Gluten-Free Lifestyle

I've received a few questions from people lately about why I'm gluten-free, and it's a topic that seems like it's discussed more often than even just a few years ago. In fact, the podcast Stuff Mom Never Told You recently ran an episode that explains, in laymen's terms, the concept of a gluten-free lifestyle (or reduced gluten), with a particular emphasis on Celiac's disease.

Last spring, I started to notice that I was having a lot of stomach issues that I won't go into, and feeling extremely lethargic. I've had friends (including a former roommate) who are either gluten-intolerant, or have full-blown Celiac's. I've also had friends who discovered later in life that they were lactose-intolerant. These friends all described a variety of symptoms that at least somewhat matched mine.

Milk Bottling

Due to a general lack of insurance, I decided not to go get expensive testing done, but instead try an elimination diet (ehm, not a true elim diet -- I started by just stopping my gluten consumption entirely which caused me to realize how abundant it is). I started with eliminating gluten instead of milk products because I was really, really hoping it would be gluten. I kinda love yogurt. A lot.


And after three weeks, it seemed like it was, in fact, a gluten-problem. My stomach problems mostly cleared up and I had more energy. Since I don't eat many processed foods, I don't think it was just eating fewer processed foods that did the trick.

So, I haven't gone back to eating gluten. I am careful to make sure I'm eating enough iron from other sources, and to eat nutritional yeast (a good source of B vitamins) regularly, because people who opt for a gluten-free lifestyle can have problems with getting enough of both of these nutrients. I'm eating more whole foods, for sure because buying highly processed gluten-free bread products is super expensive, and there are foods I miss (like a really delightfully chewy baguette!), but for the most part, I'm figuring out how to create the things I truly miss using gluten-free options.

That's also why I try to maintain this blog on a regular basis. It's important to add voices and resources to the gluten-free community, especially for people who are just venturing into a GF lifestyle, or who suddenly need to create a dish for someone who is gluten-free (or, gluten-free and vegan!). There are people who've been doing it for much longer, for sure, and there are other terrific gluten-free blogs out there that are solely gluten-free and always have been. That's not true for me. If you look back at my archives, you'll notice recipes that contain gluten. In fact, my most popular recipe from week to week, and of all time (based on number of hits and search engine key words) is for a gluten-based recipe for Reese's PB Cup cupcakes.

A pretty landscape!

I think that's okay. Part of what I started this blog for was to talk about what it meant to be flexitarian -- to only eat meat as a condiment, or to be a not-overly-picky vegetarian (what, this is cooked with chicken stock? From a chicken that was formerly scratching about your yard [or not]? Well...okay....). What it meant to transition from one lifestyle to another. If you're a regular reader, you'll notice that same kind of transition as I start writing about gluten-free recipes, and increasingly, creating gluten-free and vegan recipes. Understanding the process of transition, especially if you're transitioning your diet as well, is important to making yourself a food-conscious consumer.

Please note: I don't advocate a gluten-free lifestyle for everyone. If you don't need it (and it has become a fad diet), you really should consult a nutritionist if it's still something you want to do. With veganism, I urge you to be conscious about the amount of processing that goes into some of the products you likely consume -- I'm thinking specifically of milk product alternatives. If you don't have a medical reason to avoid diary (for instance), it might be better to focus on minimally processed foods that were raised in a healthy, respectful way -- regardless of whether you choose to consume meat. My friend Marissa blogs about moving from a vegetarian lifestyle to eating meat for ethical reasons.

Review: Way Better Simply Sunny Multigrain Chips

Oh, how I love my local grocer. For no particular reason, every so often, they drastically reduce prices on certain items. Sometimes, I think it's just overstock. Other times, it appears to be a product they're trying to clear. Sometimes it seems that it's on super-sale because they're introducing it. That's how I tried the Way Better Simply Sunny Multigrain Tortilla Chips.

The company claims it sprouts the grains and seeds that compose its products, which allows our bodies to better absorb nutrients. While that's nice, I'm really interested in the fact that these chips have broccoli and radish sprouts in them -- and they still taste really good. The ingredients in these chips are:

Stone Ground Corn, High Oleic Sunflower Oil and/or Safflower Oil, Organic Sprouted Flax Seeds, Organic Sprouted Quinoa, Organic Sprouted Brown Rice Flour, Organic Sprouted Daikon Radish Seeds, Organic Sprouted Chia Seeds, Sprouted Broccoli Seeds, Pure Sea Salt

I can't help but notice the definite lack of "organic" in front of the first two ingredients, however, and I find that problematic, especially given the push to label GMO foods. Guess what can be GMO. Nonorganic corn. Yep.

But, that aside, the rest of the review:

These gluten-free chips have a tasty (though definitely multi-grain) flavor, in that's complex and there's not too much -- or too little -- salt. They're pretty sturdy, and conveniently square (nice for putting hummus or something on, especially if you're gluten-free).  I'd love to say that because they're multigrain I feel more wholesome or something, but let's face it, I'm eating chips. The second ingredient is oil. True, there's more complexity, and the website claims that a serving of these chips contains 420 mg of omega-3s. Great, I guess, but it's still a chip.

I can pronounce everything on the label, always a plus, and I've seen all the ingredients in their whole form--and you can still see some of them in a whole (germinated) form in the chips. I appreciate that. I also like the simple, uncluttered design of the bag and the way that it doesn't really look like a bag of chips, or at least it doesn't look like the bags of chips I buy with half-guilt. The bag isn't shiny and doesn't use bold colors. There's a pretty sunflower, so that I can feel more connected to nature as I eat my processed food. In other words, the package screams wholesomeness, which is good since a serving of these chips contains 11% of my daily fat intake.

But, they're good enough that I bought a second bag. It helps that my grocery store has them on sale for $0.48 a bag. That's beyond practically giving them away, especially as we move into summer, and especially on my very small budget. These products are also gluten-free and kosher, if you're wondering (but you can find out those details on the way better website).

Toffee!

Now that we've all had a little time to recover from the sugar-shock of the winter holidays, let's talk about candy. Specifically, toffee. I first had a variation of this toffee when a co-worker brought it in to a staff meeting. Hooray for buttery, sugary goodness during the holidays -- or something like that.

Toffees are made by boiling sugar (or molasses, apparently) with butter. The version presented here is akin to English toffee -- which according to my research pretty much just means that it uses almonds. The sugar-mixture needs to reach "hard crack" stage for hard toffees, which is what this recipe creates. This means getting the heat up to about 300-310 degrees Fahrenheit, so please be careful when you make this recipe. It needs attention, a lot of stirring (or more effectively, whisking), and precision. However, I label it "easy" because it doesn't take long and it's pretty forgiving if you err on the side of not getting it hot enough. If you scorch your sugar, I can't help you as much.

My version actually doesn't use almonds because almonds aren't very much in my budget -- and because I'd rather just eat the almonds I happen up (my current bag of almonds was a generous gift) than toss them into toffee. That being said, I've made this now with cashews "bits and pieces" as the store calls the cheaper cashews (cashew brittle style) and peanuts (very much like peanut butter), as well as chocolate covered. I also add vanilla, which the original recipe doesn't call for, mostly because I love the smell of butter cooking with vanilla and it adds just a hint of flavor at the end.

Let me tell you about my toffee "oops!" that happened with the last batch I made, specifically to send to a friend. I haven't been able to find my candy thermometer, even though I'm pretty sure it moved with me. And I don't have a different type of food thermometer. That means I have to eye-ball the confection getting to the right temperature. Fortunately, I've made candies before  and successfully made this toffee twice without thermometer. Unfortunately, I felt rushed and impatient. I didn't let enough of the water boil off or allow the temperature to climb quite high enough. The result? Even after the toffee sat in the freezer for several hours while I played frisbee with a friend, it didn't get hard. I felt grumpy.

I broke the toffee into bits and threw it back in my pan with just a sprinkle of water to encourage it to dissolve, then heated it slowly (medium heat) until it melted entirely before turning the heat back up to medium-high and stirring often as it bubbled furiously at me. The toffee bits had already been coated in chocolate, but this didn't seem have a negative effect. The next time I spread it on my cookie sheet and stuck it in the freezer, voila! I had hard toffee, just like I wanted--even if it did look a bit dark from the chocolate that also got stirred in.

So, the moral of that story: if it's under-cooked after you freeze it, just melt it and cook it again. The toffee would have been fine if I wanted soft, slightly-grainy pralines you so often find in certain parts of the southwest -- but wouldn't ship as well.

Since I don't keep corn syrup around, I used agave nectar. You could also use Lyle's Golden Syrup or honey.

Toffee Brittle

1 cup sugar

3 tablespoons water

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon agave nectar

1/2 pound butter

1/4 teaspoon salt

Optional

5 ounces slivered almonds, OR

3/4 cup peanuts, cashews, or other nut/seed

Chocolate (about 2 ounces)

In a heavy-bottomed, medium-sized saucepan, over medium-high heat, combine sugar, butter, vanilla, water, and salt. Stir frequently until everything has melted and the sugar has dissolved. As the mixture begins to bubble and rise within the confines of the pan, switch to a whisk if you have one (this will pop more of the bubbles) and whisk rapidly until the mixture begins to thicken, darken, and pull away from the sides of the pan*. Stir in the nuts, if using, and leave on heat, continuing to stir for another 1-3 minutes. You want the mixture moderately thick.

Pour onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and smooth with the back of a spoon or spatula. Break up bits of chocolate and drop them on top, if using. They should melt pretty quickly**. Place baking sheet in freezer and allow to freeze until hard, about one hour. Remove from freezer, and (carefully) break toffee into bits using your hands. Store in an air-tight container.

*If you have a candy thermometer, stick it in as you're just starting to melt everything together and adjust it so that it does not touch the bottom of the pan. When the thermometer reaches just below 300 degrees, add the nuts.

**Hershey's candy bar melts really well, but -- it's Hershey's. I used Hershey's kisses twice because E had so many around the house from Christmas, but the last time I made it, I topped it with an organic FT dark chocolate. It didn't melt as well, but worked fine.

Toffee with Chocolate & Peanuts

The Perfect Space

Lately, a friend and I have been talking a lot about something we both find rather elusive, something we're both looking for in the places we live now (halfway across the U.S. from each other) and that we'll look for wherever we respectively end up next. In short, we're looking for community.

When I moved this time, I didn't want to start over and I resisted it as long as possible -- I planned to move to a large Midwestern city, live with a close friend from grad school, and be within 10 miles of nearly a dozen other people I knew. I'd be starting over yes, but I'd start over with a pre-established network. But then, I had trouble finding a job. And I had trouble imagining myself in that Midwestern town, in much the same way that I struggled to imagine myself in the south. A friend got a job on the west coast. A different friend visited family there, and said to me, not long after, that I'd love it in the West.

So I applied for things westward, hoping mostly to have something by the time my lease ran out in the Midwest. And I did wind up with something -- something that meant moving to a new town, for a new job, where the closest I was to anyone I knew was an eight-hour drive.

Some days, I think the move, the starting over, have all been good for me. I love my town, I love the ability to get partway up a mountain in a matter of minutes. I enjoy what I'm doing, at least most of the time. And the people here are friendly, incredibly friendly, and very welcoming of new people--something I didn't expect and still haven't learned to react to in the easy-confident way of the people around me.

Other days, I'm incredibly lonely. I haven't formed the depth of bonds with anyone here that I felt so quickly with a friend from the Midwest (the one I would have lived with in that large Midwestern city). I haven't found many people who seem engaged in the things I'm engaged in -- or even their own things, a distinct lack of passion resonates from so many people I meet. And it's easy for me to focus on these things, to call them up when I'm feeling lonely, and to criticize them. But the truth is this: I came from a self-selected community of people more or less like my self, people who also have crazy Google searches (depending on what they're writing about or thinking about, or just read), who read a lot, who want to at least do no further harm even if whatever it is we're doing this year isn't actually doing much good. And even though these people have a lot in common with me, and even though I love them and miss them, when I'm really honest with myself, part of the problem with finding community here is that I'm looking for a community to step into, rather than to build a community, rather than to seek these connections, to grow and evolve with people.

When I remember this, I feel less discouraged about living here, less melancholy, and also less like I want to move again. But again, when I'm honest with myself, I know I will move again, at least once and that breaks my heart a little because I've never felt so quickly happy in a place -- especially in a place where I rarely cook, bake, or eat with anyone else.

***

When I moved West, my friend Brenna made me and our friend Rachael mix CDs for the road trip. On both our CDs she include the Avett Brothers, "The Perfect Space." I didn't listen to this song though until Rachael came for a visit and we drove to a nearby national park. That visit from Rachael was what I needed, at a time when I needed it, and in many ways felt very healing for me.

I want to fit in to the perfect space,
feel natural and safe...

Book Review: Cinderella Ate My Daughter

A mother I work with from time to time recently asked me if I'd read Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture by Peggy Orenstein. Then, a couple days later, I read about the book on NPR. How I missed this in February, when the article was originally published, I'm not sure. I was probably preoccupied with my graduate thesis defense, which was fast approaching.

I've taken a few (and yes, just a few) women's studies classes. My book explores paralleling stories of healing (eating disorder, serious injury) and growing up. I grew up feeling more comfortable with boys, and later men, than with girls and women. I'm torn between supporting the Hollaback movement and resenting that I need to/should support it--the equivalent of carrying a rape whistle or inserting the anti-rape condoms. In other words, street harassment, like rape, is something that happens. But I resent that I feel like I should have to defend myself against it at all--and that it's my responsibility to be prepared for that possibility and the emotional consequences.

The ideas presented in Cinderella Ate My Daughter are ideas I'm just beginning to explore--and simultaneously ideas that I've been exploring for a long time. I'm curious about the increasing number of eating disorders--and how they are beginning to appear in younger and younger children. I'm curious about the rise in make-up sales to children who haven't even reached double-digits. For that matter, I'm interested in knowing more about what I perceive as increasing consumerism/materialism not only as marketed to children, but as marketed to adults. I'd like to understand how the increasing pressure to read and know numbers up through 20 before a child starts kindergarten will affect both girls and and boys in the generation that's just starting school, and how this will define the haves from the have-nots. But more than that.

I'm curious about what it means to be female in America right now, and what it means to be female in general. I want to know if the division between girlie-girls and non-girlie-girls will cause a lasting division among women as this generation ages. I'm curious about why there's been the explosion of pink (and purple) in the girls' section of toy stores, shopping centers, and on the little girls I work with. And, I wonder about the messages we're sending girls--in an era when more women are taking science courses in college and entering the science field, but also in an era just before the generation of the girlie-girls Orenstein writes about.

Orenstein focuses, primarily, on cis-gendered (presumably) boys and girls, probably because that's her worldview. She nods, from time to time, to the idea that she'd still love her daughter, even if her daughter is a lesbian.Where this is inserted, it feels awkward, as though Orenstein is consciously trying to sound progressive. And, that being said, I think she is progressive. She wants her daughter to have sex before marriage. Long, long before marriage, in fact. But she's concerned about the early sexualization of girls, as well as the messages of "needing to be saved," or "being pretty," and that's what this book focuses on.

She cites one example of going to the Toy Fair and noticing that one particular banner (with pink script) says over, and over, and over, Beautiful, Pretty, Colorful. The other has the words Power, Energy, Heroes. Guess which one's for boys? She explores concern over pop-princesses and the exploitation of their girl-next-door wholesomeness especially as they get to the age where they try to step out of the pop starlet into young womanhood, possibly even starhood, over weight-issues and young women (and girls), over make-up and clothing and gender-associated playthings. Orenstein looks at the "harried, doing too much and none of it well" image of female superheroes as well as the hyper-sexualization of female superheroes when her daughter asks for a Wonder Woman costume for her sixth birthday.

And, I do give her kudos for exploring these issues as a mom of a young girl. I applaud her reading her daughter the Grimm fairy tales. I appreciate that she asked other moms for their opinions on the girlie-girl culture, and supports her writing with research (though some endnote markers would've been fantastic). I find her explorations more credible, and I'm more tolerant of the stumbles Orenstein takes as she works through these issues. In part, though I think the stumbles are intentional. She writes to impress a target demographic I'm not part of -- a part that wants to dismiss science (one Amazon reviewer blasts her for this early in the book after she talks about myelin sheaths and neural flushing, then in the same paragraph says, "Whatever that means."). But this also causes Orenstein to contradict some of her own thesis. We, as women (and men out there) should encourage the exploration of these terms if we don't understand them, rather than playing into a stereotype that talks down, at least to some extent to the audience.

This book seems particularly relevant to read right now, while fairy tale movies are coming out and/or are in post-production. The LA Times published a slideshow article in April on fairy tale movies for grownups. Included in the lineup: Red Riding Hood, Pan's Labyrinth, The Brothers Grimm, Snow White: A Tale of Terror. Movies coming out soon include Snow White and the Huntsman and Mirror, Mirror; Jack the Giant Killer; and Dorothy of Oz. Orenstein even nods to the Twilight series and movies, which she calls (and I'd agree) a modern fairy tale. I would love to know why we're collectively seeking this immersion in fairy tale lands. It's not as though this is recent, exactly. Thanks to E, I could name off fairy tale based movies, TV shows, and mini-series that are current for a while. But I could also name a fair number from the past 20-ish years, notable only because the Disney Princess line, which inspires Orenstein's book, was only created in 2000. We were already moving in that direction. Someone just decided to capitalize on it (more).

Would I recommend this book to others? Yes. With reservations. I am not thrilled by the way Orenstein jumps to some of her conclusions unfounded. I'm also not thrilled with the lack of exploration of the other side of the girlie-girl culture, those girls who (for whatever reason) don't fall into that position. She begins to do that toward the end, as she notices her own daughter turning against women. Specifically Orenstein wonders if her messages have caused her daughter to see being a girl as a bad thing while being a boy--or at least liking boy things--is superior.

One of the major positive attributes of this book? I found it super-readable. Orenstein's style kept the book from seeming overly preachy and because she was exploring the topic as a mom and using a journalistic-style voice (more inviting, than say, an academic paper) I had a hard time putting the book down. I can't say that for most nonfiction books. But I would've liked to feel more depth, or at least seen more exploration. I wanted to keep reading.

What I would love to know if this book was longer: What is it about the girlie culture that these other girls reject, for instance? And what becomes of them as far as body image goes? As far as fitting in later in life? Or those people who don't fit the cis-gendered roles? Why, really, are these the messages we're sending to girls culturally now? What about girls who grow up poor and not white? What affect does culture this have on them, and are they affected in the same way?

But Orenstein does explore a lot of topics I'm interested in, a lot of topics I wish people talked, and researched, and wrote about more. And that's the primary reason I would recommend the book. To push this type of conversation back off the Internet (where, to me, it seems more prevalent) and out of college classrooms, and back into places where moms and women and girls gather, talk, wonder why everything is just so pink.

Let me know your thoughts on these trends--even if you don't read the book. I love to hear from you.

Fancy Dipped Apples, Cupcake Monsters, and Were-rabbits

Apple of My Eye

No recipe this time. I'll just put that out there right now. But I've been walking past these apples at least once a day for the past week (or at least ones that look like these apples--hopefully not actually the same apples) and they were too Halloween-y adorable not to share. Something to aspire to, perhaps, if I want to ruin a perfectly good apple in order to decorate it.

Were-rabbits

A friend of mine went to culinary school and I remember listening to her talking about her chocolates classes -- and being amazed by the beautiful creations she came up with. Creations like those, and like these apples and were-rabbits, are exactly the type of thing that makes me want to seriously investigate how to work with chocolate, maybe even take classes. But then, I think of all the things I could better use that money for. And so instead, I consider possibly working at a place that would teach me how to make creations like these. I haven't ruled that out yet.


One thing I've got to say about Halloween--and other holidays--is that it certainly makes walking past bakeries, chocolate shops, and other such places much more interesting. I've already posted a picture of a "pan muerto" from our local growers market. In fact, I like window displays a lot when it's holiday time--especially when people aren't too terribly concerned about the political correctness of their displays. I think too, even in my Halloween grumpiness this year, the window displays in town have helped me feel a little more in the spirit. It's hard to not feel a little bit of fondness for the holiday when there are skeletons in wedding dresses, apples like these, little monster cupcakes, etc. Last year, in my previous town, I took pictures of fancy cupcakes at my favorite bakery (pictured left). The lighting was pretty horrible for pictures, but you get the general idea.

Such cute monsters...though I'm not
a fan of the pipe cleaners.

In my mind, one of the big problems with specialty cupcakes is that amount of frosting that's used. Maybe I only feel this way because I'm not a huge fan of frosting--or dye--but also because these specialty cupcakes (even ones that are much less fancy-decorated than these) cost so much, when really the ingredients are often very cheap to buy. The profit margin must be huge--and for products, that when I've tried them, aren't really worth it.

Speaking of things I'm not a fan of: caramel apples. That's a little ironic, perhaps, considering that was the impetus of this post. However, I don't understand why anyone would ruin a perfectly delicious apple by putting caramel on it--much less dipping it caramel and peanut butter. Or caramel and M&Ms. Or, well you get the point. I don't care much caramel, but even if I did, this just seems like a sugar-overload. I'd love to hear from a few of you who like caramel apples. Why do you like them and when do you eat them? People's food memories are always great.

The average American eats about 120 apples a year (hm, considering I pretty much eat an apple a day most of the year, that makes me concerned for the low consumption by other people). The average caramel apple has between 230-340 calories, according to one site I found. But these are (white) chocolate dipped apples--and probably "cost" a lot more than 700 calories. I'm guessing this number, because one of the only uber-indulgent caramel apples I could find statistics on, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory's Apple Pie Caramel Apple, supposedly contains more than 700 calories.

Something maybe we should eat more of? The relatives of these carved babies. Pumpkins you carve are edible but they're not super good like the smaller pie pumpkins. E, her boyfriend, and her co-worker K carved these beauties last night. E's boyfriend and K both carved pumpkins they'd grown and I'm proud (or something like that) to say E's pumpkin was "pamper'd." The label said so. Hers is the eye. And it's a little blocked by the boyfriend. Alas. Happy Halloween.

K's kitty in the window, A's Jack, E's Eye

Halloween Trickery, or Things that Glow Under Black Lights

At work, we have a black light. We also have water beads (aka, water marbles, warblettes, Orbeez, and many other names). We also have a quinine solution. In other words, I work at a pretty awesome place.

Quinine Soaked Water Beads Under Black Light

We soaked the water beads in our quinine solutions until they swelled (though not as much as they swelled in regular water and we're not sure why yet--that will require more experimenting) and then we held them under the black light, hoping that they'd absorbed the quinine, which glows under black light.

There are about 1/3 the size of beads soaked in plain water

Indeed, we had little glow-under-black-light pearls.

Fantastic. We plan to make up a whole bunch of these and put them in a glass bowl or vase of some sort and keep them under a black light in honor of Halloween. Who wouldn't love this*? We also plan to make petroleum jelly glow under black light (smiley faces have been on the back of my hand for several days), write things with yellow highlighters in the black light area. If only we had an emperor scorpion...

Look closely! Little halos around the spots!

But we do have bananas--whether we'll use them on Halloween, I don't know (but it would be pretty excellent to do so just because it's something that most people in the U.S. have easy access to). I wouldn't have guessed bananas glow under black light, but that's exactly what happens (you didn't expect me to somehow still make this food related, did you?). As the chlorophyll breaks down, it releases fluorescent chlorophyll carabolites. As brown spots start to appear, little blue halos form around the dying tissues (aka those brown spots). The bananas I had access to didn't show this super-well, but for your viewing pleasure, I've included an image.

In other fun news about food under black lights, we had broccoli in the work fridge and under a black light it glows a dark red--to dark for me to get a clear picture of, but if you've got dark, leafy greens (or cruciferious greens) and a black light, you should put them under it. I'm thinking that this would be a pretty sweet party trick -- put the salad under a black light (who needs it to be Halloween?) and watch your guests reactions.

Glowing pyramid of water beads

*If you're planning to do something similar, make sure you give the water beads (or even just use them as "eyeballs" for blindfolded storytelling or a "what's in the bowl?" game) at least 8 hours to soak and absorb liquid.

Little Devil (Crochet) + Book Review

E and her friends (becoming my friends) have a weekly knitting group, Knit at Night, and during the past knitting group session, I crocheted this little devil from Creepy Cute. This fellow seems super-appropriate for Halloween. He's supposed to be done with terra cotta colored yarn, but since I didn't have that I went for green (better than a variegated devil!).

He might go sit in the store window at E's yarn shop, but today he went to work with me so my co-workers could see. I'm rather fond of him, especially since I embroidered the face--something I've never actually be taught to do--but easier (in my mind) than sewing felt onto his face for his little triangle mouth, nose/mustache, and eyes. Name suggestions, anyone?

The most confusing part of this pattern -- the cape. I'm still not sure I did it right. Alas. If that's my biggest issue, that's not too bad. And it's not the fault of the author--the book is complete with a little illustrated pattern about how the crocheted cape (not to mention everything else) should look. The pictures, in addition to the pattern, make this a very user-friendly book and for that reason alone, I'd recommend it to people who are looking to crochet small toys, beginning crocheters or advanced. For this book, you mostly need to know:

SC - single crochet
Sl st - slip stitch
Dec - decrease
Inc - increase

My devil also used double and treble crochet, but if you've got those four above, you can make almost any pattern in the book. Perfect for quick (if you're an experienced crocheter) Halloween decorations, or a nice starter with manageable projects for someone who is newer.

Other creepy cute critters include:

Medusa
Corporate Zombie
Cthulhu
Grim Reaper
Ninja

and much more. If you click the link above, you can look at the table of contents on Amazon.

As for me, Medusa is next.

Urban Art

Kirksville, MO

Columbia, MO

Recently, as I've walked around my town, I've noticed more graffiti. This makes me happy, but only because it's tasteful graffiti. The paint isn't drippy looking and it seems to be placed in tiny places that you wouldn't necessarily notice if you weren't looking. I've seen similar graffiti in other towns, including Columbia, MO and Nashville, TN. It's a lot of places, of course, but you have to be on foot (for the most part) to notice these stenciled graffiti "bombs."

These graffiti stencils say something and most aren't tagged with an artist's signature of any sort. Maybe I like this about them as well. It seems a little more universal that way, like (I'd argue) art should be, a little more like I might know the person who created the graffiti. And who knows, maybe I do. From what I can find out, many of the graffiti stencil bombs are created by graphic design majors (or just people who happen to be pretty good at GD) and I know a number of people I'd include in that category.

However, even graffiti on the trains that run through town make me happy, when the graffiti artist was talented. There's something I envy in the images or words on these trains, in the ability to create clean art with a spray can and a metal surface--when I wouldn't even be able to create a replica on a sheet of paper. I envy the illicitness of the activity (and resent that it's illicit at all--cities and other municipalities which employ their graffiti artists to create murals make me happy because these actions help make graffiti art more legitimate in the public eye).

But, I also happen to really like graffiti. A year ago, I had the opportunity to drive around southern Iowa and somewhere near Kalona there's a fantastic barn covered with graffiti. I wanted to get a picture of it, but I wasn't the driver and couldn't convince the driver to stop. Alas.

That's not to say I love (or even like) all urban art. Far from it. Some of it is offensive, or shows no talent, or is just paint on public property. A couple of summers ago, the playground I grew up playing on -- one located in the middle of a neighborhood -- got graffitied with blue paint. No images, no words, just paint on equipment.

Anna Helping Show Off Guerrilla Knitting

If you google "urban art" you'll find entries for the Urban Art Awards, Street Art Awards, and others. Perhaps the most famous (currently) of the urban artists is Banksy, a British street artists whose work you may (or probably) recognize. There's also JR, a French artist. His TED talk, Use Art to the Turn the World Inside Out is worth viewing, if you haven't watched it. But you may also start to find things about "yarn bombing." Guerrilla knitters, and others, yarn-bomb everything from street lamps to cars. The point: to make
the world a little more beautiful, to add visual interest. To help us open our eyes.

The images below are graffiti stencils I saw on my way to my food co-op this morning, to buy cream so I could make butter with a little boy I've been watching this summer (that project was a success). He watched the train (also graffitied) and I took these pictures. I've also taken pictures of an angry trash can, a fighting (but not ninja) turtle, the oil bottle shown above, and others. I like taking pictures of urban art and you'll probably see more of these images on this blog over coming weeks and months. I'd love to know your thoughts about urban art.