Hello, hello, hello!

While I haven’t exactly missed the daily MoFo blogging, I have missed feeling connected to my blogger pals. All the more incentive to keep up a semi-regular posting schedule, right?! (It also doesn’t hurt that I’m still catching up on MoFo posts, yikes.) And so: My first foray into non-MoFo casual diary-style blogging. It feels weird. I still feel like I need a “point” to my posts, a recipe to share or a restaurant to review. And I do have a few of those in the works: an extremely overdue post about my trip to Copenhagen last March (!!!), a review of a vegan-friendly local diner, etc. But for now, something much simpler. :)

We kicked off September with Labor Day weekend. Three-day weekends are just so magical! I had a pretty great one, full of fun knitting and good food and a nice solo hike, where I spotted this tree with a little heart motif. I agree, tree. I heart being outdoors too. On Sunday morning I whipped up a tasty (if monotone) breakfast: tofu scramble, home fries, and a kiwi. It’s much healthier than that bland palette suggests! I used this tofuevos recipe, which is my absolute favorite bare-bones (i.e., no veggies) scram. I always reduce the soy sauce, though, because two tablespoons is just too much. A half tablespoon is perfect, plus a little sprinkling of black salt for some eggy flavor.

What else, what else… I haven’t been photographing my dinners, partially because MoFo is over but also because the sun is setting earlier. :( Ugh, autumn. Please stay away! I did snap a quick pic of this buffalo cauliflower and tofu I made last night. I used Chocolate Covered Katie’s baked buffalo cauliflower recipe as a template, with some modifications: I doubled the cauliflower to a whole head, added a block of pressed firm tofu, and switched up the sauce a bit (1/3 cup of Frank’s Red Hot plus two tablespoons of vegan butter). It was spicy enough for me! I served it with some homemade vegan ranch and fresh raw veggies. (About that vegan ranch: It’s mayo-based and so simple! I omitted the raw garlic and instead used a few cloves from this amaaazing garlic confit I made last weekend.) This is a dinner that feels indulgent but is actually decently healthy, with lots of protein (half a block per person!) and plenty of veggies (~half a head of cauliflower, plus pepper and carrots on the side). Yes, please.

I’ve also been enjoying the fruits (…veggies…) of my gardening labor, as I mentioned in my recent MoFo post. Today I picked a couple handfuls of cherry tomatoes, a few carrots, and LOTS of those fun little sour gherkins. So colorful! The tomatoes went right into a panzanella salad, along with some rosemary-garlic sourdough squares, basil, green pepper, and a garlic-lemon dressing.

And finally, here’s a sweet shot of Maggie (formerly Margaret), a hound mix we fostered for six months (!) last year. She was adopted by our close friends about six months ago, which is amazing: She gets spoiled to within an inch of her life by our friends, and we get to see her frequently! We hung out with Maggie and her canine and feline brothers on Saturday night while celebrating our friend Rachel’s birthday, so we made sure to snag some cuddle time on the couch. This girl is incredibly sweet and goofy, and it’s absolutely wonderful to see her enjoying life in her forever home. <3

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