These are the best of(s):

Best park

Best Greek Salad

Best Jam on the Best Bread

 Best Stir-fry

 Best Way to Feel Better When Sick

(homemade chickpea soup)

 Best Way to Start a Saturday

Best Berries

 Best Potato Salad

(and pretty darn good baked beans)

baked beans:
1 tomato
3-4 cloves garlic
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp sage
1 tsp parsley
(chop the tomato and put in a skillet with remaining ingredients for 3-4 minutes)
add above ingredients to the blender and then add:
1 small can tomato paste
1 tsp allspice
1/2 onion
1 TB vinegar
1 TB molasses
splash of water
1 TB brown rice syrup

meanwhile, in a large pot:
1/2 onion chopped and sauteed
3 cloves garlic chopped and sauteed
then add:
can of beans of choice (we used dark red kidney)
2 TB mustard
2 TB molasses
1 TB cane sugar
salt
pepper
(stir in the ingredients from the blender as well as about a cup of water. either cook stovetop for 30 minutes or in the oven @ 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes)
-----------
potato salad:
3 potatoes (cubed)
1/2 head of cauliflower (chopped into small pieces)
1 small celeriac root (cubed)

Boil a huge pot of water and add the potatoes, cauliflower, and celeriac root until just soft enough to pierce with a knife.  Once they are done cooking, place in a large bowl and mix in:

1/4 cup raw cashews blended with splash of olive oil/splash of water
dill
onion powder
garlic powder
celery salt
thyme
salt/pepper
mustard
lemon juice
red wine vinegar

apple cider vinegar

Best Of All

(... trying to throw a stick for cos to fetch in the water.... tried to throw it straight and it, um, went to the left.  He found it anyway!  Maybe you had to be there but I laughed my HEAD OFF)

Five things that WILL make me smile:

1 & 2 : Reed's extra ginger brew and everything bagels with quite literally everything between the slices.  We don't mess around when it comes to making sandwiches. 

3: Long skirts.  

4: Hot days.  Hot Tuesdays in particular.  Balboa Park has a rotating schedule of free museums every Tuesday.  I got to learn about history and photography today.  Eugene Smith rocks, by the way.  I also got to stroll around the tourist filled park.  It's so crazy to me that I now live in a tourist destination.  I can't take that for granted.  

5: I mean, come on.  This technically should've been number 1.  Let's just say the list is in no particular order. 

What else is going on?  I made this for dinner last night with some brown rice.  There's this soy feta that looks, tastes and smells like the real thing.  We used that for the cheese.  I think I'll make a greek salad with the rest.  Yummm.  I can't think straight enough to type too many more sentences.  I have a box of bunny grahams staring at me.  

Why not start off with this guy?  He's not in the kitchen and we have no plans on eating him, but he likes food too... a lot... and he's cute.  

Life's biggest regret: only buying one jar of nutmeg jam while in Grenada.  I mean, what were we thinking?!  We weren't.  That's exactly the problem.  

We got more gadgets for the kitchen.  Because the cookbook we just got told us to.  We do as we're told.  

Grits and roasted plantains.  I don't think Scott was a fan... but I surely was.  Yum.  

This is the first recipe we tried out of the Babycakes cookbook.  The measurements were a bit off but the taste was right on.  Heh.  Right on! 

Our favorite sandwich.  Everything bagels.  I mean, really.  They are where it's at.  I have this food crush on bagels.  I'm hoping to one day go back to New York City and eat a bagel or 5.  I hear they're the best.  Anthony Bourdain just ate some in Quebec and said they ran a close second.  I think I'll stick with NYC.  

I whipped up some carrot soup the other night.  A dish with carrots that wasn't called carrot curry.  I didn't think such a thing was possible.  IMMMMpossible... things are happening everrrry daaaaay! (mom)

We had some cornbread to go along with the soup.  Yes.  This is cornbread.  What the heck, right?  What is up with these recipes?  They tasted divine, but they were cookies.  I wasn't looking to eat cornbread cookies!  

We celebrated Scott's birthday on Sunday.  His actual birthday was Monday but he was bummed on having a Monday birthday.  So... Sunday we made some donuts (baked!) to start the day.  

And we made gigantic fully loaded burritos for dinner.  

And then we ate out at Mama's Bakery and had ice cream cake for dessert on the real anniversary of his birth.  

I love celebrating other's birthdays.  I love to see happiness.  

You know what I don't love? I don't love a 60 degree cloudy 4th of July.  I had to wear boots (sweet stylish yellow boots but still), jeans, a long sleeve shirt, a jacket, and a warm hat.   Don't even TALK to me about 100 degree weather, east coasters.  I hate you all.  (Not really.  I didn't mean that.) 

Awhile ago we ate at Mama's and discovered the glorious dish known as manakeesh.  Gah.  And garlic paste.  Am I dreaming here?  Best. Food. Ever.  

Scott and Cos were really excited about barbecuing over the weekend.  My smile looked kind of like Cosmo's.  I'm just not pictured.  I didn't want to take away from this photo in any way.  

Aren't roasted bell peppers top notch?  I absolutely hate buying them in the glass containers where they are soaking in oil.  Bleh.  Word of warning - they cook fast on the grill.  I'm talkin' really fast. 

The potatoes pictured above (smothered in roasted red pepper sauce) were a glorious come up.  I was looking at old cooking magazines cutting out photos to hang in my kitchen and I saw this singular recipe that was vegan friendly and sounded heavenly.  Believe you me it tasted heavenly as well.  

Place cookie sheet in oven on lowest rack.  Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Slice potatoes 1/2 inch thick (disks not cubes) and then place in a pot of cold water with just enough liquid to cover them.  Let the water come to a boil and then let simmer for 5 minutes.  

Drain the potatoes and then toss in a boil with olive oil (a few tablespoons) and salt and pepper.  Place on cookie sheet.  Bake for approximately 20 minutes (turning pan halfway through) and then flip each slice over and put back in oven for 20 minutes longer (turning halfway through again).  

The timing may be more and may be less for you.  You want each side golden brown.  The finished product will be crispy on the outside and ... lets say creamy in the center.  

Next we made stovetop oatmeal.  Easy.  Delicious.  If cooking for two:

Bring 1 cup water and 1 cup milk to a boil.  Add 1 cup rolled oats and turn the heat down.  Let simmer for 5-10 minutes.  Stir in some freshly ground nutmeg, cinnamon, and maple syrup.  Top with fresh berries.  Now you can proceed with your day.  

Scott was joking around (I think) and said it looked like we were going on vacation because I was grabbing everything out of the fridge.  I wasn't sure what I wanted to make, I just knew I wanted it to involve lots of veggies.  What better dish to make than roasted veggies?  We placed a slice of tempeh amongst the veggies.  It turned out delightfully flavorful.  And get this - it was Scott's idea to throw everything in the oven.  If you lived with us you would understand that this used to be my go to dinner.  Roasted veggies every other night.  Scott dreaded it.  His thing was stir fry and mine was veggies of the oven variety.  I was quite thrilled when he came up with that night's dinner.  You can tell we live together.  

Something else about Scott and me - we love bagel sandwiches.  Who knew that everything bagels were fabulous?  My dad.  My dad knew that long before I did.  Why?  Why, for the love of God, did it take 27 years for me to figure this out?  Cream cheese, cucumber, tomato, avocado, sprouts, mustard, pepper.  Um... Yum.

Did I mention that I finally got my package of vegan goodies?  Well I did.  It definitely included white chocolate chips (which I am forbidding Scott to eat straight out of the bag) and a cook book with recipes for cinnamon buns AND baked donuts.  Gluten free cinnamon buns and baked donuts (lots and  lots of other recipes too but those are two of the best creations known to man).  I'm doing a happy dance.  (Nice cheek bones, by the way, eh?)

Oh.  And then there's this.  The photo that is incredibly meaningful to me.  The photo (true story) taken approximately 20 hours after the batch of cookies came out of the oven and the only one missing was eaten by me.  I don't think you quite understand.  I live with the cookie monster.  This was a miracle.  A true miracle.  

OH MY GOSH.
You know that Pangea Vegan Store gift certificate that I won last year?  Okay.  Probably not.  But I had been thinking about vegan white chocolate chips since... forever... and then I found out about this store that sells them online (thank you pen pal, Kaycee!).  I just so happened upon a contest for said website right after this and just so happened to win said contest.  Suh-weet, right?  Totally.
Oh it gets better.
I finally got around to looking at the site to claim my prize and found that not one but both Babycakes cookbooks are available for my buying pleasure. YES PLEASE.  Powdered creamer, rice crispy treats, and s'more cookies?  Well... if you insist.

I am so happy.  So so happy.  I love food.  Really.  And I love getting things for free!

How happy is so happy?  Tape a mustache on my face and pretend I'm John Candy happy.  

I didn't know what I wanted for dinner last night.  I was thinking grilled cheese and tomato soup... I ended up with macaroni and cheese with baked tomatoes and collard greens mixed in.  Oh.  My.  Gosh.  It was so much better than I could've ever imagined.  I used this sauce recipe for the 'cheese' and threw a couple chopped heirloom tomatoes in the cast iron/tossed em with some Braggs and balsamic vinegar/baked em in the oven for 5ish minutes.  I used greens from the garden.  Guys!  They are doing so well out there.  I wish they had an actual ground to go in but they appear to be content in the big black pots so, ya know, whatever works.  Anyway, make this dinner.  It's way better than american cheese on white bread with Campbell's tomato soup on the side.  No offense.  

Tonight we made chickenless salad and carrot soup.  ^^This... this is how Scott makes soup ^^ and it seemed odd, and I questioned it, but I shouldn't have.  Yes, it was basically our carrot curry we adore with a little more liquid.  But that's okay.  I am grateful for Scott, his help in the kitchen, and carrot curry... whatever it's consistency.  

I like when food is nice to look at and eat.  

Chickenless salad (feeds 2.5 people):

1/2 block tempeh (steamed for 10 minutes)

2 green onions chopped

2 ribs of celery chopped

1/2 can peas

1/2 pickle chopped

salt/pepper/thyme

3 TB lemon juice

2 spoonfuls Vegenaise

 So, since last we spoke, we have.... gone to Lake Tahoe and I got to see the water at its absolute prettiest.  Seriously.  The blues were going crazy over that holiday weekend.  Love.

We also drove up to Long Beach to support our good friend Tanner Shay.  There was a showing of his TOTALLY AWESOME film 'The Incendiary Adventures Of a Scientist Gone Mad!'  Please keep your eyes and ears peeled in the future for that name.  And don't forget I was the one who told you to do so.

Since we were already up that way, we stopped at the infamous Amoeba record store and this little place called Babycakes NYC. Umm... I don't even know what to say.  I am beyond words.  'Yum' doesn't do justice to this heavenly establishment.  It'll have to do, though.  It was the kind of food which  made you realize your whole life, until that moment, had been worthless.  You realized that, until that moment, you really hadn't lived.  While driving around the streets of L.A., Scott and I agreed that we could die at that moment and it would be okay.  We would die completely happy.  We would die having tasted the best cupcakes and doughnuts the world has ever known.  I guess I'm a little depressed now.  For the past week I looked forward to dinner every night only because I knew a cupcake was to follow.  Maybe that's why I haven't updated lately.  I've been too busy.  Too busy dreaming day and night about treats.

I've been dreaming about treats and thinking about how I must convince Anthony Bourdain to come to San Diego so I can cook for him.  We watched an episode of his show yesterday from India.  He made a comment about how he was surprised that a vegetarian actually tasted good.  Come on.  I'll show you what's up, Tony.

**ps - I'm sorry it's been so long.  Really, I am.  I've just had a lot on my plate.  (Heh heh, get it?)