it has been cool enough to use the oven

how do you know you live too far north? when the sun sets at around 7pm and it is cool enough to do full on baking and roasting in the middle of september. ugh. 

i roasted some tomatoes w/olive oil, oregano, basil, thyme, garlic, salt/pepper. before:

after:

also made some dog treats for a poor pup who had been hit by a car. (she is recovering nicely, thankfully!)

i think those are 1 cup whole wheat flour, half a mashed banana, 1/4 cup peanut butter and 1/4 cup milk. 20 min @ 350F? something like that. there are recipes online if you need one.

d brought us some samoan moon cakes!!

super delicious! super sweet of her to do so! i think they are a hybrid of maybe samoan half moon pies + moon cakes? i am not sure, sorry. i just know that i can't wait to make chotda's version of king's bakery's paradise cake to share with her.

or maybe just a guava cake if i'm feeling lazy. heh.

our friend, giant rilakkuma

our friend, giant rilakkuma, moved into our house today. he is a cubs fan! 

maybe giant rilakkuma can keep the blasted cubs from destroying their chance at the wild card. one can only hope.

books, plants and the start of halloween season

doesn't the bookkeep sound like where the books retreat when they are under attack? i am glad that they have a stronghold. 

i'm getting ready to go all in with cooking this fall/winter. maybe you can tell by the glut of cookbooks i've checked out from the library.

yes, many of them are japanese cookbooks. i obviously still haven't recovered from tokyo. (does anyone? god, japan is amazing.)

while at the hobbit house  greenhouse last weekend, we picked up some heather that has now been termed the poitier plant.

no reason, really. (heh)

another thing i'm going to go big with this year is halloween.

perhaps you will recall that i used to do this?  (that is my go to master post for all halloween related linkage.) after skipping last year, i think it's time to return to form in memory of chotda. please check back soonish!

non laboring labor day

all these plants but nothing's going in the ground because we are sicksicksick and i am bruised beyond belief. (also my back went out. haaaaa i am falling apart.)

but i have a memento mori to go with my tea.

really helps you put a basic sore throat in perspective, you know?

today we went to a hobbit house

it's the time of year to plant perennials. but why go to a boring greenhouse when you can go to one that has the greenest of green houses? 

brothers greenhouses. brothers greenhouses has a hobbit house. and you can go inside of it.

you can't touch the mini one though,

bonus: THEY GAVE US OWLS

but it is not inexpensive to play like you're in the godfather.

oh yeah, we also went to lowes. it put me in a spooky mood.

and just like that...

...we have decided to hold off until spring. better market, better timing, more time for me to work means i won't be hospitalized with pneumonia/exhaustion. (so not even exaggerating. blargh.)

i would be lying if i said that i wasn't disappointed. of course i am. i REALLY REALLY fucking hate washington state. but, you know, if we're better positioned in a few months, i'll be adult about it and suck it the fuck up.

i suppose this means that i'll be making leff a bday cake now. so, hey, stay tuned for that! right now though, i'm going to sleep SO HARD bwahahahhaha i am going to enjoy that SO MUCH GOODNIGHT

so close

we are so close to being able to leave a place where the only cultural advantage is the ability to turn right on red. (god, i *wish* we'd been in la instead of the tacky.)

anyway, i'm marbelized, covered in paint,

unable to stop staging things

and too invested in cute-ing this fucking place to the hilt.

i did take a break to eat THIN MINT ICE CREAM that leff snagged at 7-11 though.

pick one of those up. they're sanctioned by the girl scouts and SO FUCKING DELICIOUS!