End-of-Summer Greek Pasta Salad

 It’s happening: the end of summer is approaching. We had a week of chilly mornings and evening here at the beach—basically just enough to get everyone unpacking their sweaters and reawaken unwelcome memories of pumpkin spice madness and Uggs—followed quickly by two weeks of muggy days with temps reaching into the upper 90s. I’m not complaining though, these last throes of summer have found me kayaking on river and sea, getting my money’s worth out of my swimsuit, and stuffing my face with this delicious salad.

Breakfast Enchiladas [vegan]

My handsome sidekick and I recently had several weeks off of work and school. You'd think I would have used this time to do a lot of cooking and blogging, but that wasn't so much the case: we stayed pretty busy with getting settled into our new apartment and procrastinating.

But we did cook some things. It was actually Jack who conceived of these delicious enchiladas. They were inspired by my vegan breakfast scramble, another Hard Times-prompted creation that Jack will actually deign to eat, even in all its healthy/vegan glory. With our recent (accidental) discovery of green enchilada sauce was just begging to be adapted for breakfast, scramble-filled enchiladas were the obvious step.

old apartment memories + moving + life + other stuff happens

We are in the middle of moving and finishing classes and summer jobs and other fun grownup-but-not-completely-grownup stuff.

Life is pretty crazy right now.

So I've had less time for cooking, writing and blogging and related things, but I hope to pick up the pace when we get settled into our new place.

We've been living in an area of Wilmington that makes people raise their eyebrows and gasp when we tell them where it is.

One of my coworkers' reaction when I revealed the location - immediately after he had been talking about growing up in the ghetto - was to raise his eyebrows and tell me,

    "Okay, sweetie, I'm going to need you to do my a favor: don't get shot, okay?"

So far, so good.

Mint syrup + iced coffee

    I’ve been extremely busy the past few weeks, moving to a new apartment, trying to settle in, finishing up my summer class, working, and running countless errands, but there is always time for coffee. Always.

My original plan for Fridays, if I ever really had any, were to have a sort of random collection from the week.

That might still happen. But not today. Today is all about reptiles. Because that's just what I want.

Cuddly reptiles. (That's right: these two are clearly cuddling).

Hiding reptiles.

Sleepy reptiles.

Reptilian bathing beauties.

Look! More cuddling! Aren't cold-blooded squamata the sweetest?

All right, enough scales. Other than creeping on snakes, this is the other thing that has been going on in life recently: moving.

That, and listening to and watching this music video. Literally over and over again. I'm obsessed with the video, which is something like a whimsical, twisted -up salad of Wes Anderson, David Lynch, and tropey 60s horror films.  I sing it loudly every morning at work, which admittedly probably ruins a lot of people's mornings.

Speaking of repeatedly watching music videos: Sia's "Chandelier". The dancing is just splendid, it's been truly enjoyable with each viewing. Yes, I have probably watched it close to a dozen times. Don't judge.

Cookie Crumble Frappe [vegan]

 

Oh, hello there, you gorgeous drinkable confection. Let me introduce you to my friends, Oreo cookies.

   Well, almost Oreo cookies. The cookies, like the drink, are really a one-off of someone else's brilliance (aren't we all), brilliance in this case being Starbucks' Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappuccino.

Gingersnap Cold Press: thirsty + throwback Thursday

    Ready for things to get weirdly nostalgic and stuff?

   Okay, well first off, this rather innocuous-looking picture is almost all of what you will need to make this drink, which is, not surprisingly, both coffee and cold.

    This recipe was inspired by two things I thought I would never miss: Minnesota and my mom.

  
  I believe in most cases to miss something, you have to love it. I didn’t think I loved Minnesota, and maybe I don't, but once a place is a backdrop for  happy times and experiences the memories and the place become intertwined, and to desire one is to want the other as well. Or maybe I just don’t want to give Minnesota the satisfaction or the credit she deserves as a charming State.