So you never got around to making those New Year’s Resolutions?
Nuhuh, me neither.

Frankly, on New Year’s Eve I was far too busy playing Settlers of Catan with the delightful DJ and He-Who-Hogs-The-Power-Tools and Captain Morgan to bother much with introspection and plans for self-improvement.

But it’s still not too late — we’ve got 364 days ahead yet, after all, so in the worst case we can get a jump on next year: “I have adopted the practice of stating NY resolutions in October,” says quick-starter Coughlan, “so that when Jan 1 arrives I already know which were pure BS.”

And if you’re at all like me, your list of resolutions for 2009 — if we were going to make resolutions, which I’m not saying for a minute is going to happen — are high-quality BS indeed!

In fact, the current list might look disturbingly like the very same resolutions we made back in senior year of high school, and every year since then:

• Lose weight;
• Lose clutter;
• Lose a few bad habits;
• Save time;
• Save money;
• Save the world;
• Be healthy and fit;
• Be kind and patient (especially with ill-bred idiots in positions of petty power, like (hypothetically) clerks at the motor vehicle branch);
• Be smart and ambitious;
• Be an oasis of calm strength in a turbulent world;
• Be clever and creative, yet organized and self-disciplined;
• Be more loving and giving;
• Become wise.

Every day, in every way, better and better…
Setting ourselves up for certain failure!

[British mental health charity Mind] urged people not to make resolutions focusing on physical imperfections — such as attempting to lose weight — because they create a negative self image and lead to feelings of low self-esteem, hopelessness and even mild depression.

And when such optimistic resolutions fail, that could spark feelings of inadequacy and failure, the charity warned.

I ask you, is that any sane way to start off a New Year?
Especially one that, if the financial gurus and media headlines can be trusted, promises to be more challenging than any year we’ve woken up to yet?
Heck, no!

MsHerr asks, “Why are resolutions always about self-improvement? People should resolve to develop more vices.”

Okay… good in theory. Tempting, even! But there’s some nasty bit of cause-and-effect all ready at play here, is there not?

After all, it was the vice of gluttony — a shameless over-indulgence in chocolate, to be precise — that’s now leading us to loosen our belts and be tempted to feats of exercise and dietary self-denial. Meanwhile, the sin of sloth lets paperwork pile up on every flat surface, and emails clutter up the Inbox… and we won’t even think about the rest of the sinful list.

Steve Drees was way out ahead on this one, anyway, reporting in mid-afternoon on January 2, “I’ve already broken my 2009 resolutions, and 3 of the 10 commandments.”

So what options are left?

You know, I rather like Chris Knight’s approach: “I don’t do New Years Resolutions: Instead, I re-commit daily to what’s most important to me. Every day is a good day to re-commit.”

Leaves lots of space to accomodate those small personal lapses, doesn’t it?

The slip-up that would otherwise be called a “failure” of will, the last-minute change in plan, the shift in direction to suit a changing world… all are accomodated if we make a series of small step-by-step one-a-day commitments, instead of great huge lumbering New Year’s Resolutions carved in stone. Yeah, we can do that.

Akua Lezli Hope’s dainty crocheted birds — peace doves — were inspired by the TikkunTree project, “a community knittivist art project” to create a giant peace tree, to spread public awareness about the continued hostilities in the mid-east, and to support the livelihood of West Bank shepherds by encouraging the use of Peace Fleece yarns in the cooperative craft project.

Akua’s a remarkable young woman in many ways, in fact. You can read more about her creative spirit at Zen Crochet, and download her free crochet birds pattern at Lulu.com.

By the way, she’s giving away this original crochet pattern without charge because she wants to encourage its use in peace projects of any kind. Please respect her intentions, and don’t resell her pattern or the doves you make from it? Karma, baby… and the peace doves will love you for doing the right thing.

Comfort food! Today, our favourite food writer Chris Perrin offers a vegan version of the classic Reuben sandwich, along with a recipe for vegan Thousand Island dressing… If you’ve been following his tasty contributions here each month, you’ll know that Chris has a cook’s certification from the Kansas City Culinary Institute, writes for BIAO Magazine, food-blogs at Blog Well Done, and is working on his own vegan cookbook. Enjoy!   ~ Jen

Vegan Reuben: A Tasty Classic Gone Meatless

Lately, I have been on a sandwich kick which is a bit odd because before being veg, I took sandwiches for granted. They were everyday fare, something to grab on a busy day when I needed to shovel something quick. But now lunch meat is no longer a viable option, you know, because of the meat and all, and vegetarian sandwich slices are still a little ways off.

Sometimes, I just miss a good hearty sandwich piled high with fixings.

Fortunately, where there is a will, there is a way and even without meat there can still be sandwiches. All I need is a little ingenuity, a little planning, and two packages of good ol’ seitan.

Vegan Rueben

This motivation to make this sandwich actually grew out a craving for sauerkraut which sounds as just as weird as it was. The only problem in making it is the lack of any sort of faux corned beef. The good news is that corning some seitan is an easy process, but it does take over night. Still that means if you get to corning now, you can be having tasty reubens tomorrow!

Vegan Corned Beef

To make corned beef, all you need to do is a make brine (salted water) and soak the seitan in it over night. If you have real meat, just triple the water, brown sugar and salt and soak the meat for 3-14 days instead of overnight. Also, add some saltpeter if you have it or the meat will not be that lovely pink color.

6 cups of water
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1 teaspoon cloves
3-5 bay leaves
1 tablespoon juniper berries
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon thyme
1 tablespoon all spice powder
2 packages of seitan

Pour all ingredients except the seitan into a pot and boil for five minutes. Set aside to cool.

Pour the brine into a plastic bowl and add the seitan. Put into the refrigerator overnight to brine.

(See, that was easy, wasn’t it?)

Vegan Reuben

The following recipe makes 16 sandwiches.

Once the seitan is ready, it is time to make the sandwich. Reubens are pressed sandwich so make sure you have a skillet and something you can set on top of the skillet (consider a second skillet) and something with some weight to it (usually a few cans of beans or veggies.)

2 packages corned seitan
16 slices of rye bread
8 tablespoons of vegan thousand island dressing (see below) or Dijon mustard
16 slices vegan Swiss cheese
8 tablespoons of sauerkraut
8 tablespoons of olive oil

Heat oven to 350°F. Lay the seitan out on a cookie sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes. Let the seitan cool.

Layout all 16 slices of bread and coat each with half a tablespoon of vegan thousand island or Dijon mustard. Add the seitan to one half and the vegan Swiss on the other. Put the sauerkraut on the top of the cheese and fold the sandwich. (By the way, order does matter.)

Bring a skillet to heat over a medium high flame. Coat with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Place two sandwiches in the skillet and top with a second skillet or cookie sheet and then put a weight on the second skillet. Cook for 1-2 minutes and then flip. Cook for another 1-2 minutes and remove the sandwiches.

If you are not vegan and you are using real Swiss cheese, make sure that the Swiss melts. Vegan Swiss cheese takes forever to melt, so just make sure the sandwich is heated all the way through.

Once the first set of sandwiches is done, wait about a minute for the skillet to get hot before repeating for the second set of sandwiches. Repeat until all reubens are done.

Serve with fries or chips and you will never miss regular reubens again. Oh, you will also end all your sauerkraut cravings!

Vegan Thousand Island Dressing

When it comes to reubens, I am a mustard fan, but I know a lot of people like their Thousand Island dressing. Here is a recipe using vegenaise, which is a mayonnaise replacement made from canola oil.

1/2 cup veganaise
6 ounces of tomato sauce
1 tablespoon vegan sugar
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons sweet pickles, finely diced
2 teaspoons sweet pickle juice

Blend all ingredients in a bowl until well incorporated.

For more of what is going in Chris’ lunchbox, on his dinner table, and on his party menus, as well as thoughts on food and culture, food in the media, and even the occasional recipe featuring meat, check out Chris’ food blog, Blog Well Done.

If someone on your “social obligations” Christmas gift list has a little girl… and that little girl is a fan of Hannah Montana… but, truth be told, you really don’t like her parents all that much… here’s the perfect (slightly evil) gift.

For about ten bucks, you can pick up a singing Hannah Montana collector doll.

She comes with a snazzy outfit that the kid can put on and take off her until it falls apart, a doll display stand that someone’s bound to step on, and a delightfully tacky Hannah Montana “keepsake” in a convincing gift box.

Apparently, batteries actually are included, too!

But don’t let that fool you — this toy has genuine potential to ruin a parent’s holiday.

Because the Hannah Montana doll only knows one tune — she’ll sing Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree until every adult in the house wants to smash the doll with a case of Tylenol bottles.

How perfect is that?

Delight the child.
Annoy the parents.
And most likely get yourself off the hook for giving anything to that particular family next year!

Really, it’s the next best thing to giving the kid a drum kit for Christmas…

Allow me to introduce the lovely and talented Ching Ya, my new forum friend who works for an IT company in Malaysia. She shows off her creative streak by decorating a corner table as a miniature Christmas Wonderland, complete with tiny folded-paper stars. And today — just in time for Christmas — Ching Ya’s going to teach us how to fold our own paper stars in this photo tutorial. Enjoy! ~ Jen

The Cute Little Stars

Twinkle twinkle little stars
How colorful and adorable you are…

I’ve always loved them, it’s my dream to hold the stars in my hands and admire their beauty.

Guess what? My dream came true after all!

Cute isn’t it?

I sprinkle these little ones around my Christmas corner, along with the tree of course.

So, do you want to spice up your Christmas decorations with these little ones? I can assure you, by the time you finished reading these instructions, you’re gonna shout out, “OMG!! It’s THAT simple??”

How To Fold Your Little Paper Stars

What do you need?

A half-used colored/wrapping paper (I prefer recycled ones, you could use brand new if you like), a ruler and scissors. That’s it.

Are you ready to rumble?
Here goes:

Step 1.
Measure and cut a strip approximately 1cm width and 20-25cm in length (depends on your liking).

Step 2.
Do it as if you are making a perfect knot.

Step 3.
Make sure ‘A’ is on top of the tail. Then continue to tuck ‘A’ inside the hole.

Step 4.
Pull ‘A’ through gently and flatten the knot.

Reminder – Make sure ‘A’ is neither too long nor short. A considerable length as shown in the picture will be just right.

Step 5.
Bend the excessive end to the back. (Cut it off if too long.) Now a pentagon is formed.

Step 6.
Bend the long tail according to the sides of the pentagon. That is, go up from underneath the pentagon as illustrated, following the direction of the blue dotted line.

Continue the ‘pentagon-wrapping’ method (see next 4 photographs) until it almost reaches the end.

Here’s what your star will look like at this point:

Step 7.
Slip the tail into the body of the pentagon. Cut off the excessive part if necessary.

Step 8.
Hold your pentagon as shown in the next photograph. Press in hard until the pointed ends are formed.

Continue pinching with other sides until the star becomes “puffy”…

… and VOILA!!

Now you can carry on with as many of them as you wish. Even fill up a jar with stars, and give it as a present to your loved ones. Now they’ll never running out of wishing stars for Christmas!

Ching Ya loves traveling, photography, and acoustic guitar! She owns a blog It’s My Life ~ It’s Now Or Never where she talks about her interests in movies, music, events & occasions, fun sites, personal thoughts as well. It’s her passion to write and share the fun with her readers. That’s why she has a Christmas theme on-going right as we speak!It’s All About Christmas so why not check it out and get into the groove? Or visit Ching Ya at Drama Sum It Up, where she follows her favourite TV drama -– currently, that’s “Prison Break.”

Sea salt, great big crystals of sea salt, are sprinkled across the luscious sweet dark surface of my chocolate caramels!

Okay, I’ll admit, when my Christmas treat bag arrived from President’s Choice on Friday, I had some doubts.

Caramel, good.
Dark chocolate, fabulous.
Sea salt, very nice in its place.

But all of those put together?

What craziness is this?

Not so crazy, as it turns out. In fact, it’s just about the perfect taste combination for those of us who love both salty and sweet treats. My tastebuds have decided. And the chocolate box is empty.

If you’ve been around Domestik Goddess for a while, you’ll know I’m a huge fan of the inventive PC food products put out by Loblaw’s grocery chain. You may also be aware that the PC Healthy Eating Challenge helped me drop 10 pounds in a month — which has stayed off, by the way — though I make no guarantees about that from this point on, now that they’re tempting me with chocolate! (And we’re not even going to talk about the dark chocolate peppermint candy cane bark. Not. One. Word.).

So anyway, bottom line — I was more than happy to give the salty chocolate concept a fair taste-test… Sold!

So here’s what I’m thinking now:

A quick and fairly light sweet dessert for the holiday season, when you’re doing a lot of heavy eating in the normal round of visiting and entertaining — and you’ve been doing so much baking, the idea of putting together a dessert leaves you weak at the knees — who wants to cook more?

Just throw together a nice fruit plate, with those little tangerines that are in season right now, with green seedless grapes, slices of kiwi, maybe a few chunks of fresh pineapple and melon. Add a few of these salty-sweet chocolates (delightfully upscale for something you can just pick up at the grocery store, I might add!) and there you have it!

Please be kind and forgiving, if weird things are happening with Domestik Goddess over the next few days. Well, I mean, more weird than usual… I’m moving the site to another server that’s faster and sleeker and generally a very happy place. You know, it’s like when you go into a mall and half the shops are boarded up, half the concourse is blocked by men with low-hanging tool belts and mysterious machines, and there are signs up all over the place:

We’re changing to serve you better!

Hang in there!
We shouldn’t have more than a hiccup or two (hopefully!) as DG gets settled into its new home…
(And let’s just hope that’s not a case of “famous last words”!)

When I spotted this set of Elvis Presley Russian nesting dolls — you know, where you open the wooden doll shape to reveal a smaller one; open it and there’s a smaller one yet; and so on — it sparked all sorts of ideas!

Decoupage, my friends!

See, I knew you could get blank (unpainted) sets of Russian nesting dolls (Amazon’s got them in the $10-$16 range, depending on how fancy you want to get, and who the vendor is), but I’ve always been a bit intimidated by the idea of trying to do a good enough painting job to justify the purchase. You know, the whole charm of the Russian dolls depends on the decoration…

Then I saw Elvis.

And after I finished laughing, this idea came along:

You could make your own Elvis set of nesting dolls by applying cut-out pictures of The King with decoupage glue onto the blank wooden dolls.

Or, of course, you could make a set of dolls for whatever celebrity you have a not-so-secret passion for… or more than one. The members of AC/DC, maybe, or all the actors who have played James Bond?

Or never mind a celebrity — what about Russian nesting dolls to represent your family?

Take photographs of the members of your family, and decoupage them onto nesting dolls in order of age and size. If you’ve got a small family and run out of people before you run out of dolls (I believe most sets have 5 figures), then make the smallest ones into your dog and cat — heck, do a favourite houseplant, for that matter! An awesome gift for a grandparent, don’t you think?

Heirlooms to treasure, or just plain creative family fun — either way, there’s a special magic to Christmas decorations that you make yourself at home, and it doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. Here’s a round-up of patterns and how-to tutorials for frugal holiday decorations that you can make yourself:

Cardboard, glue, tiny pine cones, and scraps of birchbark — topped off with a sprinkle of glitter, the only special craft item you’ll need to do this — create a rustic miniature Christmas village! Kristin Nicholas –”Getting Stitched on the Farm” — gives a clear step-by-step tutorial for making your own.

Snuggle the houses on a landscape of poly fibrefill or quilt batting snow, if you’ve got some on hand, or just drape a white cloth over crumbled balls of newspaper to make a winter landscape to showcase the minature village.

Squawkfox makes soft stuffies in the shape of tiny trees from leftover scraps of fabric. Quick and easy to sew, it’s a great project for anyone just learning to sew — and you can have amazing fun in embellishing the simple stuffed trees with buttons and bows and fabric paints, whatever you have on hand! Download her printable 2-piece pattern and make yourself a whole forest of stuffies!

Popcorn garlands were always a part of Christmas when I was a child, for example. Sometimes we’d have a bag of those big burgundy-red cranberries to string along with the popcorn — beauty! And sometimes the family dog would sneak a snack from the Christmas tree. I still smile at the memories…

Becca spreads the seasonal joy (and festive decorations) outdoors, with molded bird seed treats — pretty wreaths to feed the birds while they decorate the trees in your yard. (These would make a terrific frugal gift for a birdlover, too!)

Tiny pieces of felt, a little stuffing, and a couple of paperclips — that’s all it takes to make these cute ice skates mini-ornaments from a tutorial by Not Quite Vintage (inspired by her grandmother). Add sequins or seed beads for buttons, or whip a bit of colourful embroidery floss up the front edge to look like laces.

Another favourite do-it-yourself Christmas decoration around our place, growing up, was salt dough modelling clay we’d shape like Play-do into stars and trees and angels, bake in the oven until they dried, then add a touch of craft paint and a ribbon for hanging… My salt dough modelling clay recipe is here, if you want to give it a try for yourself.

Maybe paper crafts are more your style?

Design Sponge has the DIY on this clever paper ball ornament — make a whole lot of them from those tag-ends of gift wrapping paper that are too small to use for much else, and dangle from a swagged evergreen garland, or hang them in a window or on your tree.

Want more Christmas paper crafts? You can find instructions for making the best ever 3-d paper snowflake at Cut Out and Keep . (I tell you, forget those paper snowflakes you might have made in kindergarten — this is in a whole other class!)

And if you’re short on time and/or patience, but you still want the snowflake bling, you can always go for this pretty blue snowflake, from the collection of free printables at Canon.

At the price of printer ink, though, I’d be inclined to print out one copy of the pattern and use it as a template for making snowflakes from plain white paper. I’ve done something similar with lightweight cardstock (empty cereal boxes, actually), then used a little thinned-down white glue and glitter to make them into stars…

This year, the holidays are going to be especially tough for a lot of families — so what better time to rediscover the true meaning of the season, sitting down with the kids to create new traditions that have more to do with sharing the moment than with spending hard-earned money at the mall?

First, let me give you a little background on “Lucky” — the mummified cat that one Domestik Goddess reader discovered (most unexpectedly!) in the roof of an old thatched cottage in Ireland…

Note to the squeamish: You didn’t honestly think I was going to spring a grisly photo on you, did you? This tiny little thumbnail picture is here for you. If you’re all prepared to study “Lucky” in more detail, however, you can click on the small picture to see a larger version — or read on to see another thumbnail photo that gives just a tiny bit closer look).

A while back, you might recall, I wrote about the fascinating old tradition of hiding ritual objects in houses as protection against evil spirits and witchcraft. And I mentioned the old boot — a tiny child’s riding boot, well worn, and just the one — found many years ago in the chimney wall of my grandfather’s old farmhouse in New Brunswick, Canada. That tiny old boot was an object of great fascination all through my own childhood, and I longed to know the story behind it. That’s why, when I learned of this old superstition that led people to hide strange objects in their houses, I was (and remain) quite fascinated — which is why I wrote about Dried Cats and Witch Bottles in the first place.

Strange Things Found in Old Houses

It turns out that this sort of thing is much more common than one would think — at least in northern Europe and the United Kingdom, and in countries like Canada and Australia, which were largely settled by colonists from that part of the world. No doubt other cultures had their own versions of the superstition…

Boots and shoes were common choices for protective objects, in the UK tradition, it seems; and I’ve learned that other bits of clothing are sometimes found in old houses as well.

My theory:
It may have something to do with keeping close a very personal piece of gear that once belonged to a loved one who died — something about a loving spirit offering its protection to those left behind. And it makes sense to me, learning that many of these objects had clearly belonged to children, that the purity of an innocent young child would have been seen as having extra power to protect the family in the home where these objects were hidden away.

A Carpenter’s Tale

If you’ve been following DomestikGoddess.com for a while, you may be aware that we’re always bashing away at This Old Farmhouse — and this summer was no exception. Tearing off the old back porch, we found the name of the man who built the house, a century ago, written on the back of a piece of moulding. That led to talk of things found in old houses, and our carpenter, Alvin, told us to look out for money.

Questioned about this, he told us that he’s found a great many objects hidden in the walls and ceilings of old houses where he’s worked on renovations. A shoe or two, for sure. And some strange hieroglyphics, marked onto old beams with chalk or charcoal. Bottles of various sorts. And a lot of old newspapers — but that’s a different thing, I think: old newspapers were often used as a feeble attempt at insulation between clapboards and plaster.

But mostly what Alvin has found is coins — some of them quite rare and collectible, too! Almost every old house where he’s had to rip out old plaster walls has produced a coin or two, he says, tucked away on top of a cross-member or roof truss; one had been hidden on a projecting brick inside an old fireplace chimney. It pleased me, somehow, when Alvin told us that all but one of the homeowners asked him to put those coins back where they were — or at least as close as possible, given whatever changes had been made during renovations, to where they had been hidden away a century ago.

Clothing, footwear, money… all that’s well and good. But other traditional ritual objects are a bit less pleasant to contemplate. Bottles of urine, for example — “witch bottles” as they are known. And the corpses of cats. Which brings us to the subject of this photograph.

“Lucky” the Irish Dried Cat

A couple weeks ago, Jules, in England, came across Dried Cats and Witch Bottles, my little write-up about the mysterious tradition of hiding protective objects in old houses:

I have only just found out about dried cats. Foolishly I brought the one that dropped out of the roof in my old cottage in Ireland back to England. Now I really think I should take it back - what on earth will Ryanair make of it?

How wonderful is that?

Naturally, I asked whether there was a photograph… and received this picture of “Lucky” within the day!

(Imagine, if you will, the great delight it gave me to shout out to He Who Hogs The Power Tools, “Someone just emailed me a picture of a dead cat!”)

Jules said that they all “ran screaming” from the house, when the mummified cat dropped out of the thatch, then went back in (”very slowly”) to see what it was that had descended so abruptly.

In the same house they also found two shoes — a small child’s dancing shoe, up in the roof space, and another that had been boarded in at the side of the fireplace. And in another house — a timber frame cottage in Kent, England — a large shell under one of the foundation timbers, under the stairs. It must have been placed there carefully, deliberately, or else it surely would have been crushed. (I like to think that it might have been a treasured souvenir of some sea-faring son, lost at sea; the shell kept in memory of him, and hidden in the house so his spirit could keep the family safe from harm.)

Jules checked in with Sam, the brave friend who appears on the other end of the pitchfork, and they’ve both given kind permission for me to publish this rare photograph here — because you know it’s just too interesting not to share with other social-history buffs!

As for “Lucky,” he is currently residing in Jules’ barn and awaiting his return trip to Ireland — where he rightfully belongs.

Old superstitions and domestic rituals don’t easily die out, even when the meaning of the ritual becomes obscured by the passage of time. I’m starting to suspect that there may be many more of these ritual objects hidden in old houses across Europe and “the colonies” than we, steeped in the 21st Century, might realize. And when we do find these strange objects, odds are that we fail to recognize them as having a special significance in cultural history. Perhaps you’ve found something peculiar, too, in the midst of an old-house renovation?

The past 18 months has seen a mad lot of home renovation work at This Old Farmhouse. It culminated this week with the installation of a lovely pair of dual-flush low-flow toilets. Not so exciting to many, perhaps, but then we don’t get out much… In fact, He Who Hogs The Power Tools just sent out the following “news release” to family and friends, trumpeting our green plumbing triumph. Enjoy! ~Jen

Upgrade to “Dual Exhaust” System

No, it’s not what you might be thinking — we’ve just completed the changeover to more environmentally responsible dual flush toilets in our two bathrooms — which is the last item on our list of upgrades for the government-sponsored Home Energy Retrofit program.

No, it doesn’t increase performance in a ‘68 Mustang kinda way (although as you can see in the pictures below, we’ve temporarily got “four-on-the-floor”!) but by replacing two thirsty 20-litre-per-flush toilets (driven by two coffee drinkers), we’ll significantly reduce our water consumption — and cut back on the electricity that’s used to pump that water, too.

The dual flush comes down to the basics we all learned as kids — #1 or #2. 4 Litres / 6 litres. Nuff said.

In the past 18 months we’ve made significant improvements to reduce our heating and energy costs, as well as adding a couple of quality-of-life items like a new veranda and fencing in the side yard so the dogs can be “relieved on their own recognizance.”

In return, the Feds will reimburse us about 3% of what we’ve spent (think Canadian Tire Money on the value of a slightly-used Lincoln Navigator). It’s not a lot, but along with the reduced fuel bills and the “feel good” factor — it’s well worth it.

Photo: _nur

You know all these cans of vegetable broth lined up on the supermarket shelves? — a quick way to start a soup, or make a sauce, or juice up a simple casserole, sure enough. But while the convenience factor is tempting, I’ve never actually broken down and bought a can.

Why?

Because some things are thrifty, and some things are easy, but to go out and buy something in a can makes no sense to me (or my wallet) when you can get the same thing cheaper and just as easily, right in your own kitchen. Bonus, no extra packaging waste to burden poor Mother Nature!

Here’s the thing: You already know that the best way to cook vegetables is to use as little water as possible, right? That keeps all the vitamins and other nutritional goodies from getting washed away. Roasting, stir-frying, steaming — these are all great ways to cook your veggies.

But sometimes, you’ve just gotta boil. Mashed potatoes, just for one example. Or to cook carrots that will be mushy enough to make a batch of Becca’s Uber-fabulous Carrot Souffle, for another example…

So here’s what I do — a kitchen tip I picked up from my ultra-frugal mother, and her mother before her.

Make you own vegetable broth!

Instead of draining away the water you use to boil the vegetables, simply save it in a plastic container and pop it in the freezer. Save your vegetable cooking water for a few meals’ worth — any vegetables will do, the cooking water can pretty much all go in together — and you’ve got yourself a stash of vegetable broth to pull out, thaw, and cook with the next time you want to make wonderful homemade soup or a casserole dish.

One battered old-faithful dictionary on my shelves, published circa 1975, defines a geek as “a carnival performer who performs sensationally morbid or disgusting acts, as biting off the head of a live chicken. ” You may be deeply relieved to know that I’ve upgraded to a squeaky-new Canadian Oxford, although I can’t claim it’s a whole lot more flattering:

geek noun esp. N. Amer. informal 1. An uninteresting, ineffectual, socially inept person; a nerd. 2. A person thoroughly devoted to one usu. technical interest, study, etc., often at the expense of social interaction (computer geek).

Whatever.

Point is, the 1970s chicken-beheading freak is not at all what I have in mind here (try wikipedia, maybe) when I say that 80% of the most fabulous men I’ve ever known were geeks.

Other top contenders leaned towards the arts or construction trades, but that’s a shaggy-dog story for another place and time.

Geeks? You may well ask, O-mouthed with shock and doubt — geeks are sexy?

Absolutely.

Consider the facts.

To begin with, and on the most facile level, all those years of hunkering down with twelve-sided dice or closeted with computers, far from the damaging sun, means that adult geeks — those mercifully past the curse of teen acne — have the softest, most touchable skin any woman would envy. (If our own complexions are showing the effect of too much quality time at the beach, second-best is to be able to enjoy someone else’s baby-smooth skin, am I right? Tactile enjoyment. It goes a long way to explain why you can still find clothing made of velour.)

Secondly, as oodles of experts on women’s mating preferences will attest, intelligence is pretty darned sexy. And the defining characteristic of the geek is, of course, intelligence.

True, as my dictionary points out, the geeks among us are often behind-hand in developing the social savoire-faire of other types of men — but is that necessarily a bad thing? Many have evolved over time to compensate with a quick wit (sexy), attentive listening skills (very sexy), and a keen if transient interest in absolutely everything (also sexy) including what the woman he’s with is thinking (devastatingly sexy)!

To all their other fine attributes, add the fact that many high-functioning adult geeks have a significant potential for long-term rewarding employment. Let’s be practical: a steady income is not a bad attribute.

Fashion sense? — Ah, that’s nothing. That can be bought — or learned. Geeks love to learn new things and problem-solve, of course. It just all depends on what they consider the most urgent (or intriguing) topic to get their undivided attention at any given moment…

And if you’re lucky, sister, that undivided attention could be on you!

Fact is, geeks are fairly unlikely to have spent their teen years mingling with perky cheerleaders and sinful intent. As a result, the young geek reaches his maturity without an inflated BMOC ego — in fact, without too much at all in the way of annoying habits trained into him by Barbie and Tiffany girlfriends in his formative years.

Moving out into the working world, where his skills and qualities are more widely appreciated, the geek gains a quiet confidence. He begins to come into his own — yet retains a deep appreciation of his female companions that is seldom seen in other subgroups of the modern male.

Geeks don’t take women for granted: they pay attention.
And that, my friends, is the bottom line for any relationship.

I rest my case.

Rebuttal, anyone?
Comments?
David Krumholtz’s private phone number?

In hono(u)r of American Thanksgiving, coming up next week, let’s all enjoy a classic episode from West Wing, in which President Bartlet gets on the phone to the Butterball Hotline:

If they ever bring West Wing back on the air, which you know isn’t going to happen — but I’m just saying, IF… it’ll need a bit of an update. According to Mary Clingman, director of the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line, the virtual turkey guru is spreading its greasy little wings to help even more poultry-challenged holiday cooks:

This holiday season, the advice Americans have trusted for years is even more accessible with turkey tips, reminders and alerts sent straight to your mobile phone, a new mobile Web site, Web chats on Butterball.com, or live expert advice at 1-800-BUTTERBALL…

The next Butterball Web chat goes live on November 25 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Central. I’m almost tempted to pull a President Bartlet…

Only a soul that’s devoid of joy can fail to love a good sock monkey, or to smile at that goofy knitted-primate face and gangling limbs. More fun yet, when the sock monkey gets celebrity status!

This little guy, from the Sock Monkey Jungle of Lancashire, UK, channels Elton John at his most groovy, complete with over-sized sunglasses and a star-spangled red-striped outfit you wouldn’t have been caught dead in even in the depth of Disco Days. (The slouchy newsboy cap? Maybe.)

A self-described “sock monkey addict,” crafter Blue Saphire makes a wide range of unique sock monkey characters — from amusing rips of Batman, Rocky, and even Santa Claus — to girly-girl monkeys with fancy party frocks and long flowing hair. And I spotted a Bride and Groom couple, which seems to me just about the perfect wedding gift — way better than giving the newlyweds yet another waffle iron!

Gift certificates, sock monkey kits and patterns, even sock monkey notecards, as well as the cuddly critters themselves, can be found at bluesaphire.etsy.com.

So, you want your kid to have a bedroom that’s decorated to match his dreams — but you don’t want to spend much money?

Sensible!

Especially if the kiddy’s wished-for bedroom decor is based on the latest from Disney or Pixar or whatever video game is hot in the school yard this week…

What to do?
Well, here’s one incredibly frugal solution to that decorating dilemma…

Block Posters lets you send any image from your computer (up to 1 MB size file), slice it up, print it out, and turn it into a giant wall poster — free!

Check the gallery of other people’s posters (like the lovely Nemo wall art that Phil made for his young daughter’s bedroom) for inspiring ideas like these:

• Leave the white edges of the paper on for a cool tile mosaic effect;
• Decoupage the pieces onto a room divider screen;
• Frame each paper tile separately in black and hang them really close together to look like a piece of stained glass;
• Go black-and-white or monchrome for an high-toned artsy look;
• Blow up a smaller image for a cool blocky pixelated effect (turn a nature shot into modern camouflage, anyone?);
• Posterize yourself!

Okay, maybe your children don’t really want your face looming down at them from the wall above their beds while they’re sleeping at night… but you could do a nice family portrait, or a favourite pop star, or a role-model athlete, or even a screenshot from a favourite game…

Your imagination is the only limit!

Or, to be factual, about 8 feet x 10 feet is the limit, finished poster size-wise.
But you don’t really need a larger poster than that, do you? Unless you’re making a mural to decorate a great room… hmm….

Remembrance Day is the only thing that can make our grey bleak November weather seem exactly right. The sound of the distant pipes; the few old men who still march to the cenotaph in berets and medals; the young cadets standing with heads bowed and hands crossed on rifles at each corner of the square…

And more than anything, what really catches me in the back of the throat, every year the same, is the sudden deep booming sound of the cannons’ salute — those big guns echoing down the years and down the river valley, from village to village, each small community with its own memorial cairn, its own group of silent observers to wipe away a windstruck tear, and its own list of long-ago farmboys’ names to be read aloud on 11 November.

But like the brave red poppies of Flanders fields and Remembrance wreaths, those bright red sparks against the grey of rainclouds and gravestones, there’s something indomitably bright in the human spirit. And as long as we can see those poppies bud and bloom — in the fields of Normandy, or in fields of hope and imagination — surely, all is not lost.

Photo: amandabhslater

We’re into the season of veggie harvest and hearty soups! Food writer Chris Perrin brings two new vegetarian recipes to the table (haha!) to keep good company with your soup bowl… If you’ve been following his tasty contributions here each month, you’ll know that Chris has a cook’s certification from the Kansas City Culinary Institute, writes for BIAO Magazine, food-blogs at Blog Well Done, and is working on his own vegan cookbook. Enjoy!   ~ Jen

Pumpkin Panini and Apple-Seitan Sandwich

Despite the fact it signals the end of the growing season, Fall is the time for one last culinary celebration. Gone are the spring vegetables, the tomatoes, and the peaches. Still, every autumn, the Earth erupts forth in a great bounty of fruits and vegetables in such great quantities that the ground must know it will produce nothing for the next five or six months.

Okay, that might be a little overly dramatic, but how else can you explain the flood of apples, cranberries, pumpkins, squash, and other gourds that invade grocery stores across the country every October? The problem, though, is that most of Fall foods are usually thought of as desert (pumpkin pie) or are much maligned (cranberry “sauce” from a tin can.) Even the most inventive thing done with the mighty apple tends to be chopping it up and throwing it into a salad.

Photo: jslander

That all changes today. Today, we are going to elevate Fall fare into the fantastic. We are going to make sandwiches! (And they’re going to be veg friendly, too.)

Pumpkin Panini

Pumpkin is a nutritious vegetable that really does not get the credit it deserves as a savory ingredient. When roasted it has a satisfying, meaty flesh that has a subtle earthy flavor and is not nearly as sweet as you might think. This particular sandwich is paired with good mozzarella cheese, sun dried tomatoes, and basil for a pumpkiny twist on an Italian favorite.

• 1 small sugar pie pumpkin or about a pound of regular pumpkin
• 6 tablespoons olive oil
• 16 sundried tomatoes
• 12 basil leaves
• 1 loaf of vegan bread, cut into half inch slices
• 4 tablespoons of vegenaise or mayonnaise
• 1 medium tomato, sliced thinly
• 1 cup of shredded mozzarella (vegan or regular)

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.

Prepare the Pumpkin

Wash the outside of the pumpkin thoroughly and pat dry. Cut into quarters and remove the seeds and stem. Coat with 3 tablespoons of olive oil and season lightly with salt and pepper.

Bake the pumpkin for forty minutes or until fork tender. Remove and set aside to cool. Once cool, cut into thin slices roughly the same width as the tomato. You may choose to remove the pumpkin’s peel or leave it on as you choose.

Make the Spread

As the pumpkin is roasting, prepare the sun dried tomato mix. The idea is to have a chunky spread, not a sauce. To make it, put the sun dried tomatoes, two tablespoons of the tomatoes’ oil, and the basil into a food processor and pulse. Add the olive oil one tablesp