Backlog

Hard to tell from the photo, but that’s pink applesauce. Made using a variation of this recipe from Every Little Thing. (Main differences: I add a little sugar and lemon juice, and use an immersion blender after I pick the skins out, since I don’t have a food mill).

It’s fall! And freezing in South Bend already. I’ve heard tell that we’ve already had a little snow (though it was so light that I missed it). Apple and pear season, though. I’ve been taking advantage of that for sure. My roommate M and I have been buying fresh apple cider every week. And lovely ripe pears, when we can get them. A couple of weeks ago I figured out that making applesauce is actually really easy (I did burn one batch, but that was because I became engrossed in the paper I was working on and forgot about it). So it’s become my go-to snack. I love applesauce. Even more so when it is a pretty rosy color.

I know this blog has been really quiet recently. So this post is proof that — yes, I’m still alive. Still writing, and cooking, and — occasionally — baking, though not nearly as much as usual. I haven’t been crafting, though. (Or – it seems, blogging). I’m pretty wrapped up in preparing for the web site and blog launch of my magazine, and with working on my MFA thesis at the moment. But I’m on Fall Break, and reading this beautiful blog, which my friend and collaborator M linked me to (it is her cousin’s blog), made me want to post on mine.

Come to think of it, scratch that statement about not crafting. I did make a felt brooch to send to a friend for her birthday back in September. Unfortunately, I never got pictures of it before I hurried it out to the post office (I was late, as usual).

Meanwhile, my backlog of food photos has been piling up. Here are a few other edibles from recent months:

Exhibit A:

Slices of the (lemon-flavored) birthday cake I made for my roommate C, from September. I used Nigella Lawson’s Baby Bundts recipe, increased by 1.5x and made in a regular sized bundt pan. I love this cake – the first time I made it was for my mom’s birthday in January, and it’s absolutely heavenly. Sticky and springy, but moist, tender, and not too rich.

Exhibit B:

Travel Bento for the plane ride to Toronto in Sept, for my cousin E’s wedding. Ate it before I crossed the border and carefully wiped down the container so as not to run into problems with bringing vegetables (and sesame seeds) in. Cold soba pre-dressed with soy and sesame oil, sprinkled with green onion and sesame seeds. Lunchmeat ham. Carrots. Ginger hard candy. Apple gummies.

Exhibit C:

Inaugural Lock n’ Lock box Bento Lunch. Cooked lettuce and cannellini bean “salad” (sometimes I like to cook my salads – I’m weird like that), leftover Shepherd’s Pie, digestive biscuits split in half, two gummies, frozen raspberries. I’d asked my mom to pick up a slightly smaller divided box for me because they sell these at the H-Mart near my parents’ house (seemed easier than ordering online), but my mom misunderstood and bought me an 800mL box, which is — well, kind of huge. I did successfully pack a sandwich (plastic-wrapped), veggies, and snack in it the second time I used it, and was nice and full. But the lunch pictured here (even with salad – a notorious space hog!) was too much to eat in one sitting. Also, I discovered an annoying quirk to the box. The dividers are not tall enough to lie flush against the inside of the lid, so the liquid from my salad (which was pre-dressed) spilled onto the digestive biscuits during the 5 minute walk to my library carrell and made the cookies really GROSS and soggy. Surprisingly, the raspberry juices didn’t go anywhere because the nut cup I put them in DOES sit flush against the inside of the lid. You’d think that they’d make dividers that sat flush – otherwise, what is the point of dividing foods that will spill into one another anyway? At any rate, I’ve now learned a lesson about how to pack this box, which I’ve narrowed down to two main strategies: 1) protect the dry foods (works best when they are easy to wrap in plastic, like sandwiches or cookies). 2) limit wet foods, or quarantine when possible (use mini-containers with lids or nut cups); or simply use a sidecar. Ultimately, I have to say that I’m kind of disappointed with this box. The whole reason for wanting a Lock-n-Lock was to have a spill-proof container that had modular inner dividers so that I wouldn’t have to use multiple sidecars. But it turns out that the dividers don’t do a whole lot of dividing inside. I think I’m mostly going to be using it for sandwich meals in the future. :-p Guess the old Snapware + sidecar method wasn’t so bad, after all.

Onward! Tomorrow is for thesis writing and cake-baking (I’ve got a chocolate pear cake I want to make).

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