I Love NPR

An opinion piece about Halloween and disability.

How did I miss this?

My housemate tells me Glee is putting out a Christmas album next month.  Shazam!

Who knew big cats like pumpkins?

Yeah, these pumpkins are crying for their mommies.

Holiday Music

There are several new holiday albums coming out this season from various famous artists.  I have mixed feeling about the bunch, and I think you'll see why:

1.  The Indigo Girls release Holly Happy Days, their first holiday album EVER.  An Amazon reviewer says it is their most country album yet.  In this case, I imagine that's a good thing.
2.  Mariah Carey, who, on her first holiday album, created a masterpiece with All I Want for Christmas is You, is about to release its sequel--Merry Christmas II You.  I'm a little embarrassed to admit it, but I want to buy it, if only to make fun of whatever new holiday songs she's penned and singing her heart out to. 
3.  Pink Martini releases their first holiday album, Joy to the World, which I am truly excited to hear (follow the link for song samples).  I think the small orchestra sound of Pink Martini translates quite well into holiday music!

Oh, Amazon Wish List, I love you so.

Butter Beans!

Greek butter bean stew has become one of my go-to recipes.  It's so cheap and easy that it's hard to believe how delicious the finished product is.  I've made it for myself, I've made it for a Top Chef viewing party, and I've made it for book group.  And...it's vegan!  (No, I am not going vegan, just taking on a challenge.)  I use this recipe, with minimal adaptations.  I've made it to the letter and I've made it with all jarred tomato sauce rather than sauce and fresh tomatoes.  Both versions are delicious.  The only thing you need to do is plan ahead and put the beans out to soak the day before you plan on making them.

Renting a Christmas Tree

An acquaintance found this company, Rent a Living Christmas Tree, LLC, which grows several types of evergreens and rents them out for the holiday season.  This would be an ecologically sound alternative to tree farms that cut down one-time use trees.  The company is in California, so you need to be in that general area to order from them.  I haven't done any research, but I can't imagine that purchasing a living tree wherever you live would be much more expensive than what this company is charging.  And, of course, if you bought the tree you'd be able to keep it in use as a Christmas tree for several years and then get to plant it wherever you wanted.  Given my lack of green thumb, I think I'd have to go that route!  I wouldn't want to be charged for killing a tree in my care!

Hosting a (Vegan) Halloween-Cookie Decorating Party!

My friend L casually mentioned wanting to decorate Halloween cookies.  Two weeks later, we did!  His wish was my command (although he never actually asked).  Anyway, fun was had.  I baked vegan sugar cookies and mixed up some vegan royal icing in four different colors.  It was my first time going vegan with both of them, and I was pleasantly surprised!  I pretty much picked recipes at random off the internet, which is a risky thing to do when baking for guests.  I was quite careful with how much liquid I added to the royal icing, choosing to add only 3/4 of the suggested amount and adding a tablespoon at a time until the consistency was moist but not runny.  Luckily, they both came out well and it made me happy that my vegan friend could participate.  Along with assorted decorating gels, multicolored sanding sugars, and Halloween-esque sprinkles, folks made some pretty amazing cookies. 

My friends are definitely talented.  The evening was a great excuse to light a fire in the fireplace, put on It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, and mull some hot sangria apple cider.  Oh my god, it turned out so good!  I am not a big fan of alcohol, but I like it in theory.  As a foodie, I get that it is a whole other genre of taste and culinary creativity.  I do like sangria, and I love mulled apple cider, so I decided to try out a combination.  I mixed a half bottle of sulfite-free organic red wine and a half gallon of apple cider in a saucepan, then added a cup or two of fresh cranberries, two sliced oranges, a cinnamon stick, split in half, several whole cloves, a dash of ground ginger, and a couple of tablespoons of sweetener.  I warmed it over medium heat, starting about 20 minutes before guests arrived.  This way they would be greeted with the warm, sweet, and spicy scent of it simmering away.  The cranberries cooked and popped, and eventually disintegrated into little tangy bites that were fun to slurp up from the bottom of the cup.  I thought I had invented the hot apple cider sangria thing, but apparently someone got to it first.  In any case, it's a recipe that's going into my keep pile!

An Early Birthday Gift

For some reason my mom bought me a birthday gift on Amazon.com and mailed it directly to my house.  But that's okay, because it's super awesome--a boxed set of three different Peanuts holiday specials!  That's my childhood right there.

Chicken Fajitas

They may not have the snap and sizzle of restaurant fajitas, but these ones are just as tasty.

Ingredients:
1 package chicken tenders (unprocessed, just boneless skinless chicken breast meat cut in large strips)
1 large green or red pepper, seeds removed and cut into strips
1 medium yellow onion, cut into strips
cilantro (a handful of fresh chopped or 4 cubes frozen fresh cilantro--available at Trader Joe's!)
fajita spices (I favor Penzys Southwest Seasoning, but any combination of salt, pepper, garlic, cilantro, paprika, cumin, etc will do)
large flour tortillas (I am so biased towards flour ones, and the smaller ones just won't hold it all)
1 can vegetarian, fat-free refried beans
1 avocado, diced
salsa
shredded cheese (if you're me, that means cheddar!)

Directions:

1.  Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat add add a tablespoon or two of olive oil.
2.  Add the onions and peppers to the skillet and cook, stirring often, until they begin to char.
3.  Add the chicken tenders, cilantro, and spices to the skillet, cover, and let cook until the chicken is browned, around 3 to 5 minutes. 
4.  Turn the heat down to medium, stir, and re-cover.  Cook until the chicken is cooked through, stirring as needed to keep the food from burning.
5.  While the chicken is cooking, scoop the refried beans into a microwave-safe bowl and microwave until piping hot.
6.  Put a tortilla on each plate, topped with some shredded cheese.  Microwave just long enough to warm the tortillas.
7.  Assemble fajitas by topping each cheesy tortilla with some of the chicken and veggies, followed by however much you want of the refried beans, salsa, and avocado.

Yum!

Comfort, Convenience

I haven't been much in the mood to cook exciting new things, and I haven't got much money to spend on updating my Halloween and fall-inspired decorations.  This means I've been cooking more staple foods--dishes I've made since I started cooking (which was very young) and that I remember my mother and grandmother making.  During times when I'm low energy or busy, falling back on those dishes is easier and reassuring, because I don't have to worry about researching items for the grocery list or plotting elaborate multi-day cooking processes.  I tend to think of these things late at night at work.  For example, last week I was sitting in our office's recliner (yes, I'm lucky) and fretting over the minimal amount of home cooking I had been doing lately.  Less cooking at home equals more junk food equals bad, bad, bad and more low energy and all that fun stuff.  I knew I didn't have the energy or time to cook anything new, so I made a brief list of the things I know I can cook from memory.  I highly recommend keeping a list like this on your fridge if you are the sort of person who needs prompting when figuring out weekly menu--and life--logistics.  My plan worked well, and I actually cooked three different meals in the space of a few days.  I started with beef stew, which was nice given the cooler fall weather.  I made enough for leftovers, which are now sitting in my chest freezer as back up for the next time the blues hit and I just want something easy and satisfying!  I also made turkey meatloaf and yesterday, chicken fajitas.  Chicken fajitas are the easiest thing ever, and they're every bit as tasty as you'd find in a run-of-the-mill Tex-Mex restaurant.  I'll post recipes for all three in the next couple of days!

Flickr Does Halloween

I've been exploring various Halloween-related Flickr groups.  So far, the most interesting has been Vintage Halloween.  It's all I can do to keep myself from exploring Ebay and Etsy for vintage decorations!  Here are a few of my favorites from the group:

Vlad the Vampire Pumpkin
Crescent Moon, Owl, and Bat Wall Sculpture
Edgar Allen Poe Corsage
Black Halloween Kitties (in dunce caps!)
Creepy Vintage Hippie Masks
Baby Frankenstein and His Baby Bride Dolls
Flaming Cauldron Candle
Vintage Photo of a Girl Dressed Up as a Rabbit
A Classroom of Ghostly Children

I think this evening I'll dig out my Halloween decorations.  Photos to follow!