Fall

You guys it's fall! I'm so excited. Sorry to have been away. Tony has been traveling a lot since starting his new job in August, and I do not always have the time to post every day. So here I am, catching up, while I love sitting here with the windows open because it's 65 degrees out!

Veganomicon Roasted Fennel and Hazelnut Salad with Shallot Dressing sounded nice and autumnal, so I whipped that up for dinner on the first day of fall. I could not find chicory at two different stores in Austin, so I used endive because they are in the same family. Along with the salad, I made the V'con Curried Carrot Dip, served with some naan bread.

I love the seasonal drinks. Harmless Harvest has introduced cacao and cinnamon clove flavors of their amazing raw coconut water. It is expensive but it's tastiest brand in my opinion. I also picked up a Rebbl hibiscus mint yerba mate tonic. I was excited because it was the first time I have seen any Rebbl drinks around here. I want to try them all!

Sprouts has and entire wall of pumpkin products. Not kidding! 

I came home with pumpkin loops cereal and pumpkin spice kale chips.

At HEB, I picked up pumpkin spice Mini Wheats, apple cinnamon Special K, pumpkin spice latte M&M's, and pumpkin spice baking chips.

I think we have reached Peak Pumpkin Spice, guys! At HEB I got pumpkin spice and rosemary dish soaps.

I also bought a bunch of Snapea Crisps and Lentil Snaps because they were on sale and Olivia absolutely loves them in her lunchbox.

Finally, not autumnal but pretty tasty none the less, a High Country kombucha, wild root flavor. It contained sarsaparilla, licorice root, star anise, yellowdock root, burdock root, wildcherry bark, and dandelion root. How's that for an interesting ingredient list? It tasted very medicinal and herbal, in a good way!

To welcome in this spooooky time of year, we made some cotton ball ghosts.

oooOOOooo! Happy autumn to you!

Oklahoma Birthday

Jackson wanted to celebrate his sixth birthday up in Oklahoma at his Grandma Lillie's house, so that is what we did. I picked up some road trip snacks: Late July ranch chips, Hail Merry raw lemon macaroons, Tom's Tabooley hummus falafel wrap, and Harmless Harvest raw coconut water. I have tried many brands of coconut water, but I saw this article about how not all brands are of equal quality, and I decided to try one of the best-rated. It's expensive, but man, it tasted so good!

Our first evening in Oklahoma, my awesome mother-in-law volunteered to watch the kids so Tony and I could have a kid-free get-together with our friends Michelle and Alan. We met them at Whiskey Cake in OKC. The decor made us smile. Fresh sprigs of rosemary in a light bulb vase? Never seen that before. Also, the male wait staff all sort of resembled lumberjacks. White t-shirts, suspenders, beards.

Tony and I decided to share some appetizers, starting with hummus and pita bread and fried green tomatoes. The tomatoes' breading was super light and crisp, as it should be.

I had a sazerac, which featured one large block of ice, instead of ice cubes. Why? I have no idea. I also had a hibiscus gin and tonic, which I liked much better, but I forgot to take a picture of it.

Still hungry, we ordered goat cheese "fondue" with olives and sourdough bread. I wouldn't really call it fondue, since it wasn't melted, but it was good and filling.

The next day, we just hung out around the house. Games were played.

Tony was wrestled into submission.

Garden cherry tomatoes were eaten.

The next day, it was party time! Jackson's cousins came over to celebrate with him.

First duck-duck-goose, then freeze tag.

Thought they were gonna knock me down! Haha.

Sweaty and red-faced, Jackson opened his presents.

He requested a Transformer cake this year. It was my first attempt at making and working with fondant. It turned out a little too thick and goopy. My Transformer looked like he had a rough night.

Jackson didn't mind.

We had to come home the next day. Before we left, we had lunch at Golden Corral. Have you eaten at one of these? We don't like the one in Austin because they do a lot of seafood and it smells like fish. The ones in Oklahoma are pretty good though, as long as you understand that your plate will be heavy on the yellows and browns and lacking the other colors of the rainbow. I had broccoli, mac n cheese, fried okra, roll, corn pudding, and carrot souffle. 

Cotton candy for the birthday boy's dessert.

Sister needed her own.

A great visit as always! We love going to Grandma's house.