I feel like this has been the strangest transition into autumn ever. I was ready for it to start getting cooler about a month ago, but it didn't. Instead, we had an abnormally warm few weeks in September, including a streak of 80F+ days, which is quite out of the ordinary for this part of the world. And now we've just jumped right to highs in the 50s. They were warning of possible frost last night, which seems way too early. But maybe it's just because of all that warm weather before.

It's funny: I think I was wishing for autumnal weather so much because it was still very hot and summery. As soon as we got a blast of chillier air, I suddenly started panicking about winter. Well, not panicking -- just feeling sad to see summer go (and not looking forward to the cold months ahead).

I picked my squashes yesterday evening, just in case frost hit (it didn't). They were mostly ripe, anyway, but I hope the two big pumpkins will orange up just a little bit more indoors. I've also got three butternut squashes. Not bad! I'll puree and freeze most of it (both the pumpkin and the butternuts) to use in pie and bread in the coming months. I'm going to wait until Halloween, though, so I can do some carving first!

I woke up this morning, and my thermostat was officially lower than I generally keep the house during winter. I had been complaining about making note of the fact that I was too hot on Saturday, and it was positively brisk today. Of course, with winds gusting around 50mph, it's not surprising that the change came quickly.

I'm not quite ready to turn the heat on, though, so I instead used the cool weather as an excuse to oven-dry the big batch of yellow pear tomatoes I picked yesterday. Which, in turn, wound up being a good excuse to not leave the house; wind is my least favourite kind of 'weather'. It's too blowy, is what it is. I warmed the oven to 200F, tossed the halved tomatoes with olive oil, salt, pepper, and some garden herbs, and let them dry out for about seven hours. I took this photo at the four-hour mark, after I transferred them to the rack, thinking that would be more efficient.

I probably should have just called it quits at four hours, since I've put them in a jar in the freezer, anyway (I didn't want leftover moisture to spoil them). Seven hours left them not burnt, but teetering on the edge of perfect and over-done. Oh well! I'm sure I'll wind up using them for something, and they would have gone to waste, otherwise. (Speaking of salvaged near-disasters, I used my blender to mix a block of silken tofu into the baba ganoush I made the other day, and now it's delicious instead of eye-wateringly garlicky.)

With the latest haul of regular-sized tomatoes, I made up another batch of tomato sauce. I've had several conversations this summer about making tomato sauce and the preserving of it. This is what I do: once the sauce is ready, pour it into the cups of a muffin tin that you've oiled. Let it cool to room temperature and then put it in the freezer (it helps if you have a chest freezer). Once the sauce is frozen solid (or two days later, when you finally remember about it), use a knife at the edge of each cup to pop out the sauce-puck and store them all in a plastic bag. Presto! Single servings of tomato sauce, ready to be thawed out. I usually use two when I make my veggie bolognese. Everybody I've shared my method with thinks it's genius, and I think I can unbiasedly agree.

I've also got several jars of tomato soup in the freezer for this winter. The weather man's been talking about overnight frost tomorrow night, although it might not creep in this close to the city. Either way, I'm pretty sure the ripening of tomatoes is drawing to a close, so now I can think about what to do with all the green ones. I'm definitely going to try breading some, fried-green-tomatoes-style. And I'm very excited about making a green tomato pie, which I've heard tastes just like apple pie.

One last thing, since I'm on the topic of tomatoes. When I was picking all the little yellow pear tomatoes, I decided to see how big the plant 'really' was. It had grown to the top of the cage, then grew and grew some more, so it had flopped over and was trailing on the ground. When I grabbed the end of one 'branch', I was able to lift it above my head, pretty much as far as I could reach! Yep, it's been a good year for tomatoes, alright.

-- I went up to Sandstone today with a couple of friends, hoping to get our 'October Fest' on. Well, they clearly stuck with the 'c' and kept it two words to denote the lack of true Oktoberfest spirit, because it was kind of a let down. But we had A) tasty diner lunch, B) a walk around the town, C) a look at the Hinckley flea market, and D) a visit to Tobies for bread purchasing. Oh, and we got to see my parents' new propane tank!

-- We checked out the old Sandstone school again, because I recently learned that it's being offered for $55,000, although there will be a couple million bucks' worth of renovations required. You can see through the window how the paint is just peeling away. The hardwood floors in the classrooms and gymnasium have buckled, and the entire third story is covered in insulation (on the floor), from an attempt to cut heating costs to the rest of the building some time ago. There's mold everywhere inside and (probably) many leaks. So, pretty much a wreck, but it's so beautiful from the outside. Sigh.

-- I was sitting on my sofa earlier this evening, and the lilacs just outside the window were filled with shouting sparrows. I hadn't really noticed how loud they were until they all suddenly stopped. I guess a hawk must have flown by, because it was as though somebody had just pulled the plug. Except for one little extra peep, and then some shushing. (I may have imagined the shushing.)

-- I can't remember what my last item was going to be. But I'm very pleased that tomorrow will be Sunday. The newspaper comes, which means I can peruse the ads and get the answers to the last few clues I missed from last week's crossword. I can drink coffee and do whatever I want all day long. Which is more or less true about any other day of the week, but it's better when it's on a Sunday.

-- When I went to my parents' yesterday afternoon to pick up the rose plant, I'd been instructed (via e-mail) to take some of the zucchini bread 'butts' that were wrapped up on the counter. (The middles had gone to work with my mom.) I don't know if other people do this, but that's how we refer to the semi-undesirable, leftover part of anything. Like a cigarette butt, I guess. Just don't go to Red Lobster and complain to the waiter that you've been given 'crab butts', when really Dungeness crab legs are just a lot smaller than snow crab's. That's one of my clearest memories of eating out as a child. (It wasn't me who did the complaining, of course.)

-- I've been doing laundry all day. All day. As I brought a load up an hour ago, I realized I'd put the first one in twelve hours previously. Okay, so I haven't been very attentive to switching machines and bringing stuff up, but that's still a long time. I'm bored with it. But my sheets will be so cleeeean tonight!

-- Halfway through my laundering marathon, a man from the gas company came by to do a routine safety check of the meter. As I was leading him downstairs, I suddenly became very conscious of how I duck every time I pass under the point where the high stairwell ceiling becomes the regular basement ceiling. Then I thought that it was probably silly to do so; I'm not THAT tall. But I checked later, and I definitely would bean the top of my head if I didn't duck. There's no point to my telling you this, but these are the valuable experiments that working from home affords.

-- I took two Benadryl last night before I went to bed, and I slept blissfully, from about 12:30 until... 9:00? I can't remember; I had a Benadryl hangover. I'm tempted to do the same tonight, but I have to leave for the Sandstone Octoberfest at 9:30 tomorrow, so I should wake up at a reasonable time. Both friends I'm going with said, 'Sure, 9:30! I'm an early riser! No problem!' This is a very strange reversal of roles for me, suddenly being the one who wants to sleeps in (especially when I made the schedule). I'll set my alarm for 8:00 and therefore wake up at 5:30. Considering that, I suppose I should probably go to bed soon.

-- I've finally got a rose bush for my garden! My mom picked this up on deep discount -- a Sven shrub rose, one of three hardy cultivars produced by the University of Minnesota. The others are Ole and Lena, obviously.

-- Yesterday, I ate the second (of two) apples that grew on my tree this year. Even aside from the expected bias towards one's own garden produce, I have to say it was an amazing apple. I can't wait for more apples next year!

-- Jean's lists (in the comments on yesterday's post) reminded me that I would also take language classes if I could afford it. Heck, I'd take half the community ed classes if I had the money. Not only would a be rich (in this hypothetical reality), I'd also be frighteningly skilled and well educated. Intimidating.

-- I made Susan's baba ganoush today. It uses less tahini than a lot of recipes, but I think it's amazingly smooth and rich -- but I would recommend starting with half the salt and garlic called for and adding more as you want it. I didn't weigh my eggplants, but I used two medium ones, which I thought should be enough, and it's off-puttingly garlicky, even when I don't have to be around anybody else. I think I'll blend in some silken tofu to take it down a notch.

-- I learned today that the clusters of seeds in a roasted eggplant will seriously very nearly make me heave. I don't even like thinking about it. I am a bit weird about seeds (not the seeds that you plant, so much); even a blob of semi-dried tomato seeds on a cutting board is a bit off-putting. Most seeds are alright, but it's when lots of little ones gather together that's the worst. I don't know what it is, really. It makes me think of insect eggs or spores or... bleeeeaurg.

-- At some point during the day, I realized I was going really slowly -- both driving and walking through the supermarket -- and then I figured it was because I only got about five hours' sleep last night. Why wake up at 6:00, brain, if we only went to bed some time after 1:00? This is not helpful. I did get an almost two-hour nap in this afternoon, which would explain why I'm awake without problems right now. I really don't mind staying up late (as opposed to not being able to fall asleep -- I ususally fall asleep really easily), but I reckon I still deserve a decent number of hours' sleep.

-- On a related note, I would estimate that 75% of the naps I take involve sleep paralysis now. I think it's a self-perpetuating thing; I worry about it happening, so it does. I know exactly what's going on when it happens, so it's like the lamest kind of lucid dream ever. I could just stop taking naps and avoid it altogether, but then what's even the point of working from home?

Sigh. I love my Nikkor 50mm lens (which I used for this photo, after switching it from my film camera), but I sigh because it makes me want a Nikkor zoom lens all the more. Another item for the 'someday' list, along with the bees. Speaking of lists, here are a few I've been thinking about lately:

Things I'd Do If I Had the Money

-- Take riding lessons. Sometimes I spend heaps of time looking at horses on-line. While I'm no longer obsessed (the way I was growing up), I still dream about having a horse of my own eventually.

-- Take acting classes. I often wonder if acting is something I'd be any good at. It would be fun to find out.

-- Take dance lessons. Ballet? Jazz? Irish? Anything, really.

-- Travel loads. I already get to travel quite a bit, but with my job being as flexible as it is (ie, I can do it anywhere I can get a wifi connection), I wish I could afford to take off on a whim and spend more time away. And visit my friends in the UK more often.

-- Have a little summer house. But would it be all bright and white inside, or would it be rustic and woodsy?

Jobs I Would Do If I Could Take the Risk

-- Sandwich girl at my friends' office. I love packing lunches for other people!

-- Vegetarian deli. And its various spin-offs. I've described my master plan before.

-- Professional food photography. Okay, there's no reason I can't dip my toes into this right now. It's just a bravery and self-promotion thing. Tied in with this is also my idea to do basic restaurant websites, so small cafes can have an attractive web presence (and a menu on-line, which is my favourite thing ever).

-- Landscaping and/or city parks work. Basically, I just like the idea of doing manual labour and getting paid for it. I find public plantings really intriguing (the idea that somebody plans and maintains them), and I'd love to learn more about the maintenance of parks and trails and all that.

-- Book design and editing. Oh wait! I already do that. Awesome. That's the other big 'obstacle' to following any of my other career dreams: I've already got a job I love.

Things I'm Planning to Do in the Near Future:

-- Make baba ganoush from the homegrown eggplants I roasted today.
-- Make a new camera bag.
-- Sew a shirt.
-- Go to the Sandstone Octoberfest (even though it annoys me that they don't spell it with a 'k').
-- Fix up my old Sony Vaio laptop to use for writing.
-- Do some writing.

What's on your list(s)?

-- Happy autumn, one and all! I was hoping for more rain today, but no such luck. (I mentioned the rainy forecast on Sunday and was puzzled by my friends' disappointment. Then I remembered that they don't have gardens and so aren't obsessed with rain the way I am.) I DID decide to bring in the first pumpkin, though. There are two more still ripening on the vine, bigger than this guy. But how perfect, how orange! I'm not a seasonal/holiday decorator, really, but I'm feeling festive this year.

-- The sun came out for a bit this afternoon, so I got some shots of my refashioned shirt. I started with one way-too-big, long-sleeved polo, and a t-shirt of a similar make and model, both from my college wind symphony and band days. I removed the sleeves, lined the placket and collar, took them in on the sides, and then reattached the sleeves. The (grey) t-shirt now effectively lines the polo and can't be removed; it'll be a good, heavy shirt when it starts getting cooler out. And when it does, I can pop the collar and show off the Liberty print I used for the details. I haven't decided if I'll put buttons back on the placket; it's not as if I'd use them, anyway.

-- I tried going for a walk today (as I do most days) when the sun came out in the afternoon, but some sort of city pumper truck was going down the parkway, watering the new patches of dirt they've installed (and, presumably, grass seed). But they were more effective at wetting down the pavement and forming puddles that I regrettably (and not intentionally) stepped in. So I was cross about having soggy jeans and shoes, which seemed to fill up with grit (I hate grit!) and make my walk miserable. To top it off, I only got about five hours of sleep last night, which really hit me as soon as I stepped out the door. So I cut my walk about halfway through, came home, and had a quasi-nap.

-- I have so many projects right now. The usual work stuff, but mostly just personal things: sewing, writing, tinkering. Actually, I have more plans for projects than actual works in progress. I blame inertia. I would shake my first, but it's easier to let it remain at rest.

-- Another picture of Booty and me. He's my outdoor buddy. When I was getting my afternoon snack + tea ready, I asked if he wanted to go outside, which he did, so I let him out before I finished gathering everything up. He was still waiting on the step for me when I opened the door again, and he very excitedly followed me back to the patio. Being outside is good, but sitting on a lap outside is the best.

-- I had a piece of chocolate bread this afternoon (as you can see), and I put just the smallest amount of dark chocolate peanut butter (Archer Farm's brand) on one half. I've been meaning to try this for a while, thinking it would be good, and it was. Really good. As if there were any other possibility.

-- I discovered a mini catalogue for Joules Clothing in my nightstand (the catalogue had come in an issue of Country Living or some-such that I got last time I was in the UK). I think it's fair to say that I want every single article of women's clothing that they sell. I flipped through it last night, thinking I might see if there were anything I could try to make myself, but it's the sweatshirts I like the best. Still, I did a bit of refashioning this evening, and I wound up with something I'll show you tomorrow (if there's enough light to photograph).

-- I keep forgetting to mention this, but I've had two Clif bars recently NOT microwaved, and they were the perfect level of chewiness. The one I had a while ago that nearly broke my jaw was obvious stale, because these were fresh and were really quite nice. So I take back what I said about Clif bars being too chewy. They are now utterly flawless.

-- I had a very thrifty outing this afternoon. I finally finished a roll of film, so I brought it in for one-hour developing. While I waited, I went to Sears (the ONLY department store left in the sad, sad local mall) and tried on clothes, but I didn't buy anything. When I picked up my photos, I paid for them and walked out of the store and then had a look. The contrast was really low; they're all muddy and washed out. My first thought was that I could probably fix the problem if I scanned them in, but that kind of made having prints totally pointless.

I hadn't got more than five feet out the door, so I went back into the store, where I was immediately intercepted by the manager. I tried to explain what was technically wrong with the photos, but I guess contrast isn't something they can control (this was only a CVS, after all). Awesomely, however, I got a full refund AND kept the prints. THAT is customer service! Still sort of defeats the purpose of having shot on film. Not sure I can be bothered to take the negatives somewhere else. Oh well.

-- Last day of summer, last day of summer! Quiiiiick, you've got thirteen minutes (CST) to finish doing summery things!

Hooray! I had one last (okay, only the second ever) get-together on my patio for the summer. It would have been even better if today had actually been the last day of summer, but it seems like the equinoxes jump all over the place, calendar-wise. I had to ask the internet about that, because I was under the impression that the seasons always 'change' on the 21st of the various months, but not so. Some years, the first day of winter is on my birthday! That's solstice-tastic!

But, anyway, it was a very nice afternoon. I grilled up a couple batches of seitan 'ribs' (which seemed to be well received by my friends) and made a hash with sweet potato and Yukon Gold, and that was pretty much all I had to do (besides lots of cleaning, as always). My friends brought fruit and corn muffins and salad and drinks, and we all sat and chatted and enjoyed the perfect weather.

Regardless of the date, it seems like autumn really will come crashing in tomorrow, as we end a streak of abnormally warm days with some good, old fashioned rain. One of the things I like best about the cooler weather is being able to go for a walk without getting overly warm (one of the things I like best about spring is being able to go for a walk without getting cold). We were talking today about various winter activities, and I'm almost willing to say I'm looking forward to it.

Well, goodbye, summer. It's been fun. I'll keep the garden going for a while longer, and we'll see you next year!

I should have known better than to claim freelancer's perfection; it was like flying too close to the sun. I went to bed at 12:30 last night (perfectly acceptable) and woke up this morning at 6:00 (totally not). Boo. I've been doing better at falling asleep again in the morning hours, but I was so achy today -- wrists, back, etc. I don't know what exactly I do when I'm asleep, but whatever it is, it's not relaxing.

I took advantage of the early morning (and achiness, which clearly prevented me from being productive in any way) and watched the season premier of Bones on Hulu. Man, I love that show. There are other shows I watch regularly, but none that I look forward to in the same way. The actors are just so IN to what they're doing (the leads also produce), and it really comes through in the finished product. And it doesn't take itself too seriously, which I appreciate.

Since I ate breakfast earlier that usual, I had to have a small second breakfast to tide me over until lunch. I've been working on finishing off the first half of the chocolate bread, so I took a couple heel pieces and a cup of tea and went out to the patio. We've been having a warmer-than-average September, but the mornings have been soooo(ooooo) nice. The air is cool enough that the sun feels amazing as it creeps over the backyard. I took a few photos of the yard and garden, which I've posted in my Garden 2009 flickr set.

Speaking of the yard, I'm so smugly pleased with it. I'm really proud of all the work I've put into each little area, and there are so many things to look at. The past two years, I kept thinking about what I would change the following spring, but I think the hard labour is over now, for the most part. The front yard is a different matter entirely. I wouldn't mind having a garden renovation team (they have those on TV, right?) swoop in and take care of it. Requirements: no lawn and some sort of watering system, where all I have to do is turn the spigot once a day (well, and then turn it off again).

For no good reason, I got to thinking about bee keeping the other day, and I was all gung-ho for some time. I HATED bees (and every other insect) when I was growing up, but I'm pretty much the most bee-blase person I know, these days. I don't even mind wasps. (Mind you, I've never been stung by either!) The idea of having a hive which would both provide me with honey (win!) AND house an army of pollinators for the garden (double win!) seems great. Urban beekeeping seems possible, but I ultimately decided it will have to wait until I move somewhere more remote. Not because of the proximity of my neighbours or the fact that I have no good spot to put a hive, but because wasps can prey on honeybees. As soon as I read that, I knew it couldn't be(e). I have lots of wasps around here, and I already feel too attached to my hypothetical swarm to expose them to danger like that.

Another thing to add to the list of 'someday'.

So, this is a quasi-review. I made a sort of sweet-and-sour dish the other day (not the one pictured, sadly -- that was taken a while ago), and I was out of Quorn Tenders, so I had to make do with a Gardenburger Chik'n Grill. Don't get me wrong -- I like those, but it was just the wrong thing to use for the dish. So that got me thinking about the various fake chicken products I use on a regular basis and the best uses for each.

There are three I tend to stick to: Morningstar Farms' Chik'n Strips, Gardenburger Chik'n Grills, and Quorn Tenders. These are my regulars partly due to price and partly availability. There are others, of course -- I've never tried the LightLife variety (but I would love to, as everything else they make is great), and I'm only considering non-breaded fake chicken here. So this is how I would recommend each be used:

-- Morningstar Farms' Chik'n Strips: These are the chewiest of the three (there's not much difference in texture between these and their 'steak' strips, actually), and they're fairly heavily seasoned. The garlic and onion powders and the dehydrated bell pepper make them best used for dishes that would usually include those flavours anyway. They're the perfect fajita filling. I also really like them on top of salads, and they aren't too bad in wraps or mixed with BBQ sauce to make a sandwich (although that gets messy). Like all three products, I usually thaw them in the microwave and then sautee, but you do have to keep an eye on these, or they'll dry out very quickly.

-- Gardenburger Chik'n Grill: (I can't find these on the Gardenburger website, although they're still in stores near me. I hope they're not being discontinued!) These are actually patties, whereas the other two are pieces. They're the mushiest of the three, and they have a prominent 'smoky' flavour -- it was that flavour that really made for a bad match with the sweet-and-sour dish. But they're great covered in BBQ sauce in a bun (and less messy than the Morningstar strips), and I also enjoy them cut into cubes and added to salads and wraps. When they're eaten as a patty, they really do benefit from cooking in a pan (vs just in the microwave), as that helps take away some of the mushiness.

-- Quorn Tenders: These, I would say, are by far the most versatile. They don't have a distinct flavour or seasoning, but they do absorb flavours amazingly well. I LOVE them in any sort of Asian dish, and they're wonderful in curries. I think they also have the best texture (Quorn has always been good at getting creepily close to the real thing with its fake meats), and there's that sort of 'umami' that isn't quite achieved in the others (perhaps because it's mushroom-based?). I do find them a little bland on their own; if I want to use them in a wrap, I first toss them with a bit of salt and garlic powder, which just seems to punch up the flavour without making them 'salty' or 'garlicky'. While I was looking at the Quorn website for the link, I came across their new Turk'y Burgers, and I REALLY hope I get a chance to try these soon. Their Turk'y Roast is the highlight of my Thanksgiving each year; it would be great to have that in a more manageable, everyday form.

I know not everybody (vegetarian or not) is 'into' fake meats, but I really enjoy using them in my cooking. There are SO many options out there these days (which was not so during my first years of being vegetarian -- maybe that's why I get so excited about them), so hopefully you'll find my thoughts handy for your own meal-planning!

First of all, let me say that, because I have friends with small children, I always feel like a jerk talking about sleep problems. Oh, only got five hours' sleep last night? Sounds like heaven to some people! But I shall deal with my feelings of jerkiness and complain anyway.

Since Friday, I've been having trouble falling asleep at what I consider to be an appropriate time. I've always been more of an early-riser than a night owl, but I'd sort of settled into a roughly 11:00pm-7:00am sleep schedule, which has migrated more towards 12:00am-7:00am over the past few months. The last five nights, I've been lucky to conk out at 12:30 -- it's been more like 1:30 or 2:00. I still wake up sometime between 7:00 and 8:00 in the morning, but I just don't get tired at night. My eyes get drier and drier, but I don't feel drawn to sleep.

Not that I have anything else to do, of course. I want to sleep, but I can't. If I try, I wind up psyching myself out, and my brain finds a way to resist even the effects of Advil PM. Well, last night I managed to drift off just after 12:30, and I slept past 9:30 this morning. Whoa! I got ALL the sleep. It was strange to wake up so late, especially since I didn't actually stumble out of bed until it was nearly 10:00 (thanks, iPod+wifi!). It meant that breakfast was much later than usual, and by the time I was ready for lunch, I only wanted something small (the scrambled eggs + cheese on toast above). It's bizarre to have my routine thrown so out of whack.

Anyway, I got to thinking about the whole sleep cycle thing, the way I used to go to bed around 10:00, which slowly became 11:00, then midnight, and so on. And I realized I must have finally achieved some sort of work-at-home state of perfection and am now operating on a natural twenty-five-hour day. It's like when a chord is played just so, and you can hear additional tones ringing out from nowhere. I imagine my aura is glowing rather brightly. Songs will be written about the freelancer who lived the dream and was no longer tied down by such pesky things as The Man and the Earth's rotation.

But what will I do when I get to the part where I sleep through all the sunshine? I might have to rethink this...

Look at these! Cookies! Shaped like Minnesota! I can't get over it (obviously). I suppose, objectively, Minnesota isn't a better shape than any other state, but it's just so home-y to me. Like seeing a familiar face after traveling alone for a long time.

To make my cookies, I modified this recipe like so: omitted the lavender, added a heaping 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, used one egg + one egg yolk (instead of three yolks), and I used cinnamon sugar to dust (and definitely didn't use an entire cup of sugar, as called for in the recipe). Oh, and I mixed in a large handful of dried apple bits at the same time as the eggs.

I used three State Fair apples, cored and sliced, but with the peels on. I dried them in the oven, at 170F (as low as mine will go), for about three hours (flipping them halfway through). I didn't need them crispy -- I just needed enough of the moisture out so that they wouldn't make the cookies soggy. Once they were dry, I minced them up pretty well. The bits made the cookies slightly more challenging to cut, but only slightly, and it was easy to trim off any nubs after they were baked.

I guess I made mine a lot thinner than traditional shortbread, but that's okay. It's a really good recipe -- not at all greasy, which is my usual complaint (I'm not actually that big of a shortbread fan). The addition of cinnamon makes them a bit snickerdoodle-y, but I can't actually say how apple-y they were, since I ate mine along with an actual apple (the one in the photo, in fact).

An apple which came from my own backyard! I know it's kind of ridiculous to be astonished that I grew an apple where once there was not an apple (okay, the tree grew it), given the extent of my vegetable gardening. But I'm still sort of amazed. It was perfect -- crunchy and sweet, but with just enough tartness to be interesting. Like... a real apple.

-- Some nice clouds earlier this evening! Since my house is only one story and is surrounded by other houses, I never get to see any great sunsets, but I was pretty happy with pink clouds. I don't suppose anything will ever compare with the views I had on the Thames, but too much beauty can ruin things. (The first two were sunrises, the third was a sunset.)

-- I paid a visit to the newly opened coffee shop in my neighbourhood this afternoon. They don't have a website (I'm tempted to offer to remedy that...), but they've done a great job fixing the place up. I really hope this is a sign of things to come for my little North Minneapolis neighbourhood -- the coffee shop was preceded by the opening of a fancy barber shop just down the street, as well as a little corner store. I couldn't help thinking of things to recommend, though -- playing music or having a microwave so people can reheat their coffee, say. I'm still waiting to become a professional opinion-giver. I had a really good one this weekend, but I can't remember it now.

-- I toiled in the sun after dinner today, moving the perennials from the corner of my yard to the side, so that I could plant two cherry bushes (Nanking Cherry, to be specific) that my mom had bought before deciding she had no place to plant them. I'm super excited and hope they grow quickly because A) cherries!! and B) they will obscure my view of the ugly alley with its ugly garages and ugly conversion vans.

-- I made Minnesota-shaped apple shortbread this evening. I haven't yet tasted them, but they look AWESOME (as if there were another option!), and I'm pretty sure they'll be delicious. I'm still sad that the cake shop (where I found my cookie cutter) was out of apple essence/extract/oil/whatever, but I carried on and mixed in chopped dried apple. I will give a full report tomorrow, after I've done some scientific taste-testing.

-- Happy Sunday, everybody. You've still got an hour and ten minutes left in CST to enjoy it. Well, less, once I've actually posted this. Hm. Happy Monday, then. I managed to have late nights both Friday and Saturday, but not because I was doing anything; I just wasn't tired enough to sleep. It's definitely a vicious circle: a couple nights of lying awake make a person nervous that it'll happen again, upping the chances that it actually will. So I'll update instead of even thinking about bed.

-- I had a nice Sunday in St Paul (downtown, no less -- it IS possible!). The Twin Cities really are good for having interesting stuff to do and nice people to do it with. And I had a tasty portobello sandwich (really a burger, as it was on a soft rye bun) before listening to ridiculously talented young people perform (flute, viola, voice) in Mears Park.

-- I was looking through old digital photos and found two of my backyard, taken the day I had my final walk-through before closing. Here and here. That was in the middle of December, but it's still incredible how barren it looks, considering this is what it currently looks like (mmmmmm, neatly trimmed lawn). When I had my tomato party, we were talking about my ash tree, and I was saying that that (and a tiny corner of perennials -- the reddish area behind my mom in that first photo) was the only thing in the yard when I moved in. I've put a lot of work into the gardens in the last three years! Hard work, too. Whew.

-- I dried some apple slices in the oven this morning, to be used in some cinnamon apple shortbread cookies I plan to make. With my Minnesota cookie cutter, of course. (I picked the apples here.) I also boiled down some tomatoes for sauce, so I was very happy to eventually leave the house, as oven+stove+warm day did not make for the most pleasant temperature indoors. It was still 83F the last time I checked, which is pretty close to as hot as it ever gets (inside) during the summer. What's up with that, September?

-- Time now, I think, to go read This Is Your Brain on Music. I started it a while ago and was very enthusiastic, but then got distracted for no good reason. It's full of amazingly interesting little bits that make a person annoying to be around, as that's all one wants to talk about after having learned said bits. Sort of like anything they mention on Radiolab. (But watch out for that parasites episode. It's hard to stop thinking about hookworms once you start.)

-- Okay, this looks more like dinner than the last photo, right? But it was breakfast! No, not really. It was dinner. I'd been thinking about making eggplant parmesan for a while, and when I found myself in possession of both fresh mozzarella and shaved parmesan, I sort of HAD to make it. I didn't use a recipe; I just layered sauce, breaded eggplant slices, cheeses, basil, and tomato. It tasted very nice, but the skin of the eggplant was really tough! I usually cook it with the skin on and have never had a problem, but it was impossible to cut this time. I wound up having to sort of peel it away from the rest. Not ideal.

-- When my mom was over the other day, she noticed the morning glory that's growing in a crack on my patio. I had already known about it, and I pointed out the volunteer tomato plant that was growing a bit further down, also in the patio. It's like I can't STOP things growing around here. It's a good problem to have.

-- I saw The Time Traveler's Wife today, and I thought it was pretty good. I read the book when it came out, and I can't remember it well enough to know how closely the movie followed its plot, but I enjoyed them the same amount. It's a clever story and an intriguing idea, but it doesn't seem (to me) to strive to be anything bigger than what it is. I like that.

-- Speaking of clever, my friend Alex has launched a new site called The Uncommon Cube. It's about cubicles and workspaces and is really very interesting. And there's a short interview with yours truly about working from home. Go! See! Be amazed by the mighty cubicle. I have promised to send tens of hits her way, so don't let me down.

-- After many months of searching for (and by 'searching for', I mean 'thinking about') a Minnesota-shaped cookie cutter, I have found one! I'm not even sure why I like the idea of Minnesota-shaped cookies so much, but I do. Obvious Minnesota cookie flavours would be apple, maple, or loon. You can taste the spots!

-- It looks like breakfast, doesn't it? But it was yesterday's dinner. I ran errands with my mom in the afternoon, so I had my afternoon snack (zucchini cake!) later than usual, meaning I wasn't that hungry for dinner. Oatbran to the rescue.

-- Maybe the whole breakfast for dinner thing threw me off schedule, because I realized when I crawled into bed that I'd forgotten to update. I usually like to do it late-ish to late in the evening; I feel like I have to have structure to my nights, or I wind up wasting time just watching shows on Hulu or surfing the web. Both are fine pursuits, of course, but it's a sort of boredom that breeds boredom -- I wind up succumbing to inertia and never get around to doing any of the things I want.

-- Speaking of structure, I've been going to the coffee shop a few times a week in order to make sure I get enough proof reading done (easier to do without the distractions of home). And I've even been looking forward to the colder months, when I can get back into the routine of going to the gym in the mornings (a life-saver when daylight hours are few and it's too frigid to get outside and do things). I'm feeling much more positive about the changing of the seasons, in general. Last winter wasn't so bad, and although we had a really nice summer this year, I keep hoping for cooler temperatures already. I know I'll regret saying that in a few months!

-- There's a discount bakery somewhere near my parents' house, and my mom visits every couple of months. One time, they had chocolate bread (with chocolate chips!), and I very much enjoyed the loaf I was given. But then it was gone. And the bakery, they did not have the chocolate bread (with chocolate chips!) again for a long, long time. But then they did! So now I do, too. Hooray.

-- Through a series of links, I found myself at Cake Wrecks, and the third cake on this post actually made me laugh out loud. And I laughed more and more as I read each of the numbered items under the photo. I'm looking at it now and laughing all over again. I might print that out and put it on my mirror so I can see it every morning (not really), and I'll never again be sad.

-- I brought in another eight or ten pounds of tomatoes today. The German Striped hadn't been ripening any for a while, but I got loads today, including four that were well over a pound each (two were over 1.5lbs). They'll probably become sauce to freeze, as they're so fleshy.

-- I had a really happy day today, thanks for asking. It was warm and sunny, which was pleasing, but as I was taking a walk around the Seward neighbourhood (I had been proofreading at the coffee shop), I was thinking about how it's supposed to cool down and rain tomorrow, and that's something to look forward to, as well. Then a bluebird landed on my shoulder. Wait, no. But I DID see a hedge that had been shaped into a giant, dodo-esque bird. It was amazing.

So, as promised -- my new wallet. I usually mull these things over for weeks and weeks until I can sprong into action, having worked out all the details in my mind. That was pretty much what happened with this; I knew I wanted to have a bigger wallet, one that would hold cash and cards, but also had a zipper pocket for coins, and which could hold my checkbook as well (there are a few of my usual haunts that don't accept cards).

I actually had one false start: on Saturday, I put together a wallet using the fabric I'd been thinking about, and a design I'd decided on (pockets for cash and cards on one interior side, zipper pocket and space for my checkbook on the other). I got everything finished except for hand-sewing on the clasp strap, and I decided I didn't really like it. It's actually pretty nice, but it just wasn't what I wanted.

So when I was out and about with my friend Alex yesterday, we stopped at Patina after brunch, and I saw a nice wallet whose design I liked -- instead of having pockets on both interior sides, everything was on one end, while the other served as more of a flap. So that's the design I went with.

I found the scrap remnant of this vintage fabric by accident as I sorted through my stash, and I immediately wanted to use it. I'd had the iron-on 'A' applique for a long time now, and this seemed like the perfect project. So, like the wallet I saw in the shop, the top is really only a flap, keeping everything inside secure. The interior has space for cards and my checkbook, and there's a zippered pocket on the outside for cash and coins (I could also fit my phone or iPod in there, if I wanted).

It really turned out just as I'd hoped. The older I get, the more patience I have for taking my time with the details (surprise!) -- stuff like top-stitching and, in this case, making sure things lined up just right; I wanted a bit of the grey lining to show on the front when the flap was velcro-ed down. I think the time spent getting those things right is what makes the finished product feel like a success.

So now I just need to take a few more months to mull over the perfect camera-toting messenger bag. Something that's only exactly as big as it needs to be. And won't cause any shoulder or back pain. Right.

Happy Labor Day, fellow Americans! And happy Monday to the rest of you. I woke up feeling a bit ambivalent about the day; I didn't really have much to do, but I liked the idea of not working. I'd spent all of Saturday similarly aimless, though, and it just dragged on and on and on.

Today's been good, though. I had a nice breakfast and then did a bit of this and that around the house, and I got an early start on preparations for lunch -- Susan's BBQ Seitan Ribz. As I said on flickr, I don't usually abide by the use of 'z' in place of an 's', but I think this recipe earned it. My only changes were to omit the liquid smoke (because I didn't have any), and I only needed 1/2 a cup of BBQ sauce, not the full cup called for in the recipe.

These are really, really good. I mean, I never had an actual rib from an actual pig, so I can't compare, but they're good just as what they are. The seitan has a good texture and chew, and the charred bits (whoops!) were crunchy and extra delicious. I might have to wait until next grilling season, but I'll definitely make these again, someday (for now, at least I have three more servings in the fridge!). The only thing I would do differently next time around would be to NOT cut the strips a second time, before putting them on the grill. Some came apart, and it would have been easier to handle the seitan on the grill as one big piece.

The 'ribz' were part of what wound up being a good, traditional Labor Day lunch. I had the last little ear-let of corn from my garden -- sad to see that go! Booty had a great holiday, too, as I let him out with me three times today. He kept and eye on the squirrels while I ate lunch.

I also had a Labor Day doze after lunch, ate a piece of zucchini cake, made myself a new wallet (more on that in another post), and went for a walk. All in all, a pretty good day!

Hello, everybody! I feel like this is the first Saturday in a while that I haven't had a brunch/lunch engagement, and it's a little hard to figure out what to do with all these morning hours. It doesn't help that I woke up extra early today. So far, I've made apple pancakes for breakfast (they demanded a repeat after the other day) and had a thin slice of zucchini cake, just to tide me over until lunch. That's pretty much it. Beany and I had a lie down on the sofa, too; weekends are hard work.

So, I made this zucchini cake for my tomato party yesterday (I think everybody had a nice time sitting out on the patio, and I managed to offload a couple dozen tomatoes), and it's really something special. I had started my search by looking for a chocolate zucchini cake that didn't go crazy with sugar or oil/butter, but then I found this Zucchini Olive Oil Cake and knew I had to try it. Luckily, about half of it was consumed during the get-together, and I was able to send some home with friends, so I'm only 'stuck' with a modest wodge of it now.

That cake is definitely going in my file of 'tried and true' recipes, and I thought I'd share some of the other stand-by recipes I've come across on the internet. These are all things that I've made more than once, and for which I'm not tempted to seek out a 'better' version.

-- Rhonda's Bread Recipe: Makes a great loaf of sandwich or toasting bread. I often sub in a cup of rye flour for the same of white.

-- Heidi's Special Zucchini Bread: A true zucchini bread. I usually cut back on the amount of poppy seeds and nix the cinnamon and curry powder, and I use all purpose flour. I love, love, love the crystalized ginger!

-- Susan's Pumpkin Spice Bread: I use the oil called for in the recipe (she also makes it without) and use an egg instead of the substitute. I've made them several times now with my own pumpkin or butternut puree, and everybody always loves it. Add chocolate chips, and you've got a super-double winner.

-- Laura's Gingerbread Cut Outs: I've made these a few years running, now. I use an egg (instead of a substitute), and I don't use black pepper. It could just be my oven, but I've found they usually only take about six minutes' baking time; any more and they get too dark on the bottom and don't stay as soft. A perfect, spicy gingerbread cookie that isn't too sweet (so stands up to lots of icing!).

-- Caramel Corn: I actually lost the link to the recipe I've used a few times (one of the smaller losses of the MacBook crash), but this is pretty similar. Adding salted peanuts is amazing. It's a good potluck recipe!

-- Rachel's Refrigerator Pickles: I posted my slightly tweaked version a while back, but I figured out that this is where I originally found it. I made some a while back and used slightly less vinegar, which I found is better to my taste buds.

-- Alton Brown's Bread and Butter Pickles: Just a good, solid recipe.

-- The Post Punk Kitchen's Tahini Dressing: I was crazy about this all last summer! According to the notes I made, I added onion powder and a pinch of cumin. Very good!

That's it for now! I hope you get a chance to try some of these.

-- I made some mighty fine pancakes this morning. First, I sliced and cooked a McIntosh apple (in a pan, with some cinnamon sugar on top), then I used my Whole Grain Milling multi-grain pancake mix (I usually just mix it with enough water to get the right consistency). I arranged the slices on the pancakes once I'd poured them onto the skillet, and voila. The multi-grain mix is lovely in a bland sort of way, so the tartness of the apple went really well. Two thumbs up.

-- Last night, as I was doing the dishes, Beany came over to stand by me. She does this. Because I had most of my weight on one foot, the very edge of my heel was off the ground. Just the very edge, mind you -- not even half the heel. Well, she must have purposefully placed her foot there (which is something she would do), because when I shifted my weight, I could feel a fuzzy toe underneath. I didn't even really step on it, but she ran off, all upset with me. As if *I* had put her foot there! Honestly.

-- I mowed the lawn today, in anticipation of having people over tomorrow. It had gotten rather long, and it's still very lush from all the rain we got a while back (and the mild weather since). When the grass is dry and scraggly, mowing it is a chore; it's just something I have to do to keep it looking less awful than it otherwise would. But when it's green and healthy, it's kind of the most exciting thing ever. It goes from being a bit wild to looking perfectly manicured, all with a few (dozen) passes of the electric mower. It's a lot like the first few strokes of a roller when you're painting a room and get to see what it's going to look like. So easy, and such a difference.

-- Beany alerted me to the presence of a fuzzy bunny rabbit in the backyard yesterday evening. I've seen a couple rabbits recently, but there's been no garden damage. In fact, this particular one was hopping through the (long) grass, expertly uprooting weeds and eating them. It deserves some sort of medal for that. You can see the tassels of my corn field (er, six stalks of corn) through the window.

-- Having finally bought more soba the other day, I was able to make spaghetti for lunch today. I've written about this before, but I love soba noodles so much more than regular wheat pasta. Why doesn't it come in other shapes? My veggie bolognese was made with Morningstar mince and some of the tomato sauce I made yesterday, which is the best I've ever made. Hooray for me. AND my grape jelly/jam set up. I win.

-- I decided to invite some friends over to distribute tomatoes and show off my garden (somebody needs to see how amazing the lawn looks, never mind all the plants), so I'm looking forward to that on Friday. I get a bit anxious about hosting events, worried that nobody will show up, but I'm trying to be a more devil-may-care about this. After all, I've been assured that my pal Alex will be in attendance, and we're scheming to make tomato-flavoured drinks. Awesome or awful? We'll be the judge!

-- I had a Chocolate Chip Peanut Crunch Clif bar today, and the peanuts tasted very 'off' (the rest of the bar tasted fine). Just my luck -- it was probably the one Clif product to actually have a recalled peanut in it and not get pulled off the shelf. I'll have the peanut poisoning now. Okay, not really -- but, still... disappointing.

-- Happy September! I'm not sure what this feeling is, but it's almost like... excitement... about autumn.