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Emmie! Drop me a line with your email address and which apron you would like and I’ll get your goods on their merry way.
Wow, those were all some crazy search qweries. I love how searching for vegan squirrel recipes because of Weight Watchers Points got someone to my blog! How funny is that?
Food will be on it’s way shortly, along with some cold-weather recipes.
There is a time for food. But sometimes I just want to write a little. I hope that’s okay.
How are all of you? How were your summers? Are you settling into fall or resisting it will all your might like Bazu?
I have to admit that, while fall is my favorite season, I am resisting it. I feel like I barely did anything this summer! And it was a cold summer and it’s already so chilly this fall that we’ve had our heat on 2 nights in a row. And while I’m looking forwards to soups and stews and holiday baking, I’m already overwhelmed by the impending holiday season and the guarantee of cold feet for the next few months.
For fun, here are a few of the fun Google search queries that have brought up this blog, some more disturbing than others:
Vegan ovulation
Eating undercooked kale
Botulism blueberry muffin
Cats that like bananas
Little boy with carrots in his ears
Smoked Squirrel (there are a surprisingly large number of searches for cooking squirrel. who is savvy and resourceful enough to use the internet yet cooks squirrel?)
Creepy squirrel comment
Mint extract made brownies taste like toothpaste (I’ve been there! Make sure it says “peppermint” specifically)
TVP trail mix (am I the only one who thinks this sounds gross?)
Recipe for making a squirrel (good luck with that one)
John Lennon eat squirrils (sic)
Most disturbingly, I have had more hits than I can count from people looking up a really gross sex act, that brings up my blog because of some of the key words in this title ofthis post. You can use your imagination.
What’s the weirdest thing you’ve Googled? Keep it tame, kids, but reply to this post with your own odd search queries and I’ll put your name into a drawing for not only a copy of my book, but also an apron!
Entries will close Sunday night and I’ll announce the winner on Monday.
Thanks for the all the kind words and birthday wishes. I had a great weekend last weekend, celebrating my birthday with my lovely posse.
On Saturday we went out to dinner at Vita Cafe. I really wanted to go to Nutshell, but with a group of 14 on a Saturday night, I knew we were doomed to wait for hours and be split up. Of course, in the mix of it all, I forgot the pictures, but I started with the spicy tempeh sticks and had the mac ‘n cheeze with broccoli. I learned from this experience that it’s too hard to go out with a group that size that doesn’t all know each other and really mingle and talk. Next year, party at the house.
After dinner it was on to the Hollywood Bowl!
Jim and I suck at bowling, but we love it. I broke 100, which is exceptional for me. I’ve only done that one other time. We haven’t bowled since we moved here, so it was fun to bust out our bowling balls and give them a little shine.
On Sunday, I had my birthday breakfast at a new waffle place in Portland: Jace Gace.
Jim went with a good old traditional waffle, with a blob of whipped EB and some maple syrup on the side.
I decided to spice it up with the pina colada. Coconut cream, bananas, pineapple and a dusting of brown sugar. Yum! They also that an avocado rancheros waffle. Maybe next time.
These waffle pictures were taken with my super bad ass new digital camera. I’m still reading the book and playing with techniques as I conquer the beast. No more digital brick camera! Thanks Chris and Kate!!!
With all the baking I love to do for others you’d think that I would want something really big and decadent for my birthday treat.
But really, at heart, I’m a simple girl. I’ll take cookies any day over cake. But with all the sweets we’ve had lately, with Jim’s birthday, I wanted some healthier cookies. These are Dreena’s Maple Walnut cookies from Vive!, with the addition of chocolate chips. Chewy and very mapley, I enjoyed them with a warm mug of jasmine green tea.
Dinner last night:
Nate’s meatball sandwich with Tofutti Mozzerella and some steamed veggies, topped with Parma. I love the size of the Nate’s meatballs, you can make a nice sized sub on a hot dog bun.
Today I received another present from one my favorite people. Apparently I’m one of hers too:
A vintage Singer Featherweight. It was built in Elizabeth, New Jersey in 1934. I LOVE it! It has all the original presser feet, the original manual (with the original owner’s name and address penciled in on it) and everything. What a beauty, I can’t wait to start making some goodies on it.
Well, summer is coming to a close, despite the warm weather we’ve been having this week. The trees are starting to turn and leaves are starting to fall and the morning air has that distinct crispness. While I love fall, it’s my favorite season, I am sad to see summer go. I hope you are all having fun savoring these last few weeks.
Jim’s birthday was on Labor Day. He’s not a big birthday celebrating kind of guy and he especially doesn’t like surprises or having a lot of attention on him. After having a hand in two friends birthday’s this year, one turned 35 and the other 30, Jim said to me, “You have to promise that you won’t do anything like that for my 30th.”
So. I did it for his 29th instead! If there’s one thing about me, I don’t like being told to not do something. That is a dangerous combination mixed with my love of spoiling Jim. 
I got his siblings in on the plan and they came out, with their respective spouses (one set from Seattle, the other from Phoenix), for the weekend. I planned a big vegan BBQ birthday bash for last Saturday that turned out to be a blast. We had all the vegan food you could ask for and more, tiki torches, some music and guitar playing, even Dave came by to hang out!
Enough of all this rambling, though, here’s the grub!
Kabobs! Just on the grill, so not quite grilled yet. I marinaded the tofu overnight in a teriyaki sauce and then skewered them with chunks of pineapple and zucchini.
We also had Field Roast and Tofurky brats, but those were boring looking, so I didn’t take a picture. A note for grilling such things, though: soak them in water for a couple of hours ahead of time if you have the time. Then you can cook them longer without them drying out inside. Grilled and juicy!
Real Food Daily Cashew Cheddar alongside the Seitan O’ Greatness. As I always do, I up the spices with some sage and fennel and liquid smoke, to make it pepperoni-ish. Jim and I could live on this seitan and cheese and crackers. When we eat stuff like this I wonder what it tastes like to people who aren’t vegan or haven’t been vegan for very long. I mean, does it just taste foreign and weird? I can’t really remember what cheese tastes like, except greasy and salty (does it really taste like anything else?) and I don’t think it tastes like cheese, but it does taste damn good and that’s all that matters!
Curried tempeh salad from Vegan Planet. Our friends Jen and Alex brought it and it was wonderful. They said they about doubled the spices from the recipe itself and I loved it and that is saying a lot as I have a history of being anti cold salads (that aren’t lettuce based).
An amazing salad that Kate made using assorted greens, micro greens, nectarines, blueberries, cashews and a flax oil and rice vinegar dressing.
I also made this asparagus pasta salad, but forgot to take a picture! Oops.
For dessert I made a chocolate peanut butter pie. Well, two actually.
You all know, if you’ve read this blog for any period of time, that Jim and I are both peanut butter and chocolate crazy. Not slightly crazy, but seriously crazy. It’s just the best taste combo! So good, in fact, that I have to show you all another picture:
If you are allergic to peanuts, other nut butters also taste amazing paired up with chocolate. I imagine that cashew butter would be heavenly with this.
And to share the love, here is the recipe!
Hands down, the best gift Jim got (and me too, as I’m lucky enough to share it with him) was this beautiful family portrait, painted by none other than the talented Chris Harback:
Isn’t it great? Jim and I are both getting the biggest kick out of Hazel, in her little ball. It reminds us both of a sorcerer, that we are all under the control of. Jim and I are both still in shock and marveling at how amazing this is. I mean, look at all of us! Chris is one heck of an artist and an even more amazing friend!
In closing, here is a cute little video we shot of Hazel tooling around her cage. We were trying to get her out to clean her cage, but she wasn’t quite sure if she wanted to come out or not. Please ignore my strange baby hamster-babble.
