Sunday, November 21, 2010

Pink Lady Cake

It was prettier before the cover smeared the frosting :(

So, it seems that birthdays change as we get older. It certainly helps when they fall on a weekend, so you can treat yourself to a lavish dinner out or toast drinks with friends, but weekday birthdays are pretty lackluster. This year mine fell on a Tuesday and promised to be especially uneventful. I expected to be at the office late and that the husband would be away on business. He purposely scheduled it so that he would be back the same day, but it was unlikely that I'd see him before eleven. Figuring that I'd be on my own, I got to thinking about what I should do. The obvious self-pampering options - facial, mani/pedi or hair appointment - weren't as enticing as they might have been since I'd had the works done a few weeks earlier for the wedding. I decided, instead, to bake a cake. I suppose it sounds pretty sad to be making your own birthday cake, but baking is something that always makes me happy. Besides, it was a great excuse to try a recipe for Pink Lady Cake that I'd been eying for months. So, that's what I did. The day turned out somewhat differently though. Konrad ended up catching a nasty cold and, after a sleepless and fever-ridden night, had to cancel his trip at the last minute (poor guy!). By the time I got home that night, he was feeling a bit better though and even had a present (a fun new camera!) and my favorite flowers waiting for me. So, we made dinner, had some cake and spent the rest of the evening looking at our newly posted professional wedding photos. All in all, it was a quiet but not a bad start to my thirty-second year :)


Saturday, November 13, 2010

Roasted Butternut Squash with Chickpeas


This is my new favorite recipe: Roasted butternut squash mixed with garlic, chickpeas, red onions and topped with a zesty lemon tahini sauce (I followed Deb’s lead and nixed the allspice). I absolutely love it.  So much so that I went out and purchased extra squash after our voluminous farm share provisions ran out (noteworthy because we'd sworn off squash until next year!). This last time we substituted green onions, what we had on hand, and tossed in extra parsley. I dare say the combination made it even better.  Hearty, tasty and healthy, it’s the perfect fall dish.