A Dairy Sacrifice

Today marks a week of being dairy-free.  

Is it possible to be addicted to cheese?  It feels like I am!  Nearly everything I regularly make has some sort of dairy product in it... and those foods that don't have dairy will often get a sprinkling of parmesan.  Mmmm, I make a delicious popcorn with olive oil, smoked paprika, and parmesan.  I'll try not to cry over my thick and satisfying homemade yogurt. 

Anyway, I'm not doing this for fun, or for moral reasons, or for my own dietary reasons.  My month-old son is allergic to something I'm eating, and the doctor is certain it's dairy proteins... there's nothing like blood in a diaper to scare first-time parents and give one the proper motivation for a major dietary change.  I may have to avoid milk products for a year.

It is now time for recipe experiments!

In an attempt to make the dairy-free life easier, I've been testing the waters with a few new recipes.  I only had one box of almond milk on hand, so the first thing I tried was making a homemade "milk" from oats.  It is oddly satisfying, but then, I like oatmeal flavor.

My favorite discovery so far is that breads seem to be easy to do.  I've used the oat milk in place of milk, and melted coconut oil in place of melted butter, and my pumpkin dinner rolls came out just as moist and tasty as usual.  And it turns out that my 2 favorite pizza dough recipes are dairy-free already.

My pizza experiment didn't go all that well, just making pizza but leaving out the cheese.  However, I did do one pizza with beans, veggies, and BBQ sauce, and it was palatable.  There's definitely room for improvement (next time, chicken instead of beans!), but I discovered that I very much prefer a cheese-free pizza if the sauce is not a red one... that way, I don't expect it to taste like pizza and I don't miss the gooey heavenly cheese as much. 

My parents came by last weekend, and cheered me up by bringing some dairy substitutes... 2 types of "cheese," a "butter," and an "egg nog."  Thank goodness there is fake cheese that melts properly!  Times have really changed since the last time I tried to go dairy-free a decade or so ago.


Do you have any favorite dairy-free recipes to share?

Crochet: A mystery, and a plan

A crochet mystery.  

My grandma made a beautifully complex-looking blanket for the baby, but doesn't know what stitch she used since she can no longer read patterns after a stroke.  She just made up the stitch, or had it stored somewhere in her subconscious!

Whatever it is, it's definitely cozy and super soft!

I can tell that the edging is a shell stitch pattern, because my first crochet project of a scarf used it.  But what about the middle?  Is it some form of shell stitch too?


In other news...

I've spent the past 2 weeks finally trying to really teach myself to crochet (projects 3-7).  Here are all the projects I have ever done: 

1. A 1-skein scarf.  (This was done probably a year ago.)
2. A perfect sphere.  (Done in February)
3. A newborn pumpkin hat & cocoon for a halloween costume
4. A newborn boob hat, for nursing hilarity
5. Another newborn boob hat for a friend
6. A 4-inch snowflake
7. A mini pumpkin

I'm just waiting for a larger tapestry needle to show up in the mail so I can finish weaving in some ends, and then I will post some photos and link to the patterns!

Assuming I have plenty of time before the baby arrives, what patterns should I work on next?

Feelin' Prodromal

Well, today's the day that our little womb dweller is due!  It is hard to believe that I've made it this far and that he's still in there.

We had an appointment with the midwife this morning, and she says the quality and strength of the contractions I've had periodically since the night of the 7th mean that I'm having prodromal labor... it'd be actual labor if the darn contractions would stick around!

The good news is that it's giving me lots of practice with breathing techniques, and labor is looking less scary because each time I have a real contraction I somehow get excited instead of nervous.  The bad news is that it's a bit tiring to suddenly realize "Omigods, this is it!" and then to have it fizzle out, over and over and over... makes sleeping interesting, since it mostly happens at night.  My prescription is literally to take naps and get as much sleep as I can.

So... can I say that I've been in mild labor for over 2 days?  Can I say that the lunar eclipse sparked it and that he's therefore a blood moon baby?  Guess it depends on your definition of labor.  And moon.  And baby.

Now we just hunker down and wait.

For the love of Mead, Part 3: Ceiling Surprise

Ryan came home and his first question was "have you looked at the ceiling recently?"

Why, no.  No, I haven't.  If I had, I would have noticed this:

Oops.

Those meady explosions were a little more powerful than I'd thought!  Luckily the kitchen has shiny washable paint and the hibiscus bits didn't stain. 

Anyway, today's the day I'm adding 1/2 of the remaining nutrients.  The fermentation has not slowed very much so far, which is awesome!  These nutrients will give the yeast another boost to keep them going strong.  I'm still aerating a few times a day and being extra-careful about more krausen clogging up the airlocks... and ending up on the ceiling. 

So far the Specific Gravity started out at 1.105 (adding more honey equals a higher SG), and it's now down to 1.090 (or maybe a bit less, it's hard to tell with all the bubbles!).  That means that the mead is already 2% alcohol after just 6 days, which is like a weak beer.  It certainly smells alcoholic already.

I'm expecting it to get to about 13.75% by the end... most wine is 12.5-14.5%, so this is pretty good for such a quick mead.