Dressing up?

Are you guys getting snazzy for the big H?
Why was Erin in Las Vegas??

Vegas?

Erin, how was Vegas? (Aside from there not being enough Elvis impersonators...)

Vegan Orange Spice Cake

I tweaked this cake that I found in Joy of Cooking and just tasted it - soo yummy. Its also cool that I have all these vegetarian cook books, but I found the recipe in Joy of Cooking!

Here is the recipe from the book:

Ultra-Orange Cake (Vegan)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, grease and flour 8" cake pan or line bottom with parchment/wax paper

Whisk together in large bowl:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Add and stir until smooth:

1 cup orange juice
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
1 tablespoon white or cider vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Pour batter in pan, bake for 30-35 minutes, cool for 10 min, remove from pan and peel off paper (if used), cool on rack.

I made it a spice cake and added about 1/3 - 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, alspice, ground cloves, and nutmeg. (I didn't have any ginger.)

I sprinkled powdered sugar over one and I made a glaze with powdered sugar and orange juice for the other. The glaze was really good but made it super sweet. If you don't want it to be as sweet, the recipe says you can reduce the amount of sugar by 2 tablespoons.

Also, I got a job pouring wine and serving cheese at a farm shop that is part of Kluge winery and vineyards out near Monticello. I don't have to know much about wine and it in a gorgeous area. I start Thurs so cheers to me not embarassing myself!

Erica

Yummy yum yum!

This is a recipe I found online that looks SO GOOD!  I think I'm gonna make it tonight, but I figured you guys might like to see it too.

~Gwyn

Borlotti Bean Mole with Roast Winter Squash

I made a few tweaks to the original recipe, primarily to communicate amounts in a way that is a bit more approachable to American cooks. If you don't have fresh beans on hand, cook up a pot of dried ones. If you can't find borlotti beans feel free to substitute pinto beans or another bean of that nature. Chiles can vary in heat, so if you are sensitive, start with less, you can always add more later on in the cooking process if you like. Dennis recommends serving this mole with tortillas, polenta, mashed potatoes, or potato cakes.

~1 1/2 cups (7 ounces) fresh borlotti beans

~1 1/2 cups (7 ounces) winter squash

olive oil

4 - 5 big leaves of kale (3 1/2 ounces)

2 tablespoons butter

1 medium onion, chopped

2 - 4 red jalapeno chiles, halved, seeded, and chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 pound of fresh plum tomatoes, chopped or 14-ounce can

2 teaspoons paprika

1 ounce of almonds, dark roasted and finely ground

2 ounces dark 70% dark chocolate, broken into pieces

salt

Preheat oven to 180C / 350F / Gas mark 4. Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil, add the borlotti beans and cook for about 10-15 minute until they are just cooked or even slightly undercooked. Drain and cool under cold running water, and set aside.

Cut the squash flesh into good-sized chunks, about 2 cm or 3/4-inch squares, place them in a roasting pan and toss with olive oil. Roast them in the oven for about 20 minutes until caramelized on the outside but still firm. Reduce the oven temperature to 130C/ 250F / Gas mark 1/2. (hs note: alternately, you can brown the squash in a skillet.)

Without removing the central stem, cut the kale across the leaf into 2cm / 3/4-inch slices. Melt the butter into an oven-proof casserole dish (pot) and fry the onion and chilies gently over a low to medium heat for 20-30 minutes, until caramelized. Add the garlic and fry for three minutes more. Add the tomatoes and paprika, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer gently for 15 minutes. Add the ground almonds, chocolate, squash, borlotti beans, kale, and a teaspoon of salt. Stir until the chocolate has melted. Cover the casserole and put it in the oven to cook gently for 2 hours.

Serves 4.

Hope you guys are having a good fall so far!  I just got back to Ithaca from a visit to Queens University up in Canada for a math conference, and the leaves up there were all bright red and gold and yellow, so I'm in such an autumn mood.

On the note of fall, you guys have any plans to celebrate the last of fall?  Thanksgiving-y stuff?

~Gwyn

Jack

Pumpkin courtesy of Comus Farmer's Market.

Candles courtesy of Sunbeam.

Extreme dorkiness resulting in halloween tableau photography courtesy of Nicky Tilley's influence.

I got a job!

Woo hoo! I am now a marketing associate at a circulation company called ProCirc. Basically, they do the marketing for magazines all over the country. I'll be working on 4 specific pubs with my boss, Lee. She seems pretty laid back and like she could be a good mentor. So excited! They gave me the salary I wanted with benefits and 401K after 90 days. More info as it comes!

Nicky and Liz drive this bus to blue town!

Hey Florida, North Carolina and Virginia residents-- get out there!!  We NEED you!!!

Liz or Nicky- if either of you is volunteering for the Obama camp and needs help going door to door or whatever let me know and I can try to come help.

Also Abbers, I'm sorry to hear what you're going through right now with Andrew... If you want to come take refuge in DC and get drunk and eat ice cream, get on a bus gus!  I can imagine it might be hard to be around him right now, perhaps you should encourage him to move to Ohio and register to vote as soon as possible.

Abby update

Hola Fellas (it has a feminine ending, I swear),
Happy birthdays!! We've got us, what, two more 25s?
Erica, how old are you now, 21? HAHAHAHAHHA. I love you.
Here's a nice picture Andrew took of me this past weekend in the garden.

Notice that the carrot I harvested is white. They are all coming up albino. What the heck?
In related news, he and I broke up shortly after it was taken. Well, a few days after. On Tuesday night. We just kept having the same fights and neither of us felt willing to modify who we are to accommodate the other. I still want to be with him, and there are no hard feelings, but I'm just not willing to be in a position where I don't feel the same level of appreciation and respect that I put out there. And to him, I'm too hard to trust/too much of a flirt and unapologetic about it. I mean, I'm not saying that those things aren't true, but to him they fall near "dealbreaker" on the spectrum of relationship annoyances. Anyway, I don't think he's very happy right now, and that, I believe, is really the biggest factor underlying the discontent.
Speaking of ex-boyfriends, Jiban contacted me! Strange. I'm glad, though. It's nice to talk to him when he's not saying crazy things at 4 am, drunk on my parent's doorstep. I guess he and Doria were living together but broke up and moved apart. She has a different guy in her facebook picture now, anyway.
What else? I just ate a ton of ABC homefries left over from earlier today at the cafe. I hope I don't feel sick to my stomach in about five minutes.

Vice-Presidential Debate Tonight!

9PM