Pumpkin Biscuits: hello, Fall.

 It’s fall, and there was a sale on canned pumpkin at the local Food Lion. You can probably guess what that means: pumpkin on pumpkin. Pumpkin in EVERYTHING.

Sausage! [vegan]

Despite recent efforts to live my life less online and more in reality, my best culinary and creative inspirations often come as a result of browsing the net. This recipe was the catalyst of my most recent adventure. It really hadn’t occurred to me that you could do a vegan spin on breakfast sausage without labor-intensive, expensive, or otherwise complicated ingredients like TVP or seitan.

Salted Caramel Mocha Frappe: Pt I

Around the time the other half and I were jaunting around the Boston area for my aunt’s wedding, Starbucks did their thing and released their usual fall flavors: pumpkin spice and salted caramel mocha. Many factors, such as its revolting, distinctly un-vegan ingredients and the fact that the barista/snob in me generally hates the sort of individuals who come in frothing at the mouth over the flavor, abbreviating it to PSL as if pumpkin spice latte crosses some obscure threshold of tolerance is just too much of a mouthful to actually say, rabidly snapping celebratory iPhone pics of their decidedly run-of-the-mill beverages fated to be over-sentimentally hashtagged and posted and reposted to the point of exhaustion, have made me refuse to order the ever-popular pumpkin spice. This is pure pigheaded- and meanspiritedness, because I actually love it.

    My one choice when abroad, therefore, was to suck down as many salted caramel mochas as possible before returning home. This left me with such a spoilt, salted caramel lust that I actually drove to a Starbucks after leaving my job—again, at a coffee shop—to get one of said drinks. It was pathetic, and I was in my uniform still and the Starbucks and I kept exchanging knowing but confused looks. So I staged an intervention. For myself. 

And yes, I know I'm just the salty cousin of all those pumpkin spice hags.

Mom's Banana Bread

 Blogging is a unique opportunity to craft the life you want the world to see, to make everything seem as neat and hip and filtered as Taylor Swift’s Instagram account. And while that’s cool and everything, I’m not so much about that. Mostly because the effort it takes to make things seem pristine and hipster-approved seems like a lot of work to me.

Chocolate Pie [vegan]

This Thursday, I'm thirsty for chocolate. Pie, to be specific.

That's code for "this isn't a drink recipe."

Cake is the accepted standard American birthday dessert of choice. But, as food blogging is increasingly drawing to my attention, I was a petulant, picky child. First I vehemently disliked frosting, then, in a vividly-remembered episode of cake-eating at my paternal grandparents’ house, I discovered that frosting is actually delicious and gave up cake eating in favor of its less healthy topping. Or maybe it was the other way around and I abandoned frosting-eating for cake, all I’m really sure of is that frosted cake in its entirety is something I have long viewed askance.

Beet + Walnut Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing

I’ve been making various incarnations of this salad for almost two years now.

The salad I usually keep very simple: this is actually the most toppings I’ve ever added—the beets and walnuts stand alone, flavor-wise, so if you don’t have any other vegetables on hand, don’t worry.

The dressing I’ve also altered: sometimes I do a simple olive oil and vinegar vinaigrette, often I use Dijon mustard instead of regular, but this time it was the old yellow because I am out of Dijon.

However you spin it, its almost impossible to go wrong as long as you have the foundation of this salad: greens + canned beets + walnuts + dressing.

Beet + Walnut Salad

Serves one as a meal, or two as a side salad

2 cups chopped greens

½ can (or so) beets      

1/8 cup walnuts  

    

Other suggested toppings:

¼ green pepper

½ onion, sautéed in olive oil

2 small radishes, sliced

To assemble:

Prepare toppings, and arrange on lettuce as desired. If you are making ahead of time, do not add nuts until ready to serve, as they will get soggy, and don’t add the sautéed onions until they’re cooled or the lettuce will wilt.

Dress and serve.

Honey Mustard Dressing

2 tbsp mustard of choice

1 tbsp honey

2 tsp lemon juice or vinegar

1 tsp olive oil (optional)

Salt, pepper, and onion powder to taste

Whisk ingredients together. Adjust seasonings as needed.

Friday things: la familia, etc

We've been jetsetting lately. I'm actually in Boston right now.

But here are some snapshots of other goings-ons.

 Jack and I both had birthdays. He gave me a haircut and massage appointment for mine. This is my before hair picture. There is no after.

 I went to see my family: this is Max. Max is mad.