Halloween! Cupcakes! Party!

Look at these beautiful cupcakes. These are cupcakes Heather is making for me to eat. Well, technically they are for lots of people to eat, we've invited a few friends over to celebrate Halloween and have a drink and a cupcake.
So Heather has spent the afternoon driving me crazy by making the apartment smell like delicious cupcakes.
Now were gonna eat some dinner and then we're gonna put on silly costumes and then I'm gonna eat some cupcakes.

yummy.

Weekend Update

Hello again,

Topher is off making brunch for people today. I had my second training at the animal shelter today and we will be doing the same types of things tomorrow morning too. The farmers market has been keeping us busy in the kitchen, natch and I have been learning the secrets of bargain shopping in Seattle.

I am enjoying my time off.

Hope Fall is beautiful where you are too.

Loving it...

Last week it was rainy and gray. I had the flu. I took it easy and Topher cooked for me! Seattle has warmed up since then and the beautiful sunsets are a welcome punctuation to our evenings together. We were longing for Indonesian food and in my fevered state I requested that Topher cook me Nasi Goreng! (Truthfully, the only Indonesian recipe that is in our collection.) Look how neat and tidy his preparations are!
Nasi Goreng (Vegan)

3 cups cooked brown rice, cold
1 cup mung bean sprouts
1/2 cup chopped peanuts
1 tbsp or more to taste, soy sauce
1 tbsp sambol (we substituted sriaracha and sweet chili sauce)
1 cup cabbage, shredded
1/2 cup carrots, shredded
2 cloves minced garlic
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 lb minced seasoned tofu or fake meat bits
1 Tbsp. lime juice
several lime wedges
1 Tbsp. toasted sesame oil or peanut oil (or combination)
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
1/2 cup scallions, chopped

1. Heat oil in wok or skillet, add tofu, onion and garlic.
2. Saute for a few minutes.
3. Add rice and sambol and stir. Add soy sauce and one half of the carrots, sprouts, cabbage and peanuts. Cook and toss together for a few minutes.
4. Add half of the cilantro, black pepper, half of the scallions and more soy sauce if needed.
5. Continue frying for 2 minutes.
6. Serve! Top with remaining sprouts, cilantro, peanuts, cabbage, carrots and scallions. Put lime wedges and chili sauce on the side.

Living with a chef!

Vegan Cuban Black Bean Soup

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 cans black beans
1 package of Smart Bacon, cut into strips
3 cups vegetable broth
3 cups water
1/4 cup hard cider (or regular cider)
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves
1 medium green bell pepper, chopped
1 large tomato, chopped
for our topping: 2 plantains and vegetable oil
(optional toppings: chopped hard boiled egg and onions)

1. Heat oil over medium heat. Cook onion and garlic in oil, stirring occasionally.
2. When onion and garlic are cooked, add Smart Bacon, spices and cider, simmer on low for 10 minutes or so.
3. Stir in remaining ingredients, heat to boiling. Boil for 2 minutes; reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 3o minutes.
4. While soup is cooking: heat oil in cast iron pan. Peel and cut medium size slices of plantain. Drop into the hot oil, fry until brown. Place fried plantains on plate with paper towel to drain off excess oil.
5. Serve soup with topping of choice.

This is one of the first recipes we worked on together and it turned out wonderful! Enjoy!

the internet

We have it in our house now! Topher has started working and now it's my turn to hang out while he is gone. I have started training to volunteer at the Animal Shelter, which is close to our place. I can not apply to be a sub until my WA teaching license is granted to me, all the paperwork is in, all I can do now is wait. I have decided to knit all my Christmas presents this year and this is my project to make sure I do not lose my mind while unemployed! So far I have completed 2 hats! I had no idea they were so easy...

Here are some of amazing pictures we have from Colorado:
Cheers!

It's raining

At this moment Topher is taking his Food Handlers Test and I am applying to be a Substitute Teacher. The time off has been good for us, but the money is dwindling. Since we returned to Seattle, we have been mostly enjoying our wonderful new home. Cooking, watching dvds, walking up and down Queen Anne, knitting, researching herb gardens and reading. We are glad to be home. We skipped some of the sites we were planning on seeing on the way back, because we were anxious to return home. Now we have places to see in the US in the future.

Hope all is well with you.

The Wild West

chicago and beyond...

So, we are in fact back in Seattle, BUT we missed posting many of our adventures...so here are a few pictures from the day after Chinatown. It was raining in Chicago and we decided to save some money and go out to breakfast before hitting the road, instead of going to the Shedd. I got to introduce Topher to the best, maybe oldest Vegan spot in the midwest, The Chicago Diner. That is me with my vegan eggs benedict, he approved! Then we headed to Mitchell for the Corn Palace and then we got to get back to nature...camping in Chamberlain SD. At the best campsite I have ever had car camping!

Blog? what Blog?

Ooops. I guess it's been a few days since we last updated the blog. Sorry 'bout that.
We made it through South Dakota unscathed and we've spent the last few days in Fort Collins, Colorado with my parents. We don't have any pictures right now because I'm using my Mom's computer, but we've had a real nice time cruising around Colorado and eating my Dad's "Home Cookin'." (I put those quotes up around that phrase because the term Home Cookin' doesn't really describe the sort of amazing meals my Dad creates in his home.) We watched some Elk do their funky Elk mating dance in the Rockies and we watched a bunch of football on my parents big ol' TV. (Heather mostly knitted during the football.) We also saw a group of amazing sheep right next to the road, chewing on some grass.

Tomorrow morning we'll continue our adventure moving west. We've decided to make this last part of our journey a little more direct than we originally planned. We've been on the road for a while and we'd both kind of like to get back to our nice new apartment in Seattle and figure out what the rest of our lives might look like.

We'll try to update again (with pictures!) as soon as we run into some wi-fi. Stay posted! XOXO

Where the Heck is Wall Drug??

hey y'all,
We don't have time to post any pictures this morning, but we wanted to let you know that we are in beautiful South Dakota headed west. Last night we camped at a very nice campground along the Missouri river. Today the sky is blue, the sun is out, and we're going to see the Badlands and the Black Hills. There will be lots of pictures later.
yeee-haw.