Saturday, November 1, 2008

Halloween Recap


We have a winner! Aaron won the staff Halloween costume contest for Metro Times. He had stiff competition though; Paul's handmade hero costume and Gayle's Cat Woman costume were only a few points away from taking away Aaron's reigning title.

As for Boo Bash, I had so much fun...possibly too much fun! A lot of my college friends came out for the party and some of my family got to see our new house for the first time. I was a superfly disco girl and Tristan was Elvis. We barely have any beer left in our keg and everyone was happy (or maybe that was just my happy interpretation of everyone!)

Friday, October 31, 2008

Hallowhirlwind!

This week has been an utter whirlwind! I'm exhausted, but so excited for my BOO BASH tonight! A lot of my college friends, coworkers and family are coming over and we finally finished out or basement (sort of) the way we want. We replaced all the lights with black lights and busted out the fake spiderwebs. We are also getting a pony keg and bought about a gallon of vodka for jungle juice! I'm thinking about having a costume contest as well.

Carving pumpkins was a nightmare; of course Tristan's came out right. Vampire Homer Simpson looks awesome, thanks to my design and poking. However, my pumpkin that is supposed to say "Boo Bash" looks more like an over carved pathetic toothy grin...

Oh well. Cheers! Happy Halloween!

Friday, October 24, 2008

Double Feature original


I may have lived in the Detroit area my whole life, but I love when I find a hidden gem. A few weeks ago, my fiancé and I were looking to do something different and cheap since we are pretty much broke like the rest of the world. I was flipping through a current issue of the paper I work for when I came across an ad for the Redford Theatre and a screening of Airplane! I was ashamed that I had never seen it before, and the tickets were only $4 so I thought I'd give it a shot.

It was a dark and stormy night (literally, and not surprising for Michigan) as we drove through the rain to Lahser and Grand River. The moment we set foot in the Redford Theatre, we were pleasantly surprised. There before us was a quaint, unique and vintage theater that showed movies the way they should be shown! An organ recital was a classic prelude to the screening, which was complete with an intermission, raffle and old school concessions.

This weekend we will be heading back to the theater for their Halloween double feature. They will be showing H.G. Well's The Invisible Man back-to-back with House of Frankenstein, and tickets are only $6 a person. If you decide to go there will be prizes for whoever is brave enough to sport a costume. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of apple orchards and haunted houses to discover as well, but this double feature at the Redford Theatre is one-of-a-kind and any Halloween enthusiast should not miss this.

For more information, go to http://redfordtheatre.com/.



Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Hire aspirations

Most likely I'll be heading over to Goodnight Gracie's in Royal Oak tonight to catch up with Allison, celebrate her job offer and have a few drinks. I've never been there, so of course I'm excited to try something new.

I will also be blogging about events for the Detroit chapter of examiner.com, so look out for that!

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Yes, I like food, but...


I realize the last couple blog posts have been about food. I'll change the subject now with two things that make me happy! One of my best friends just got an awesome job, and my other friend is coming home last minute this weekend from NYC to visit. This weekend might not all be about pumpkin patches afterall...looks like I'll be having some friends over to toast the new job and the visit home.
I just finished reading the above book and would recommend it for anyone that likes quaint and interesting post-WWII fiction. The story is actually narrated through fictional letters between an author based in London and a group of individuals from the English Channel island of Guernsey. I had no prior knowledge of Guernsey and it was interesting to learn a little about the little island and their perspective from WWII, albeit fiction.
I had to return The Lace Reader to the library before even getting a chance to open it because there are a few holds on it. In its place I am now reading The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, which is a completely different genre for me. Thriller and Mystery...I guess it fits this time of year!


Monday, October 20, 2008

Roasted Cauliflower and Tomato Soup




My mom bought me some cauliflower from Eastern Market after she left Ale Fest on Saturday. I was trying to think of a way to cook it and decided to combine two recipes. I took a roasted cauliflower recipe and mixed it with a tomato soup recipe. It's a touch sweet, but perfect for Fall! Here it follows:

1 head of cauliflower, sliced into florets
3-4 cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped
2-3 cap fulls of olive oil
1 fresh tomato, diced
1 can of stewed tomatoes
1 can of tomato paste
1 1/2 cups of water
1 teaspoon of parsley, basil, hot pepper flakes and bay leaves
a pinch of cinnamon

Pre heat oven to 400. place the cauliflower and garlic on a greased cookie sheet and sprinkle with olive oil and pepper. Roast about 15 minutes.

Mix the chopped tomato, tomato paste, water, stewed tomatoes and spices and cooked covered over medium heat for 10 minutes. I continuously checked on the soup and mashed it by hand but you could probably even blend the soup in a blender or food processor. Let simmer about 10 minutes more and serve!

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Snickerdoodles


Finally, I got these right! I was starting to dread vegan baking, and then found this recipe for vegan snickerdoodles. I altered it with 1 tablespoon flax seed and left out the nutmeg. I also used vanilla soy milk, so I left out the vanilla extract. They are delicious, I've already eaten three.

  • 2 cups of flour
  • 4 tbsp. of cinnamon
  • 2 tbsp. of nutmeg
  • 2 tbsp. of baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp. of ground ginger
  • 1 tsp. of salt
  • 1/2 cup each of vegetable oil, regular table sugar and brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup of soy milk
  • 1 tbsp. of pure vanilla extract
  • Wire whisk
  • Large cookie sheet
  • Non-stick cooking spray
1 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix together the wet ingredients in a stainless-steel mixing bowl. These ingredients include soy milk, vanilla and vegetable oil. Mix this with a wire whisk until it is just combined.

Mix the dry ingredients together in a separate stainless-steel mixing bowl, using a wooden spoon. The dry ingredients are the flour, the regular and brown sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder and salt.

Pour the blended, wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix them together, using a wooden spoon, until a sticky ball of dough forms.

Spray a large cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray.

Scoop up the dough by the tbsp. and roll it into perfectly round balls between your hands.

Place the balls of dough side by side on the cookie sheet, leaving about 1/2 inch in between each ball.

Press down on the top of each ball of dough with your thumb or with the back of a fork, flattening it slightly.

Pinch a little more regular sugar between your fingers and sprinkle it over the tops of the cookies. You can reach right into the sugar bag to pinch the sugar.

Bake your cookies for 15 to 20 minutes, until the cookies are just starting to get brown on top.

Allow them to cool for 10 to 15 minutes. The cookies should harden as they cool.