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One of my favorite people in the world once said “You should either wake up ealy enough, or stay up late enough, to watch the sunrise”. I think these pictures I took from my apartment window of the sunrise prove their point.
   It’s so dramatic. Almost violent. Normally when I think of a sunrise, it’s all pretty, the calm silent part of the day before the storm. This sunrise is the storm.
I found this wonderful recipe in Vegetarian Times magazine.
Vegetables in Thai Red Curry. Sounds so good on a cold autumn night.
 Ingredients:
~1 small head cauliflower cut into florets
~1 cup green beans, stems removed and cut into 2-inch pieces
~2 T. Canola oil (I used, as I always do, olive oil)
~1 cup cremeini mushrooms, ends trimmed and quartered if large (used regular white mushrooms, cut in half)
~1 14-oz can light coconut milk
~1-2 T. Thai red curry paste (check ingredients to make sure doesn’t include fish sauce)
~2 T. brown sugar (I hate adding sweetener to non-deserts, so I only put in 1 T. and it was still naturally sweet from the coconut milk. Next time I wont put in any at all.
~2 T. Tamari/low sodium soy sauce
~1small red bell pepper
~20-30 fresh basil leaves
Directions: My friend, the Mysterious M, and I both agreed, it was delicious. Our favorite part was the fresh basil (right off my plant!). Next time I think I’ll add even more basil. Currently listening to: 
A while ago, a friend and I arranged a trade. I would bake them cupcakes, and they would give me a bag of coffee from the cafe they work at. So, I set about my business.
 I comed through the recipes on allrecipes.com.
I decided chocolate was a safe bet.
 The batter was delicious.
 As was the end result!
I had a bit of difficulty, in that the center of the cupcakes all were sort of…concave. However I solved the problem and made them taste even better by filling the dips with some homemade (and delicious!) frosting I whipped up at last minute. It was so good, and I’d post the recipe for the frosting, only I can not remember it! Never the less, here’s the link to the recipe for the cupcakes: Chocolate Cupcake Recipe
The heat in my apartment is not working properly, and this is a big problem for (eternally cold) me. We have steam heaters in my building, and about a week ago I noticed that my main heater was leaking – actually to the point of burning a hole in my carpet. Wonderful, this happened last year at my old apartment, and what did the management do that time? Wrap a towel around the base. Not too surprising I don’t live there anymore… Then I discovered a new problem. Indeed, my heater no longer leaked. It also, however, didn’t turn on. Now before I make this sound more dramatic of a situation than it is, I must point out, I also have an electric heater in my apartment (though I thoroughly dislike it, loud blowing air that dries out my apartment…), as well as a small portable plug in heater. Really, I’m just annoyed because the steam heater is the only one that’s output is included in my rent, and because I hate the way my apartment feels when I used the electric blowing one. So really, if I got too cold, I could, and did, turn on my other forms of heat. Anyway, when I talked again to my management I discovered that the reason my steam heater won’t turn on is because they actually removed the coil, which now has to be re-welded, and which I won’t get back in my apartment for about a week. Woop-de-doo. Anyway, after a full day of feeling chilled, I decided to take matters into my own hands and whip up some Wonderful Winter Warmer Soup (WWWS). I had heard that a good cold buster was an intense, spicy, vegifull, soup, and since I was practically shivering, and didn’t want to catch a cold, I thought it would be a good idea. And, it was wonderful! Wonderful Winter Warmer Soup Dice all vegetables. Sauté onion a few minutes, then add tomato, garlic, cabbage, and celery, pausing and stirring a few minutes between each addition. At this point add a dash of water/peppermint tea to your soup if it needs more liquid. Add remaining spices and cook, stirring occasionally, several minutes. Eat and feel the wonderful warmth! Makes 1 serving. Unfortunately, I seem to have left my camera at work, so no pictures of my soup. Though I find it’s hard to photograph soup well anyway. 
 So a while back my friends and I all got together to make pizza. And it was incredibly delicious. We bought pizza crust dough from whole foods, and then went to town assembling the pizzas. Homemade truly is the best.
Now normally I don’t eat much pizza. However, that delicious night fresh in my mind I realized there was one kind of pizza – my favorite kind – that I had not gotten a chance to enjoy. This, of course, was cold pizza. So on my next expedition to Whole Foods I went over to the frozen foods section and purchased an Amy’s cheese pizza. I know, I know, I bought an already prepared pizza. And I had just been singing the praises of homemade as well! But let me just say this, there is a time and place for the quick convenience of the frozen food section. And when you just got off work, are tired, rushed for time, and in desperate need of a pizza to refrigerate and eat cold the next day, it’s the correct time and place.
 So I went home, baked the pizza, and then put it in the refrigerator where it could wait until tomorrow when it would be sufficiently cold enough and stale enough to qualify as proper leftover cold pizza.
As an side note, I had an interesting conversation with my mother who doesn’t understand the concept of cold pizza. “Couldn’t you warm it up again?” she asked me. See, to all those out there like her who like their pizza hot, the cold staleness is actually the appeal!
The next morning it was ready. I took out the pizza, and, yum, breakfast! However, I have to say that in some ways the experience failed to match up to my expectations. Basically, the petite slices of cold Amy’s (organic, part-skim cheese) pizza doesn’t measure up to the delights of cold, greasy and fatty domino’s pizza. However, all in all it was a satisfying experience, and the pizza gods were appeased.
 
Muse is amazing. To anyone who has not heard their new CD, The Resistance, do yourself a favor and listen to it; and then go out and buy it. It’s one of my all-time favorite CDs. Their music is just so powerful. Not only do they have great lyrics, but their sound is so dramatic, so intense, and yet so delecate and achingly beautiful. I simply can not stop listening to them! 
 I’ve been to Mona’s, a breakfast/lunch eatery in Denver a couple of times. Now, anyone who reads my blog knows that I’ve a big fan of eggs for breakfast. So, true to my roots, I’ve always ordered an egg dish. The most recent time, I ordered an omelette. And, let me tell you, it was a good omelette. Three eggs and three toppings of your choice (my selection was traditional: spinach, tomato, and mushroom), along with an english muffin and a fresh fruit cup. A great start to your day, and Mona’s definitely earns high recommendations from me.  Doesn’t that looks just delicious?
Ah, the stir fry. Sometimes the simplest things truely are the best. Recently I’ve been getting together with a small group of friends on weekends to cook dinner together. It’s a nice, relaxing, thing to do. Great for those Sunday nights when we’re feeling lazy.
In fact we’re thinking of forming our own underground food society!
 This time, we picked up a bunch of wonderful fresh veggies from Whole Foods (i.e. best store in the whole world), took them home, diced and sauted them in tamari sauce.
  We had onion, red bell pepper, snow peas, mushrooms, and broccoli. Then we warmed some pita bread and stuffed them with the veggies. Delicious!
 
Recently the G20 summit was held in Pittsburgh. According to their website the G20 is “The Group of Twenty (G-20) Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors was established in 1999 to bring together systemically important industrialized and developing economies to discuss key issues in the global economy.” According to Wikipedia, source of all knoweldge: “Collectively, the G20 economies comprise 85% of gross national product, 80% of world trade (including EU intra-trade), and two-thirds of world population”. In otherwords, the people who attend the G20 summit are really really powerful. Of course, like all major political events, the summit attracted lots of protesters. Horrifyingly, these (peaceful) protests were met with violent military force. Police used tear gas, sound weapons, pepper spray, rubber bullets, and batons against both peaceful protestors and innocent bystanders, including many students at the University of Pittsburgh! I know, what the hell right? That isn’t supposed to happen here! World Can’t Wait, a humanitarian organization that works to end tourture and our various unlawful occupations in foreign countries has put together some more information as well as a “letter of outrage” to the city of Pittsburgh http://www.worldcantwait.net/ 
 Last night I made a delicious recipe from Laurel’s Kitchen. Chard and cheese pie, and it was oh so good. Really, though, every recipe I’ve made from Laurel’s Kitchen has been great. I HIGHLY recommend that book!Chard and Cheese Pie
Laurel’s Kitchen
Laurel’s Kitchen also says ” for a refreshing summertime supper, chill and serve with garnish of crumbled bleu cheese, sliced tomatoes, and minced parsley.”
When I made my pie, I didn’t have paprika, so instead I lightly sprinkled on some red pepper flakes and (if I remember correctly) basil. For the breadcrumbs, I made my own by tosting a single slice of ezekiel sprouted grain sesame bread and then ripping/crumbling it over top.
 
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