the fruits of the soul

oh i am preparing a fabulous meal for my kiwi friends! a royal thai experience! full of fusion flavors and to explode the taste buds!

so i have been busy all day and started preparing some food last night!

ginger chili chicken (and veggie) lettuce wraps

home made wonton spring rolls with ginger pomegranate dipping sauce

steamed edamame with a salty garlic butter

and

pineapple goji berry martini's!

oh my tongue doesn't know the bang that is about to hit!

and of course, the sprinkle of sweetness will be banana pudding!

(i wanted to do brown sugar fried bananas but robert has been craving banana pudding for weeks! and honoring our 6 month anniversary from this week i craved!)

now for the banana pudding recipe and more pictures to follow with the food!

the yummy home made vanilla pudding:

1/2 cup of organic sugar (raw does not work as well)

3 tablespoons of cornstarch

2 cups of organic milk

2 pinches of salt

2 egg yolks

2 tablespoons of unsalted butter

2 teaspoons of all natural vanilla extract

wisk the sugar, cornstarch and salt in a saucepan.

pour 1/4 cup of the milk into the saucepan, stirring until smooth

wisk in the remaining milk and then the egg yolks

cook the pudding mixture on low heat (so you don't burn!) and stir constantly- until thick.

(wooden spoons work best!)

do not let it boil!

remove from the heat and stir in the butter and vanilla.

put in a bowl and cover tightly and refrigerate at least an hour!

then of course cut the bananas

and get some vanilla wafers and alternate the 3 layers!

cover and i think it is best served after being in the fridge for at least 24 hours! so cold and yummy!

new season. new things

i love november. probably my favorite month.

all the leaves have turned, the weather is just perfect.

no humidity, no sweltering days, just refreshing gust of cool air on my rosy cheeks.

my lips are always chapped but it feels so nice when I apply the almond butter. so comforting

pumpkin bread, banana cookies, hot apple cidar, strong coffee.

such a beautiful feeling.

well after a exasperating week of stress and moving, we are finally settling in.

it feels so nice to have a warm cozy home that i love.

our new house is comfy, carefree, colorful. oh so many words!

it was made for fall.

we have our bedroom and kitchen set up, of course the most important rooms to me.

things are changing and we like it.

we have already decided where to put our christmas tree.

~

now for my recipe!

pumpkin bread:

*suggestion- when cooking breads, especially once with spices and such, its worth the money to get fresh spices that will burst in flavor! (ie- Saigon cinnamon, far more flavorful then generic cinnamon)

1 pound fresh organic pumpkin puree
3 ½ cups pastry flour
1 cup organic canola oil
3 cups raw sugar
4 free range eggs
2 teaspoons organic baking soda
1 teaspoon organic baking powder
2 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
2/3 cup cold water

Oven: 325 degrees.

take the pumpkind and peel, sedd and cut into pieces, then steam until soft.

puree the pumpkin in a food processor until there are no lumps.

in a large bowl, beat the sugar, oil, pumpkin and eggs together.

in another bowl sift together all the dry ingredients.

fold the two mixtures together and the water.

Great and flour two loaf pans and pour batter into the pans.

bake for 1 hour or until cooked in the middle (you know the tooth pick trick)

cool in the pans on a cooling rack for at least 10 minutes, then turn our of pans and let them finish cooling.

serve warm but wrap in foil to keep moist!

Also!

as it has gotten cold recently I've needed something fall to put on my toast in the mornings, something different.

so i made this little mixture up and its wonderful!

Pumpkin Spice Spread!

I have not tried it on the pumpkin loaf, but if you love pumpkin, im sure its fabulous!

I haven't measured it all out yet, but it's very simple and you can do it to taste!

4-8 oz (depending on how much you want to make!) cream cheese

3-5 tablespoons of brown sugar

a couple spoonfuls of pumpkin

2-3 tablespoons of maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon of vanilla

soften the cream cheese, sugar and syrup in a bowl until creamy.

add the rest of the ingredients and beat until smooth. refrigerate at least an hour!

thats it for today, more bites tomorrow!

a bittersweet symphony.

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I love this little booth at the flea market, we got a lot of our wedding decor from him!

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This weekend created some of the best and horrible memories for robert and I.

we really enjoyed our nice stay in franklin at my parents house. down town franklin in the fall is the most beautiful! all the old ladies are out walking their dogs, even the neighbors who dont like us wave and say hi. All the pumpkins and fall decor are out. And this week all the scary ghost and creepy goblins are out for halloween!

on friday robert and I started an all liquids juicing detox, it has been so great, except robert has already quit. and going to the flea market on friday with my sister, mom and oma, surrounded by french fries and yummy carny food wasn't helpful! but we had a blast!

vintage clothing booth

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my sassy Oma!

photo cred: Carah Ellis

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Dream Destination

photo cred: Carah Ellis

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Photo Cred: Carah Ellis

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so on friday evening robert and I had a spontaneous moment to load up the dog and head to franklin and enjoy the fall festivities with my sweet family!

i was a kid again

photo cred: Carah Ellis

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a wonderful home cooked meal: plastic, better then fast food!

photo cred: Carah Ellis

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saturday we woke up and went to the farmer's market downtown franklin.

oh the jams!

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then in the afternoon we went to the Gentry's Pumpkin Patch/Farm! It was just the best!

We grew up going to this pumpkin patch, pickin pumpkins, getting lost in the corn maze! The weather was flawless! We had so much fun!

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this calf was born on friday night, it was less then 24 hours old! An amazing view, a momma loving on her baby, just a fresh splash of inspiration! Very refreshing

Johnny- his mate, June was being difficult and wouldn't smile

photo cred: Carah Ellis

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robert enjoying the hay (or lack of hay) ride!

our first house! its small but quaint! haha!

mom and robert left Carah and I in the corn maze and we got lost....

my favorite shoes and the sign of fall!

mom and I in the corn maze.

thinking about this for our christmas picture! one from kansas + one from tennessee!

fall!

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my heart aches at what happened next.

saturday night we headed home to unload our stuff and head off to a house warming party.

little did we know that people would ruin our sense of security.

men who do nothing but create bitterness and agony.

this was the worst feeling robert and I have felt ever.

Our dog was with us or we feel that it would not have happened, but we are glad they weren't able to hurt our dog.

we are perpetually reminded of how blessed we are by our friends and family, as they have surrounded us with love and concern.

we can't help but be completely angry and hurt at the same time, more so angry.

we are battling anger and a need for justice, this thing rising up in us to fight back and take what they have stolen from us, our safe haven of our home.

our first home together. ruined by morbid memories.

we know we will walk out of this with strength and a feeling of accomplishment, but it's difficult to not be angry and everything.

they took our only things we value besides each other of course. all our instruments.

what a horrible feeling, I hope no one ever has to feel this anguish, but I know as the world get's worse, this will to.

I pray for the men who took stuff from our abode, and I forgive them, but I know the Lord will have justice, when the time is right.

until then, we are saddened but looking at all the wonderful things that are.

we are safe. and we are grateful.

band of the day:

John Mark Mcmillian

http://www.thejohnmark.com/home.html

"how he loves"

helped me through this crisis.

all about food!

oh the yummmmmmies!

home made pesto 1/2 chicken fresh cheese pizza!

i marinated 2 small pieces of chicken in just pesto and some fresh feta and mozzarella cheese

put it on a pesto pizza.

and me being allergic to dairy, put goat cheese, basil and tomatoes on my side :)

robert had the chicken because i am a veggie!

on sunday we had a sushi date over at our friend Josh and Sarah Rhodes house!

the mr. made all this wonderful sushi and we brought edamame!

it was delicious! the men enjoyed the cool fall weather and the hot apple cidar!

i've also been really into peaches! the other day I toasted some 12 grain bread, and put fresh goat cheese on it and then peaches and vanilla enhanced agave! it was delicious! and of course i paired it with some peach komboocha!

i had a dream the other night about pumpkin cupcakes and maple syrup. and i am not a big fan of maple syrup but I was excited. the next day was our friend Joel's Swanky 27th birthday so I decided to put some food together and have a grand swanky bash! There was rum punch, funky heels, hair pieces, i even wore my blue leather opera gloves! the food we had was fabulous!

the food shown was made by Linsey Hedglin and the staff at Patterson House, Nashville TN.

the beautiful ms. hardesty and mr. casy miekle

mr. pritchard and mr. hernandez

mr. gabe kelley

mr. ryan adams and mr. aaron tosti

the maple cake made by my favorite place in nashville!

Marche!

http://www.marcheartisanfoods.com/pages/home.html

two lovely men from california and north carolina!

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organic pumpkin cupcakes with maple syrup cream cheese icing

topped with cinnamon and homemade dark chocolate rounds!

my recipe to share:

organic pumpkin cupcakes:

makes 36 normal sized cupcakes!

2 sticks of organic unsalted butter, room temperature

2 cups of firmly packed organic brown sugar

4 1/8 cups of organic pastry or cake flour

2/3 cup of organic granulated sugar

2 teaspoons of baking soda

4 teaspoons of baking powder

2 teaspoons of organic ground ginger

2 teaspoons of organic ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon of organic ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon organic ground cloves

1 teaspoon of celtic sea salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

4 eggs (large) free range or organic

*1 cup of organic buttermilk mixed with 2 teaspoons of organic vanilla

2 1/2 cups of canned organic solid packed pumpkin

(or fresh is even greater!)

*if you don't want to buy a whole thing of buttermilk just mix 1 cup of milk to 1 tablespoon of lemon juice!

1. oven: 350° then line cupcake pans with liners

2. beat butter, sugars on medium speed until fluffy (about 5 minutes)

meanwhile, sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, salt and pepper in a medium bowl

3. add the eggs 1 at a time to the mixer, alternate adding the flour and milk mixtures

beat in the pumpkin until smooth

then fill the cupcake liners with the yummy batter (don't eat to much of the batter! raw eggs!)

3/4 the way full on the filling

bake about 20-25 minutes or until done!

let cool completely before icing!

100% organic maple syrup cream cheese icing:

4 (8 oz.) packages of organic cream cheese, softened

2 sticks of organic unsalted butter, room temperature

5-6 cups of organic powdered sugar (or until stiff)

1/2 cup of 100% organic maple syrup

mix together and frost!

i then sprinkle some cinnamon on top of the cupcakes for "added sweetness!"

enjoy!

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now for the band shout out:

this weekend some good friends of our's "The Chariot" came to visit/play a show in nashville.

they are great men. especially our favorite! John Kindler aka wolf!

http://www.thechariot.com/

we took him to Mike's ice cream downtown on broadway and got the BEST ice cream!

2 of my favorite things! combined!

Red Velvet ice cream: and inspiration to us all! 2 of my favorite things! combined!

also made this week at the Savannah Tea Room:

mini pumpkin cheesecakes with ginger snap crust!

thats it for today. more bites tomorrow.

garage sale!

come enjoy!

two regal & commanding ladies:

Jenny Deloach:

this woman needs to be celebrated today.

she is one of my favorite people, an exceptional lady.

she is so elegant. so exquisite. so delicious.

Jenny Deloach has made such a wonderful impact in my life.

she has gone over and above what defines "generous friend"

i delight in all her charisma and enthusiasm.

jenny secured me in so much of my juvenile insecurities.

she savors life.

jenny has gone far above reproach.

she has so much life and adventure waiting for her.

i cannot wait for her to meet the best man, who makes her feel like a woman.

she will never settle.

she is never satisfied with "mediocre"

on my 21st birthday last month jenny called me from costa rica just to tell me she loved me.

jenny i love you!

thank you for being so sensational.

Linda Welsh:

the wind never stops blowing through her hair.

when she embraces you, she cultivates a feeling of "home"

no anguish in her presence

her feet never touch the ground, only her toes for a brisk gasp

she is an inspiration to all women.

when she smiles, she not only lights up a room, but she breaths life into the atmosphere.

there is a constant battle of bliss and composed peace in her companionship.

i am unceasingly encourages and fearless in her company.

no fantasy or concept is too big!

i take delight in her very vitality.

like a little sprout from the ground, she is always alive and amplified!

she is radiant when it seems that everything is a cold lull.

remarkable and sensational this woman is.

she creates an environment of genius imagination!

she is a woman who loves to invest in lives.

full of vigor, and sparkle. she will never be overcome by circumstances.

she's like a vintage wine, masterminded with age.

sharp. crisp. inspiring. fabulous. beautiful.

Linda, i love you.

thank you for being so remarkable.

fall moped rides and good friends

last november my life changed. not only did i have a blingin ring on my left hand, but I also got my first "moped" well it was actually a "noped" because it had no pedals, but a kick start, but it was NOT a scooter.

so since then, i've gone through that moped, and now moved on to a smaller, faster, "murdered out" black and gold moped, (which happens to match my gold sparkly helmet just perfect!)

we've gone down to 1 vehicle, a volvo wagon and 6 mopeds. its such a wonderful feeling, about 90 miles to the gallon! what a steal! take that america! finally taking something back.

it feels so great. the wind in your face.

the other night robert and I went over to our good friends and neighbors, Jesse and Julia Kevon and the lovely wife was chopping away at his hair. such a cute panorama: the sweet, helpful wife cutting the bad ass hair for a wedding he was going to be in the following weekend.

just a sweet image.

on the way home Robert and I just looked at each other and I told him how grateful I was to be married and to get to experience life together! We were jubilant lovers.

we made fun of Jesse here, he kind of looked weird, but he usually has an interesting smirk on his face.

what we've been cooking up lately!

chocolate chip cookies, my brother and niece didn't even notice that they were "healthy."

and dinner when robert was sick: tortellini vegetable soup, toasted butter croissants, and sweet potato fries with cinnamon! and white wine, but only for me. water for the sickling :)

and now for the band we must tell about!

robert's friend Ben, from Chicago is in this band, (The Soil & The Sun) we saw them on Friday night at a community house show. They are stupendous! We really enjoyed their show! they are on tour now. hopefully the couple of demolished dollars that I threw in their "gas" bucket got them to Charleston, South Carolina where their next show was! They are great!

http://www.myspace.com/genderagename