Simple seasonal in theory: pumpkin pie oatmeal

It just occurred to me Tuesday that Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal would make an outstanding seasonal part of my balanced breakfast.

It's an inspiration over simple and familiar ingredients; but the emergent properties are astounding (at least, I think it will be astounding--this is all theory right now).


I've had lots of good oatmeal, but good pumpkin pie is less common. Fortunately, one of my friends made delicious pumpkin pie cupcakes recently and the flavor hadn't left my mind since. After smelling someone's bowl of maple brown sugar oatmeal wafting out of the microwave at work, I finally combined the two flavors in my imagination and reasoned that it could be delicious.

Perhaps next weekend I'll experiment with making this combination. But first--research!

[Almost] Being a Jerk

We ran out of most prepared drinkable juices (orange juice, and when things started getting slim, carrot) at least two weeks ago. After coming home from driving about for various reasons, I had a rowdy thirst for a taste that threatened to be unquenchable--water or milk simply would not do alone--my taste buds desired a far more aggressive taste.

Searching the fridge I found my dad's bottle of club soda. Until now, its sole purpose in the house was for his new favorite drink, the mojito (Bacardi, bruised mint, ice, some sort of tonic or club soda I forget). While I contemplated mixing the Bacardi, I soon recalled how the rum evokes memories of rubbing alcohol, and quickly found the real answer to my dilemma sitting next to the drink:

A bottle of hazelnut syrup.

This is where it gets really wild, I mixed a dollop of the syrup with a glass of club soda. How liberating! It was delicious, very simple to do, and I instantly realized how easy it is to be free of the heavy stuff like caffeine, high fructose corn syrup, or any corn products at all.

Being spirited with this new concoction, I soon after ventured into limonade alternatives, but that recipe has yet to be refined as it involves getting honey to dissolve before drinking... I feel like starting my own soda line in the near future.

A lumberjack's helping: Backyard foods

Yesterday my friend Adam and I ventured out to cut down a nasty and invasive shrub/tree known as Buckthorn with a hatchet. Being youthful suburban males, hatchets in action are the stuff of Gary Paulsen novels and Boy Scout summer camps in remote places--or a featured instrument of the occasional horror movie and living room. After trimming what we could and seeking shelter from mosquitoes, we discovered that we were very hungry.

Here's what we wound up eating:

Chicken in shawarma marinade (prepared by the local Mango Grocery store)
Sauteed Onions (purple and white)
"Trail Dusted" Pasta (Trail Dust seasoning mix used)
And a garden/orchard stir-fry*
Biscuits (probably Pillsbury)

Then we realized there was more food already available:
Lemon-Lime cucumber salad*
Chocolate-Chip Cookies
Lemon Tart

*these utilized ingredients straight from my backyard

For drink:
Mum's summer Citrunade


I'll expand with how we went about making the food if there's time and post pictures+ a video.

Pitabread Pizzas with Pistachios just sitting there...

I was hungry and wanted to make a pizza. I wound up using pita bread for the bottom.

Once again, slightly overcooked/burned but enjoyable.

Pita lightly fried w/ olive oil, wilting basil, Pistachios, Sauteed onion, garlic, and tomato, Feta cheese, Sprig o cilantro from the windowsill, 4 really thinly sliced chili pepper pieces arranged near the middle, Dried oregano, dried basil, Dubliner cheese shavings (in place of parmesan), Prego pasta sauce, semi-baked/microwaved/baked Egg Plant (lightly salted w/ sea salt), crushed black pepper, more Greci, Brie and mozzarella cheese underneath.

The feta and Dubliner was put on top at the end for a more robust rustic Michigan kind of flavor.

A Heart Stopping Slider

Epic way to end a marathon of cooking at 10:45 pm:

Smoke up the house with burning onions and butter to create this heart-stopping breakfast slider (consumed however, at night).

I forgot to take a picture of the soup I made for my mom, but I made a soup before running to rehearsal since she was sick.

Constituents:
-Meijer (r) breakfast sandwich (ingredients were ignored, most of them probably aren't good for you in large quantities)

-Leftover onion, sauteed*

-Butter

*in the continuum of cooking vs. burning, this leaned toward 60% burned and 40% cooked