I am so happy that Autumn has finally arrived! It’s been a busy couple weeks–I’m helping edit the recipe book for the Worlds of Flavor conference that’s coming up in November, working on the hot side for our special events department on the weekends. Dave came to visit this weekend and we had loads of fun! Pictures and stories to come soon!
I have Thanksgiving Fever baaaad. During my excursion to the grocery this morning (no school — Thank you Colombus!), I discovered a fabulous new dairy product: Pumpkin Pie Flavored Yogurt! Can we say “YUMMERS”!! I did, several times, outloud! This spicy pie yogurt is sooo good that it inspired me to research pumpkin recipes, and I found several great ones to experiment with this week. (It also inspired me to buy a case of pumpkin-flavored yogurt, so if any of you want to try it, I’m your woman!)
I love all the colors and the festivity of harvest time, the way the cool air makes your cheeks rosy… The whole season just excites me to no end! And pumpkin carving–oooooooooooooohhh pumpkin carving, hollowing those beloved pumpkins! Hunks is coming to visit in a couple weeks and we’re planning an Autumnal Celebration! (Read: We’re going to eat all of the leftover pumpkin products from my experiments this week, carve carefully selected orange squashes… and sing Halloween songs! He doesn’t know about that last part yet…) I wonder if the leaves are going to change here in Norcal. They haven’t yet, and I’m becoming quite concerned. Will I survive in a climate that lacks the vibrant foliage transformation?! How will I live without that pleasant crunch of dry leaves beneath my sneaks?! If those of you living in places where the leaves still change could start sending me some of those rare specimens, maybe I can pretend that I’m not so far away from the beautiful East Coast. I’ll even send you a Autumnal-themed, pumpkin-flavored treat in return!
While reminiscing I discovered these pics of the fam and just couldn’t resist. A full family tree version may be coming soon! This picture of Ben is from last summer during football season. He occasionally dyed his mohawk blue, but, alas I never captured it on film! Seth’s picture is from our most recent trip to the Outer Banks (recently pummeled by hurricane). And here’s Phoebe at her Wedding Rehearsal Dinner in June. The picture of me was taken last weekend after our attempt to Nightclub in Napa. We ended up going to Bouchon for coffee and dessert after three un-happening bar hops. Bouchon is related to the world-renowned French Laundry of Chef Thomas Keller (Known in these parts as Tommy K), where the girls and I will be dining on a 12 course meal in early December! HOTNESS.
Maturity does not exclude playfulness
This week has been quite crazy! We had our final exam for Baking 1 today, and have our first lab practical tomorrow. Eeeks! 🙂 I’m sure it’ll go fine! Also learned that we all passed the serv-safe course! Whoohoo! I got a 99, the second-highest grade in the class, which isn’t really saying much because everyone got above an 89 anyways, but I thought that was sort of exciting! I’ll be glad when tomorrow is over…test, work, commute to doctor’s appt…. The B&P girls are going to Ana’s Cantina tomorrow night for karaoke, though! Ding! I’m sure that will be extremely fun, as we will partake of many refreshing libations.
*Interesting tidbit*
Much to the North American caviar conoisseur’s dismay, the FDA prohibits our caviar growers from treating those little eggs with Borax (which is a naturally occuring substance, but is potentially toxic in certain situations). Borax softens the caviar and gives it a creamier texture. In the U.S. we use sea salt instead.
Okay, still trying to figure out this multimedia web business… I think you should be able to download the movie and then just play it on your own computer. Ding! Thanks, Carrie! Make sure to turn the sound up!Â
17-01-2008
Five years later technology has finally made things easy! Enjoy:
! Make sure to turn the sound up!Watch the video
Conducting a new experiment… this is a video from our night out on the town last Friday. Give it a few minutes to download and let me know if it works for you or not. I think I might need to tinker with it some more…this is my first try with embedded videos, so if you’ve got suggestions, throw ’em at me! Thanks!