Resurgence of summer.

Thank you Sarah McAnderson for the pretty pictures.

VeganMoFo #2: Herbed seitan, mac n cheeze & spinach salad

Candice and I spent a weekend trying out two different seitan recipes about a month ago. I used a recipe from Joanna Vaught and Candice just found something on google. I'm trying not to be biased here, but mine turned out awesome (and yielded 10 HUGE cutlets). Apparently the recipe isn't on Joanna's blog http://www.joannavaught.com anymore and the only copy I have is a printed out and heavily stained piece of paper stuffed in between my cook books at home. So I can't tell you how to make these, just how delicious they are.

What I CAN tell you is that I marinated the cutlets in a mix of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic and italian seasoning and then brushed on a tiny dab of the vidalia onion dressing I used on my spinach salad. I lined a baking sheet with foil and put them in a 400 degree oven and left them in long enough to dye my hair black, take a shower and read half a chapter in my new book. Hows that for specifics?

The mac n cheeze was the last of leftovers from the other night and the salad was just fresh spinach I got at Smiths (a huge bundle for $1!). This dinner was amazing because the most work I did was wash and trim the stems off the spinach. Success!

Hello October, I've waited for you all year.

There are so many wonderful things happening this month!

This year I'm being a zombie in a haunted house with Candice and dressing up as Peg Bundy (I think) for Halloween. Critical mass this month will also be masquerade themed. The horror section of my VHS collection is steadily growing and I plan to have many movie nights. No real plans for the actual night of Halloween yet, but there will be plenty to do I'm sure.

The weather is gorgeous. I rode last night in a hoodie, scarf, beanie and gloves and it felt amazing. I almost want to spend more time outside in the fall than in the summer.

It's VeganMoFo aka Vegan Month of Food! To the few readers I have, watch out because I'll probably be posting a LOT about it. For those who aren't aware, all during the month of October vegan blogs try to post a new recipe/cook a new dish everyday. It's a great way to get motivated to try new things, which is exactly what I'm aiming for with my diet right now. I've already got pumpkin recipes out the ass, including pumpkin brownies that I'll be baking tonight and a pumpkin gnocchi recipe Candice found.

I'll hopefully be purchasing my tickets to PA next week, and with all that's going on plus the anticipation of the trip, I bet October will be over before I know it.

Busy bee.

Please excuse my week of absence, it was a busy one. Levi left on Tuesday and I busted my ass at work for the next few days to compensate for time off/distract my sad heart. Thursday night I had drinks with Candice and slept for 4 hours at my parents' house before waking up at 4 AM to drive to California for Brittney and Jerry's wedding. I had a long, busy weekend and crammed as many faces and places into it as I could. The wedding was beautiful, wine was plentiful, my specialized vegan dinner amazing (char grilled balsamic marinated portobello caps stuffed with char grilled eggplant and red and green peppers). I'm not one for sappiness, but I did get teary during the ceremony and when I gave a speech at the reception. There weren't many friends there, just the few of us who have stuck by one another since the beginning of high school. Remembering all of the times we've had, how different we are now and how we all came together was just a bit overwhelming. I absolutely love my life and where I'm at now, but as H2O says..don't forget your roots. Did I really just take it there? Yes. I did.

I got back to Salt Lake on Monday night around 10:30. The usual bikes, beer and hang outs happened in between then and Wednesday. Wednesday I spent the evening at my mom's and then at Melissa's. She's fostering a pitbull/beagle mix who was returned after the Super Adoption and I absolutely fell in love with him. He's cuddly and sweet and small and adorable and I just want to take him home. I immediately consulted Levi about it and sent him tons of pictures and he's just as in love with him as I am. Melissa said she would keep him until we made a decision, but I want to think it out and not be hasty.

Did I really just type all of that? Jesus. Here are some pictures from when Levi was here/the wedding/random other times;

DK nights

Last night in town; Este & Donkey Kong

We woke up at 5:00 AM to go to the airport this morning. Sleeping last night was impossible because all we wanted to do was talk and cuddle tighter than ever. I think letting him go gets easier each time because I know what I have to look forward to. Our one year is November 15th and I'll be spending it in PA and then moving negotiations begin. I keep telling myself it's only four paychecks or eight weeks or two months and there is so much to look forward to, it will go by before I know it. It has to, right?

Birthday boy

Levi's birthday was Saturday, the 12th. We woke up and I took him to breakfast at Vertical and then we went to the Living Planet Aquarium. We touched lots of slimy things and saw pretty fish and it was fun. Afterwards, we went home and I made TVP stroganoff and chocolate peanut butter cupcakes and Candice came over for dinner and drinks. Then we headed over to the pub to meet everyone else. So many people showed up and it made Levi and I so happy. Thank you again to everyone who came, we love you! We ended the night at Juniors and headed home around 1ish. We were so sleepy and drunk and Levi just kept saying how happy he was.

The next day we lounged around and went to coffee at NoBrow and then out to my parents house to visit and do laundry. We took Little on a walk and ate dinner with my parents and then I washed and folded all of his underwear. I gave him the mustache wax and comb I bought for his birthday and he loved it. I can't wait to see him use it :) After we left my parents house we headed back downtown and decided to go to Brewvies to see Taking Woodstock; there could not be a more perfect movie for the two of us to watch. The music was so good! We went home after midnight and crawled into bed to cuddle and pass out. What a long weekend.