"If you ask me what I came to do in this world, I, an artist, will answer you: I am here to live out loud." ~ Emile Zola
September weather is my absolute favorite, although this year there seems to be a lot more rain. The mild temperatures and sun feel wonderful as the Autumnal Equinox approaches! As we move toward autumn, many green things in my yard are slowly ending their life cycle, including a few things in my garden. Many others are still in full, happy growth! :) Late last week I fertilized the garden again, pulled weeds, and clipped/neatened veggies and herbs. Our porch flowers are thriving, with new blossoms daily and pops of color to brighten our home!
Tomato in the morning sun.Happy Growth:~Tomatoes! Both tomato plants are still blossoming, and there are plenty of baby tomatoes on each. They are a bit smaller than in later summer, but still vibrant in flavor, color, and deliciousness! This weekend I spent a while staking and re-staking the new growth!~Eggplants! Well, it seems the purple eggplants we expected are not purple at all. Our little round, globe eggplants turned yellow and remained the size of eggs! Turns out we have an heirloom called Thai Yellow Eggplants! lol We have been collecting them, but haven't yet tried to eat any. There are loads of new blossoms and baby Yellows on our plant, which keeps on growing full and beautiful.~Wildflowers! My very late planting of wildflowers is showing it's first buds! Alyssum is flowering and the Zinnias have their first blossoms. Can't wait to see what color they will be! 
Zinnia!Winding Down:~Beans! Our bean patch is definitely on its last stems, and the leaves are growing worn, thin and brown. There are still some flowers and baby beans, but they stop growing at just an inch or so and become soft.~Greens! The few more mature lettuces we have left are no longer producing new leaves, or their leaves stay small. We had to pull many that were bolting. We have new lettuces that I planted a couple of weeks ago. These have been thinned, but many remaining bolted this past weekend and had to be pulled. Those that are left are looking a little... wobbly and uncertain. :/ The spinach I planted along with the lettuce a couple of weeks back didn't make it. After two days of splattering rain, our new sprouts were smashed. The two that lived haven't grown at all, and one died this past weekend.And in Other News:~Carrots! Hmmm... Though we have gorgeous carrot greens that continue to grow, the few I have uprooted to check progress have had teeny, thin roots. :( Looks like another year without a happy carrot harvest. We will have to investigate what could have caused this, as last year's carrots, though small and short, were actually edible and tasty!~Herbs! Most are looking great! We have some new dill and cilantro that needs some growth time before starting to harvest. We have pretty much depleted our basil- it's no longer replenishing after cuts.~Broccoli! We've got about 12-14 broccoli seedlings growing! They've been thinned out a couple of times. Having never grown broccoli and never fall crops, I'm not sure what to expect. They are still looking pretty spindly (photo below).
Baby broccoli. Hoping for a fall harvest...
My first real sewing project- kitchen curtains made from vintage fabric in a bright pattern of veggies and pansies, which I found at Creative Reuse Pittsburgh.I thought the vibrant colors of the fabric were much too loud on the white background of the original fabric, so I put my new tea-dye skills to work! After washing and drying the material, I dropped it into a lighter tea using only half of the tea bags as in my previous dye sessions, letting the fabric soak half the time. The results are perfect, dulling the colors a bit and giving the white background a slightly worn look. They work great in my kitchen, which I prefer mostly neutral with little pops of color in towels and cookware/dishware (I love reds).
As a brand newbie sewer, I have to admit that I find the measuring and cutting of the fabric is much more difficult than the sewing part and figuring out the machine! I feel pretty good about my machine work during the project, actually, and ran into only a few challenges: thread coming out of the needle while sewing, keeping a totally straight seam line, and finding my stitches were very loose. My Mom helped me figure out that I was threading the machine slightly wrong and that I needed to increase the machine tension to make my stitches tighter.So how'd they turn out? You judge for yourself! Some slightly lopsided seams, a few loose stitches, but overall I am quite happy!
I am so excited to be participating in raising funds for the 2nd Annual Pittsburgh Walk for Farm Animals 2011 next month! On Saturday, October 1st, Pittsburgh will host its second Walk for Farm Animals to support the lifesaving rescue, education and advocacy work of Farm Sanctuary! Please help me reach my fundraising goal of $300! Any amount donated, whether $1 or $100, is hugely helpful. Visit my fundraising page or look for the widget on my blog sidebar to the right to contribute. Any amount is welcome! :)
For 25 years, Farm Sanctuary has relied on the Walk for Farm Animals to support its life-saving mission to protect farm animals from cruelty, inspire change in the way society views and treats farm animals, and promote compassion. The Walk for Farm Animals takes place annually in more than 75 cities across the United States and Canada to celebrate and promote compassion for farm animals and raise funds to enable Farm Sanctuary to continue its vital work. Last year, Pittsburgh was the 6th BIGGEST WALK ON THE CONTINENT, had 150 walkers and raised over $13,000! This year, our goal is to have 300 walkers and raise $30,000. Please help us move closer to the #1 spot this year!
Our local Walk coordinator, Kim Piper of Sunstone Soap, states, "Our goal is to walk together as a compassionate community while we have fun, raise money and help better the world for all beings!" Please join us! All members of the community (regardless of dietary lifestyle- non-vegans and non-vegetarians are absolutely included) with a love for animals and a desire to end their needless suffering at the hands of factory farms are invited to walk, volunteer, donate, or help in some way.
How You Can Help:
* Sponsor me in my fundraising efforts as part of Pittsburgh's Walk, donating what you can to help me reach my goal of $300! All donations go directly to Farm Sanctuary! Visit my fundraising page via this link or via the widget on my blog sidebar.
* Register to walk in Pittsburgh or your own city!
* If you are unable to walk, register to "Sleep In" as a Virtual Walker!
* Donate a vegan food item to our post-Walk picnic! Please contact me to arrange this.
* Donate a gift card, retail item, or handmade good to our "Moopon" sale! Please contact me to arrange this.
* Spread the word about the Walk, Farm Sanctuary, and the plight of abused and neglected farm animals!
Thanks so much for your support!
I love this recipe, and we have made it many times! Sweet, spicy, fresh, and delicious, not to mention lower in fat. The title of this post leaves out the "Black Bean" in the original recipe simply because when I made them this last time I used a combination of kidney beans and garbanzos instead, with great results.This recipe makes A LOT of burrito mixture! Two of us eat two burritos each per meal with plenty of filling, and we get 3 meals easily from one recipe.Experience in making this recipe has led me to make some of my own modifications to better meet our taste preferences. You'll see my changes in italics beside each recipe ingredient and in the Notes section after the cooking directions.
The biggest modification I make is significantly reducing the amount of cumin and coriander called for. I love cumin, but I find the 4 tsp called for is too much and reduce it by 1 tsp. Additionally, I find the 4 tsp of coriander the recipe calls for to be overpowering, and find it adds a strong perfumey taste. I reduce the 4tsp in the recipe to 1 tsp with satisfactory results. Lastly, I almost always end up adding an additional 1-2 Tbsp of fresh lemon juice to the burrito mixture at the very end of the recipe, after the bean and potatoes are mixed in with the onion-spice blend.
Sweet Potato and Black Bean Burritosfrom Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat [Vegetarian] Favorites5 c peeled, cubed sweet potatoes2 tsp canola or other vegetable oil (I used olive.)3 1/2 c diced onions4 large garlic cloves, minced or pressed1 tbsp minced fresh green chile4 tsp ground cumin (I used 3 tsp., reducing by 1 tsp.)4 tsp ground coriander (I used 1 tsp., reducing by 3 tsp.)4 1/2 c cooked black beans (three 15-oz. cans, drained) (Make sure to rinse, too.)2/3 c lightly packed cilantro leaves (plus additional chopped for topping)2 tbsp lemon juice (Fresh is best. I added an additional 2 tbsp at end.)1 tsp salt8 eight-inch flour tortillasFresh tomato salsa
1. Preheat oven to 350 OR 300 degrees F (see "my notes" below).
2. Place sweet potatoes in pot with water to cover. Cover and bring to boil. Simmer until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain and set aside. 3. While the sweet potatoes are cooking, warm the oil in a medium skillet or saucepan and add the onions, garlic and chiles. Cover and cook on medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the onions are tender, about 7 minutes. Add the cumin and coriander and cook for 2 to 3 minutes longer, stirring frequently. Remove from the heat and set aside. 4. In a food processor, combine the black beans, cilantro, 2 Tbsp lemon juice, salt, and cooked sweet potatoes and puree until smooth. (You can also mash the ingredients in a large bowl by hand using a potato masher. The result will be a less smooth but nicely textured filling.) Transfer the sweet potato mixture to a large mixing bowl and mix in the cooked onions and spices. 5. Lightly oil a large baking dish. Spoon about 2/3 to 3/4 cup of the filling in the center of each tortilla, roll it up, and place it, seam side down, in the baking dish. Cover tightly with foil and bake for about 30 minutes, until piping hot. Serve topped with salsa. Yield: 4 to 6 servings MY NOTES:Rather than baking these as called for in step 5, I do the following:In step 4, I add the bean-potato mixture to the skillet with the cooked onions and spices and reheat entire mixture over low heat. This is when I add the extra lemon juice and adjust spices, adding pepper and additional salt, if needed.While the mixture is heating in the skillet, I toss the tortillas onto the top rack of the oven for several minutes, preheated to 300 degrees F. Remove when warm and set aside.When mixture is hot and tortillas are warmed, add mixture to each tortilla and top with fresh additions like: chopped fresh cilantro, avocado slices, fresh tomato chunks, salsa, vegan (or dairy) sour cream or plain soy yogurt (adds the zing and creaminess of sour cream with lower fat), vegan cheeze or dairy cheddarEnjoy! :)
