interest of sharing the wealth, I thought I'd share my "recipes" here.  These are really just loose adaptations of other people's recipes, which are in turn adaptations of national cuisine that everyone's mother or grandmother had their own recipe for, so keep that in mind.  The main thing to remember about Russian recipes is to use enough salt to flavor the dish (which I'm coming to understand is more than you think if you are mostly cooking from scratch) and to have a bit of sour in the mix, usually in the form of dill, but sometimes vinegar, pickles, or lemon juice.

Ukha (Yха)
Admittedly, this one is more like "shchi with salmon" (щи c лососем) but everyone liked it, and I'll take that.

Ingredients:
Mirepoix (or roughly 1 cup each onion, celery, and carrot, diced or grated)
2 cans salmon, well drained (add 1-2 more cans for additional heft); don't flake finely, leave it a bit chunky
10 oz. shredded cabbage (a bag of coleslaw mix works well for this)
8 cups no-chicken or vegetable broth (I like Better than Bouillon)
2 bay leaves
2 potatoes peeled and diced
ketchup or tomato paste
pepper
dill (fresh or dried)
olive oil or margarine

In a heavy bottomed pot like a Dutch oven, saute mirepoix in margarine or olive oil on medium low heat until sweating and softened, about 10-15 minutes.  Add cabbage and stir to coat in oil, then add salmon, stock, bay leaves, and potatoes.  Bring to a boil and then lower heat to a rolling simmer until potatoes are cooked, about 20 minutes.  Squeeze a bit of ketchup or tomato paste (1-2 T.) over the top and stir through.  Season with pepper and dill (I just sprinkle across the top of the pot, and then add dill to each bowl when served but your mileage may vary).   If having dairy, a dollop of sour cream adds heft.  Sprinkle with dill at table.

Fish Cakes
This is a mash-up of two recipes I found, and I only measured the salt and pepper, so I'm guessing a bit on the quantities of spice.

Ingredients:
2 potatoes, peeled, diced, and boiled until soft, then drained of water.
2 cans salmon, well drained and flaked into a bowl
1/3 cup bread crumbs
1/4-1/2 tsp dried dill (or 2x the amount fresh, chopped finely)
1/4 tsp dried mustard
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/4-1/2 tsp onion powder
2 small shakes cayenne pepper (optional; my kids didn't love the spice, so I'll leave it out next time)
1 tsp (or so) lemon juice

Mash the potatoes with a fork and add to the salmon along with the spices and bread crumbs.  The result should be fairly sticky and thick.  Using a cookie scoop or two spoons, divide mixture into small balls (about 1/4 cup of mix), shape and flatten with your hands.  In a heavy fry pan (cast iron is ideal) spray cooking oil and heat until oil sizzles with a flick of water (like for pancakes).  Reduce heat to medium and place about six cakes in a pan (or five, however many fit with a bit of room around the edges) and cover for 3 minutes.  Turn cakes over and cook covered for another 3 minutes.  They should be golden brown.  Turn onto a plate and then repeat until all patties are cooked.  Serve with rice or grechka.  For dairy eaters, they are very nice with a dollop of sour cream or a bit of mayo.  Vegan mayo with dill added would also work.

 

Fish Pie--Kulebyaka (Кулебяка)
This dish has a lot of iterations, mostly based on the crust type--some people use puff pastry, some people use a short crust or pie crust, some people make pirog dough, similar to pizza dough.  This iteration uses pie crust, but I will probably try it with pirog dough at some point too.  It was a brilliant way to use up leftover grechka, but rice works too.  I mostly used this recipe as a guide (sans eggs), but Anya Von Bremzen's recipe in Please to the Table was also helpful.  It could benefit from a little bit of liquid binder to hold the contents together a bit better.

3 (ish) cups cooked rice or grechka
4 cans salmon, well drained
4 pie crusts (for pirog dough, use my cabbage pirog recipe as a guide for use)
1 small can mushrooms, well drained (fresh work well too, just cook them until liquid comes out and is reabsorbed and they are browned
1 medium onion, loosely diced and cooked to deep brown in 3 T. olive oil or margarine, with a sprinkle of salt
generous sprinkle of dill, fresh or dried
lemon (maybe 1 tsp?)
more salt

Preheat to 400.  After onion has cooked, add salmon and grechka and mushrooms and mix, adding lemon and dill and more salt to the mix.  Divide the mixture between both pie crusts and pack tightly.  Cover with pie crust and crimp edges and poke holes to allow steam to escape.  Place pies on cookie sheets lined with parchment in case of drips.  Bake for about 20 minutes or until crust is nicely browned.  Cut and serve.

Makes two pies, about 16 small slices.  There were two slices left after my family of six had finished.

And if you are thinking it looks like a lot of brown food, you would be correct!  Because actually, most home cooking looks like that.  Cooking at home is a good thing, but it isn't always pretty or photograph-worthy.  Or especially fast.  (This article made me feel so much better about my culinary efforts--I'm not a 12-person professional kitchen with a full-time staff working 12 hour shifts!)  Annd while my photos are amateur (and always will be), even the best photographs cannot disguise that some of the best-tasting food, and the most nourishing, made at home, is not going to be especially visually appealing.  Sometime I'll write a post on the history of pottage...

Corona Days: Bright Spots

Some bright spots this week:

One of our neighbors have had a series of Westie dogs over the years, and their current dog is a white one they call Ramsey.  They need some temporary help walking him (she broke a small bone in her foot and he is supposed to be staying indoors for health reasons), so asked us if one of the kids could do it.  Boo eagerly volunteered, so now he is walking a dog twice a day and happy as a clam.  He is absolutely transformed around that animal, and it makes me wish we lived in a bigger rural space so we could have an outside dog (Piglet and I are both allergic), but I'm also mindful of my own limitations with pets, so I'm grateful that Boo can have this opportunity to look after Ramsey and serve our neighbors. 

I also made what I would consider to be a peak quarantine meal yesterday.

I had a few random ingredients bought by mistake at the corner store by Boo, an extra tube of crescent roll dough, as well as shortages of things we use a lot of in this house (bread and croutons). 

So we had leftover beef roast from the weekend, carrots from three absolutely GIGANTIC carrots my husband bought at a local produce stall, salad with homemade croutons (I may never go back to buying them!), baked brie with jam, and fresh warm bread from the bread maker (because who are we kidding here?  I already told you how things go around here.  Plus: involuntary homeschooling). 

In addition, the weather has cooled significantly to British-worthy, and I'm loving it.  Longtime readers will know my feelings about hot weather, and I never welcome its return to the city, for it means months of misery for me.  I was feeling tetchy and out of sorts when the temps and humidity began climbing last week, despite forecaster's predictions of a cooler-than-usual April and May, so it was a great relief to me when the chilly breezes swept through. 

I pulled my new Doocot off the blocking mats (i.e. the top of my dryer) yesterday and took some photographs of it this morning.  (I didn't end up wearing it today, because it wasn't quite cool enough for a midweight wool sweater, but might have a chance this weekend!)  I'll share the full photos in the next Yarn Along post; today you get a weird sneaky peak photo of my hand, courtesy of Birdie.

 

Our local corner store has stayed reasonably well-stocked for its size, and I'm ever so grateful to them for keeping their doors open, and to having things that many of the bigger stores have been out of since late February or early March (i.e. flour and lemon juice and some root vegetables of normal size, instead of the bitty seed crop I'm seeing elsewhere.  Photo above for scale.  I wear gloves when I cut onions).  There is a local stall market not far from my husband's chambers that has also stayed extremely well stocked, and is currently keeping us in meat, dairy, and veg, for which I am incredibly grateful.  Keeping a household of six in food plus everything else is a job under the best of circumstances, which these are not.

Speaking of not, Tuesday night, I noticed that the fridge was hardly cold at all, and the food inside tepid.  The freezer was still running, and stuff was still frozen, but it all just seemed off somehow.  I turned the thermostat down as far it would go on both fridge and freezer, but in the morning everything was still tepid, even more so.  I wasn't sure if we could even get a repairman to come look at it, and it isn't cold enough to put stuff outside any more.  (In any case, the closure of restaurants has forced all the garbage-feeding pests up into the residential areas, so I wouldn't dare leave anything out back anyway.  My husband saw what he thought was a possum the size of a large cat the other day, running nochalantly down our street.  I said it was probably a rat, given our previous experience with the water/sewer pipe replacement). 

In any case, I decided to see if I could figure out the problem myself.  So I googled a few DIY fridge fixes, and set about getting the fridge away from the veryveryveryvery tight space between the wall and counter.  (I do this every year or so to clean behind and under, but man.  It is a Job).  Vacuumed the vent at the back and underneath, and then emptied the freezer to get at the access panel for the compressor fan, which two sites suggested might be the culprit.  The kids helped ferry tools and cover the cold stuff with blankets to keep it from defrosting too quickly, while I unscrewed the panel and took a look.  There was a fair bit of frost and ice on the copper coils  and aluminum bits, which began to thaw almost immediately, so I brushed away what I could and pulled off the rest with my fingers (gently!) into a bowl.  Cleaned and dried the whole thing, plus the inside of the freezer itself, turned it back on, and voila!  The fan worked fine.  Put everything back together, and it all seems tickety-boo now.  I'm feeling rather Hoss about the whole thing myself. 

Boo's birthday cake from the weekend.  He turned 10!!

I could share more, but I'll leave it there for now.  These are strange days, to be sure, full of stress, uncertainty, and anxiety, but there are some moments of sweetness, which I try to keep on my tongue to balance out the bitter.

Gastronomy of Lent

I know it is a little strange to be posting about Lenten recipes during Holy Week, but food has occupied an inordinate amount of my week for quite a while now--meal planning, grocery buying, cooking, and washing dishes for four growing children and two adults take up a fair bit of time.  

*This post is a bit long, but the photos and recipes are about half way down*

 

I had grown weary of the grind of it, as my kids all had an insane growth spurt in the past year, and I just could not keep up with the food.  Pounds and pounds and pounds of produce and all the other things that make up home cooking and eating.  Imagine making the equivalent of Thanksgiving dinner night after night after night for months.

I'm not an elaborate or fussy cook.  I don't care about a pretty plate, or nice dishes, or whatever.  I only recently started serving food on the table instead of from the stove because the children were finally old enough to handle it.  (The stove is less than four feet from said table, but still).  Most of the time I serve the food in whatever it was cooked in.  

Because I'm classy like that.  

(Real reason: no dishwasher, so I'm washing everything by hand, day in and day out; I cannot see the point of creating extra washing for myself except on special occasions).

I'm a plain decent cook with a Midwestern food background and a family that doesn't particularly go in for casseroles, which are calorie dense, crowd and budget friendly, and kitchen efficient.  Combined with the rhythm of the Orthodox fasting discipline, which entails a vegan menu for about 2/3 of the year.  It is enough to make a body crazy.

Did I mention that half my family will not or cannot eat beans?  And one of my children refuses to eat potatoes in any form whatsoever?  And two of them will only eat sweet potatoes with ketchup under some duress?  (I shouldn't complain--my kids really do eat a lot of fruit and vegetables without complaint, and are big fans of lentil soup, but their palette is narrow).  One logistical challenge of my house is that root vegetables barely keep a week in a cool dark place because it is so damp here, and I don't have fridge space to keep them cold for weeks. 

Sometime in February, desperation set in, as I contemplated the coming Lent with the weeks and weeks of vegan food that at least half the family refused to eat on a regular basis.  My own food limitations mean that almost all vegan protein is right out.  Too much grain or fiber makes me really sick, so I'm not able to keep the discipline with the others, and often not able to eat what I make for everyone else.  So there's that.  

A dear friend mentioned a cookbook that she has used with her family for some time, with some modifications.  I bought a used copy and had a flip through it and despaired for all the fiber and beans and other things I was certain my children would eschew immediately.  But I was determined to get away from processed vegan protein products, which are largely soy-based (and thus intolerable for me) and also very expensive for the size of our family.  My fasting repertoire had grown overly reliant on them.

Nevertheless, when I started stocking my Lenten pantry (with a little extra here and there for the coming lockdown), I decided I was going to make things with cabbage and beets and legumes and the kids were going to try them.  For some bizarre reason, I tolerate both vegetables reasonably well if cooked to a fairly soft state, and I have a weakness for Slavic soups and pirogs (similar to hand pies and sold as street food in Russia). 
 

To my utter surprise, almost everything new that I made this Lent went over reasonably well with the kids.   

Now it may be a quirk of the circumstances: the kids were aware of everything going on in the world, of my efforts to ration/inability to restock, and therefore not be wasteful about food, but I'm hoping this is a new chapter for us.  I still can't keep a full discipline, and not everything new I made is something I can have myself, but there are enough things I can eat to remove some of the burden of having to prepare a second thing for myself most of the time (or to over rely on toast and cereal, which can be problematic). 

I take no credit for any of these recipes except the Taco Pasta, but just note my modifications either to make them vegan or to suit preferences.  Most of these things I made several times.

She ain't pretty, but the tikka malasa was a big hit, and, even better, didn't make my house stink of curry (bleck).

The non-Slavic thing I made was chickpea tikka masala--almost everyone liked that.  I made it twice (and plan to make it tonight) and my modifications were to use dried ginger instead of fresh, tomato sauce instead of diced tomatoes since my kids didn't love the chunkiness of the first iteration, and to use just a dash or two of cayenne pepper to hold down the heat level.  (I find three flicks of the wrist are about enough for most dishes with my family).  I also used an immersion blender to make it smooth and three cans of chickpeas instead of two.

First iteration of shchi

This shchi recipe was a big hit with all my kids, and they specifically requested I make it because they remembered having it at a Russian friend's house once.  I made it twice; the first time I made it exactly like the recipe notes, but we discovered it is not fun to bite into whole peppercorns and the kids don't like diced tomatoes.  So the next time I just sprinkled some ground pepper and added a couple squeezes of ketchup to get the flavor without the chunks.  An 8 oz can of crushed tomatoes or tomato sauce would probably have the same effect.  Or even a good dollop of tomato paste.  

Second iteration of shchi.  Funny story.  My husband asked me before bedtime one night if I could eat shchi (щи), but the first letter is difficult for him to pronounce and I heard "sheep".  It was so out of context that I stared at him for a moment and said, "Do I eat sheep?  Not if I can help it." He laughed and tried again to say the word which then just sounded like "she".  I laughed and said the word for him to hear, and he tried again, but without success. We ended laughing.

I also used a cole slaw mix (just shredded cabbage and carrots) to save time plus no-chicken stock, but the second time I had a whole cabbage head courtesy of a friend, and just cut it as finely as possible.  The kids said they liked the second version better.  I highly recommend serving with fresh or dried dill as garnish.  If you aren't fasting from dairy, it is very good with a dollop of sour cream.

This borscht recipe had slightly mixed reception both times I made it, but everyone ate it without complaint (having a good bread option on the side was helpful).  I used 2 cans of drained beets to save on mess and work, and just kind of chunked them up in the pan with a knife.  No-chicken stock.  I also combined steps and did the mirapoix in the pot first, adding the beets second because they were already cooked, and the first time I made this, it was so much work to clean up the extra pots and pans.  I used a prechopped mirapoix and added the bell pepper.  I also recommend serving with fresh or dried dill as garnish, and a dollop of sour cream if not fasting from dairy.  

This can also be made non-fasting by using beef or chicken stock and using cooked shredded or diced beef or cooked shredded or diced chicken.

My pirog method is pretty lazy, and I adapted to make it vegan, so I've detailed it below, but look at the link to see how to wrap the dough. 

(Lazy) Savory Cabbage-Apple Pirog (adapted from Natasha's Kitchen)

2 cans pizza dough

1 package cole slaw mix (shredded cabbage and carrot)--about 3-4 cups total

1 large onion sliced finely (diced is okay too)

1-2 large apples, cored, diced small, skin on

1/2 tsp minced garlic (or to taste)

salt/pepper to taste

oil for sauteeing

Preheat oven to 425 or whatever pizza dough recommends.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large skillet, add 2 or so tablespoons of a neutral oil (or olive if you like) and add onion, cabbage and carrot, keeping onion to one side of the pan.  Allow to brown on medium heat, stirring every so often to keep from burning.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Combine cabbage and onion in pan and move to one side and add apples (my kids preferred two).  Saute until softened and then mix thoroughly in the pan.  

The filling makes an excellent side dish as well.

Take parchment liners from baking sheets and place on counter, and open first tube of dough.  Spread out evenly with your fingers, and then use a smooth glass or rolling pin to stretch dough further, to get to a 1/4" or less thickness.  Divide the cabbage mixture in half, and place half in the center of the dough, spreading it evenly and leaving a 2" edge all the way around the dough (see recipe in link for visual).  Pull the edges toward the center starting at the corners and make an oblong pocket with a star shape in the center.  Pinch seams to seal, and press dough lightly to distribute filling evenly.  Carefully transfer filled dough on the parchment to the baking sheet.  Repeat for the other dough and rest of cabbage mixture, and bake about 15 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove from parchment and cut into rough wedges and serve.  Can be reheated in a toaster oven later.

You can change the filling to whatever you like: potatoes or mushrooms, straight apples, ground meat or chicken or make a variety. 

Taco Pasta

1 box whole wheat rotini

1-2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed

1 package meatless crumbles (optional; if using, reduce black beans to one can) 

oil for fry pan

1 bell pepper, diced

1 onion (red is nice if you have it, but white is fine too), diced
10 oz. baby spinach (fresh)

1/4 cup frozen white corn (this is approximate)

1/3 cup sliced black olives (a 2 oz. can is fine)

1 packet taco seasoning

approx. 1/4 cup mild salsa (I like Tostitos)

Cook pasta according to directions.  While that is going, saute pepper and onion in a fry pan with some oil until nicely browned.  Push to the side and saute the spinach until wilted. When the pasta is drained, return to pot, and add corn, olives, taco seasoning, meatless crumbles if using, and salsa.  Mix thoroughly and add sauteed vegetables.  Serve with salsa and/or guac.  Makes a fairly robust recipe; our family can easily eat it twice.

This wasn't a new recipe, but I haven't made Grechka with Mushroom Gravy and Roasted Vegetables for a few years, and this time, everyone liked it!  Mods to make it vegan are to use margarine in place of butter and oatmilk in place of dairy milk.  I also used a food chopper to pulverize the cooked mushrooms so the kids wouldn't recognize them (worked a treat!)

There were a couple of old stew recipes using black beans pureed to hide them that sort of worked, and I'll probably add those into the larger rotation again as well.  

Image via

 Whew!  I've been meaning to type this up for a while, but...things.  And perhaps today is a good day to post it, as it is the day we mark the establishment of the Mystical Supper and the Eucharist, God's food for body and soul.