Oprah's Favorite Thing...

I adore all things POPCORN...

No exception, I love a air popper with a built in BUTTER WARMER...

But only someone who has enough kitchen space to feed a large country like Oprah could keep this monster in a pantry or cabinet.

Apple Crisp with an Oatmeal Streusel topping!

To go along with my acorn squash, I made a pilaf of sorts to add some protein into the meal. A very brief description is added below... just so when I want to make this again, I know where to look :)

Quinoa and Lentil pilaf

*cooked the quinoa with 2 sticks of cinnamon in the cooking liquid.
*cooked red lentils
*raisins
*1/2 diced apple
*toasted chopped almonds
*coconut oil
*cinnamon
*Himalayan Salt
*drizzle of pure maple syrup!

I wish I had a photo of this but we ate it too quickly. Oh well, next time!

*****************************************************************

But my next venture was my Apple Crisp. I had a bunch of apples in the fridge and really wanted a nice homemade desert to end the evening.

The best apple crisp that I ever had the honor of eating was my mom's best friend Susan's (she was an amazing cook)  After doing some research, I think that she was not making what we think of as an official apple crisp because she always added oatmeal to her topping. I think its more of an Oatmeal Streusel topping over the apples.

So, in an attempt to replicate her apple crisp (without using sugar) I attempted this, and I think it worked well. Its not... HERS, but I think its close enough to scratch the itch!

Apple Preparation:

1) soak dates in some hot water and break them down into a paste. (remove pits!)
2) cut apples
3) toss the date paste with the cut apples.
4) add a tiny bit of almond extract and vanilla extract.
5) add some chopped almonds (my new spin!)
6) pinch of Himalayan Salt

Oatmeal topping:

Mix the following:

oats (I used old fashioned)
cinnamon
coconut sugar (a tiny bit)
melted butter
pinch of Himalayan salt

Spread over a baking dish that has the apples lining the bottom and cook til it's all bubbling!

Next time... I might try:

*adding some sort of flour into the topping along with the oatmeal
*working the butter with my hands into the topping,
*cooking longer (almost an hour)
*tripling the recipe... this went way too quickly!

Again, these photos suck. They look like they were taken by candlelight too, but sadly, this was my overhead kitchen lighting and crappy phone camera :)

Dinner with a Friend!

I had the pleasure of cooking for a gal pal last night.  After finding out that she would prefer for me to cook for her instead of heading out to a restaurant (a compliment rather than an imposition) I jumped at the chance to "ENTERTAIN" something that I love doing for people I love.

My Farm Fresh to You box 2 weeks ago had gifted me with 2 acorn squash.  I'm sorry, I'm a grown up child and this is why I'm posting the below photo... I might NEVER mature out of a 12 year old state...

But anyway, I had never actually bought or cooked with this particular squash and I was thrilled for this new opportunity! Not to mention, she's a vegetarian, so she would not really miss a meat component of the meal.

I knew I wanted to roast them, and I kept thinking, warm autumn/Indian flavors.

After I halved them, I coated them with a little bit of olive oil on both sides.I think made a spice rub and sprinkled on the insides and added just a touch more of olive oil. I tossed in the fridge to both let them marinate, and keep until it was time to roast. 

Spice Rub:

Freshly ground Pink Himalayan salt

Cinnamon

Cardamom

Freshly grated Nutmeg

Garam Masala

Turmeric 

Ground ginger

I roasted for 1 hour and 15 minutes at a temperature of 350 Degrees

Here is the results! Lit by candles, and the crappy quality of my camera phone.

ps... the plates were licked clean!

... just saying

Money Money Money Money.... MONEY

Naturally, this was not my (2), freshly made (from the US Mint... not my Canon photo printer) new hundred dollar bills because a) I'm pretty poor and b) when I actually do have a few bucks to my name, the money lives virtually in my bank account. This green stuff they call "having cash" is almost as much as a phenomena as "rain in Los Angeles" or Bigfoot.  So like Bigfoot, when you catch a glimpse... its only a tall tale unless you capture it on film!

LA Dia De Los Muertos

Aside from putting on a "Halloween" related t-shirt, a long with a Princess Fiona headband, that is the extent to me dressing up the last 11 years.

When I was invited along to some Dia de los Muertos festivities here in Hollywood, where they open up the Hollywood Forever Cemetery for food, dancing, music, decorating of graves and mausoleums, the hubs and I said "why the hell not!"

http://www.ladayofthedead.com/

We had a pre-show party at my friend's house where everyone got dressed and did up their faces.

Jessi put together this get together! 

The Gals

I wouldn't wanna be walking down the street with these guys hanging around!

Lets party!

We're Ready!

Happy Halloween 2013!

BodyPump

I tried a new-for-me class at the gym today.  BODYPUMP.

LesMills BODYPUMP™ is the original barbell class that strengthens your entire body. This 60-minute workout challenges all your major muscle groups by using the best weight-room exercises like squats, presses, lifts and curls.

After today, they should name this class "BodyBUMP" because cause THAT is what I'm gonna have on my head tomorrow... who knew there was an art to getting the big barbell back down to your waist when its just been suspended over your head! 

Oh and to avoid any confusion... the above picture is NOT of me... I look just like this, but with brown hair... just saying :)