punkin party

when the clock struck fall and the world exploded with pumpkin, my kitchen became a center for it all. pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin risotto, pumpkin baked oatmeal, opening night* pumpkin bread. pumpkin pumpkin. pumpkiny pumpkin braised with pumpkin, topped with pumpkin tartare, finished with extra virgin pumpkin. 

in my old age i've become staunchly seasonal, to the point where i nearly had a meltdown about realizing that it's now slightly too late to bake a pflaumenkuchen, to the point where i visited upwards of four grocery stores prematurely in search for pumpkin for pumpkin challah on rosh hashanah. {severe and sincere props to my new favorite, the 5th avenue key food... i know.} i love that pumpkin season is here. love it times a trillion. it just makes me want to dance in leg warmers to sufjan stevens near a fireplace all night long.

-yeh!!! 

*if you follow me on the twitters, you know that i simply won't shut up about dog days and how it premiered this weekend. it was so amazing to be able to just play through the thing without pausing to adjust lights or intonation or other tech things. so many times i wanted to just burst into tears about some of them arias. but, boy oh boy, was i nervous! still, the idea of playing in a performance that isn't a school performance and that will potentially be reviewed by lotsa people gives me the nervous i-can-only-eat-matzoh-ball-soup tummy. i love it though and i hope that maybe you will see it?

i spy...

{a rosh hashanah party aftermath}

i spy with my little eye...

the remnants of the best sweet potato chips in the world,

the salt and pepper shakers that mum and i painted for my first little apartment on a hot summer night about a zillion years ago,

oven mits covered in brisket fat,

roommate's patrick literature that will always be way over my head,

an empty olive oil bottle that was full just hours earlier,

a strainer and a cutting board that belonged to old roommate grace. oh, i miss me some grace!

apples and honey, some turnips that went unused, popsicle molds from the i-don't-know-where-these-go pile,

and a generic grocery store pepper mill because for some reason i still do not have one of these. {it's called a housewarming present, people?}

but as mum always says, 

"a messy kitchen is a happy kitchen!"

-yeh!

how to throw a rosh hashanah party

when but 1 1/2 of your guests are jewish

kneed bacon into the challah and wash it down with porkslap

or a spicy shiksa {one part gin + one part elderflower syrup + two parts manischevitz + a shake of tabasco + garnish with bacon}

don't be offended when no one eats the kugel...

be happy because it will make the perfect day-after breakfast.

there will be: "this is the first matzoh ball soup i've ever had,"

and: "this is the best matzoh ball soup i've ever had."

take very careful note of who said what, you will be pleasantly surprised.

leave the brussels sprouts and honey cake to the spatula queen,

and if rob brings candy corn, make a cocktail about it.

fresh ricotta + maple walnut gelato + creamed honey are a must.

so too is a brisket, especially if it nearly burns down the house.
when the guests get sleepy, that is your sign to start up the cotton candy machine.

and obviously, you should always end these things on the roof with a sweater, wonderfully silly people, a guitar, and the most beautiful music you ever did hear.

to 5773! 

-yeh!

plots to take over the fall

this year's halloween costume rhymes with my name. if you guess what it is, you get a high five. 

in working on a piece about oatmeal for the violet's fall issue, and feeling like a bit of failure, i discovered the oatmeal artist. it is pure gold.

soon it will be leg warmer and risotto weather and your girl will not look back.

does anyone care about anyone else's opinions about politics? or do people only want to talk about how they feel and agree with the other people who feel the same way?

apple pickin, nose pickin, sufjan stevens ballet!

i am counting down the days until dog days. also relearning the 100 pages of vibraphone notes and it is the most fun in the practice room i've had since famicom.

anyone got any good australian licorice recipes?


-yeh!