Thyroids, mold, moving and lumps.

Sadly, this holiday season Tattooedgeek and I will not be at this years Bust Magazine's Holiday Craftacular.  The Bust Craftacular is by far my most favorite vending event of the holiday season, unfortunately we didn't apply this year.  Actually we won't be vending at any holiday events this year at all. 

As I mentioned in previous posts the last few months have been a little rough on our family and subsequently  Tattooedgeek.  Several simultaneous events brought our whole world to a complete halt.  Most importantly; after being sick for a large part of the summer Michael (Mr. Tattooedgeek) was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Secondly, our landlord put the house that we were renting on the market without informing us.  We found out on a Tuesday morning in July when a team of Realtors showed up at our door at 9:00 am demanding a walk through.  The next 6 weeks were a literal whirled wind of doctor appointments and Realtors. At one point Michael was seeing 7 different doctors. The exact day Michael was diagnosed with thyroid cancer we were informed that our house had a buyer and the buyer had scheduled an inspection for the following weekend. 

The house our family had lived in for almost 2 years drastically failed it's inspection.  The buyer quickly backed out of the sale.  Afterward the inspector came to Michael and I and asked if any of our family were ill.  We told him what Mike was going through.  The inspector said that the house had a serious mold infestation in the basement and the air quality was seriously compromised because of it.  He insisted that everything, even the thyroid cancer, was a direct result of poor indoor air quality in the home.  He strongly suggested that we have an air quality test preformed.  We did and the results were off the charts.  While an average home has about 500-1000 airborne mold spores at any given time, our basement had a whopping 36,000!  Mike's office/studio had 9,600 and our bedroom had 5,700.   We forwarded copies of the air quality report to all of Michael's doctors. None of the doctors would confirm that the mold caused Michael to become sick but every single one of them said to move A.S.A.P.  So we did.

Whether or not mold spores and poor indoor air quality were the cause of the thyroid cancer we're still not certain.  On October 11, 2010 Mike had a complete Thyroidectomy and 19 lymph nodes removed from his throat.  What started out as a small lump in late July had quadrupled by October.  The right lobe of the thyroid had been completely replaced with a malignant tumor.  10 of the 19 lymph nodes removed had also turned malignant.  The second week of December Michael will have radiation  treatments   We'll find out after the radiation treatments how successful the surgery was.  Thankfully NO tattoos were harmed during the thyroidectomy and Mike handled the surgery amazingly.  He was already making faces and joking about going home in the recovery room.

Moving 7 people 3 cats and a Great Dane is no small task.  Fortunately we found a place that allowed the animals while keeping the kids in the same schools fairly quickly.  We started to move 2 days before Mike's surgery.  Unfortunately the place is less then half the size of our last home and now half of our stuff is in storage.  The actual move itself was a completely different traumatic experience that I'll save for another day.  "Didn't you know about the mold?" is the question most people ask us.  No, we truly  didn't. The largest source of the mold was in the basement behind a closed door in a room we didn't have access to.  Living in the house we didn't notice any moldy odors.  After we moved though we noticed that everything we owned smelled like mold.  What couldn't be washed was thrown out.

With Mike's surgery complete and our family moved into a nice mold free home I thought the only thing left to do was settle in and set up my work space.  However within days of moving into the new place I started to notice the base of my neck was feeling somewhat different.  A routine sonogram for a pre existing condition  confirmed that my thyroid had grown a little.  The growth was very little and my Endocrinologist wasn't concerned.  But then earlier this week I felt like maybe there was somewhat of a lump forming at the base of my neck.  A sonogram this Tuesday confirmed that there is indeed a new small little lump (nodule) on the right side of my thyroid that was not present just a few weeks ago.  What that means I don't know.  I am seeing a new, highly recommended Endocrinologist in a few weeks. Hopefully she'll have some answers for us.  So far all we've been hearing is that the odds of two people in one family experiencing significant thyroid growth at the same time are none.  But yet here we are,  both of us with thyroid growths at the same time.

The purpose of this blog post was to explain why we didn't apply to this years Craftacular.  Some of you have been kind enough to ask.   Even though we won't be there this year  many of our favorite shops and good friends will be.  A list of New York vendors can be found here: http://www.bust.com/craftacular/vendors-nyc.html   Be sure to stop by the RockLove, Pulp Sushi and My Zoetrope booths! 

Vegan Mofo 2010: Big Fat Biscuits

Soups and stews have been on the menu for the last several days here. This evening we decided to make biscuits to enjoy with our brothy leftovers.  I made three different  types of biscuits: green onion, savoury red pepper & onion and a simple plain biscuit.  The savory red pepper & onion biscuit recipe can be found in the pages of Sarah Kramer and Tanya Barnard's The Garden of Vegan.  The green onion biscuit is identical to the plain biscuit with the addition of  1/2 cup chopped green onions. The plain biscuits were tonight's family favorite (recipe to follow.)  Biscuits are so simple and quick to make, why anybody would buy the toxic rolled up kind from the grocery store dairy section is beyond me.  Toxic??? Hell ya!  Even if you can find a dairy free version they will still be loaded with hydrogenated oils, refined flours and several laboratory created completely unnecessary ingredients.  Do yourself and those you feed a favor and steer clear of them.

Plain & Simply Biscuits

2 cups unbleached flour

3 tsp baking powder

1tsp salt

1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper

1 tsp garlic powder

1/3 cup melted earth balance (or other non hydrogenated, non dairy butter substitute)

1 cup plain almond (or soy) milk mixed with 1tsp lemon juice

Preheat oven to 450. In a large bowl sift together flour, baking powder, salt, pepper, garlic powder.  Mix lemon juice with non dairy milk then add melted earth balance.  Add liquid ingredients to dry ingredients  and knead until you have a large ball of dough.  Pull apart the large ball of dough into 6 medium balls or 12 small balls. Place the dough balls onto an oiled cookie sheet, and slightly flatten the tops down.  Bake 10-15 minutes. Will make 6 medium biscuits or 12 small ones.

Optional:  brush the tops of the biscuits with a little melted earth balance before you bake them.

Vegan Mofo 2010 day 2: Black Eyed Peas, Collard Greens & Sliced Vegan Ham

The sliced vegetarian ham from May Wah is by far our favorite fake meat. For those of you not familiar with May Wah you can find their extensive and wonderful products here: http://www.vegieworld.com/.  Even though they list their products as vegetarian most are actually vegan. The kids favorite way to have the vegetarian ham is baked with sliced pineapples and an apricot glaze, my favorite way is with black eyed peas and collard greens - since I do the cooking and 99.9% of the dish washing this time my favorite won. Hurray for me!  You don't need the vegetarian ham to make a yummy batch of black eyed peas and collard greens, a good liquid smoke is all you need. In my old age I have become very loyal to several products, STUBB'S Mesquite liquid smoke is one of those products. http://www.ilovestubbs.com/. In a deep pot I  saute a large sliced onion with a couple of table spoons of Earth Balance, when the onion is soft and somewhat translucent I add 2 cups of vegetable broth, some Annie's natural organic vegan Worcestershire sauce, a couple of dashes of the Stubbs mesquite liquid smoke and salt & pepper to the pot. I bring it all to a boil then throw the collard greens into the pot and simmer until the greens are nice and wilted. Then I put the black eyed peas into the pot and continue to simmer for 15-20 more minutes, if I have the vegetarian ham I'll slice it into pieces and toss the pieces into the pot the last 5 minutes of cooking. Once everything is finished  I sometimes use any extra liquid to make a gravy for mashed potatoes, or I'll leave the broth with the greens and black eyed peas and serve with fresh biscuits. Canned black eyed peas work well in this dish and will cut your cooking time considerably, however I prefer to use fresh or frozen. If you decide to use either fresh or frozen make sure you soak your black eyed peas long enough so when you cook them they will be nice and soft.  Before cooking the collard greens you should remove all thick stalks then wash and chop the greens into bite sized pieces.  Ooooh, I almost forgot the hot sauce!  Keep a bottle of good hot sauce on the table when serving black eyed peas and collard greens.

Independence Day

Leaving NYC and moving 75 miles north doesn't always seem like it was a good idea.  The lack of vegan restaurants, the snow and simply being an hour and half away from NYC can really get on my nerves.  Then the 4th of July comes around.  When the 4th comes  I remember why we moved to the Hudson Valley.  Our little town here closes the main streets to vehicles allowing children to have the run of the place all afternoon and most of the night.  I usually skip the afternoon festivities of parades, animal contests, races and street vendors.

But I always show my face for the fireworks. This years fireworks display did not disappoint, in fact I think those in charge of the pyrotechnics might have stepped up their game some. There was definitely a few new kabooms added last night - much to my delight!

After a few hours in the a.m. preping orders to ship I spent the rest of the afternoon cooking for Mike and the kids. I made a very Patriotic potato salad for lunch.  I combined purple (hoping they'd pass for blue) potatoes, red plum tomatoes and sliced sweet white onions.

 I parboiled the potatoes whole leaving their skins on.  (Leaving the potatoes whole with skins on helps them retain their vibrant purple color, if you peel them first they will turn an ugly grayish color during the parboiling process.)  I peeled  and quartered the potatoes. I sliced the onion and quartered the plum tomatoes. I added some fresh chopped Italian parsley and tossed everything in an olive oil vinaigrette dressing.

I'm still not sold on Purple Potatoes.  Visually they definitely add something, but they are rather costly and I'm not certain I like the texture of them.  I find them to be kind of grainy, actually mealy might be a better description.  Without a doubt I prefer red skinned or good old fashioned white potatoes.

I also made Philly Cheese Stake wraps with a homemade cashew "cheddar" cheese sauce.  I sauteed Tofurky Philly style steak deli slices (http://www.tofurky.com/)  with sliced onions and peppers until everything was browned and crispy. Before I wrapped up the sauteed stuff I smothered everything in "cheddar" sauce.  I firmly believe that creamed cashew's can replace just about any dairy product.  We finished the 4th with a very patriotic dessert. An apple pie?????

HELL NO! An extra super chocolatey chocolate cake. As far as I'm concerned chocolate beats apples any day of the year, even the 4th of July.

Cheesiness defined

Today Mike brought home Daiya shredded cheddar.  He  picked up the Daiya at Whole Foods Tribeca 270 Greenwich Street  New York,   NY 10007.  Some girls have husbands that bring them home flowers, I have a husband that brings me home cheese, vegan cheese.  I used my cheesy gift to make some super stuffed quesadillas, which came out amazing by the way.  I made a few simple grilled cheese quesadillas and they were excellent too.  I have hated every brand of vegan cheese that I've tried. I tend to shy away from any recipe that calls for nondairy cheese, until now. Your Omni friends will have a hard time believing that you are serving them vegan cheese if you use Daiya Cheddar in your recipes.  For family budget purposes Daiya is a bit pricey.  I cook for 7 people every day so I'm sure you can understand why price is a huge  issue with me.  The containers Mike brought home were $5.29 each and we were able to make about 5 quesadillas a container, trust me it was well worth it! The biggest problem I've had with vegan quesadillas is the trouble they have staying together - with the Daiya that wasn't a problem.  It melted so nicely.  We piled beans, veggies, and  Morningstar Farms crumbles - the Daiya held it all together perfectly!  For locations where you can buy Daiya, or for a list of restaurants that use Daiya products check out http://www.daiyafoods.com/.                                                                          

Yesterday we went to see Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland.  I have to admit, I wasn't blown away.  I enjoyed it, but it was somewhat dull.  You will not find a bigger Tim Burton, Johnny Depp, Alan Rickman nor Helena Bonham Carter fan then me (especially when they work together) but the movie for me, definitely lacked something.  I don't know what - but something.

                                                                             

We also saw Benicio Del Toro in  The Wolfman.  First I must admit that if I wasn't a happily married woman I'd probably be in jail for stalking Mr. Del Toro. I love him. I have loved him ever since I first saw him in The Usual Suspects. I do however love him enough to admit that he is a terrible actor - especially in The Wolfman.  I still enjoyed the movie anyway.  I've read reviews that ripped everything from Danny Elfman's musical score to how fast the moon moved.  The moon did move very fast, but it did so to depict the fact that several full moons pass throughout the course of the story.  I liked it all, the music, the actors, the gypsies, the moon - all of it!  Movie reviewers are stupid, don't listen to any of them.

Before I end this post I wanted to share with you my favorite new print.  I found this sassy little Zombie Hunter print while putting together a zombie treasury a few weeks back. Isn't she cute.  I had to get one.  I picked up this gorgeous plum frame from Home Goods. The frames color matches the print perfectly, like they were made for each other.  Just like me and my vegan cheese baring husband.   Before you puke from all of the cheesiness going on here stop by http://www.zombieromance.etsy.com/ and get your own Zombie Hunter print. 

And yes cheesiness is a real word.  Here are some of the definitions I found:

chees·i·er, chees·i·est
cheesi·ly adv.
cheesi·ness n.

1. Containing or resembling cheese.
2. Informal Of poor quality; shoddy.
3. tasteless; tacky

What do the Vegan de Guadalupe, Frankenstein and his bride all have in common?

The walls here have had their awesomeness dramatically increased by a couple of new prints  recently snagged off  Etsy.

Vegan de Guadalupe

(patron saint of vegan kitchens)

Our kitchen needed a patron saint and so does yours!  You can get your own over at http://www.vivalacraft.etsy.com/.  Be sure to check out all of  the other adorable unique prints available at Viva La Craft.

I first fell in love with the Vegan de Guadalupe when on saw her on the Vegan de Guadalupe Cookzine for sale at http://www.hortencia.etsy.com/. I bought this super cute vegan cookzine last year.  It's full of great Mexican recipes.

Last but definitely  not least are the excellent prints we picked up from Point Blank Art & Design.  The prints arrived in about 4 days, and came with lots of extras.  There are dozens of great  prints available. I've got my eye on Point Blanks Christopher Lee's Dracula.  http://www.pointblankdesign.etsy.com/. We will be back there for more!

Peachy Keen

  Allow me to introduce little Miss Peachy Keen.

This retro inspired doll  made her debut in the shop last night. I just love her, don't you!

Peachy Keen is our first new candle for 2010.  Not only is she a new scent ~ she's also the first to be listed in one of our newest tin sizes.  All of our scents are now available in a small, medium and a soon to come double wicked large 8oz tin.  The small is the same 2oz we've been using for the last several years.  Our new medium size is a much larger wider tin.  While it holds the same amount of wax as the 6oz tins we've used in the past, it allows for a bigger label and a much larger image.  You'll get the same amount of candle as before only our original  label art will be bigger, brighter and better.

 

There's a few more newbies waiting to make their debut as well.  Check back often ~ you won't be disappointed!

 

Good Bye 2009, Hello 2010!

Christmas is over and the New Year has thankfully begun. This Christmas was a crazy one for Tattooedgeek. We were still taking & shipping Christmas orders on the 24th! Once our last trip to the post office for the 2009 Holiday season was completed we pushed aside all of the Tattooedgeek candles, balms and ornaments.  We realized Christmas Eve was here and we had no idea what to make for dinner. I really wanted to try the recipe for Mexican Chocolate Snickerdoodles from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. I decided to let the cookies set the tone for our Christmas Eve dinner.  We had a Mexican Fiesta.

 

I LOVED the Mexican Chocolate Snickerdoodles. The recipe was super easy to follow and made the most moist, delicious, chocolaty vegan cookies I've made yet. The cayenne in the recipe gave the cookies just a little bit of a kick. Unfortunately the rest of the family didn't share my love for Mexican Chocolate cookies. Our youngest didn't want me to put any out for Santa. He was afraid Santa would burn his tongue and not leave any presents.  I baked a quick batch of Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies using the Quaker Oats Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookie recipe. I used ground flax seeds mixed with vanilla almond milk to replace the eggs the recipe called for, and I used Earth Balance for the butter.  I replaced the raisins with vegan chocolate chips. Everybody eat the Oatmeal Cookies and left me the Mexican Chocolate Snickerdoodles. Everybody except Santa Claus, he eat all of cookies we left out for him even the Mexican Chocolate Snickerdoodles (it seems he didn't mind a tingling tongue after all.)

For Christmas Eve dinner we made Black Bean Soup, Creamy Avocado Potato salad (from Vegan Brunch), Seitan Taquitos and Jalapeño Hush Puppies with a creamy dipping sauce.

For the Jalapeño Hush Puppy Dipping sauce I blended 2 cups of Vegenaise with 1 cup salsa and a couple of dashes of hot sauce. The sauce was cool, creamy, tangy and delicious!  The kids dipped french fries in it and used it on veggie burgers the next day. 

  For the Christmas Day festivities we veganized some of our traditional Italian favorites. Stuffed Red Peppers, Sicilian Rice Balls, and Spaghetti w/Marinara sauce. I think everybody agreed, the veganized winner of the day were the Sicilian Rice Balls.

The key to good Italian rice balls is the rice itself, always use Arborio rice.  Make it ahead of time so it's completely cooled when you're ready to use it.

 With 2010 already here I'm looking forward to great year of vegan food and cruelty free crafty fun.  I'll be posting lots of new Tattooedgeek products, so please check back often.  Or check the shop:  http://www.mrstattooedgeek.etsy.com/