thank goodness it's been wet

Thank goodness it's been wet and hasn't been windy so I haven't had to experience my most dreaded fall encounter--crunchy poofy leaves that I crush the life out of.

I know it's silly. But you're my closest friends, right? I can tell you how a little part in me dies every time I'm driving along in my car and a puffed up crunchy leaf blows in front of me like a rolling tumbleweed only to be crushed by the giant wheels of my massly-produced car. It had so much vigor, so much happiness to it just moments ago. Now--crushed.

There will be no more rolling for Mr. Brownleaf. There will be no more frollicking in the wind. He has no more future once I come by. How devastating.

suppose you were given this situation

How to find out if a now-skinny-person used to be an obese person but had gastric bypass surgery during the holidays:

"ewwweee...that turkey sure does look good. I'm so hungry I be I could eat the whole thing. Have you ever eaten a whole turkey?"

"I could've sworn there were two pies here."

"Isn't it funny when you eat so much at Thanksgiving that you feel like you're going to burst? Isn't that funny, huh?"

the rolling parking lot

How is it possible that I am able to see and remember a car I've seen on the beltway? In our rolling parking lot, on multiple occasions I have seen the same car a day apart, a week apart, etc. I think it's kinda miraculous. On the 64-mile beltway, there are about 225,000 cars a day that travel on it. Come along with me as I break this down further.

I drive on 1/4 of it for a total of two hours a day. That's a total of 32 miles (16 each way) in the two busiest hours of the day. I'm making this formula up but we'll weight the hours of 8-9 AM and 5-6 PM as the busiest and give them 3x the volume of other hours.

225,000 cars/4=56250 cars on my section of the beltway
56250/24 hours=2343 cars/hr.
2343 x 3 (add'l volume of traffic)=7031 cars with me on the beltway on my morning and afternoon commutes

Therefore, it seems quite amazing that I would sit in a pack/herd/slow-moving mass of cars and see the same car multiple times out of a total of 7,031 possibilities. I'm just saying...

Back to loving life

The events are over! Wahoo--wahoo! I'm feeling better, and a bit more back to normal. So what do I do?

That's right-- cook! I've missed you stove, I've missed you spatula. I've missed you searing sound, I've missed you caramelization.

On Sunday, hubby unwillingly helped me make fresh pasta with the finest of flours-'00'-bought from the Italian market. This butternut squash has been staring me down on the countertop for a week and a half now, and it thought it had won. Oh, how it was mistaken. And Daniel got out EXCALIBUR and sliced through a few more hard squashes as well as my cutting board. Aw Snikeys! (disclaimer: we were not partaking in the bottles seen in the picture that evening and that is not his blood but rather chipotle chiles)


So the dough was kneaded and pressed and made into various shapes of sheets. Trust me--they're never the same size when I'm working. I made the pasta, hubby made the butternut/sage/shallot filling, and we dressed them in brown butter and sage. Buon Appetito!

Continuing with the orange weekend, we creamed Clemson--and I creamed pumpkin for some savory ice cream. Yes, it was a very sweet victory. I look forward to trying the next new flavor of cardamom. Of course hubby, polar opposite from me, is just interested in a vanilla bean. Gotta love his joy for simplicity.

Happy Halloween

I know this is a few days past Halloween, but Laika was just so cute. Check out my office photos . Laika's a kitty cat, although you can't really see her cute tail. I'm extreme home makeover Oscar the Grouch.