From Dog Couch to Dream City, an Easy Outdoor DIY

One of the tasks we decided to tackle this crafternoon was the painting of a some plastic outdoor furniture given to Turby and John by John's and my parents. While the hunter green is completely suited to what they have going on in their backyard oasis in the middle of nowhere, Turby and John were looking for something a little more cheerful. Apparently there was a ton of this spraypaint at Dirt Cheap.  I'm not sure if it was the fact that we only had one can, of if maybe the can we had came from a bad batch, or we...

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A Little Splurge

Well, when I say splurged, what I really mean is that I had two gift cards (one that had been hanging around since last Christmas and another that I won recently as part of an essay competition at my school) just begging to be spent. I have a moderately sized collection of craft and cookbooks, many of which I have never used, so I don't really know why I'm buying more other than to maybe motivate me to Get Shit Done. Frankly, it doesn't get much better than Martha Stewart and Moosewood Restaurant as far as I'm...

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Orange Chicken Tofu

My adaptation of Vegweb.com's Orange Chicken Tofu is one of Kyle's favorite foods, probably because it's chewy and crispy like real chicken would be.  I really like this recipe because it's relatively easy to make, and I've made my fair share of tofu disasters.  The trick to getting the tofu just right is, first of all, buying the right kind of tofu.  The vacuum sealed shelf-stable kind is good for a lot of things (like protein bars and pumpkin pie), but I've found that I really prefer the water-packed kind found in the produce section if...

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Sometimes Chowder Likes to Use My Computer as a Scratching Post

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Adventures in Vermicomposting

For the first time since I got my worm bin, for Christmas last year from Kyle, its time to clean it out and start over.  It hasn't been that long, because I didn't order the worms until around February or March, and it's a pretty big bin so it's taken a while to fill up.  Still, the worms have multiplied beyond reason (quadrupled, at least) and have eaten most of their bedding and all of their food by now.  The hardest thing about all of this, though, is that the pace of things around here hasn't slowed as much as...

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Sweet and Savory Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

My favorite thing about carving pumpkins is the leftover seeds, which I think taste a heck of a lot like fried eggs when toasted. A week ago we went to the pumpkin patch and loaded up on spaghetti squash, which we ate, and pumpkins, which were carved on my front porch. I didn't carve my pumpkin, which I got for pie, but sat outside and dug through buckets of muck and picked out pumpkin seeds. Most sources I looked at recommended cooking them for 20-30 minutes at 350 degrees, but my experience was that 15 minutes was plenty.  For...

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Summer Stragglers: Fall-Winter Garden Experiment

These little guys are basically what's left over from my summer garden (as puny as it was this year, thanks to summer classes and work). I realize that at some point I will have to bring these in, but it should freeze here anytime soon. Chowder, too, tries to use my plants as a litter box, and there isn't a ton of natural light in my apartment. So, naturally, I'm trying to leave these guys outside as long as possible. I haven't done a ton of research about how any...

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Family Dinner: Spaghetti Squash

This Sunday was devoted to our second annual trip to the pumpkin patch, followed by a customary family dinner of spaghetti squash, mulled cider, and front porch pumpkin carving. It was nothing short of divine. I love the pumpkin patch that we visit, because not only do they have more varieties of pumpkins than I've ever seen in one place, but they also have tons of winter squash. Last year we got a little one or two butternut, acorn, and spaghetti squashes and a few carving pumpkins. This year, however, I wanted to devote a considerable...

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Family Dinner: Mexican Eggplant Parmesan

Our most recent family dinner had a Mexican theme. Our neighbors brought delicious Mexican rice, another friend brought Sangria (Spanish, not Mexican... but still wonderful) and Dos Equis, and we made Mexican eggplant Parmesan (only minus the Parmesan... because I thought we had some, but were in fact out). I also burned a Mexican cocoa scented candle, so all in all it was a fairly festive evening. I'm coming to the conclusion, however, that tomatoes aren't very photogenic. But, whatever, they are very tasty-genic. This recipe is roughly adapted from a recipe card I picked up a...

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The Best Spaghetti Sauce Ever (Really!)

This sauce was first made for me by my friend and neighbor Nick.  It could just be that I love anything with tomatoes, or maybe it's the fact that the meal was eaten while watching Lost, but this stuff really knocked my socks off.  Of course I asked for the recipe and have made it a weekly staple around here.  This versatile stuff can be used as a pizza sauce, dipping sauce for bread or cheese sticks, or with eggplant Parmesan.  I usually just serve it with spaghetti, however, because it's really good enough to not need anything else.  Another...

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