Easy Vegan Fruit Cobbler

Easy, Good, Make it the Night Before. Any "cooking" fruits will work, I used peach and raspberry

3 1/2 C flour (I use half and half white and wheat)
5 tsp baking power
2 tsp salt

4 1/4 Tbl sugar w/dash of cinnamon and/or ginger
1/2 smart balance or other butter sub.

1 1/2 C soy milk

6 cups of your fruit(s)

3/4 C sugar

1 Tbl lemon juice

1 1/2 Tbl cornstarch

1. mix dry ingrediants, cut in butter

2. slowly add milk till just mixed

3.Mix berries, lemon juice, sugar and cornstarch over med heat till bubbly - drippings can

be use as topping if desired

4. in greased pan plop tiny half tsps of dough

5. Add fruit mixture

6. Top with plops of tablespoons of dough- sprinkle on optional topping (below)

7.Bake approx 30 min ag 350 degrees

8. Let cool! Overnight is best in the fridge

Optional crisp topping
3 Tbls oats
3 Tbls brown sugar
3 Tbls wheat flour
enough butter to moisten
warm up over med heat and sprinkle on top

Beyond Skin, affordable?

Gasp! The British shoemaker Beyond Skin affordable? Well depending on the season and the size of your foot. Prices for a pair of these gorgeous handcrafted English shoes runs about the equivalent of $450US. I'm accustomed to buying shoes from Payless and other discount places which are the best bets for finding final shoes-so the price has prevented me from doing anything but drooling over their website. But if you go to the "Special Offers" page on the Beyond Skin website there are dozens of off season clearance items for around $100-150US. And even slightly used press samples starting at $60! The drawback is sample pairs are not returnable. And it's just plain scary ordering form oversees. Maybe it's safer to 1st check how the sizes run at one of the US sellers. I found out they are even sold right here in Seattle at Olivine. Sigh... Here are some pictures to drool over.

100% cotton sweater from forever 21

I had to resort to wearing a sweater on a premature fallish day. Thankfully I had a new one from Forever 21. It's 100% cotton so it won't have the icky acrylic feel. And I need to shrink it - you can see it's a bit baggy on me. There are military inspired buttons on the side. I like the subtle grey on black strips but it comes in more striking combinations of blue or white on black.

Here are some other finds from Forever 21. Merchandise turns over so fast I won't bother with direct links. Worth checking out on a regular basis. Cotton sweaters are hard to come by! They carry many synthetics too, but I prefer cotton when I can get it. I tried on the snakeskin flats, they were actually comfortable and somehow had a bit of stretch to them.

I heart Giovanni

My FAVORITE organic hair care line Giovanni has launched a new body care line! After switching to being vegan my sister suggested their shampoo and conditioner. I haven't had to look for another brand since. A bonus is they are a family owned business. I love their 50/50 shampoo and conditioners which I can buy in bulk at the PCC, which is great because my one peeve with the brand is their plastic containers are poorly designed and don't hold much product. My hair dressing regimen also includes LA Natural Styling Gel, l.a. hold spritz, Frizz Began (i use a ton), and Shine of the Times.




I'm so excited to try their body care, lotions etc. I'll be skipping the pricey scrubs though. If you ask me nothing beats whipping up a bowl of raw sugar, sea salts and olive oil! The brand is available in regular stores too. Even Rite Aid is carrying it now.

Chicago

free shows in Millenium Park (good ones even!)

giant beans! this is my kind of town

ahhhh.... my aching tourist feet

On my trip to Chicago I was pretty hard up for eats in the tourist district around my hotel. I did find a decent health food store called and deli called Kramer's on Washbah and Adams under the L or is it El? Stay away from the vegan pizza in the deli! But downstairs has lots of staple items like crackers, dips and prepared salads. Enough to fill a hotel mini-fridge.





The concierge suggested a vegetarian place called the Green Zebra-my friend and I weren't quite ready for the prices when we got there - we were informed this is a "tasting menu". As in white plates and tiny but beautiful portions. It didn't help that I'd not eaten a thing besides nuts since leaving Seatac, and wanted to eat till my belly burst, the small plates turned out to be a delight! This is some of the most delicious food I've ever had! Thai spice (curry) carrot soup was the most perfect mix of flavors. smells and lovely saffron color. Anything here is going to be great! Just take at least $60 per person without drinks. Up to $100 with drinks. I'll never be able to cook like this-might have to go back just for the soup.









My other outing was to Chicago Diner, it took me one ride to the wrong stop on the brown line a few miles walk and a taxi ride to finally find this place. It's in Wrigleyville (yep that's by Wrigley Field). "A destination" my brother's friend tells me. Pretty good food-big servings. But the best was the life changing ranch dressing that I smothered my chicken sandwich and french fries with. The cutie pie waiter gave us the recipe on the back our our check. Totally easy I eat it all the time now. Veganaise, soy milk, garlic powder, onion powder, red wine vinegar, parsley, dill, salt and pepper. Bottle it or whip it up fresh each time. I have literally eaten it by the spoonful with nothing else. OH the best part is they actually label their beer and wine vegan or not!



BTW Chicago is a BYOB city. You can bring in your favorite isinglass-free libations to most places for a small fee.

It's still Chinatown to me

This weekend I stumbled onto Vegetarian Bistro in Chinatown-I know it's called the International District (ID) now, but much like still calling Payless Volume and Macy's The Bon, I just cannot switch over. Plus "Chinatown" has a more retro exotic feeling. Anyways this place is all Vegan but for the fortune cookies and 2 of the deserts. I ordered a bamboo mushroom soup-the leftovers of which have lasted me for 2 days. The thin sliced green beans and bamboo shoots were amazingly fresh and a mystery ingredient which is sort of this fluffy translucent bubbly stuff (maybe tapioca???) made the soup really think and filling. A great cup of warmth for these premeture fall days in Seattle. Tried the sweet and sour chicken which is waaaay better then the heavy gluten blobs they serve at Bamboo Garden. Light and fluffy with just the right amount of grease. Dim Sum is offered as well. Yummy!

Next door is Sun Mae, an old shop with original merchandise from all the way back to the 60's. I regret not taking a snap shot of the front of the building just for the gorgeous pinkish red color Grabbed a few vintage smoking ad post-cards. I'll send them to friends or make a collage for the dark corner of my hallway that needs some jazzing up.

Sexy Synthetics

I got these MUDD platforms in red at DSW for $40, went back for the brown ones but they were all gone. Found them on the MUDD website but a little pricier at $50 plus shipping (man I hate shipping). I can get about 4 hours wearing out of mine before they start to hurt. I even wear them to work much to the CEO's disapproval (hey- there is no policy against sexy shoes in the employee handbook-I checked!). My friend seems to have no aches, she wears them all day at her very active job.



These lovelies are come in black or navy patent with fun bauble embellishments and lots of shine. At Old Navy for $34.50. The 3.5 inch stacked will will give you a little extra lift. I think they'd look adorable with a demin pencil skirt and fluttery blouse.

Some sexy 40's style pumps from Old Navy. And only $34.50! These faux reptile peep-toes come in pinky-plum, black and a dusty gray. Half sizes available which Old Navy doesn't always offer, so you can find a perfect fit. I haven't bought them YET, so no reports on wearability, but I'm sure they'll last a dinner date, maybe even some dancing????