Mustardy Wheatberry Cabbage Salad

Suddenly it has started feeling like fall, and it just didn't seem right to make coleslaw out of the head of cabbage I had in the fridge.  Plus, we are basically out of mayo and I was trying to figure out what I could make with materials on hand.  This felt much more seasonally-appropriate and used only things that I already had in the fridge (and yes, I am the kind of person who keeps whole grain mustard and wheatberries on hand just in case)....  Overall, I was happy with how it turned out, it was nothing spectacular but it has been quite good for eating for lunch all week.

Mustardy Wheatberry Cabbage Salad
Adapted from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian

• 2-3 cups cooked wheatberries (I cooked mine in my handy pressure-cooker, but you can also soak overnight and then cook on the stovetop in about an hour)
• 1/2 small or medium head of cabbage, shredded
• 1/2 small or medium red onion, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons whole grain mustard
• 1/3 cup (or less - mine turned out on the oily side) olive oil
• 2 tablespoons red wine or cider vinegar
• salt and pepper to taste

 Combine wheatberries, cabbage and onion in a large bowl.  Stir mustard, oil and vinegar together to combine, then toss together with the salad ingredients.  Enjoy!

Yosemite Socks

I'm calling these my Yosemite socks since I knit basically all of the second sock on the way to and from our recent quick trip to Yosemite (not to mention in Yosemite).  Plus as Lawson points out it sounds bit like Yosemite Sam and that is fun too.  Yosemite was beautiful!

The yarn is Stroll Handpainted from Knitpicks in the Make Believe colorway.  I was happy with how the yarn striped and the colors.  I have another pair of socks I made with Essential (the old name for Stroll) and I find that it feels a bit artificial as it wears and not that soft, but it is certainly durable.  I'll have to see how these socks do...

I used my favorite More Sensational Knitted Socks as a general guide for the pattern and I tried the round toe which I have never done before.  I was pretty happy with how it turned out - I think it shows off the stripes nicely - and I appreciated not having to do any grafting at the end (which I really don't mind too much, but it did save some time). 

I keep telling myself that after I just finish this next project I will really buckle down and work on my sweater (I haven't made much progress since this post).  Somehow I always hit a rut about halfway through knitting a sweater.  So I have been pushing myself to get back to it because I know I will really like it when I am done.  However, as you may have gathered from the fact that I practically didn't have any time to post here in September, things have been a little hectic in our lives lately and finally I decided to just give myself a break and knit whatever I feel like knitting.  Which I think means there will be several more pairs of socks on the horizon and probably some more pumpkin baby hats (have to get those done before halloween of course!). 

Here is the next pair of socks I am working on - made with really subtle, pretty yarn from Spunky Eclectic using the dragonfly socks pattern.  A lot of the socks I have knit myself have been in really bright fun colors so this is a nice change and I think that I will really enjoy wearing these - they feel a bit more classy.  These are also my first lace socks (or really, socks with any pattern significantly more complicated than a rib), and it has gone really well!  Socks are often my mindless project that I pick up for a few minutes here and there, so I was worried that I would lose track of the pattern but it hasn't been an issue really, the pattern was quite easy to learn.  I made a few mods including replacing all the sl1 k1 psso's with ssk's, which I find much easier to work, but mostly the pattern has been great.

A sampling of pouch tutorials

Earlier this summer I went on a sewing bonanza, part of which was making a bunch of different kinds of little zippered pouches.   I had been bookmarking different patterns so I basically tried out all the different ones I had been meaning to try and then made up a variation of my own after that.  If you are wondering what I am going to do with all these pouches, they will largely be christmas gifts (any of my family that is reading this, sorry for the spoiler but I guess you can still be surprised by which you get).

The first ones I made were from this tutorial on Skip to My Lou.  I had fun picking out different fabrics that coordinated both for the two outside fabrics and for the inside.  I followed the tutorial except that I made the pleats fold half way to each side (if that makes sense) rather than flat to one side or the other; I liked how it looked better this way.

Next I made a few really cute small clutch purses using this tutorial from Noodlehead.  I followed the simpler variation of the tutorial and just included one interior pocket in each, rather than a divider etc.   I would like to make a few more of these and also may try to use this technique to make a slightly larger clutch or just a purse... will have to see what works out when I try.

Finally, I slightly modified this tutorial to make a small bag with one pleat and squared off bottom corners.  Then, I combined elements of the first pouch and this one to come up with the bottom pouch shown below, which I really like.  I will write up a pattern/tutorial at some point and post, but I will need to go back and make another pouch to actually keep track of what I did, take pictures etc.  Anyone else have any good pouch tutorials to recommend?  If I have time to do more sewing at some point I am planning to make a few purses...

Black bean peach salad and tabbouleh

Tonight's dinner was a bit eclectic - based largely on what I had in the fridge and what I felt like making, these two salads went together better than I expected.  The black bean salad has a bit of spice which is nicely balanced by the sweetness of the peaches.  In a continuation of my what-to-do-with-all-these-cucumbers situation, the tabbouleh served well to use up several cukes, the tomatoes I had on hand (one from the garden, one from the market), and some leftover bulgur.   I served the salads with a side of honeydew melon which was also delicious!  Also in the photo above you can see the placemats which I made a few years ago with some Amy Butler fabric, without even thinking about the fact that it would perfectly match my orange (spodumene glaze) plates.

Black Bean and Peach Salad

• 4-6 cups cooked black beans (2-3 cans), rinsed
• 2 fresh peaches, pitted and chopped
• 1/2 -1 cup chopped peppers (1-2 large peppers or multiple small)
• 3-4 scallions, chopped (or red onion would be good too)
• 1-2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon crumbled aleppo peppers (or crushed red pepper generally if you don't have aleppos)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons lime juice
• salt to taste

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and serve.

Garden Tabbouleh

• 1 cup uncooked bulgur wheat
• 1-2 cups chopped cucumber
• 1-2 cups chopped tomatoes
• 1/2 - 1 cup chopped parsley
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• salt to taste (I salted generously)

Put bulgur in a heatproof bowl and cook by pouring boiling water to cover by 1", then cover and let sit for 15-20 minutes.  Drain if necessary then combine with remaining ingredients in a bowl.