GYM CHRISTMAS Days 6 and 7: No pain, no gain, and Taking Out the (Mental) Trash

I neglected to post a second time yesterday so today I'm covering two days worth of Gym Christmas activities.

Day 6: Turn Commercial Breaks into Fitness Breaks. Since we don't have cable, I just made a point of stretching and foam rolling during our ongoing marathon of Game of Thrones.

This Christmas, give yourself the gift of injury prevention. I highly recommend the foam rollers by Trigger Point. It hurts like you wouldn't believe, but it pays off. Day 6: check.

This morning, John and I went to the Christmas Pageant at my church because it is easily one of the most entertaining things I see all year. Little kids reading lines, pretending to be Mary and Joseph, carrying around a big stick with a donkey's head on it (to represent the donkey, duh), a kid dressed as one of the three kings holding a bar that said "GOLD" on it, just to make sure you know he's rich. It's non-stop laughs. Then the new rector invited the costumed children to stand all around him while he did communion and explained each part as he went. Note the kid running past the alter. He was dressed up like a horse and wandered around aimlessly during the entire pageant.

Today for Gym Christmas Day 7 I did Hazardous Waste Removal. For me that meant emptying all the trash in the house and cleaning up a bit because we're having people over for beer and board games tonight. I also decided to bake some Christmas cookies and chose a recipe for sandwich cookies. There's ganache in those cookies! Delicious. Also on the menu: French Onion Toasts from the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook (not shown).

For the more holistic aspect of hazardous waste, I focused on my dissertation. I have a great advisor and I was recently paired with a great mentor through the SMT abstract mentoring program. She and I will work together for a month or two while I prepare my SMT abstract that's due in January. She pointed out a few things that will dramatically change my project for the better. When something like that happens, it's easy to feel like the whole thing is going to unravel. But with a good advisor, it changes into something much more awesome. It also means I have more work to do. I spent some time today honing my outlines and creating a to-do list for the next two weeks that includes everything I have to do to write the fourth chapter, with new info in hand. Very exciting. It's nice to have an empowering day with my dissertation. Day 7: check.

Here is my GYM CHRISTMAS list now:

Go for a Pre- or Post-Dinner Walk.

Yuletide Cheer

Make a Game of Household Chores

Crank Up the Music and Boogie Down

Hazardous Waste Removal

Regular Water Consumption

Investigate and Share

Sneak a Work Out into Another Activity

Turn TV Commercials into Fitness Breaks

Muscle-Building/Strength Training

Animal Time

Seven-Minute Work-Out.

GYM CHRISTMAS Day 5: Barack Obombus

Yesterday was GYM CHRISTMAS Day 5: Spreading Yuletide Cheer. I brought two bags of Christmas candy for my students as a surprise treat on our last day of classes. I only have 10 students right now and on any given day only 4-5 show up. So at the end of class, I still had two fairly full bags of candy. Despite my efforts to disperse them at school (and the small handful of chocolate kisses I had for a pre-lunch snack), I still had two bags of candy when I went home.

John and I knew that we wanted to spend the evening eating the leftover candy and watching Game of Thrones (in season 2 and we're hooked!) but I wanted to do a fairly challenging work out. Otherwise I would have sat around all evening eating candy and feeling kind of belch. 

So I did as much as I could of the Iron Strength work out I've written about before. And bonus, I got to do it in my new Triathlon Club T-shirt that came in yesterday! As one of my teammates said, now everyone will know how legit I am.

I haven't attempted Iron Strength for several months because of my stress fracture. But since it is (hopefully!) on the wane, I wanted to give it a try. And, to my complete surprise, I did the best I ever have with this work out. I did ALL SIX SETS of 15 jump squats - what?! And my legs aren't even sore today. My upper body, of course, is pretty tired and sore now because I also did two sets of 15 pushups and 15 rows from plank (without the weights). I still can't do some of the tasks, like sit ups, etc, because of my motion sickness. But I'm really happy with what I could do. I guess swimming has made me stronger. It's the kind of thing I find surprising because, if the way my pants fit is any indication, I'm not exactly as thin as I was a year or two ago. But if I'm stronger, then I'll take it. My pants still fit well enough, after all. 

In addition to Christmas candy, John and I decided to make a drink that Mark and his former roommate, Jeff, christened the Barack Obombus. The story goes that Mark and Jeff, both theory grad students, briefly concocted a plan to open a bar named for the genus of the bumblebee, the Bombus. They began thinking up signature drinks for the bar, like the Bombus Rombus, the Irish Car Bombus, etc, and of course, the Barack Obombus. It's basically a White Russian but with chocolate milk instead of half and half.

If you were going to buy vodka, and there was a 750 ml bottle with a tiny bottle of Crown Royal, and one without, and they cost the same, wouldn't you buy the one with the Crown Royal? I mean, come on. It's American Girl sized! 

So if after a week of participating in Gym Christmas (or not) you would like a chocolately drink, I would like to further my gift of yuletide cheer by giving you the recipe for the Barack Obombus: 

1.5 oz Vodka

3/4 oz Kahlua

3/4 oz Chocolate Milk (or more to taste) (non-dairy chocolate milk would work just as well)

Ice

Combine and serve. Repeat as needed. Goes particularly well with Game of Thrones.

Here is my GYM CHRISTMAS list now: 

Go for a Pre- or Post-Dinner Walk.

Yuletide Cheer

Make a Game of Household Chores

Crank Up the Music and Boogie Down

Hazardous Waste Removal

Regular Water Consumption

Investigate and Share

Sneak a Work Out into Another Activity

Turn TV Commercials into Fitness Breaks

Muscle-Building/Strength Training

Animal Time

Seven-Minute Work-Out.

If I have time, I'll be back later today to report on whatever task I complete for Day 6. 

Happy Finals Week, everyone! 

Smells like Fall at our House

The squirrels are still enjoying the acorn buffet in our front yard. 

Besides squirrel watching, John and I have been up to a few other things around London.

We went to our first London Knights hockey game, and we sat  almost high enough to see the Northern Lights (j/k, it just felt scary while we were climbing to our seats). Before the elementary school kids sang the national anthem, they announced that Wayne Gretzky's dad, "THE FATHER OF THE GREAT ONE!" was in attendance. John and I watched the Knights beat the crap out of the Plymouth Whalers while we ate too much pop corn and cherry slushees. 

Our friend's daughter turned two, and we all celebrated with a potluck. John and I brought chocolate zucchini muffins (more on those in a minute), and a small collection of children's books we bought at Goodwill. The birthday girl is really into books - when they come over to our house, she always shows me her new books, and she looks at the two we happen to have (in French and German - we are nerds). 

The chocolate zucchini muffins are oil free, from Oh She Glows.

They are unbelievably moist and taste more like cupcakes than muffins. You can't even find a strand of zucchini in them! I love these muffins. They are a dream come true. Several people asked me for the recipe. 

All the leaves have peaked, I think. John and I stared at them from our bedroom window, since we both spent almost all of last week sick in bed. We watched about 6 seasons of the Office, and John watched Lawrence of Arabia on his own, while I graded assignments and midterms. 

Before we got sick, we had some squash! 

No recipe here, just roasted halves of acorn squash, filled with caramelized onions, lentils, and thyme with a little olive oil. I think adding goat cheese and/or mushrooms would crank these up a notch.

We also made this loaf, which may be the main dish at our American Thanksgiving dinner this year:

Glazed Lentil Walnut Apple Loaf, also from Oh She Glows. We made a loaf once before, but this one was hands down better. It held together so well that we could take it out of the pan and slice it for left overs. Even better, the glaze is amazing. We made a second batch of it to add to the left over pieces and I wanted to lick the leftover spots off my plate. It would be a great vegan entree for any holiday meal (or any other fall dinner).

These are the final harvest from my tomato plant:

It produced about 1 tomato per month for June and July, and then it went crazy near the end of August. Unfortunately (for the plant), we've had a very wet and cold September and October, so these toms didn't get enough sunlight and warmth to ripen on the vine. When I told my mom, she offered two suggestions: 

1) Cellar them in newspaper and they will very slowly ripen. Apparently my Grandma Madge does this. My priest seconded this recommendation and said she does the same thing with a paper bag for her tomatoes. I feel like my mom is full of random gardening advice that I didn't know she had. I need to get some more advice from her next year, as I plan to expand the tomato plant to 2-3 tomato plants, including one cherry or grape tomato plant. 

2) She also told me to just slice the green ones and fry them, and have fried green tomatoes. I'm not from a big city, and I often feel like a country mouse compared to my friends and relatives in places like Chicago and Toronto, but seriously - I did not know that unripe tomatoes and "green" tomatoes were the same thing. I thought it was some special variety of tomato that never got red! Color me ignorant. 

So we've fried a few and cellared the rest.

These were part of a recreation of the Amazing BLT from the FARM cookbook we made earlier in the summer. We used almost all the same ingredients, except the basil, and made BLTs with these fried dudes and some fake bacon (fakon). Their batter is simple - flour, egg, cornmeal with seasonings. They're best with some chicken seasoning. and a pretty fun fried appetizer all on their own. 

Other upcoming highlights this fall: the Halloween Haunting 10k/5k, then we're off to NOLA for the AMS/SEM/SMT Triumvirate.  It's hard to believe we're already at the end of October!

Summer Foods, 2012

Since this used to pass for a poor man's excuse for a food blog, I thought I'd post a few recipes that we've enjoyed this summer.

First up: Caprese Salad. 

We didn't use a recipe for these, so I'll talk you through what happened.
I thinly sliced two large tomatoes, and a big ball of mozzarella. We actually had 4 tomatoes total, and I wanted to make the mozz go a little further. So I mixed up a couple big hunks of goat cheese with the juice of half a lemon, and the leaves from about 3 sprigs of our lemon basil plant. Lemon basil is amazing! It has a sweet, lemony taste and aroma, and it went perfectly with these. After that was mixed up, I spread it on every-other tomato, so the stack alternates: tomato, basil, mozzarella, tomato with goat cheese spread, larger regular basil leaf, and then I started the process again. The mozzarella ball was definitely enough for each of these stacks, and the goat cheese added a little flavor. We each ate two, and we also made some herbed dropped biscuits.


Next: Chocolate Chia Pudding with Peanut Butter Crunch Balls.

I've been using a recipe from Hell Yeah It's Vegan for the basic chocolate pudding recipe. It's just chia seeds, cocoa powder, almond milk, sweetener, and vanilla. It's ready in 30 minutes, though it's also good if you let it set a bit longer. We had this for dessert after sushi night, and I love to serve it in these Japanese rice bowls my mom gave me. When I was a kid, she always used the bowls to serve pudding or jello, and it's really a great size bowl for each portion.
After I had the hang of this version, I did a google search for a peanut butter-chocolate version, and I found one here. Then I had the idea to add the peanut butter crunch balls that recently appeared on Oh She Glows, and they are a perfect topping. They're super easy to make, and I just stored the extra ones in the freezer (though they didn't last long!). Chia pudding is my new favorite way to combine omega 3s and 6s with dessert (see a description of chia seeds' nutritional info here).



Next: Gnocchi with Zucchini, Sweet Corn, and Goat Cheese.

The Kitchn's Facebook page shared this last week, and we immediately decided to make it. Everything in it is summery, starchy goodness. Since the goat cheese doesn't come in until the end, it melts and coats everything a light, flavorful sauce. Here's a fun fact: I don't like parsley. Ever. This is only a real (white girl) problem when a recipe calls for it, but we usually sub some other herb. After those caprese salads, we had a lot of basil on hand, so I just julienned it and added it to this, for some more herby flavor. This meal was really easy and will probably show up again on our weekly menu.





This week we decided to make the BBQ Chickpea Burgers, also from Oh She Glows. 

They are only slightly complicated to make, and they are SO GOOD. The carrots and spices give every burger a ton of flavor, and the pumpkin and sunflower seeds add a good texture. We used cilantro instead of parsley, and I used the same bbq sauce from the recipe as a condiment. The recipe for fries in that same post is also a pretty good one, though we had to stop ourselves from finishing what would have been a 1/2 lb. of potatoes...each. The burger recipe made 8 burgers, so we had a lot of leftovers - something John and I both love.



We also recently made: Summer Sweet Corn Tacos, from Vegan Pandamonium.

These are super easy and tasty tacos. We cooked the sweet corn, but it actually calls for raw corn, which would take even less time. Throw the corn in a bowl with a can of beans, some spices, and a chopped tomato, and you're basically done. We made a slightly larger batch of the corn/bean mixture, and had this for a couple nights in a row. It's a great weeknight, summery meal. 

And finally, I improved a simple dessert when I had an INTENSE OMG CRAVING FOR CHOCOLATE RIGHT FREAKING NOW! the other night.
As a joke, someone at our engagement party gave John a box of graham crackers (I should say, a neighborhood inside joke from way before my time), but he doesn't like them anymore. So I've been slowly eating the whole box, spreading each one with peanut butter. Then it occurred to me that I could make a very simple chocolate sauce and pour that on top - because how could that be bad, right? I make this very simple chocolate sauce from time to time and put it on frozen strawberries: about 2 tbs chocolate chips and a couple splashes of almond milk. You melt it with the heat on very low, stirring constantly. If it's too thin, add more chocolate, or turn the heat off and let it sit for a minute or two, and it will thicken up. I spooned that chocolate onto these little graham-pb sandwiches, and then put the whole plate in the freezer for about 30 minutes while John and I watched more of Avatar - the Last Airbender (no spoilers, please! I love that show!). That hardened them up and made the whole thing taste more like an ice cream sandwich - I'd highly recommend them!

Music Theory Midwest 2012 -- Ann Arbor, MI

 Last weekend John and I traveled to Ann Arbor for this year's Music Theory Midwest. Unlike the previous two years (2010 post here) that I've attended, I was actually giving a paper. Luckily my anxiety about presenting in front of people whose opinions really matter to me didn't take away from the fun of the conference.

John and I shared a room at the Holiday Inn with Djillian and Bryn, and their two delighful pugs. I didn't get any pictures of the pugs during the trip, but you can see them sitting on John during their visit to our house earlier this year. The brown one in front is Vernon, and the little lady sitting behind him is Prudence.

I always say that MTMW 2009 in Bowling Green was the conference where I learned to open a beer bottle in a door jam - I won't say who taught me, but his/her name rhymes with Jim Vest.  This year the hotel had an actual bottle opener installed just outside the shower (not exactly sure why). Someone must have tipped them off. 

Ann Arbor's restaurants and breweries really blew me away. I was expecting something similar to Bloomington, which is, of course, amazing. But Ann Arbor is bigger, and closer to a major metropolitan area. I would say it was slightly more upscale than Bloomington, and I mean that as a neutral statement, since upscale isn't always better.
I loved every thing I ate for the three days we were there. On Thursday, John, Djillian and I hit the town while Bryn went to a pre-conference workshop on schema theory.  First stop: The Jolly Pumpkin, a brew pub that specializes in sour beer. We ordered a flight, and I thought most of it was so-so (note: you can find out detailed info on all the beers I tried by clicking here). I took some notes on our coaster about each one.


















Left to right: Noire ("ok, or meh"), Blanca ("ok"), Oro ("really interesting! tastes oddly like white wine, and is delicious and unusual"), Wheat Grass IPA ("John liked, Abby didn't, tasted like...grass"), Cider ("ok, refreshing").


Next we headed to the Arbor Brewing Co, where we ate dinner twice. The first night, we had a waiter named Don that all three of us instantly wanted to befriend. He accomodated all our weird behavior, even when I asked,
"Can I order the mac n' cheese without bacon?"
"Of course."
"Ok, great, but I was just curious. I don't really want to order it."

My dining companions looked at me like I was nuts. Don was completely nice about it. Over the course of the evening, we learned that the following day was his 28th birthday, and so we vowed to return and ask for his section. But when we arrived, it was already full. Apparently Don is nice to other people, too.

 

Djillian, photobombing the fight from Arbor Brewing Co. 

John and I both liked this flight a lot more than the one from Jolly Pumpkin. My favorite was the Heffeweizen, though they also had a great Double Bock and several others we liked.

My other comment about that place is that every thing on the menu made me drool. I had vegetarian jambalaya the first night, with faux-sausage, and the mac n' cheese the second night. Djillian had some great looking nachos, and John swore that the beer battered tempeh was outstanding - it came to him in his dreams the night he ate it, and not in a bad way. I would go back there now if John handed me the car keys.


We wandered around Ann Arbor pretty much every night we were there, mostly having dessert and drinks, though John did climb into a display window at one point. No one was irritated or harmed.

On Friday night I had a fantastic vegan chocolate-peanut butter cupcake from the Cupcake Station, while John bought a few pieces of candy at Kilwin's. Someone from my past can correct me on this, but I think Kilwin's is the same ice cream/sweet shop where we used to go in Traverse City, MI when I was at Interlochen.
Saturday night was Bryn and Djillian's fifth wedding anniversary, and after a great veg-friendly dinner at Seva, we walked to La Dolce Vita for dessert and after-dinner drinks. I combined the two and had a chocolate-butterscotch martini, but others had desserts that I coveted, including a couple bites of John's tiramisu. We noticed that a couple seated nearby was also celebrating a wedding anniversary, and that the waitress brought them a special treat. After we informed our extremely enthusiastic waitress about Bryn and Djill, she did the same thing: a chocolate raspberry plate scrawled, with two oreo-crumb truffles. La Dolce Vita was a bit fancier than the other places we went, and even had a cigar bar/lounge downstairs that reminded both me and Djillian of our grandfathers.

John made the rounds to a couple of stores with great beer selection, so we had a few drinks in the room, too. I took home a Harpoon UFO (their orange-infused Heffe), which I've had before and loved. We're planning a little beer tasting for next week.*

I don't usually discuss the actual theory of any theory conference when I post here. But I'll close this with a couple fun anecdotes from the weekend that I wrote on my program.

"And here we get a wonderfully continental whiff of Karl Marx." -- Bill Guerin, winner of the 2012 Komar Student Paper Award!! I was so happy to see him win. His paper was excellent.

Abby: Everyone's laughing is irritating me.
John: Your anger brings me great joy.

Bryn: [University of Miami, FL, my new employer] is building a new music building.
Our new friend, Greg: Will they have a pool in the center courtyard, with manatees swimming around?
Side note: getting to meet and hang out with Greg was a highlight of the trip, for sure. He's funny and awesome. 

Also, I included a joke in my short bio that Andrew Mead, the session chair, read to introduce me. It said:

Abigail ________ received a bachelor's degree in composition and a master's degree in music theory from Indiana University. She is currently a PhD student at the University of Western Ontario. Her dissertation applies Foucault's theories of power to the writings of Rameau. In her spare time, she enjoys writing about lighter topics, like George Crumb and death.

Andrew Mead said it was the best bio he'd ever heard, and it got a lot of laughs from the larger-than-I-expected group in the room.  Afterward, John said, "Wow, if that bio got such a big laugh, then you guys need more jokes."







*Because that's when OMG Dave and Carla are coming OMG!

7 Day Green Smoothie Challenge and Hemp Protein

Last week I participated in a 7 Day Smoothie Challenge, which I heard about from Jen at Peanut Butter Runner. I love a challenge that involves something I would normally do (so...a "challenge"), and so I joined in.


























The only remotely difficult aspect of eating smoothies every day for a week was that the temperature dropped back down to normal, seasonal weather with highs in the 40s. Smoothies are my preferred breakfast when it's warm out, not when the morning temps are in the 20s. It was a bit like eating ice cream for breakfast in the winter. Lest you think I want to make a #whitegirlproblem out of this, let me say I enjoyed it and I felt healthier for having consumed veggie smoothies every day for a week.

My basic recipe didn't change, but I experimented with a couple of new protein powders, both made of hemp.


I solicited some suggestions for protein powders on facebook, and I was happy to see how many of my friends had one that they liked. For now, I've started using Manitoba Harvest Hemp Protein, suggested by my dear friend Jess (some know her as JHoles, my favorite hippie) for a couple of reasons. First, it's made in Canada, and I think that makes it a little cheaper than it would be otherwise. Also, I'm trying to cut down on the amount of dairy I eat for a variety of reasons, so whey protein just wasn't my first choice. They have Manitoba Harvest at my local grocery store, so it was easy to find and about $20 or less a pop. You can read about the different types of protein powders they make here.

I've tried two kinds. First, the Hemp Protein 50.


























It's ideal for people who want a little more protein in their diets but who aren't ultramarathoners or anything extreme. Its green color blended perfectly in my green smoothies, and while I could taste that something else was in them, the powder's flavor doesn't come through much (this is ideal). It helps make the smoothies a little more filling so I can make it all the way to lunch without feeling super hungry.

I also tried the Chocolate Hemp Protein, which tastes a bit like hot chocolate mix on its own.
























This one has fewer grams of protein per serving (both call for a serving of a 1/4 cup), and it has a little cane sugar for sweetness. It made my smoothie taste like a chocolate milk shake. And to be honest, I try as hard as possible to make my healthy breakfast smoothies or oatmeal taste like dessert, so this one is great for me. I also don't add any other sweetener to the smoothies, so it adds just a touch of sweetness.
Adding chocolate-flavored powder to a smoothie with spinach was kind of a mental hurdle, but I'm glad I did it. Totally tasty.
I also made a sort of faux-ice cream with it last night:

1 frozen banana
3/4 cup almond milk (3/4 cup-ish...)
2 tbs peanut butter
1 tbs chocolate chips
1/4 cup chocolate hemp protein powder

I blended it and the froze it for about 10 minutes while I waited for John to start watching X-Files with me, and it was perfect. I would eat this for every meal if I could.

Two other random things I wanted to include in this post:

John and I made these Ancho Lentil Tacos from the PPK, and LOVED them.


















We just used regular chili powder, but the addition of the adobo sauce goes a long way. Lentils make a perfect meatless taco filling. It seems so obvious that I'm surprised I don't see more recipes like this on the food blogs. They were also super easy, so we'll definitely be making these again soon.

























And finally, I'm nearing the end of Born to Run, but I wanted to give it another shout out because it's so awesome. McDougall's writing is fantastic and really entertaining. The other characters who show up to run this crazy race in the desert are hilarious and I literally don't want to put it down. If you love to run, you will love this book. If you know someone who loves to run, and you think they're kinda nuts, you will love this book. Actually I think anyone who enjoys reading about sports would probably like it.
Sadly, one of the runners in the book, who goes by Caballo Blanco, was found dead this week out on the trail in New Mexico. It's strange to me that he died while I'm reading the book. He and the other runners in it are inspiring.

Chocolate Pretzel Fudge and Peanut Butter Fudge

John and I have had a marathon of Christmas potlucks this year. For the final holiday party before we leave town, I decided to try two very simple fudge recipes I've come across recently. Neither involved a candy thermometer, boiled sugar, or a "soft ball stage," all things I'm unfamiliar with.

















I think my mom and I tried to make fudge once when I was younger, and it was a real disaster, so I've stayed away from fudge recipes ever since. But these two are pretty simple. All you need is a double boiler - and really, all you need is a bowl and a pot to use as a lazy man's double boiler.


















The chocolate fudge recipe is from Martha Stewart and it involves putting chopped pretzels in the chocolate mixture before it sets. The sweet-salty combo is delicious. You can get the recipe from Martha Stewart's website here.



















The peanut butter fudge recipe is from Annie's Eats. Her instructions ask you to melt everything n the microwave. I haven't mentioned this here, but our microwave croaked a month or so ago and we haven't replaced it. Instead, we bought a used toaster oven on the cheap ("El Toastito"). So in order to melt everything for this recipe I just used a double boiler again and it seemed to work fine. It's pretty hard to screw up melted butter, peanut butter, and sugar.



















That is one intensely rich plate of fudge.

November Foods 2011

Instead of a bunch of separate food posts, here's a round up of recipes we tried and enjoyed this fall.

First up: Vegan Broccoli Cheese Pasta Bake from Daily Garnish.

















It's amazing how blended tofu turns into a creamy sauce for this dish. You can use pretty much any shaped pasta and whatever green veggies you had on hand, though broccoli works extremely well. Our only complaint was that this didn't reheat very well the next day. The tofu on the pasta gets kind of hard, even though it was totally creamy the first time. But if you're feeding a large group, I would recommend it.

Next: Sweet Potato and Rosemary Soup from Giada (Food Network).

















My friend Katie sent me the recipe for this and I knew we'd both love it. It's basically a lot of sweet potato and broth, but then you mix in marscapone and it turns into magic. I think subbing almond milk and some Earth Balance would be a good way to make this vegan, and I almost tried it (but then I wanted to buy the cheese, so...you know what happened). We will definitely make it again.


ON TO DESSERT!

Numero 3: Peanut Butter Chocolate Pillows from the PPK.

















These. are. amazing. I made them for a get together at Bryn and Djillian's house, and they were gone well before I left. I think next time I would make them a little smaller, since some of them were quite large. They are only slightly more involved than a regular cookie, in that you have to roll the peanut butter part into balls and then cover it with the chocolate to make one giant ball, but really, it's pretty fool proof. I'm looking for another excuse to make them because, seriously, these are the best cookies I've made all year.


Four: Mexican Hot Chocolate Cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.
























This recipe isn't on the PPK site, though they do have three other cupcakes up there. I suspect that if you google it, you could find the real thing. They have corn flour and almond meal in them and it gives them a little bit of a gritty texture. The cayenne pepper also gives them a little kick - nothing strong, just a bit - because apparently that's what Mexican hot chocolate tastes like. I've made a couple other recipes from this book, but these are by far my favorite.


Cinque: (Vegan) Pumpkin Pie Brownies, also from the PPK.

















I baked these a little longer than the directions called for, and I'm not sure if it made a difference. The final direction is to chill them for an hour and a half before serving, and at that point the pumpkin layer on top was fully set and DELICIOUS. I love these brownies! One of the taste testers said that they have the consistency of a cheese cake. I kind of went on dessert overkill last week, so I froze individual servings of these brownies. I'm optimistic that they will still be good after being frozen.

Six: Mashed Potatoes with Sage and Rosemary and White Gravy from Daily Garnish.
















Not a dessert, but I did serve these and the brownies along with a few other items on American Thanksgiving. We had a couple friends over for a casual meal and these potatoes were a hit. They have mashed apples in them that add the perfect amount of sweetness. We will probably make them again at Christmas!


And finally, chocolate dipped shortbread cookies.

























This recipe is from the America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook and I first made it the day after we got El Mixo 3000 from Costco (we've been through so much since then, El Mixolito!). Unfortunately I baked them a few minutes too long and they were a little brown. Normally this wouldn't stop me from eating them or giving them away, but they were for a church fundraiser, and they're supposed to look nice so people will buy them. So I did what anyone would do - combine a little melted chocolate with a little milk, dip 'em, and cover them with Christmas cheer. Done and done. I think they sold well!

That's that for fall foods. I'm so proud that this list even includes two non-dessert recipes. It's that time of year again. I have lots more Christmas stuff to write about. In the mean time, it's after December 1st, so crank up the volume on the Christmas music!

Ithaca and Fall Foods

Last week John and I drove across the border to see eighth blackbird perform at Ithaca College in New York state. I didn't think to take any pictures of the gorgeous fall colors until we were almost done with the trip, but the leaves were peaking and the landscape there is very hilly. It was beautiful.





Road trip break to take a photo at Lake Seneca.
























I spent a day working in the college library while John followed 8bb around and took field notes. We got to stay with our friends Djillian and Bryn who we know from UWO. Bryn is a theorist and he's teaching adjunct there. The scenery and the liberal environment reminded me a lot of Interlochen. And now, of course, I want to move to Ithaca.*


Totally switching topics, here are some awesome foods we made this fall.
Most of them are not actually fall foods in the sense of cinnamon, fall spices, and squash, but we ate them this fall.




















These bars were from the end of the summer, technically, but we froze a few so their wonder lasted until fall. They are Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies, from Brown Eyed Baker. I've always drooled over her pictures but this was one of the first recipes I made from her site, and I'd say it was a success. People went crazy over these brownies. They're super rich, and I feel like they'd be fairly easy to re-create vegan-style, since the cookie dough doesn't have eggs in it anyways and it's going to be baked.





















Next up, Jen's Lafayette's Red Velvet Brownies. Jen is a friend from Bloomington, and she's participating in Vegan Month of Food, or Vegan MOFO, and her fundraising dollars support Mother Hubbard's Cupboard, a Bloomington food bank. As a draw for her blog, Jen has created this elaborate True Grub theme, based on the plot and character's of True Blood, and it's hilarious. Also, these brownies were delicious - really chocolately, crisp on the outside, and gooey on the inside. A great balance.


And finally two more vegan dinners that I wanted to give a shout out to:

Texas Tater Tot Casserole from Meet the Shannons. Tater tots! Nostalgia! Yum.




















And Butternut Squash Mac n' Cheez from Oh She Glows. We added broccoli to ours, and it was tasty, though I would say it's not really a lot like mac n' cheese. But it is delicious! I would make it again..




















This fall is really busy, and I will probably keep the weekly blog posts simple until some of the big things are over. I hope you're enjoying the change in seasons!



*I know, I say that about every place we visit. I guess it's good that I feel that way, and not the other way around.