Pumpkin & Pomegranate

I promise more recipes soon! I have one that I will be uploading later today that is a staple for my Fall kitchen. By the way did you know that “Fall” is a North  American English = term? I remember a European friend commenting on why we call it “Fall” and I assumed it had to do with the falling leaves.  Turns out I am sort of right.

The alternative word fall is now mostly a North American EnglishGermanic languages. The exact derivation is unclear, the Old English fiæll or feallan and the Old Norse fall all being possible candidates. However, these words all have the meaning “to fall from a height” and are clearly derived either from a common root or from each other. The term came to denote the season in the 16th century, a contraction of Middle English expressions like “fall of the leaf” and “fall of the year”. word for the season. It traces its origins to old

Fun times with etymology :-)

Either way I am a HUGE fan. Easily my favorite season (as I have mentioned before). It is also my boyfriend’s favorite season which is lovely, but he likes it for other reasons.

Not only do I love to cook, but I am pretty crafty too. Unfortunately I haven’t indulged in my crafty side in a while, but Martha tends to bring it out in me. I saw this and I think I have to make them.

Spooky fun!

I remember a friend making a shrunken apple head years ago in school, and I wanted to try it out but Houston (being a swamp) was no place for this craft. My mother assured me that the apple would get moist and moldy and it wouldn’t work. Well now, not only can I do this here, but I might just be über lazy and use my new dehydrator to do it! Hooray for gadgets with multiple uses!

This weekend was full of the good and the bad. I had a lovely walk with Kam of Needle + Thread on Friday afternoon. If you are in Seattle and enjoy fashion I recommend taking a look at her blog. Heck, if you aren’t in Seattle, but enjoy Seattle fashion and interests I’d suggest taking a look. I love reading The Sartorialist, and her blog is just like it, but Seattle based. I admit, she was much more fashionably dressed than I was for our walk. It was a lot of fun, and we met some really interesting canine friends which is always my goal.

Saturday I met my friend Hannah at my favorite Health cafe, Healeo, for a smoothie and some French press coffee. It was rainy out and we had a lovely 3 hour conversation. After that is when things took a bit of a turn. I went shopping. For those of you who read my previous post you know about my insecurity about my arms. Well, I went in to buy some shoes, but decided to stop in to see if I could find a couple of affordable pieces of clothing for Fall as I am desperately lacking. I dread dressing rooms, have for years, but now it is for different reasons. Unfortunately my emotions plummeted when I saw my skin in the mirror, and I couldn’t hold back the tears when I got into my car. I really battle this, and I do try to be strong and confident, and recognize that my health is what is important. Sad to say, I am a bit vain. The thing that gets me the most is that I would never let someone I love discuss their body the way I talk about my own. I say all of this because I think people should know we are all a work in progress. None of us is perfect (inside or out), and I think that bringing these things to light will ultimately be very healing overall. For now, I am most comfortable in long sleeves…so I am really glad it is cooling off! But I do hope that someday I can feel comfortable in my own skin in short sleeves or sleeveless tops, even without surgery.  Actually, I took a walk last week with my friends Tiffany and Bay, and there is a photo of me and Tiffany where my arms are showing.

I admit, in this photo they don’t look as bad as I seem to think they are, but also I was trying to conceal the skin. It looks the worst when I hold my arms up. Ok, ok, I am really trying to be better about this! I know what Matt would say.

“Stop obsessing!”

Like I said, it’s a process!

Anyhoo…after my little car meltdown, I went home and checked my e-mail. I received an e-mail that really really struck me. I know you are reading and I just want you to know I am utterly humbled.  I actually would really like to thank everyone who commented on my last post. It means a lot to me. It is helpful knowing there are people who are supportive, and also know that I am not alone, we all have things we are going through. I just hope that I can help in some little way. I know there are plenty of bloggers who have helped me out!

Saturday night I took leftovers over to Matt’s.  He had been at the big UW game and so he had quite an exciting day of football. It’s a shame I don’t share his love of football, but then no one is perfect right? So far he is appreciative enough that I don’t mind him spending his Saturdays watching games. Sunday morning he took me out to breakfast at this great vegan cafe that is now my favorite breakfast spot.

Scarborough Fare

Wayward Vegan Cafe is a haven for those who want breakfast foods but don’t consume animal products. Granted, there aren’t a whole lot of things I can order here…seeing as I prefer not to eat soy, and I don’t eat grains (especially wheat)…but I can eat breakfast here, and so can Matt. Matt can have anything on the menu and that is refreshing for him. I got the “Scarborough Fare”, with a side of tempeh bacon and no toast. So yes I had a tofu scramble AND tempeh…double soy…but it is a rarity, and really really hard for me to go out to breakfast in general as most places don’t even begin to accommodate my eating habits. So as I have said before…I just don’t make a habit out of certain things. Yes, I’d prefer it if they used virgin coconut oil, and I’d prefer to have more veggies less soy, and I wish I had remembered to bring my coconut milk with me (instead I used soy milk in my coffee so erm, TRIPLE soy!), but the vegetables were cooked perfectly, the seasoning was superb, their food isn’t greasy, it was a LOVELY day to sit outside, and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Matt had the “Biscuits Maximus” and liked it so much I am now on a vegan gravy recipe search for dinner Wednesday night’s dinner.

Biscuits Maximus

We went on to buy some jars (I love jars) at the hardware store, and then spent about an hour discussing plasma vs. LCD TVs at Best Buy. Matt thinks I am extremely patient because of this and football, and I think the same of him because he stands around and waits for me to finish photographing his food before he eats it :-D

This morning I had a wonderful scramble. 3 pastured eggs scrambled in about 1.5 tsp. Virgin coconut oil, plus 1 bunch of rainbow chard, 1 small leek, and 1 red hot chile pepper (all produce from my friend’s garden). It was spicy and wonderful! I have a lot of peppers on my produce bowl, so I expect to be heating things up a bit. Not sure if I have mentioned it, but I am a chlie head ;-)

I thought it was supposed to be cool today so I dressed for Fall weather…not so. I think i will be slipping my tights off at lunch.Maybe switching to a different shirt as well. Turtleneck + 80° weather is not what I was going for.

I hope you all have a fantastic day!