Lofty Endeavors, or My Debut in Four-Inch Heels.

I went to my first gala this weekend. It's been a lot of fun to think about dresses, shoes, jewelry, hair, nail color and other gala-related fashion details. I found my dress a month or so ago at a thrift store for $10. Don't panic on my behalf though: I know you are probably picturing the scary 1980s prom dresses that populate most thrift stores, but somehow I found two excellent formal dresses on the same day, plus some other non-formal finds.

3 months.

It's been three months since my husband left me for another woman. Completely out of the blue. In those first stunned weeks, I couldn't see how I would survive. I felt like I was dying. I am certain that I've cried more tears since July than I've cried during my entire life before that. Which is really weird because this was the surprise ending to the most wonderful and happy five-and-a-half years of my entire life. (The time I was with my husband, during our dating and marriage...up until the day he came home from that trip where he fell in love with her.) It's mind-boggling. And devastating. And I just don't have the ability to get my head around it. Time hasn't really helped yet with that.

With that I think I will just list some thoughts as they occur because that's about all I can muster right now:

• Last weekend I went to a free open house two-hour life drawing session. It's something I've wanted to do for over two and a half years. I used to do visual art in high school, and have only done it sporadically since getting into theatre. It was fun. I want to draw and paint more.
  

Rice balls.

Photo credit: Adventures Along the Way

So mine definitely were not pretty like the ones in the photos on 101cookbooks where I got the recipe. And they were a less healthy version because I made it with ingredients on hand. But I put avocado chunks inside and they were tasty.

Photo credit: Adventures Along the Way

Yum.

I used to make this easy meal often, but I had forgotten about it after I moved away from Chicago and my favorite grocery store where I used to regularly buy fresh feta. The other day I was staring into the almost-empty fridge and brainstorming what I could do with some feta, pitas, and a tomato. I remembered this meal and grabbed the olive oil. After it was baked, I cracked some pepper and added some fresh basil off the back porch. So good...and ready in only a few minutes!

Fried Green Tomatoes (aka, my recipe for Southern-style Fried Tofu)

The last two summers, I've grown tomatoes on our back porch and have had access to green tomatoes, which inspired me to experiment with making fried-green tomatoes, a food that takes me back to my childhood and Southern roots. I find that since moving to Canada, I have had the urge to make more traditional Southern foods much more than I used to, and thankfully, S really likes cheese grits, biscuits, peach cobbler, etc. It's been a lot of fun learning how to make these things and introducing him (and his québécois family) to Southern foods.

Apple Pie

This apple pie is one of the results of the apples we picked a while back. It was my first attempt to do a double crust and I was pretty excited to try it. It turned out well and we both liked it, agreeing that it was just sweet enough and not too sweet.

Pumpkin patch kids.

(Photo credit: S)

(Photo credit: S)

Over the weekend, we went with some friends to a nearby island to pick apples. We also stopped and gathered pumpkins and squashes. It was a gorgeous and fun day. Now I need to figure out what recipes I want to try!

Oatmeal Bread

I have been making bread the past few weeks with this recipe. On Saturday, I decided to make a double recipe because we go through it so fast. This bread is delicious, but here's the best part: It is quick. Yep, a yeast bread that doesn't take lots of time to make. It only needs 30 minutes to rise and about that same time or slightly more to cook. So if you need a bread recipe that you can decide to make at the last minute...check this one out!

Veggie "sushi" attempt.

 

A while back, we had a try-to-make-veggie-"sushi"-at-home night. It turned out okay, but not great. S did get quite good at rolling though, and I hope to try it again this summer and make some improvements on the sushi rice and overall flavor combinations. Any suggestions?

PS. I realize "veggie" sushi isn't Real Sushi, but I like it.

They may not look pretty...

 

I used to buy veggie corn dogs in the freezer section of the grocery store in the U.S., but since I haven't seen them anywhere here in Canada, I hadn't eaten corn dogs for close to two years. Recently, I ran across a recipe for corn dogs and got excited about the idea of making my own veggie corn dogs at home. 

I bought veggie dogs for me and regular hot dogs for S. The process with the batter was a little messy and involved frying- so this is definitely not a health food- but I think they were the best corn dogs I have ever had. We put two servings in the freezer for later because I wanted to see how they freeze and reheat, but they were so good that we have already eaten them! (And they tasted delicious too.)