I'm just gonna pretend I haven't been a negligent fool.

     Well, hi! It hasn't, you know, been forever or anything.  So let's hop to it! Here is a brief collection of some of the photos I've accumulated since the last time I posted.  Which was....again, NOT forever ago!  Some of these are from the holidays, and some are just random. 

                                                          Christmas Snickerdoodles

                                              My first-ever homemade cranberry sauce!

Cookie Dough truffles (found the recipe on Reddit)

                       The Nyan-Cake I made for my boyfriend's birthday, real Poptart and all!

                                           First attempt at Gazpacho- it was pretty good!

                                                          Gazpacho-beginnings

           French onion soup with whole wheat gnocchi, smoked gouda and bagel chip croutons

                   Lemon-pepper pasta, spinach, roasted peppers and goat cheese, pre-mixin'

                           First attempt at pineapple upside-down cake, for my dad's birthday

                                                             Spinach salad, dawg!

                                              Bhabaganouj (didn't taste so good this time)

             Brie, smoked gouda and tomato (open-broiled) sandwich with sweet potato fries
                                                    
Some kind of...soup....with spinach, coconut milk and seaweed.  Yeah, I dunno. But it was good.

                                       She loves this magazine as much as I do, clearly < 3

     Well, I guess that's about it for now.  I've been meaning to sit down and do this for weeks, life's just been kind of weird lately.  I know this post hasn't been much, substance-wise, but I'm really, really trying to get back into the swing of routine, in a lot of ways.  School's starting back up this week, so maybe that'll help.  I hope so.

I know! I suck!

     It has literally been an entire summer since I last posted.  I am ashamed.  It's just....have you ever had one of those summers (or falls, or springs) that fly by way too fast?  The ones where you feel like you've been extremely busy and have missed out on a ton of things, with nothing to really show for it in the end?  Yeah, it's been one of those summers.
     Weddings, Otakon, what else?  I scored a job at Bertucci's, just quit said job, and am currently on the job-prowl.  I had an interview, and I should probably find out the outcome this week.  I think I'm pretty good, though.  I've completely neglected much out-of-the-ordinary cooking (much less blogging about cooking) for the past couple of months, and I hate that.  I guess working has cut into the time I otherwise woulda been spending exploring food, and lack of funds for exploratory ingredients hasn't helped.  To be honest, neither has Reddit.
     Now, I'm back in school.  Everything in life seems to be settling back into place, and I'll definitely have more free time.  Forgive me, and let the fall of cooking/blogging begin!

A few words on Ryan Dunn

     I know he got into his car while under the influence.  I know he drove too fast, and I know another person was killed due to his mistakes.  Those are all very sad things.  However, it didn't take me long at all to get completely fed up by all of the hostility I'm seeing thrown at Dunn. 
     The man died. DIED. He left a whole lot of people behind who miss him terribly, including not only those very close to him, but a ton of fans.  I, for one, feel almost like I've lost a friend.  Dunn was always my favorite of the CKY/Jackass crew, and the fact that I've watched him for so many years made the news of his death truly, deeply sadden me.
     He made a few very grave mistakes, and I won't condone them.  Still, how many of you have never gotten into a car after drinking?  Personally, I'm not that stupid.  Sadly, however, too many people have at least once, if not regularly behaved in such a way.  The irresponsibility is terrible, but if it was a relative or friend of yours who was involved in such a tragic accident, you probably wouldn't be throwing "he deserves no sympathy" comments their way.  The the very, very least, think of Dunn's friends, and particularly the family that has been faced with this loss.
     I really just wish that for the sake of empathy and class, some people would hold in their angry, closed-minded comments and think of the people affected.  Sure, some of them might be individuals who've gained celebrity by shoving items up their asses or putting their dicks in compromising positions for the sake of LOLs, but in the end they're all still people, with families and friends who love them. 

                                                 Party on, Dunn. I will truly miss your Jackassery.

Sorry, sorry, sorry!

     I know, it's been AWHILE since I've posted.  Life has been a little crazy this past few weeks- quitting my job, looking for a new one, weddings, end-of-semester craziness, spring cleaning, etc. I haven't really had the time to cook consistently (especially things that I care to admit to (TJ's mac and cheese with BRIE, anyone?)), and have had even LESS time to lurk muh blogs.  I'll be back on track really soon, promise! Also, wish me luck finding a new job soon! Otakon's coming up!! :o

AMERICA

Fuck yeah.

Welp, the day has finally come.

     I quit my job today.  Nothing dramatic happened, like a few people have assumed.  It was just time to move on.  I'll miss you, Hot Topic family! RIP job, 2008-2011.

Post-Easter detox day three and one looong update

     As I mentioned in my last post, this week I'm being a total kiss-ass to my own body after totally gorging it all this past Easter weekend.  I guess I almost always eat extremely healthy, but I'm trying to keep it to eating ONLY extremely healthy for now.  That means a whole lotta theeese

                                                                       and some-uh theeeese

                                                                        and even some of this!

     To be perfectly honest, I'm not huge on soymilk in general.  Aside from chocolate.  But for some reason, one day last week I had a strange urge to pick some up.  I was at the only store between wherever I was leaving and home, and they didn't carry the brand of rice/almond/soy/etc milks I usually buy for supercheapz at Trader Joe's, hence this one of the overpriced variety.  And the fact that I brought home the Omega-enhanced type was purely accidental.  However, I was actually really pleasantly surprised at the taste.  This kind seemed to have a creamier, more pleasant taste than regular.  Or, probably, I was just imagining it.
     I didn't really have a full meal yesterday, I was really busy and shamefully relied mainly on bits and pieces.  My dinner was basically this-

 A rice cake with some salted/lemon juiced avocado, with a pear sprinkled with salt and cinnamon (DON'T JUDGE ME!).

Going backwards to Monday, which was a very pretty day.  I guess Monday's dinner was similar, although my lethargic ass put just a bit more effort into it.  I had a sandwich.  Smoked Tofu and some half-assed yet delicious guacamole. 

                                   (just a nice photo of the trees behind our back yard, near sunset)
Later on my mommy made me some yummy vegetables in plain tomato sauce.  I don't usually like pizza or pasta sauces because I hate the combination of seasonings like oregano with the concentrated tomato flavor, so plain was lovely.  Was gooood.

 Dessert (prior to my surprise veggies) was a mashed up, very ripe banana mashed with some cocao powder and lots and lots of cinnamon.  Might look kinda bleh, but this stuff was good.

     Today I worked my butt off all day cleaning, and during the afternoon mostly just snacked on fruit.  For dinner, though, I put together another nice plate of veggies-

Mushrooms, zucchini, eggplant, garlic and spinach sauteed with toasted almonds, sesame seeds, lemon juice and cayenne.  With this I had a bowl of tomato (fresh and sun-dried), avocado, garlic, and feta (all from TJ's, all awesome)

                                                                      God, I'm adventurous.
 
     Dessert was strawberries and cantaloupe over some Greek yogurt mixed with cocao and cinnamon.  Trend here?  Gosh, I loves me some cinnamon..
     And going back about a week or so, I tested a recipe from my cookbook baby.  It was a polenta-pear cake, and the recipe itself was almost entirely vegan, which I quite liked.  The cake was delicious, but the texture was all...awful.  I'm not gonna tell you the stupid mistake I made, though. 
     Ok, I will.  I didn't use instant polenta.  I used..regular polenta.  Go on, mock me. Here it is, anyway, before baking, while baking and the finished product.

     Speaking of baking, yesterday I hung out with a good friend of mine and we made snickerdoodles and chamomile cookies.  Not EXACTLY detox, buuuuut hey.  The chamomile ones were awesome, I love the idea of cooking/baking with tea. 

     And one more thing- my thoughts go out to those affected by the tornadoes all over the side of the country over the past few days.