Thursday, June 25, 2009

Vegan Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

I don't eat meat, but I do enjoy dairy here and there. Regardless, I love vegan baked goods. Not only do I think they taste incredible (I find most baked goods overly sweet and indulgent), I love the challenge of substituting ingredients to make a healthier, but just as delicious dessert that could fool even the biggest critics (e.g. my 19 year old brother).

We have come to love having these cookies around our apartment, and after many batches, I have nailed down what I think is a winner. I just wish I felt bad about eating these for dinner.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
2 bananas, mashed (the riper, the better!)
1 tbsp honey
1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
1 pinch salt
1/2 cup semi-sweet vegan chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Beat together peanut butter and banana (no need for an electric mixer, by hand is fine!). Add honey, vanilla extract, and sugars and blend until smooth. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Add dry ingredients bit by bit to the peanut butter mixture and stir until well combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop spoonfuls of batter onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. With wet hands, roll balls to smooth them out and then press to flatten them. Bake for 10-12 minutes.


Good Morning!

I have the afternoon off from work and I'm hoping today will be a little more productive than my last day off. Unless taking Photo Booth pictures of my roommate's Pekingese isn't productive...?



On the to do list:
1) Make some mitts
2) Groceries
3) Make/eat cookies
4) Clean room
5) HGTV

Then this evening I'll be running a Knit, Purl, & Pedi event at Mani + Nanny, a fabulous salon for moms in Lower Pacific Heights. It should be marvelous.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

On the Needles

To no one's surprise, my WIP collection is growing. I need all the encouragement I can get to move these projects off my needles.

1. Springtime Bandit (by Kate Gagnon)
free pattern here.

yarn: 2 sk. Malabrigo Merino in test color Silver (an ImagiKnit exclusive!)
needles: size 9 circulars
notes: First of all, the yarn is INCREDIBLE. I'm no stranger to Malabrigo, but particular colorway I'm working with is just amazing. Definitely wasn't an easy project to start, but once I learned my way around the chart, it basically flew off the needles. I'm about 18 rows from bind off and I'm still on skein #1.


2. Jasmine (by Kim Hargreaves)
from Nectar

yarn: 5 balls Baby Ull (Dalegarn)
needles: size 2 and 3 circulars
notes: I started off strong and fizzled quickly. The second front syndrome hit hard. All I have left is some edging, seaming, and blocking and I can't get myself to pick it up. Yikes.



3. Owls (by Kate Davies)
free pattern on Ravelry

yarn: 2 sk. Eco Wool (Cascade)
needles: size 10 and 10.5 circulars
notes: Started as a knit-a-long with my coworkers. Most of us failed miserably. I have two long sleeves ahead of me before I can start the cable pattern, but at least everything is seamless. The yarn is 1) cheap, 2) smells sheepy, and thus
, gets an A+ in my book.


4. Skinny Empire (by Wendy Bernard)
from Custom Knits

yarn: 5-6 sk. Bamboo Silk (Ella Rae)
needles: size 5 circulars
notes: Modifying the pattern to work with this delicious DK yarn I was dying to use. I came upon this book following one too many tedious seamed projects and so far I love the classic top-down raglan construction. It looks itty-bitty, so I plan to try it on before I get any further.

I Heart: bayan hippo

I have always been a sucker for purses. Although the economic downfall mixed with the new expense of paying city rent have forced me to reevaluate my priority list, I still can't resist drooling over the endless amounts of gorgeous handmade bags on Etsy. This morning I rediscovered a favorite shop of mine (bayan hippo) where practical but fun summer bags are available for crazy affordable prices.

Some of my favorites (click to view listing):


Leaves in Grey, $35 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Sailor Tote, $27

Everyday Purse, $25 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Comfy, $35

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Renegade Craft Fair!

I'm slowly gearing up for the Renegade Craft Fair coming up in just 25 days (who's counting?). By this I mean I'm cranking out random half pairs of mitts here and there, but you would more or less find me asleep next to mounds of thumbless and half-finished glovelets. Within the past year or so of running my Etsy shop I've focused mainly on providing custom/made-to-order gloves, so trying to stockpile a huge amount of gloves that I only hope I can turnover is intimidating.

Right now my "glovelets here and there" strategy involves me moving my half finished gloves to a basket that I have yet to inventory. My hope is that I'll end up pleasantly surprised with the amount of gloves I've accumulated in my little basket, but I shouldn't be so ignorant. Time to fire up Excel and make my marketing professors proud.


If you'll be in the Bay Area on July 18th or 19th, please drop by! You can find me there with my two very talented coworkers, Jeanette and Michelle. Although Jeanette's shop is in pre-production, you can check out some of Michelle's work here.

Morning Fog Mitts

I love the weather of San Francisco almost as much as I love complaining about it. But since cool-weather accessories like fingerless mitts and cowls are my favorite things to cook up, I've been getting busy. My timing is obviously a little off as July is right around the corner, but I'm posting these mitts regardless. For all the folks out there still fighting chilly breezes and cool nights, today is your day! For everyone else, I'll see ya in the fall.


Shopping? These hand crocheted mitts are listed here.

100% merino wool
hand wash, dry flat
$24




Making a pair for yourself? Free pattern is listed on Ravelry (search: Morning Fog Mitts from K.M. Knits/Katelyn Cowan). If you're not registered for Ravelry, the PDF is available from Google Sites.

They use only a small amount of worsted weight yarn (don’t tell me I’m the only person with random Malabrigo leftovers all over the place) and can be worked up in no time. A perfect beginner project for newbies (and experts with fabulous taste). Work them up over a couple episodes of evening trash TV and face tomorrow morning’s cruel fog lookin’ fancy and fresh.