My Dia de los Muertos makeup last year was stylized off of Sylvia Ji’s Day of the Dead painting series. I can take full credit for the makeup and accessories but the thing that really made the look in my opinion is the wig, which was custom made for me by an awesome drag queen out on Las Vegas.

Never trust a bald barber or a skinny chef, and when you want a fabulous wig- go to a drag queen.

More pics can be found on my Flickr, Day of the Dead Makeup Pics

Though I don’t go there frequent enough to be considered a regular, I have been eating at Yanni’s forever. It’s so amazing to me how little this place has changed over the years. Aside from the expansion into the ajoining space next door several years ago and the occasional paint change, the restaurant- and for the most part even the staff- is the same as when I first started going here at least 10 yrs ago.

This place has, hands down, the best french toast in the Tampa Bay Area, possibly the world. Not only that, but their homemade yogurt is amazing. Patrick got the famous french toast. I decided to go for a banana filled pancake which was so large and in charge I couldn’t even finish half!

One thing I didn’t see were the current tallies on the pancake and french toast challeneges. Does anyone know if they are still doing it?

Back when I lived in Olympia we used to go to this italian restaurant, Apollo’s, all the time. It was right around the corner from our house on the West Side in the shopping center off Division, the same plaza as Rainy Day Records and Value Village. Anyway, they made this african peanut chicken soup that was to die for. It was a soup of the day that they offered only occasionally so I would usually call ahead to see if they had it, that’s how awesome it was.

It’s been 10 years, Apollo’s may be gone, and I don’t know when I’ll be gettin’ back up there so I figured it’s high time I figure out a way to master this soup myself. I did alot of research trying to figure out the best way to make this and after borrowing from a recipe here and there and working off my tastebuds’ memory I’m pleased to say I think I got it down.

Recipe- (I’m putting it all down as much for you guys as myself so I don’t forget!)

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons yellow curry powder
1 medium sweet onion, chopped in large pieces
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed
2 1/2 cups water
2 teaspoons better than bouillon “no-chicken” chicken stock
1 teaspoon tomato paste
1 small can whole peeled tomatoes, drained and quartered
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons black pepper
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 tablespoon tiger sauce
juice from 1 lime
1/2 a block of firm tofu, cubed

Directions:

Heat the olive oil in a large dutch oven or stockpot (tomato pot!) on medium-high heat. You want to get your oil hot but you don’t want it to smoke. Add 1 tablespoon curry powder and mix well with oil, stirring regularly for 1 minute. Add onions and cover, stirring occasionally. Cook onions evenly for about 3 to 4 minutes or until onions start to turn clear but are not completely sauteed. Add garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Add sweet potatoes, water, no-chicken stock, tomato paste and tomatoes. Stir to ensure bouillon properly dissolves, bring soup to a boil and cover. Reduce heat to keep at a simmer and let cook 20 minutes.

Take slotted spoon and remove onions from broth. Add coconut milk, 1 tablespoon curry powder and all remaining spices, peanut butter, tiger sauce and lime juice to the soup. Stir to combine. Bring soup to a simmer and cook with lid off for another 15 minutes. If the soup begins to get too thick before 15 mins has passed add 1/4th a cup of water- you don’t want to cut your cooking time down because you want your potatoes to be tender. Add cubed tofu, stir to combine, and let simmer another 5 minutes before serving.

I also made jasmine rice along side the soup and put a small rice ball in the bottom of each bowl before serving. That naturally is optional. If you like things on the hot side you might want to throw in some red pepper flakes along with the spices. Also I cubed the sweet potato while I was cooking the onions. This was a royal pain so next time I will cut the potato up before I commence cooking.

It’s veggie and vegan friendly and mighty tasty. Enjoy!

Strawberry Shortcake, Strawberry Torte and Raspberry Rugala. Yum.

He acts up the moment you stop paying attention

Last night while Patrick was making hard boiled eggs a fresh one accidently got cracked. He was going to toss it but I knew I could use it for something… kitchen sink cookies! I didn’t have everything needed to make chocolate chip cookies, but I knew I had some chocolate around the house so I chopped up what I could find and threw it in a half batch of cookie dough, making good use of the lone eggy-weg that was destined for the dumpster.

I think they came out pretty good. I might do something similar for christmas this year.

This Thanksgiving I wound up making a vegetarian chicken breast en leu f Tofurky.

I used a Veat brand vegetarian chicken breast (though it’s EXACTLY the same as the ones you find in the asian store- down to the molded fake bird shape) and pan seared it in apple cider. I also made an apple pomegranate reduction inspired by something I had seen online last week.

Originally I was just going to make it straight pomegranate, only subbing the the chicken stock with “Better the Bouillon” non chicken base (which I made the night before) but I gave Patrick a taste who decided he doesn’t like pomegranate- ack! I thought it was great… but I decided to make it again and lighten the flavor up with a little apple cider the second time around. He liked my second version much better, but still isn’t crazy about pomegranate. Everyone else however was completely sold and did find the reduction quite enjoyable. I think it’s delicious and saved the rest for dressing up my leftovers. I even put it on some stuffing for lunch! (PS- “Pork” flavored Stovetop is veggie friendly!)