Whole Paycheck has a new thing -- new to me, anyway -- a flyer of recipes that supposedly feed a family of 4 for less than $15, with shopping lists attached and helpful little symbols that tell you which products are available on one of their private labels.  I was really taken with this for some reason, and the last time we were there I bought ingredients for 2 recipes, which I then made.

The big success was this so-called gumbo.  I have a few criticisms of this one, but it tasted good.

Criticism #1.  I don't think this is a real gumbo because it contains neither the Cajun Holy Trinity nor a roux.  Arguably, the absence of a roux is what puts the "quick" in Quick Vegetarian Gumbo, but there's not much excuse for leaving the Trinity out.  It might add about 5 minutes to the preparation.

2. Real gumbo requires either okra or file powder.  This one calls for frozen okra, but BB doesn't like okra, so I used her favorite vegetable, green beans, instead (and doubled the quantity).  Thus, my version was absolutely not gumbo. 

3.  I think the Whole Foods people have a lot of nerve calling for "vegetarian Cajun sausage," a product they don't carry in their store, and which I don't believe exists.  I Googled "vegetarian andouille" and all I got was a Quicktime video of Clifton Chenier pointing at me and laughing.  I used Boca Italian sausage, which is pretty yummy if you like fennel and don't remember what real Italian sausage tastes like.  

4. The recipe calls for "white or quick-cooking brown rice."  I try to avoid white rice.  Quick-cooking brown rice is another product Whole Foods doesn't sell.  Well, thanks a lot.  I had some brown Basmati rice at home.  I tried to turn it into "quick-cooking brown rice" by pouring boiling water over it and letting it stand for 24 hours.  That didn't work -- it took about as long to cook as it would have without soaking, and I was annoyed.  

5. I now have a lifetime supply of Cajun seasoning mix.  Either I need to make me a whole lot of gumbo, or there's going to be some blackening going on.  I also had the idea that I could dunk sweet potatoes in the stuff and make oven fries.   

In knitting knews, I've temporarily abandoned all other projects to make something for Baby G, the fetus of a good friend.  Ever notice how a wanted pregnancy is a baby and an unwanted one is a fetus?  Anyway, this fetus has been long anticipated and I am indulging my current craving for multicolored knitting with a very festive blanket knit in the round (my fave).  I have a feeling there's an Icelandic sweater in my future, since going around and around with lots of colors seems to be what I want to do these days.  I would use Lamb's Pride Bulky, though, because I like it better than Lopi.

Knitting books I currently have out from the library:  The Best of Lopi (surprise!), EZ's Knitting Around, and EZ's The Opinionated Knitter.  EZ is frequently on my mind. There's going to be a lot of yarn left over from the blankie and related projects, and a seamless raglan baby sweater may also be in the cards.  I'm madly in love with the Tomten jacket, but I hate doing garter stitch (why is knitting back and forth so boring, when knitting around and around is so much fun?  Maybe I would like doing garter stitch in the round, but it seems kind of silly.).