Once the first day of fall arrives, we’re finally allowed to celebrate all things pumpkin without risking a punch in the mouth. We’ll get our fill of pumpkin bread, pumpkin cinnamon rolls, and of course the ever-present pumpkin spice latte. With all this pumpkin overload, there’s another autumn-appropriate flavor that always gets upstaged by pumpkin, and that’s the humble carrot cake.
Downtown Phoenix has an interesting phenomenon happening. Some really great food trucks are branching out and opening their own brick-and-mortar restaurants! You may remember Short Leash Hot Dogs’ Sit…Stay which opened earlier this summer. Well, there’s another food truck to add to that list: Pizza People!
The Pizza People truck has been slinging pies all across the Phoenix metro area for about 2 years now. I tried their pizza at the Downtown Phoenix Public Market in May before they closed the food truck for the season (it’s waaaaaay too hot during a Phoenix summer to be cooking pizzas on a stone deck oven inside a truck), and I was pleasantly surprised at the high quality of their pizza. They most definitely have skill. When I heard that they were going to open an actual restaurant, I was excited to try them again, as it had been a long Pizza People-less summer!
I love s’mores. Man oh man, do I love s’mores. Graham crackers, chocolate and marshmallows! Mmmm.
Growing up, I never went camping (sad!), so I’ve never known the joys of making s’mores over a fire in the middle of nowhere. At our house when I was a kid, we had to make due with a lit burner of the gas stove, or make cheater’s s’mores in the microwave. They were still good, and they’re still one of my favorite messy treats for when the weather cools down.
For the past 10,866 days of my life, there was one thing I’d never done. It’s something that lots of other people have done, and I can’t believe it took me so long to discover the joys of this particular activity.
Are you ready?
I ate a potato salad that didn’t include mayonnaise.
Well, it’s September now.
Summer as we know it is officially over and everyone’s back to school and back to work. If Pinterest is any indication, one would think that Fall has already begun. Pumpkin fudge! Pumpkin brownies! Drill holes in a pumpkin to make it look like a lantern! And let’s not forget, the sacred and holy pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks. God help us, it’s already in stores!
Recently, my roommate Ben (whose birthday cake I made back in March) asked if I would make a cake for his girlfriend Randi’s birthday. I agreed, and asked what sort of stuff she liked so I could have something to base the design off of. He replied “Owls and hedgehogs!”. Cute! I figured owls would be easier than hedgehogs when it came to fondant modeling, so an owl-themed cake it would be!
I love a good three day weekend. Aside from the obvious (not going to work on a Monday!), there’s the bonus of having more time to get things done, or more time to be lazy if you choose.
A few weeks back, I was lucky enough to make a trip down to Apple Annie’s Orchard in Willcox, AZ. I’ve been several times in the past to pick my own pumpkins in the fall, but I had always missed out on picking peaches from their orchard in the summertime. I was super excited to go!
It’s hard to believe that one week ago, I was getting on a plane to San Diego.
Any time I’ve ever been to SD, it’s so hard to leave. I always end up going in the summertime, which of course makes it that much more difficult to leave the cool sea breezes in exchange for the never-ending drudgery of 100+ degree temps back in Phoenix.
While the weather was a nice bonus, the main goal of my trip was to visit with my dad. It had been over 2 years since I’d seen him last, and it was so great to catch up. He’s halfway through his chemo treatments and doing relatively well, all things considered! He’s had a few minor setbacks but so far it hasn’t been anything he can’t handle.
I’ve never had much luck with growing flowers or plants. Anything that requires regular watering or tending to, just isn’t for me. I think if plants could meow like cats do, then I might be reminded to water them on a regular basis. Instead, I notice them shriveled up and wilted after a week without water and I feel really guilty about it. I had moderate success this spring with a hanging basket of strawberries, but I’m convinced that was a fluke!
oven + apron 
