New obsessions, new season, new nail polish, new moves; New Post!!

It's been so long since I've updated. I'm blaming it on the fact that I've been dragging my feet along in a disconnected stupor ever since I activated my friend's old dumb phone in lieu of replacing my smart phone ($90 deductible? Nah). But anyway, I have changed just so much since the last time I updated! Firstly, I am moving to New Orleans in 1 week! I have a job as an assistant electrician with St. Bernard's Project. Even though this is a serious pay and prestige drop, it is my dream. For now anyway. Still trying to figure the whole thing out but I think my end dream will involve ex-convicts, affordable housing, and cupcakes. In the meantime, I have new obsessions! Ombre cakes and accent nails! So, please take some time to get to new the New Kate by looking at these websites.

Can I just have my wedding dress be an Ombre cake?

Ok but for real, I am going to master the art of Ombre cupcakes.

I am also very obsessed with accent nails, and my new favorite thing to do on a lazy night is peruse hello giggles nails of the day and then attempt it on my nails and my room mates' nails. Here's one of my personal favorites, and one I attempted last night while watching Princess and the Frog!

Fall is finally filling the air and it is definitely my favorite season of the year. I am figuring I am not getting much of an autumn out of NOLA, so I kick started the autumn in Cville this weekend by making pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, pumpkin pancakes, and pumpkin chili. They were all pretty good except I could have amped up the pumpkin in the chili some more. I think I was having commitment issues (the chili smelled so good before I put the pumpkin in and I got scared!).

So, I am pledging to continue to update my blog with my ombre cupcake attempts while I am in NOLA. Even though I'm in a new city, I will NEVER loose my dream to be the Cupcake Authority, a dream started by utter disappointment in Cville vegan baked goods selections that led to the sheer drive to bake a better cupcake than Cville has ever known (at a reasonable price, not $3/cupcake coughcoughCappellinoscoughcough). I have a new sense of freedom writing about my dreams now that I have quit my corporate job and can come out of the closet with my unabashed stickittothemaneosis. I've got an illness and the only cure is: more Jack Black.



Until next cupcake or nail polish endeavor...I'm out.

Cupcake Whisperer

If I could be anyone in the world, I would either be Beyonce or Isa Chandra Moskowitz. You all know B, she needs to explanation or introduction other than Diva #1. Isa? You probably don't know her. This is her. You might be wondering what she looks like, or where she's from, or what her greatest accomplishments are, but none of that matters to me (well OK she's a yankee so we can relate). All that matters is her perfect, genius, delicious, flawless recipes. I've never made a single recipe from her that wasn't yummy, or that was messed up, or that just didn't taste right. She's so perfect! I want to be perfect! And, if a=b and b=c, then I want to = Isa.

But, my dream is to actually have vegan cupcake recipes that I made up and that are flawless, not go off of someone else's recipes. Which is why I have made these peanut butter chocolate cupcakes (sans the hi-hat frosting) 4 times trying to get them tastey and right. What is the deal with peanut butter cupcakes? I've mixed the mess out of the peanut butter to lighten it, loosen it...I've tried about 3 different egg replacements, I've added liquid, I can't get it right! But, the good news is that through trying to perfect these stupid cupcakes I've learned quite a bit. Things like, the cupcakes on the top rack heat quicker than the ones on the bottom rack (I needed my Bachelor of Science to figure that one out though), soy yogurt leavens as well as moistens, and too much leavening causes cupcakes to look like bowls (inverted cupcake has a nice ring).

I am slowly learning how to be a cupcake whisperer. It's an uphill battle, I'll tell you! But, if there's one thing I've learned from life, it is this: It's a long way to the top of you want to Rock n' Roll.

Yes I'm going to New Orleans!

New Orleans. That's where I want to be!

I had a blast with Aryn in the Big Easy. The grit, the character, the music, the culture, the FOOD!, the life...everything. I want it! I know I've been saying for a while now that NOLA is the place for me, and now I have even more proof!

Where to start? So, some background, Aryn and I planned this trip while we were busy living really boring lives in Charlottesville. We wanted something fun, and we both wanted to go to NOLA, so we figured we should go to the Jazzfest! The time finally arrived. I waited for Aryn in the NOLA airport, it was almost 12 hours of travelling for me (who goes from DC to Texas to get to NOLA?). When we finally arrived at our hostel and the gorgeous, cool early summer air (and our growling stomachs) convinced us to get a bite to eat. Funny thing is that, even though I've been vegan for 9 years, I decided to try shell fish in the place where the shell fish is probably freshest. So, first up on the menu: BBQ shrimp!!




Not the best picture, but this was so delicious. It's not Hienz BBQ sauce, it's home made, and I can't even really explain it except absolutely delicious. I ate a shrimp or two (I wanted to start easy), and it was OK. A little crunchy for me. But honestly, it felt so great to eat it!! Aryn was a champ - she didn't make a big deal out of it so it was easier for me to pick up the shrimp and take a bite.



Day 2: Fried oyster pasta :) the cheese was a mistake...I wish I had asked for no cheese. Another mistake: not trying Aryn's raw oysers (left). Always another trip...



Of course I had to take a break from the non-vegan and eat my quintessential dish: falafel sandwich!! It was OK...the fried oyster was better :)


T
Late night snack? Beignet!! What an awesome night this was...just chillin in the French Quarter, making our way to Frenchman's St for some live (and very late night) music. After a probably huge dinner on Bourboun, we were strolling around and making our way towards the river. We took a break to chow down on NOLA's signiture pastry. It was good, but funnel cake is better!



Jackson's Square on Decator St! It looks like the Disney Castle. Jackson Square is where we got on our carriage ride, hand grenades in hand! On the carriage ride we learned about why the door handle was missing from a door (coughcoughBrad Pitt), why there are only ghosts on the third floors, and why Nicolas Cage is afraid of New Orleans.



Hand grenades are really not tastey.



They taste even more disgusting than they look.



HIGHLITE!!!! Crawfish Etouffe. So. Good. I want to eat it all the time!! Crawfish was undeniably my favorite. The first place I tried it (Royal House, where I got my fried oyster pasta), I thought it was the best ... thick, flavorful, not too spicey, earthy, the ultimate comfort food I thought. This place (Ralph and Kacoo's) was pretty good too. This was another one of our stops en route to Frenchman's St ... it's such a far walk we had to break it up with food :)



Crawfish boil!!! After church!! FOR FREE!! This was so delicious! Basically, you take the crawfish, rip off the tail, peal off the bottom of the tail, and pull our the meat. It's the smallest amount of meat for an already small creature, but it is packed with tasteyness. And then, you crack the head and suck out the juices. Yum. What little carnivour is left in me was so happy in this moment.



It was also great to get to know the people in the church down in NOLA. Since it's somewhere I can definitely see myself going back to, I was happy to make friendships with them.

OK...now for the REAL reason we came down to NOLA...the music!!! I am in love with brass bands...New Birth Brass Band, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, and my absolute favorite, Rebirth Brass Band!! After months and months of sitting at my desk at work listening to brass bands and pining for a true New Orleans experience to see brass bands up close and personal, the music was just so good. Aryn and I went running on the first day we were in NOLA, and we ran through a second line! I nearly cried, no joke. It's so common down there (seconds lines for funerals, births, etc), but it just felt like all the parts of me that have been trying to get out of my seat and have an adventure and do something fun was finally fulfilled! It was a really emotional experience, which is crazy, but I just can't explain to you how much I wanted this specific vacation. And, I'm not very eloquent, so that probably didn't even make sense.



Rebirth at the Jazzfest!!



Sharon Jones at the Jazzfest! If you don't know her, get to know her. She is the funkiest 56yr old you will EVER EVER EVER hear.



New Orleans Nightcrawlers at Jazzfest! This was my favorite show. They are such a tight band. And the drummer was young and so talented. You would think he could out play the older drummer but then the older drummer played and it was like...no you got so far to go, rookie.



Rebirth showing off their grammy at Big Sam's Funky Nation!! Big Sam was bad, but Rebirth is so good. This was a late night show, where it starts at 2am and goes till 5ish. I learned on the plane ride to NOLA that the best part about Jazzfest is the late night shows, where all the artists play in clubs around town. Of course we found out wayyy late and all the shows worth going to were sold out (like the original Meters with Rebirth and Trombone Shorty???? Shoooot we missed that!!). It was funny though, after Big Sam's we walked around trying to get a taxi and saw that Dirty Dozen Brass Band was playing like 3 doors down. W00ps. Another lesson learned for next year!!



The beer there is so sweet! Didn't love it. Not into sweet beers. But they were unique. We got this beer while we were waiting to be seated at a nice place on Frenchman's after Jazzfest. I have a distinct memory of us leaving our hostel, saying "hm I could have a snack before that show we are going to", and then as we got closer and closer to Frenchman's, we were saying "OK, yea I could eat", but still only planning on a light meal, and then we passed this nice place with folded cloth napkins and wine classes and dim lights and we both were like YUP!! We're going there!!! We were so exhausted from being in the heat all day, and standing for hours, that I think when we saw a nice easy place to chill with good drinks and food, we just went for it :) It was worth it! I actually completely forget what I got to eat there...what a shame.



*sigh* second lines...how I miss thee.

Gosh I miss it so much! Just going through and finally updating my blog and looking thorugh my pictures makes me remember how much fun this was. I know that if I ever moved to NOLA it wouldn't be vacation all the time, so the life I lived for the 5 days I was there is not indicative of a life there, but NOLA definitely still intriques me and draws me. I can't wait to go back, even if it's not until Jazzfest 2013!

Confessions

It has been way too long since I've written in here! I have been busy (but when am I not?), travelling to and fro both within Virginia and without. Last weekend I went home to Philly to visit my family. And I must confess it wasn't a trip I was much looking forward to. Family drama sort of puts a damper on homecomings.

Lately, in all my busy-ness, running around, and sleep deprivation, I've been finding rest in meditating on a question someone asked me over winter break: if you had one whole day to yourself, what would you do? Fresh off my half marathon and so enslaved to the working lifestyle, I said I'd go for a run and make food. Hold on. Would I really go for a run on my day off?? NO!!! Please tell me I am not that boring! So I confess, I got ahead of myself when I originally answered the question. But I think I've narrowed down my answer over the past few months: I'd bake! I've been having dreams of strawberry balsamic vanilla cupcakes, lemon ginger cupcakes with blueberry filling, shoo-fly pies, vanilla cupcakes with basil and/or cucumber frosting, dessert dirt, yum yum YUM!! Now I can't wait for that once in a million chance I have a day with absolute nothing to do. Ugh I can not wait!

But until them, I'll keep dreaming and trying new recipes. As I write I an in the Houston airport waiting for my flight to New Orleans for the jazz fest. I am meeting my friend Aryn and my other friend Allie will be there too. I'm looking forward to sleep, fun in the sun, tanning, great music, cool sites, adventures, and, the craziest confession, I'm looking forward to eating sea food for the first time in 15yrs! Let the tastiness and stomach aches begin!

One project completed...

I have a tendency to start projects and leave them half finished. A few examples are:

- My basil plant that I replanted in a pot to bring it inside to survive the winter (I even had a schedule for it -- when I would put it in sunlight, when it would go outside, when I would bring it into the living room). But apparently I didn't have a good schedule for watering it because I apparently drowned it and it died but I just left the dead basil plant on the porch for a few months. My roommate made me throw it out this week :(

- My "tack board" that I made out of quark board that is hanging on my wall but doesn't have any pictures or anything on it because I still haven't gotten tacks for these 6 months I've been living here...

- My terrace I was going to put at the back of the garden for my tomato and pumpkin plants to grow on. I put the stakes in but the terrace is still on my porch...

Whatever. I can feel hope for all of the above (and the COUNTLESS other half-finished projects) because tonight, I finished a project! I made almond milk!! It is super tastey, pure, and just GOOD. I am so happy I made it so I can experience making my own vegan milk, but it definitely took a little longer than I thought because I couldn't find the correct strainers for the almond "puree" that you filter, so I had to use loose leaf tea bags, which are small, fragile, and kept ripping.

When actual cost and opportunity cost is totaled, buying Blue Diamond Sweetened Vanilla Almond Milk is cheaper. But, it feels good knowing I can stick it to the man and DIY if I want!

And yes that's all 1C of almonds makes...

Detroit

These photos make my heart burn with a strong desire to move to Detroit. Look how beautiful these buildings once were, and how beautiful they could be with some TLC!! I look at Detroit's weather every day and it's really not THAT bad, even for an underweight vegan....

http://blogs.denverpost.com/captured/2011/02/07/captured-the-ruins-of-detroit/2672/

The story of Cathy

I had a phenominal time in Champaign with Kirby and the church here. It was so great to meet everyone and be able to hang out with my church family out in the Midwest. And, of course, to be reunited to my friend and sister in Christ, Kirby!!

A definite highlight was being able to meet Cathy. Kirby and two of the brothers from the church here and I were in the University of Illinois student union at 10:30pm (ironing shirts...funny story). At the other side of the room we noticed this woman who was middle aged, by herself, just sitting on the couch, not reading or talking or sleeping, but just sitting. It got our attention so we went over to talk to her, see if everything was alright, and invite her to church. It was funny, the first thing she said to us when we asked her if she was alright was, "Yes, you can sit with me if you'd like, I'm very religious." Kirby and I laughed and I wondered if she overheard us saying we should go talk to her, but we sat down and she told us about her life. After leaving a relationship 6 years ago, she's been in and out of homelessness ever since. She was heart broken that her old paster at her church left after being her biggest support for years. We listened to her, asked her if she wanted to join us the next morning for church, and prayed with her.

The next morning, Kirby and I went to pick her up, and I was so happy to see her smiling face right inside the union where we said we'd pick her up!! She loved church and was singing and dancing and laughing and talking and crying and everything. It was such an encouragement! Kirby talked to the head of benevolence in Champagna and they put Cathy up in a hotel for the week, and she said she wanted to come back to church. Amen. This is what I live for!

James 1:27

²⁷ Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.