Thursday, April 12, 2007

We Didn't Start The Fire...

...it was always burning since the worlds been turning...OK, so double purpose title today. First, is the off the shoulder 80's style I'm pushing buttons with at work today. Why not? I gave notice last week (3 weeks notice) and I work so much more efficiently when I'm able to "be myself". The other reason for the fire reference is my daughter's unexplained fear of fire now days. She claims she had a bad dream and doesn't want to talk about. Fire on our gas stove (along with candles and laterns and...) have been freaking her out MAJORLY for several weeks now. Last night, she overcame. Pizza has the power. I'll share my favorite pizza sauce recipe from the New Farm Cookbook!

Pizza Sauce
(improvised slightly due to spices on hand and my own taste)
1 sm onion diced
3 T olive oil
4 oz tomato paste
1 cup water
3/4 t garlic powder
1 t oregano
1 1/2 t chili powder
1 pinch black pepper
1/2 t basil
pinch of cayenne pepper
1/2 t salt
1 t sugar

(I usually 1 and 1/2 this recipe just because I typically buy 6 oz cans of tomato paste and love pizza sauce!) First, saute the onion in oil until translucent. It's not necessary to use 3T of oil - I've used every increment inbetween and have found very little variation in taste. Once the onions are cooked, add the other ingredients, mix well and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Simmer 10 minutes and viola!


Tuesday, April 3, 2007

Beautiful Little Cupcakes, Great Big Debt!


Dolt! So, neither of us intended to do this trade fair "for profit". Really, we were hoping to buy some of the supplies we'd need to make cupcakes in large batches and break even. We didn't break even, either. But, I loved the endless compliments about how great they looked and especially the "are they edible"? I soaked that right up! :-) I was even asked if I take "special orders". I guess so! The lady who asked bought a cupcake for her boyfriend/husband - Pat, the drummer from Anti Flag. I'm not the starstruck type and had no idea who he was before Michael told me. They were pretty excited about vegan cupcakes. I wonder if he's vegan. We saw them again last night as we were taking a night walk and they excitedly recognized us and waved! I joke that instead of being a hippie in the woods I'm going to morph into celebrity baker. Boy, I'm dorky. Anyway, the trade fair averaged maybe 200 visitors and we sold about 60 cupcakes. Considering the fact that there was another booth with vegan cupcakes run by the Big Idea (0ur local anarchist bookstore) and yet another table with "traditional" cupcakes, I was impressed with our sales, all in all. We got the word out about our vegan meetup group, as well and passed out quite a few "Why vegan" pamphlets.

I find myself becoming more and more internal and reflective and simplistic. I spend less and less time in front of the computer and have little desire to even surf the net during down time at work. I'm ready to soak up the sun and spend time with my family. I still intend to update this blog so don't assume that long intermissions mean I've given it up! As always, my inspirations come in spurts!