Lately Rain

We have had so much rain this summer! I am about to float away. But the rain brings our plants great joy, so it is okay. It also brings us mushrooms! Many mushrooms have been spotted in our yard. Some kinds I have never seen. If you look close, you can see they are all smiling back at you!




This one was so unusual - I touched it and it was so soft, like it was barely there. I have never seen any type of fungi like this ever.

World Peace

Thought I'd follow a food post with another food post...we made some MASALA VEGGIE BURGERS the other night (got 'em from TRADER JOE'S and they are yummy)...anyways, there was a PEACE SIGN in my TOMATO SLICE. Do all tomato slices look like that?

Koala Ice Cream Treat

This time of year, when it is so cold and wintery, sometimes I crave a sweet, cold treat. I know it sounds crazy, but I remember going holiday shopping, or picking a Christmas tree, and just craving an ice cream sundae! So we would stop at Eat N Park on the ride home to have sundaes!


I made these koala ice creams for Raoul and I - don't they look so cute?


I used a chocolate covered almond for the koala's nose, currants for the eyes, and Madelines for the ears. Yummy!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Check out these great "turkey legs" that I have! We got them from Baskin Robbin. These are really ice cream cones that are placed upside down and made into a turkey leg shape. It is covered in caramel for the "turkey look." They also had the whole turkey, but it was sold out. Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Halloween!

Tofu Baby is here to wish you a very Happy Hawoween! I hope you had a happy holiday!

Halloween 2012

This Halloween Raoul and I made ghost pizza that I saw on Pinterest. I did not follow the recipe, but I made the ghosts the same way. I do not have a ghost cookie cutter (I know, it seems like something I should have, really) so I just cut out my ghosts by hand. They came out really good because the cheese melted nicely in the oven!


So here is how the pizzas looked before they were baked in the oven.


I did use a mini cat cookie cutter on one - can you spot the cat?






Happy Halloween!

Pancakes For One

Yesterday was a pancakes at the Grit kind of morning.

Raoul's Birthday Cake

I made Raoul a birthday brownie, really, not a cake. But we are okay with that. We caught a cold and have been resting and recovering, but I managed to bake this before I felt too terrible. I also had to decorate it special for Raoul.








We enjoyed the brownie very much, but now we are enjoying cups of tea with lots of honey!

Moody Macarons

Last month Raoul took me to Harmony, a vegetarian restaurant in Atlanta. We spotted a place called the White Windmill and went there to get a sweet to take home. They have very pretty desserts, ice cream, coffee, and best of all, macarons! We got a box to take home.


But when we opened the box, they looked like many cute baby animals! So sweet. Our favorite had a coffee flavor.

Strawberry Day

Raoul and I have been loving strawberries lately. We have purchased them each week for about the last three weeks or so. This last batch looked okay...


Until they turned around and started staring at me!

Tweet

Nilla One-Hundred And Six - Nilla's Celebration

We made a chocolate silk pie to celebrate Nilla's Special Day! No, she did not have a taste, but she was interested in the pie! We used coconut on top and then added jellybeans for her eyes and nose. The features are drawn on with black icing. It looks just like her!


Nilla thought so, too! The pie looks bigger than my cat in this picture!


And look at my amazement when Nilla loves the pie as much as I do!

Play With Your Food - Squash

Raoul and I bought some summer squash in order to make lasagna over the weekend. We got to looking at the different shapes that the squash had, much like my cloud drawings. Raoul told me I should draw them, so here they are, my "before and after" presentation. But! Before you scroll down to see my artwork - what do you see in these shapely yellow squash?


This one had a bit of a stem, so this one is of course a duck, or a goose. I can see him waddle down to the pond right now...


This little one is a bob white quail, one of my favorite birds for sure. They even call out their name when they speak! I love them. This is sort of like Play With Your Food, no?

Hot Stuff

Sometimes, just a simple GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICH with some spicy SRIRACHA SAUCE really hits the spot...

Grilled

Weekend Wind-Down #78

(chocolate-covered Oreos with candy eyes from WHITE TIGER GOURMET)

One of our original Halloween costume ideas was for Missy to dress up like a JOCKEY or EQUESTRIENNE and for me to dress up like a HORSE. We ended up going in a totally different direction (GARDEN GNOMES) because Missy wasn't sure that she would find all the pieces of her costume in time. Well, lo and behold, when you're not looking, you always end up finding the thing that you were looking for. We came across a RIDING HELMET the other afternoon while doing a bit of thrifting - it fit Missy perfectly! So we at least have a head start on next year's costumes...





I also scored this 12" compilation called GIRL CRAZY, featuring classic 90's-style indiepop, garage, punk, and riot grrl bands. I was especially stoked to see Junior Varsity, The Chubbies, Budget Girls, and Maow (with a young Neko Case on drums) on the comp. The record is a nice slab of bubblegum pink, and the liner-notes insert has these great photos of each band - someone who saw these photos on my Flickr account, actually offered me money for it... JUST the insert! For the record (pun intended), I'm not selling it...











FAVORITE MOMENT OF THE PAST WEEK?
MISSY - Sewing 33 Tofu Babies.
RAOUL - Scoring that sweet record.

WORST MOMENT OF THE PAST WEEK?
MISSY - Running out of truffles.
RAOUL - Finding out that we missed Mirah in Atlanta.

FUNNIEST MOMENT OF THE PAST WEEK?
MISSY - Watching Nilla and Oreo play.
RAOUL - Re-runs of The Office on TBS...sorry, nothing too funny happened last week.

WORD OR PHRASE OF THE PAST WEEK?
MISSY - "banana bread"
RAOUL - "BEANS!"

FAVORITE MEAL OF THE PAST WEEK?
MISSY - I like the soup I made with herbed dumplings.
RAOUL - Chocolate from White Tiger.

THREE THINGS ON YOUR TO-DO LIST FOR THIS WEEK?
MISSY - Draw, update my iPod, bake banana bread.
RAOUL - Sew, clean, win costume contest at work.

THREE THINGS ON YOUR DON'T-DO LIST THIS WEEK?
MISSY - Don't go to bed late, don't get scared on Halloween, don't forget to wear your costume.
RAOUL - Don't freeze my ass off, don't wake up late, don't lose the costume contest at work.

PERSONAL SOUNDTRACK FOR THE PAST WEEK?
MISSY - Belle & Sebastian, Heartbreak Ahead mix tape.
RAOUL - Beck, Daft Punk, Stone Roses, Best Coast, The Very Best, Remedial Record's "Girl Crazy" comp, Calvin Johnson's "Heartbreak Ahead - Girls And Girl Groups" mix tape.

Stuff

We got these STUFFERS from the grocery a little while ago and the other night we decided to finally try them. They're like these doughy buns filled with cheese and broccoli, with a light breading on the outside. They kinda look like fuzzy little potatoes. We baked a couple of them, grilled some asparagus, and steamed some little carrots. I made a little BIRD creature sitting in a nest made out of asparagus while Missy turned her stuffer into a TAMAGOTCHI. They taste pretty good...you definitely have to eat them with something else I think because they're kinda rich and you need something to balance it out. If you're a vegetarian, it's something good to have on hand if you need something in a pinch...or if you're feeling too lazy to cook something more involved, or if you're feeling too lazy (or too broke) to go out to eat...

Metropolis

Last night's show at the FLICKER THEATER & BAR was fun - more fun than I had expected, to tell you the truth. I really didn't think that there would be that many people there last night, considering it is the start of spring break. But lo and behold, a nice enough crowd came out to see Florida band OH FORTUNA, their costumes, and their brand of dancey pop music...





Flicker had the movie METROPOLIS playing on the screen above the stage, which made for some funny juxtapositions. Since the movie was a silent one, it was easy to follow the story...and the bands provided the soundtrack...







As usual, GEMINI CRICKET totally rocked it, even on the newer songs...







(I think Jay had an itch on his back)



(Terri and Missy rocked it from the sidelines...the coach wouldn't let 'em play!)



After the show, we all ended up at THE GRILL for some late night snacks...Jay might've had a happy fun "party in his tummy", but his milkshake was all frowny:





...by the time we got home it was nearly 3am...got up early today to run a buncha errands and now i'm feeling tired again. I ended up eating one of those leprechaun cupcakes a little while ago, but now I'm totally coming down off that sugar high. It's raining and there's tornado warnings...I'm here blogging and Missy is in the craft room sewing and listening to FEIST at the moment...in a couple of hours I'll post our inaugural "WEEKEND WIND-DOWN"...

-R A O U L