Guess who's still around??

this cat, that's who.
anyway, i've just been sorta putzin' around for the past month, lamenting the fact that i am in memphis and not asheville, but you know, whatever.
went to cooper-young fest yesterday (big street festival that takes place pretty much in my front yard), got an orange anteater, it was a good day.

but today, something particularly and excitingly autumnal occurred! now, before i go any further, there's something you must understand about me: for a myriad of reasons (some of which i can't begin to fathom), i absolutely LIVE for autumn. it invigorates me like nothing else. the temperature, the colorful leaves, the fashion, the food--
ohhh...
the fooooood...
...
...
...
(ahem) which brings me to the autumnal something that happened today! my roommate (codename chickadee) and i went grocery shopping today, and i had it in my head that i would take a look at their winter squashes just to see if any of them looked at all edible (i grabbed a lovely dark green acorn squash that i intend to stuff with ground beef and mushrooms sometime this week). lo and behold, there was an entire display of adorable little baking pumpkins. i should have taken a picture, it was so glorious.

naturally, we had to get one. ...two.
...okay, four.
i decided to bake and puree mine tonight, so that i could (hopefully) make a pumpkin pie tomorrow. (by the way- this is the site i used to figure out how to prepare the pumpkins.)
other roommates (codenames: catabat and fergie) helped me gut the pumpkins and plop their squishy innards into a bowl, then i separated out the seeds because roasted pumpkin seeds. roasted. pumpkin seeds.

another roommate (codename mama k) let me use her food processor, and good lord is that a swanky piece of machinery. ("seriously, this thing is like my dowry!")
after i spent several minutes reverently removing various mysterious blades, attachments, and bells and whistles from the box, fergie astutely pointed out, "i think this is the only part you really need," and pulled the actual appliance out. whatever, fergie. ruin the little ceremony i had going on. see if i care.
at any rate, after i baked the chunks of pumpkin for a bit, i tossed those suckers in the processor and fired it up. the result was the most intensely golden mush i have ever seen in my life. it was so golden, in fact, that my camera couldn't handle it.

i managed to get about 3 cups of puree from those two pumpkins, and i bagged it up and put it in the freezer. i'm looking forward to making pie with that stuff. something that visually arresting has just got to be delicious, right?

oh yeah, roasted pumpkin seeds! they happened. they're not terribly visually arresting, but i guess it's like that "squares are rectangles" thing. food that is visually arresting is delicious, but not all delicious food is visually arresting. how many times can i use the term "visually arresting" in one blog entry before my keyboard spontaneously combusts?

now, it's time for a midnight snack of roasty toasty goodness, and a good night's sleep.
over and out.

lake. ALSO DEER.

so the lake was lovely; bright, clear, just the right temperature, which made it easy to overlook the slimy mud between my toes (i have never been one for wet squishy things on/under/around my feet). little murphy had a lot of fun too, but i think all the sun and water wore him out. i wish i had taken some pictures, but i don't quite trust myself enough to bring my iphone near any body of water.
besides lake day, yesterday was also big murphy's birthday, so mama murphy made some deeeelishus lamb stew to celebrate, and mel contributed a loaf of soda bread. i also would have taken a picture of that, but we all ate it too quick. a cup of irish coffee for dessert, and i was one happy camper.
today, seeing as it's mel's last day here, we ladies are planning on making something(s) special as a last hurrah before she's on the road. but more about that later.

in order to have at least have one picture in this post, i give you THIS!

this was on the way back from asheville. we looked over and there were three deer just chilling in someone's yard. they didn't seem very skittish, so maybe they were pets...? at any rate, there was a daddy and a mama and a baby (who still had little spots on its back), and they came right up to the fence.
me: "CAN WE PET THEM?? I WANT TO PET THEM!!" (already taking off my seatbelt and reaching for the door)
big murphy: "uh, i don't know if they want us to pet them..."
me: (devastated)
someday... someday i will pet a deer. and that day will be glorious.

okay, i've gotten to that point where i don't have anything else to say, probably because i am now thinking about petting a deer and that has blocked out any other thoughts, soooooo...
...
over and out.
(...deer...<3)

asheville

asheville.
asheville, nc.
asheville, nc, is freaking amazing. and i am going to live there.
murphys + mel + me all went on a roadtrip yesterday, seeing as asheville is only about 2 hours away. we had lunch at an irish pub called jack of the wood, then looked around at a little organic/sustainable clothing store (mini-murphy got a onesie that says "anarchy in the pre-k," which his dad is super excited about), and stopped by a chocolate shop appropriately named the chocolate fetish.

anyway, i totally fell in love with the town. it's like we were made for each other. evie and asheville sittin' in a tree, etc. it's not too big, not too small, it's artsy, inspiring, fun, and full of college age hipsters (whom i feel i could relate to better than people in my own city).

okay, time for an abrupt goodbye, because we're going to the lake now! fancy fancy.
over and out.

alright, alright...

inspired by another one of my bestest pals' blogs (http://miniapples.blogspot.com/), i've decided to start writing more on my own (ha, let's see how long i keep THAT up). initially, i thought maybe i would make this a cooking blog with a little of my personal life thrown in, but honestly, i'm just not passionate enough about cooking to gush over it regularly in a blog (don't get me wrong, i LOVE cooking. writing about it just takes a level of patience that i simply don't possess).
i've never really been one for diaries or journals. when we had an assignment in the third grade to keep a diary for a week, i failed, because i hardly wrote anything (but honestly, who wants their third grade teacher reading their diary? that's just sick). i had a xanga for a while, but stopped writing in it at around age 16, when i exhausted my natural teenaged angst (a quick timeline of my adolescence, as illustrated by xanga entries: age 12-13: simple narrations of my daily life; age 14-15: cryptic, existential rants based mostly on the fact that i had not yet found love; age 16: short, infrequent posts, mainly consisting of copy-pasted song lyrics that i felt accurately described my mood, since i was too damn lazy to actually type out how i felt).





sorry, i got distracted.

anyway, i'm currently chilling in a rather southernly carolinian way, staying with the murphys (of murphyspoonfull.blogspot.com), along with mel (whose blog i linked earlier in this post).
the littlest murphy is about 9 months old and is already more charming and interesting than the majority of people i know, despite his tendency to faceplant while crawling (a level of grace that i suspect was inherited from his mother).

little murphy gets to have an estrogen day surrounded by mama and aunts, since his dada has already left for work. mama murphy is currently getting his breakfast fixed, singing a song of her own creation (to the tune of "mary had a little lamb") about the varieties of breakfast food ("breaaakfast can be pancakes and fruit, pancakes and fruit, pancakes and fruit! breaaakfast can be pancakes and fruit, orrr cooold pizza!")
having known mama murphy since we were both 8 years old, it still blows my mind that she has a baby. what doesn't blow my mind is that she's one of the most incredible mothers ever. there was never any doubt that she would rock at raising a child.

okay, i think this is all the blogging i can handle for now. i have to rebuild my tolerance.
over and out.

Uh.

yeah, i'm not very good at keeping up with blogs. whaterr. judge, i don't care.
anyway, my most bestest pal in the whole world has a blog too! and she will probably do a much better job keeping up with it than i would! so check it:
http://murphyspoonfull.blogspo​t.com/

aw yeah, deliciousness!

also, look at this, because it's hilarious:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glwkK7turPY

whoa check it!

bloggin', awww yeah!

since i named my blog gingersnaps, it seems only appropriate that the inaugural post be about gingersnaps. this happens to be my FAVORITE cookie recipe ever!

AUNT BIG'S GINGERSNAPS

sooooo good oh muh god. i have to watch myself, though, because the cookie dough is so scrumptious. i sometimes eat too much of it and subsequently get a tummy ache. :<

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup molasses
1 heaping teaspoon baking soda
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 heaping tablespoon ground ginger (you can also add some chopped candied ginger to give 'em a little something extra.)
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon (i say more!! and i usually add a dash of allspice and ground cloves.)
Pinch salt

1. Whip out your 'lectric mixer and cream together the butter, sugar, and molasses until smooth. While that's happening, stir the baking soda with 2 tablespoons hot water and then beat it into the dough.

2. Dump the flour, spices, and salt in a bowl. Mix 'em up and add 'em to the dough! Once everything's all nice and combined, shape that puppy into 2 long logs, wrap them in wax paper, and stick them in the freezer for a few hours or overnight (I like to make up a big batch and then keep the extra dough in the freezer. Any time can be cookie time!!).

3. Heat the oven to 350°F and put some parchment paper on 2 baking sheets. Slice the cookies as thin as you can and bake them for about 9 minutes. If you make them reeeally thin, keep an eye on them; they like to burn while you're not looking. After they're done, transfer them to a cooling rack and stare at them wistfully, while desperately wishing they would cool off faster so you can cram them in your mouth.

mmm... cookies. c: