Baking

Yesterday I spent all day in the kitchen. I pureed the pumpkin that I roasted earlier in the week so the featured ingredient of the weekend was, you guess it, pumpkin. I decided to start with a simple pie recipe. I am not a big fan of making crusts so I used frozen. Not quite as good, but good enough. I was worried that I didn’t have the right type of pumpkin (apparently there are the baking type and the carving type and I got the carving type) but the pie tasted great. For some reason the top didn’t set up quite right, but you can’t have everything. I also made the dough for oatmeal cookies. Some of that went right into the freezer for baking at another time. I was pretty pooped after making dinner so decided to hold off on baking the rest of the cookie dough. Today I made pumpkin bread and am about to start on the cookies. I decided to freeze the rest of the pumpkin (there are still 4 cups waiting to make their way into something delicious). The kitchen smells great, the sink is just about empty of dishes and I am wondering who is going to eat all these treats!

Halloweenie

I admit it I am a sucker for Halloween. I am not much for dressing up, but I love the gourds, decorations, and especially the pumpkin carving. Just when I thought I was not going to carve any pumpkins this year Diane suggested we get some. Yeah! While Diane made dinner, Dad and I got to planning, cleaning, and carving. I decided to go old school with a scary face while Dad went with something a little more intricate. And what fun would pumpkin carving be without roasting the seeds! Yum! Hope you had a happy Halloween, whatever you decided to carve!

Pestolero

I am a big fan of pesto. It is really easy to make and when I have my aerogarden up and running in the winter it is the best way to use the abundance of basil. I have a recipe for basic basil that I really like from 101 cookbooks that I am very happy with and I hadn’t even thought of messing with it, until today. Pestolero is a German company that allows you to create your very own pesto recipe and have them make it for you and send it. Sadly, this is only available to you if you live in Germany, Austria, or Switzerland, BUT I am getting some great ideas to spice up my basic recipe! How about adding a few macadamia nuts, or maybe some almonds, or perhaps a little sage? via

Monster Near My Office

I am not sure how I missed this guy, but he was clearly in Union Square.  via

Bananas Are Amazing

When I was young I was convinced I didn’t like bananas. It turns out I just happen to like my bananas on the ripe side, the green ones still don’t taste quite right to me. Thank goodness I gave them another try because they have the amazing ability to turn into ice cream. Sounds too good to be true, right? I thought so too until I gave it a try. It really couldn’t be easier. Peel, slice, freeze, and food process. Don’t forget the peeling part, take it from me you don’t want to have to try and peel a frozen banana. M&I have enjoyed this treat plain, with chocolate sauce, and with chocolate shavings and maple pecans. I am thinking of trying it with a little chunky peanut butter next. You can find step by step instructions with pictures here.

Compost Heap

When you live in a NY apartment real estate is precious, especially in the kitchen. Typically you have very little counter space and a tiny fridge. I have to say we are incredibly lucky that we have a full size fridge and while I am not sure you can ever have too much, we have enough counter space that we don’t feel too deprived. But when I started thinking about composting, I quickly decided that we just didn’t have the space. Besides, do I really need another project?!  It just so happens I very recently started a new job in a much more interesting part of town. There are more restaurants and shops that I know what to do with and best of all on Monday, Wednesday and Friday there is the Union Square market. One morning while strolling through on my way to work I noticed people dumping bags of stuff into garbage cans that weren’t your normal NYC street cans. It turns out The Lower East Side Ecology Center will accept my kitchen scraps and turn them into compost for me! Yeah! So now we have a little container in the fridge and when it is full I take in to work with me. I have been making a real effort to cut down on the amount of waste we produce and this will help just that much more.

Almond Milk

I have been on a where does my food come from kick lately. While I mostly blame Michael Pollan, I have to admit this has been brewing for a while. I was recently diagnosed with a corn allergy and I recently realized corn is really hard to avoid. Every time I ate ketchup, I was giving myself a healthy dose of corn. So I found a recipe for ketchup and made it myself without corn syrup. My first try was a touch too sweet but I think I have it figured out for my next batch. I have been juicing lemons and adding rosemary for my seltzer. Fresh really is better. Lately I have been reading a lot about almond milk and how easy it is to make and how it is a great substitute for milk. It is definitely time consuming I will give you that. The almonds soak overnight, then you strain them, then the milk sits overnight. I am halfway through the process so I will have to report on the results in a future post. I am just glad M is so patient.

Ride the City

I have been considering dusting off my bike lately and riding to work once in a while. My office is in the process of getting renovated (right now it looks a lot like the set of Office Space) and we may have bike storage in the office. This is very enticing since I am not too hip on the idea of leaving any bike out on the street. I have to say that the main thing holding me back is I am sort of terrified of riding my bike on the city streets. Which is why I am glad I stumbled upon Ride the City. I can put in my starting and ending address and choose if I want a safe, safer, or direct (potentially dangerous) route. Unfortunately there is no safer route between my house and work, but there is a safe route come Spring I may give it a try anyway. via

Another One Bites the Dust

I haven’t downloaded my pictures yet, this one is from here.

And another one down. This weekend I celebrated my… well it doesn’t matter which birthday, just that I did. As a birthday gift M&I hopped on the bus Friday evening and headed on down to DC where we met up with my mom and Bill. We only had one day together and boy was it jam packed! Breakfast at Lincoln’s Waffle Shop, museum, solar decathlon, amazing sunset behind the Lincoln memorial, and a dinner that included chocolate covered bacon. So much fun! We stayed in a cute little hotel that was right in the Penn Quarter which made everything very walkable. M&I decided that it was such as easy trip that we will definitely plan another before too long. Who knows, maybe Mom and Bill will make the trip out again since we can’t get them to come to NY! Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes!

I Heart Green

Over the course of my life I have had many favorite colors. For a very long time red was the favorite, but at some point over the last few years I started to really dig green. Bright yellow greens make me especially happy. I have been seeing a lot of green show up in kitchen photos lately and it makes me wonder… I mean I love green now, but who knows when the shift will be to yellow or blue or back to red? Then I am stuck with green cabinets as a haunting reminder of my green period. This kitchen is a wonderful use of green accents and vinyl wall decals, which may be so last year, but are something I still happen to love. The swatch of green on the wall give the table and chairs a special place. I have been coveting those IKEA chairs since I saw them and I think they look great in this small kitchen. If you will really closely you will also see another of my favorite things, a little birdie. This is a really great way to add color quickly to a rental space that you have to paint over. Way to go, Jennifer!