I’m confident my childhood would have been a million times better if only I had this slide to slide down.
yes?
{photo by anders rorgren}
Monthly Archives: September 2011
forcing the season: pumpkin chiffon cake
It’s not Fall yet in Tallahassee. We’re still wearing white and flip flops. But we hope if we drink enough pumpkin beer and light enough pumpkin scented candles and eat enough pumpkin foods, Fall will come any day now.
So, enter the pumpkin chiffon cake – the first autumnal food of the wannabe season.
This one comes from Rachel Ray Magazine (recipe link).
I had all of the ingredients in my house (bonus!), including pumpkin, which I hoarded from the great canned pumpkin shortage of 2010.
Sorry if you had a hard time finding pumpkin last year. I could have been at fault. I grabbed the last 5 cans at Target and didn’t look back. Then I generously gave them out to my friends. “Oh, you couldn’t find any pumpkin? I have pumpkin, but you see…My car could really use a wash…”
The hardest part of this recipe was whipping the egg whites.
My biggest first-world problem is that I don’t have a stand mixer. This electric hand mixer and I have been through some really though (read: emotional, angry, martial) times. And although I would drop it in a second for a stand mixer, I believe this hand mixer and I were meant to be together – mostly because I’ll never be able to afford the alternative.
So when a recipe says whip the egg whites for ten or fifteen minutes (a.k.a. eternity on a hand mixer), I just don’t. I whipped it for a few minutes before my arm fell off.
So the cake didn’t rise. Oh well.
It was a tasty cake, say my friends. I didn’t have any since I don’t like pumpkin flavored things. That probably makes my pumpkin hoarding story even more ridiculous.
knitting projects and delicious links
When Fall comes around, everyone in Florida comes out of their Summertime hiding. My calendar has been packed with invitations from friends. It’s been nice, especially after a lonely August where four of my close friends moved away.
I’ve been doing a bit of sewing and crafting here and there, but haven’t finished any projects. Does anyone else suffer from “I can’t finish this project” syndrome? I can’t resist a good fall craft, so expect some soon.
In the meantime, here are a few delicious things I’ve made this week:
Key Lime Pie for the boyfriend
Banana Bread for friends
Banana and Sour Cream Pancakes for romantic breakfasts
I also started my first knitting project of the season. I learned how to knit years ago, but wanted a refresher, so I signed up for a “learn to knit” course.
Here’s what I got.
It will eventually be fingerless mittens.
Extreme close up.
I took those pictures at 6 a.m. this morning, so everything looks a bit more yellow.
a few highlights from savannah
I turns out I suck at taking pictures on vacation (or just in general). Snapping a photograph always seems either terribly contrived or like it’s a complete afterthought. Regardless, we had a really nice time in Savannah. Here are a few snapshots of our journey.
Dueling pianos at the most absurd dive bar. Ryan said there was a man selling Axe Body Spray in the men’s restroom. Even still, it was a blast.
The ferry ride to the craft brew fest.
Our hostel was walking distance from Forsyth park. We visited it every day.
Gelato. yum.
A stroll through the Savannah Bee Company. You can sample their honeys. Orange Blossom has always been my favorite.
Pralines. Oh, so yummy.
dreamy things
Perhaps it’s because I didn’t sleep well last night, but I’m feeling awfully dreamy. And at night I would like to dream of
Cardboard Sheep that hold my books
And making my slumber on this sofa.
What about you? What do you want to dream of?
savannah, georgia on my mind
This weekend the beau and I are taking a much needed vacation to Savannah, Georgia. We went last Labor Day (but I don’t have any pictures online, what?) and fell in love. I think I liked it better than NOLA.
The driving factor for this trip is the Savannah Craft Brew Fest, which is probably one of the biggest in the Southeast.
Last year we went on a ghost tour and did a few other touristy things. Mostly, we just walked around and visited all the tiny shops and historic houses. The city is filled with history, romance, and great food.
We plan to visit The Distillery frequently. We ate there twice last year. No, we’re not eating at Paula Deen’s. It’s too expensive.
We don’t usually have much of a plan when we travel, so where do you suggest we go? I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences, if you’ve been.