The cause of bad weather?

When we got Livi two years ago, none of us really knew what we were getting into.  Since we have had her, we have had record breaking snowfall, two hurricanes, a freak snowstorm in October, a week long blackout, a crazy hot summer and a flood in our basement.  I am not sure if it is coincidence, but I bought her six toys in a effort to keep the power on.  I also let her sleep in a pile of my scarves. 

Orange Item of the Week

This week Slim is bringing you an orange candle purchased from Target.  If I am forced to live by candlelight for a few days, I want fabulous candles.  Olivia is in the background smelling all of the new stuff I got. 

Hurricane Sandy

First off I can not freaking believe that we are facing another blackout over Halloween.  Secondly, I shudder at the thought that we are about to get our asses kicked by a storm name after a character in Grease.  So Sandy, she is about to hit us tomorrow.  Since last year we were caught unaware, I have been preparing like my life depends on it.  Target was a nightmare, there is no bread in the tristate area.  Also, there is no more bottles of water or regular candles.  Open empty shelves were the de rigueur in Target.  Thank god I am not working.  We are doing all of the laundry, dishes and making food for the week.  Slim had to be brought inside, so now he is chilling at the dinning room table.  We have no idea what Halloween will be like, so we don't want to put everything away just yet.  I really want to see trick or treaters. Here is Slim with a portion of our supplies.  I think he is just happy to be out of the rain. 

Pumpkin Apple Cake

It is dreary outside: cold, rainy and gray.  Sadly this is how all of my days off seem to be lately.  So I thought I would see what I have in the house to bake.  The answer?  Tate's Bakery Apple Pumpkin Cake.  I took some somewhat passed apples and made this DELICIOUS cake!   It turned out even after I forgot to put the oven on and it sat for like an hour (laundry, glee and reading, I was way distracted.)  It has a secret ingredient, wheat germ, making it more healthy.  Clearly, I will be keeping this fact from my parents.  I made it in three bundt cake pans, and of course only only one turned out.  I then proceeded to eat the stuck parts of the pan with my bare hands.  It was crazy good, even if my esophagus is a little singed.  A little powdered sugar would make it prettier...but truthfully I can't be bothered. 

Orange Item of the Week

Christmas is killing me.  Already.  Seriously.  Boxes and boxes of crap arrive at Target and I have to deal with them.  I am a little late for my orange item of the week.  Here it is, my orange globe light purchased from target.  It keeps slim looking great. I like to think of it as a disco light. 

Pumpkin Cookies

 

After sleeping for fifteen hours I worked this morning.  Then I came home and made cookies from Tate's Cookbook.  They hit the spot and soothed my cranky worn out soul.  These taste great, and are a mouthful of fall: pumpkin, cranberries and pecans. 

My mom got me this cookbook a couple of weeks ago, and have been wanting to try it out.  I have tried the cookies in New York.  They are available in any bodega and are crazy tasty.  I have yet to make the trademark chocolate chip cookies, but they are on my list.  

Hot Milk Cake

 

 
 I have been working like a demon for the past few weeks, and did not have a chance to try out my new professional grade bake ware.  Luckily I had two days off in a row.  It is designed to bake faster and with less heat.  It is like cooking in a ferrari!  My mom got me the Miette Cookbook named after the bakery in San Francisco, so I thought now would be a good time to whip up a cake.  First off, this was the most complicated cake I have ever made.  I needed to warm milk to 88 degrees, cook eggs milk in sugar in a bain marie until they were 125 degrees, pass it through a sieve, whip it again until everything was 88 degrees, then stir the whole mixture four times counterclockwise.  The whole cake was only six inches across, everything in the book is tiny. 

Then, there was frosting to be made with a candy thermometer.  I did not have enough eggs, so I went with a classic butter cream made with meringue powder.  Both parents loved the cake, I thought it was a little dry.  (Getting used to the ferrari pans...)  I would make it again and am looking forward to making others from the book :)

My cake is lopsided.  

Here the Fat Daddio pans!  They have a special coating, so I can only use butter, no Pam.

Sundays with Slim

He's back!  After  driving around in my car for a few weeks, Slim is back on the porch.  He looks handsome, but I kind of miss him in the passenger side of my car. But, at least we can still enjoy a starbucks together while stooping.  Oy, why did I wear horizontal stripes on camera?

Orange Item of the Week

Here is what could be the last picture of Stanley before I return him to the Humane Society by the Roosevelt Island Tram.  I worked a grueling eight hour shift-- I got in early at 3:00am and got home at 11:30am, only to discover he had thrown up on both of my quilts.  Really, sending him back for a refund seems like the right thing to do.  Here is Stan, on the orange tablecloth my mom mad for Halloween.  It was right after the vomiting incident, so I was telling him to look at mommy while she is threatening him.  He does not seem that worried.