Three Years!

It's my blogiversary today! Kind of crept up on me, truth be told, but it's neat to think that I've been doing this for three years now and have been able to meet so many wonderful people because of it. Like knitnzu, who sent a package yesterday for the kitties.



It was really sent with Cougar in mind, but Tolo had to be the first to shove his head in, much to his younger brother's chagrin.



Of course, Cougar being the larger of the two managed to shove his way in pretty quickly.



To say he was pleased with his present would be an understatement. In fact, it's already been disemboweled loved to pieces.



He wasn't the only one who was pleased, since there were two mousies in the box.



Their excitement was so infectious, that Tuck ran over and started playing with one of his toys, too.



Crockpot Curry

I decided to make a curry for dinner yesterday and though that it might work well to do it in the crockpot, especially since curries do particularly well when they're given plenty of time for the flavors to meld. We'd gotten a head of cauliflower especially to make a curry, and David thought it might be a good idea to use a big golden beet I got in it, since he's not that fond of beets but likes curries. He also suggested using seitan in it as a protein. It turned out quite tasty, especially served over basmati rice.



It was also super easy. I chopped up the cauliflower, a large onion, and the peeled beet, put in about three tablespoons of curry paste, a couple tablespoons of cashew butter, a can of coconut milk, and a big (20 oz.?) can of diced tomatoes, then set the crockpot on high and let it simmer for about 8 hours. I think I stirred it twice. It doesn't look like much liquid at first, but it cooks down very nicely without any additional water added. Try it!

Thanks to a tip from VUBOQ, I've also been saving up vegetable scraps for the past few weeks and last night put them in a pot with water and cooked them down into yummy broth.



These simmered for about 4 or 5 hours before I strained out the scraps, then added salt and simmered it for another few hours to make a nice, rich bouillion. I'm not sure what it'll get used in, but I'm sure it'll be tasty.