284.

The best part about my Halloween decorations this year? They’re edible! One of the kabocha squashes sounded particularly good the other night, so I chopped some up and roasted them for about 20 minutes with a little olive oil, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. A perfect squash doesn’t need much else.

My favorite squash is my mom’s acorn squash — roasted with just a little bit of brown sugar and butter. But kabocha squash is already pretty sweet so I went the savory route. After they were soft and carmelized on the bottom, I cut up the pieces and tossed them in a salad with kale, dried cranberries, feta, red onion and pepitas. 

By the way — you need a good knife when cutting your kabocha. I’m learning the hard way that I am in desperate need of a new knife set.

xo

283.

“This country has more wealth than any nation, but that’s not what makes us rich. We have the most powerful military in history, but that’s not what makes us strong. Our university, our culture are all the envy of the world, but that’s not what keeps the world coming to our shores. What makes America exceptional are the bonds that hold together the most diverse nation on earth.

….

“I believe we can seize this future together because we are not as divided as our politics suggests. We’re not as cynical as the pundits believe. We are greater than the sum of our individual ambitions, and we remain more than a collection of red states and blue states. We are and forever will be the United States of America.”

Today was a good day. A day where I fell in love with my country. 
God Bless America. 

282.

To me, the best decorations are the easiest ones. Since we never get trick or treaters at our apartment, Halloween decorating is restricted to a few gourds and some new chalkboard art in the dining room or kitchen. (The fact that we have an orange kitty counts too, right?)

Come Christmas, I’ll probably be doing something similar with pomegranates and eucalyptus branches from the Presidio (if Sawyer doesn’t start chewing on them first). 

Happy Halloween!

xo

281.

Fall makes me feel very romantic. It’s all the sweaters, steaming mugs of tea and snuggle-worthy weather. Of course, fall comes late to San Francisco — we tend to get our best weather at the end of September/beginning of October — but when it does arrive, it’s perfect. The fog disappears. There’s a slight chill in the air, but it’s never too cold. The air smells better. People start using their fireplaces again. The maple tree outside our window turns yellow, red and then orange. I start craving pumpkin spice everything. 

The bike ride home from the train station has been getting colder and colder. The other night, Kelly and I stopped on the Embarcadero — right before the hill on North Point — to warm up with some chowder and mussels at Pier 23. The heaters were going outside, so we huddled in their covered patio and sipped frothy beers, talking and soothing away the worries of the day. 

We rode our bikes home after — just the tiniest bit buzzed — foggy breath getting stronger as we made our way up the hill. Sweaty but still smiling when we got home. 

It was one of those randomly perfect fall nights. The San Francisco equivalent of an handheld autumn walk through Central Park (sort of). 

xo 

280.

For our monthly Supperclub meeting (with a Halloween theme!) I decided to make a recipe I’ve been wanting to try for over a year now — a savory, stuffed pumpkin. I winged it a bit, but it turned out amazing. 

Ingredients:
1 Sugar Pie Pumpkin
1/2 white onion
1 baguette
1 cup of heavy cream
1/2 cup fontina, 1/2 cup gouda
spices: salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, paprika

First, carve out the pumpkin. Really clean that guy out. 

If you’re smart, you’ll save the seeds to roast afterwards. 

Next, tear up your baguette and toast the pieces so they have just a bit of char. 

Now it’s time to stuff. Fill that thing to the brim with bread, onions, and cheese. I mean, REALLY stuff it. Then, pour in a cup of cream, mixed with your spices (to taste). 

After that, it’s easy. Pop it in the oven at 400 for an hour and 15 minutes. When it’s done, you’ll have a golden, soft pumpkin full of melted cheesy goodness. 

Cutting it was a little awkward at first, but everyone ended up with a slice of pumpkin and a healthy (?) scoop of stuffing.  

Amanda whipped up some truly delicious pumpkin/portobello/bacon mac and cheese. 

And Kirsten put together some brussels sprouts!
The Giants won, we had plenty of wine on hand, and several good desserts to fill our bellies up even more.

All in all, a perfect night. 

(A view of part of downtown from Amanda’s Pac Heights living room) 

xo

279.

Three new things that make me happy:

1. My airplants, sittin’ pretty in a big vase of navy beans.  I love these little guys. 

2. My new bike! Not only did is it adorable, but I got it from the cutest Italian couple ever in Noe Valley, and it’s been making my commute to work much smoother. Plus, sometimes Kelly and I get to ride home from the train station together, which is pretty great. 

3. My new case! I snagged my dad’s old iPhone 4 when he upgraded, and got a great ombré case (I’m obsessed with ombré) to go with it. 

It’s the little things, you know?

Happy weekend all!

xo

278.

It’s been freakishly warm this week in SF, but I want it to feel like fall dang it! So I decided to make chili in order to hurry the weather along.

My chili recipes are always slightly different (that’s why I love this stuff, stick to a few key things and it’ll always taste good), but bear the same things in common: Lots of vegetables, lots of chunk and lots of spice. Nothing like that mushy, canned stuff. This time I opted to mix in some red pepper, zucchini and corn.

I chop up my vegetables pretty thickly, so they’re still nice and chunky after they’ve been simmering for a while.

(Chunky is kind of a gross word, but you know what I mean).

Half a white/yellow onion goes into a pot of hot olive oil. I mix in plenty of red pepper flakes at this stage and a healthy pinch of salt. After a minute or so, I add a couple cloves of minced garlic, and sauteé until golden.

Next, I add in some canned tomatoes, and two cans of beans (liquid and all!), bringing it to a healthy simmer. Now, it’s spice time. I eyeball this part, but I add a lot of spice because I love it. Big dashes of chili powder, paprika and cumin.

I like my vegetables to have a subtle char, so I broiled the zucchini and pepper for 10 minutes or so with some salt, pepper and olive oil.

Hopefully by now, the chili is simmering beautifully. That’s when I mix all the veggies in (I used frozen corn because they don’t have fresh ears at Whole Foods anymore), and let it cook for a couple more minutes.

Yum! Delicious, chunky (yup, I’m going to keep saying it) veggie chili. If you like cheese as much as I do, top with a sprinkle (or a handful…) of cheddar cheese, a few slices of avocado and a few splashes of Tapatío.

PS: Fall — hurry up!

xo