Happy Halloween!

As I've blogged before, autum is not my favorite season, but autumn flavors are my favorite. I went to a pumpkin carving party last weekend (see photo for impressive carved pumpkins!), and I intended to make these cookies then, but I ran short on time so it didn't happen. Tomorrow, I'm headed to a Halloween/Birthday party, and it still totally and completely pumpkin and cranberry season, so I gave these cookies a whirl. A friend makes pumpkin cookies by mixing a can of pumpkin w/ spice cake mix, and those cookies are delish and w/ a good amount of spice, but I just so happened to have ALL of these ingredients on hand (including pumpkin!), so I opted for this recipe.

The dough itself is easy enough to mix. There's some leftover pumpkin, but I imagine myself using it in pancake batter (OMG, I can't wait!). It didn't say to let it chill before making the cookies, and maybe it wasn't necessary, but the dough is certainly sticky and a little hard to work with. After making the first batch, I threw it in the fridge to harden it up a bit. My first batch were also quite big... ah well, you live, you learn. The cookies also are more cake like then I expected. But I do love soft cookies, so I'm pretty happy with them.

I'm not a huge frosted cookie fan. I don't think it's needed, and since I LOVE pumpkin, I didn't want to mask any of that deliciousness. BUT, I also love cranberries, so I thought to meself, perhaps I can add a fresh cranberry on top and it'll bake in. I was a bit worried that they may not burst, but they all did. I split the batch half and half, but they're all lovely...

Since today was the last day in the office before Halloween, we all dressed up. We ended up taking a bunch of pictures in the middle of the afternoon, and it was a blast. I didn't have my full costume on, but just a bit of a test run for tomorrow night's retro party! Here's a pic of me and my colleagues Shelby and Delysha...

Family Reunion

Last night about 20 Drahan's convened in northern Maryland for my first ever family reunion. I was a bit nervous to see family members I hadn't seen since I was 12 or 15, but all in all it was a lot of fun. There were some I hadn't met, some I couldn't have picked out of a lineup if you paid me, and others that it was like no time has passed. It was great catching up w/ all.

It had rained for 3 days straight, so it was cold, wet, and rainy, and not quite what we were hoping for, but we all packed ourselves into Charlie's while Uncle Sidney made pizzas. I got my parents up on Skype and everyone was able to say hi to them. I think that was a lot of fun for my parents, to see everyone and feel like they were a part of the reunion. Sid and Penny's food was good, and Penny made a cake from my childhood, so that was yummy.

Eventually the youngest generation (not mine...) went out to the barn to ride some horses bareback. It was fun to watch them, and I was really impressed by how good everyone was.

Here's a pic of me and my cousins Parker and Adam.

Vegetarian Enchiladas

So enchiladas may be my favorite meal. I love everything Mexican. EVERYTHING. I think it has to do w/ my appreciation for all things cheesy. My dad makes awesome cheese enchiladas, and I've been pretty successful at turning Christmas Eve dinner into Mexican night w/ enchiladas and tacos, and I'm pretty sure that's the best tradition ever. BUT, I'd never ventured to tackle enchiladas myself. My dad's have tons of steps and makes a boatload of food, so I think I was always overwhelmed that it would be a lot of work and produce too much food. Then one night Mollie invited me over for dinner and she'd made enchiladas and they were delicious, and didn't seem too difficult to recreate.

So I was at the store, planning on making an eggplant feta pizza when all the sudden the urge to make enchiladas overtook me. Corn tortillas were on sale, I had refried beans in my fridge I needed to use up, my cousin had brought me some fresh jalepenos, BUT there was only one type of enchilada sauce, and only one can wasn't dented. I bought that one... Then I came home and googled recipes to get some ideas.

I diced up jalapenos and a banana pepper and sauteed that w/ onion. Then I stirred in some cayenne pepper, chili powder and cumin into the refried beans. I warmed some corn tortillas, then smeared the bean mixture, threw in some peppers and onions, some shredded cheese and then rolled it up. I filled up a small baking dish and then just poured the can of sauce over top, threw some more cheese on top along w/ some dried cilantro. What is easier than that? Threw it in the over for abt 30 min and the enchiladas were done! Easy and delicious. Now that I know how easy it can be, I want to try and experiment, especially w/ the sauce. I used red, but would like to try the green. My dad stirs in some sour cream to make it creamy. Perhaps I'll attempt to make my own sauce... We shall see

Cream of Asparagus Soup

I saw this soup made on Cooking for Real on the Food Network a few weeks back, and it looked super easy, and super yum. Everyone knows I love asparagus, and I've been making more and more soups.I like to make soups cuz I can bring in a big tupperware of them to work and have lunch for the week. I generally toast a frozen roll that we have at the office, and I feel like I have a pretty healthy lunch...

Of course I made a few changes to the recipe cuz that's how I do... I had some celery hearts that were prime for soup making, and asparagus can be expensive, so I thought using some celery would be a good way to keep up the amount of vege, but cheaper. I sauteed up garlic, onion, celery and then added in the asparagus. I saved the tips to add at the end. I then added in vege stock-- i used a big carton and then just a bit of water cuz I always think stock is a bit salty. I brought it all up to a boil, and then let it simmer for 30 minutes or so. I poured it into a blender and blended away. I think that would make a decent soup, but then stirred in some sour cream (way less than in the original recipe) and a dash of skim milk. The sour cream didn't quite melt as well as I'd liked, but the soup still came out delicious. I added the tips to the asparagus after the blending, so they stayed pretty crisp and added some texture to the soup. All in all the soup was easy and yummy, I'd make it again. And I easily got 4 meals out of this, and could have probably stretched it out to 5...

Please note the photo of the blended soup and how perfectly it matches my counter!!

EMK & Me

This week has been kinda hard for me. It has a lot to do w/ Ted Kennedy, but it also has a lot to do w/ myself. I have been amazingly happy since I got to DC, I haven't for one second thought I made the wrong decision. In a way, that has been a bit disconcerting. Maybe its still the honeymoon, but when will that end? And will I come crashing down? How will I deal w/ that? What will come next? It took me a long time to learn to love Boston, but in a way that seemed like a normal, natural progression. Like most New Englanders, things usually have to grow on me. But w/ DC it was different, I came down here and right away knew this was the place for me. Basically, I never looked back... Within 6 months, I had a job and was packing my worldly possessions to take the plunge. I still think this is the right place for me, I'm loving my job, the city, my life-- personally and professionally. I'm interested to see how the Fall goes, when the weather changes, and being outside by myself begins to lose its appeal, but all in all, I think I'm good here...

Then Senator Kennedy died. We all knew he was sick. We all knew he wouldn't get better. We all know who will throw their names into the ring for the open Senate seat. But we all hoped it would be for Kerry's seat, not Teddy's. Then there's the timing. The end of August recess. The health care debate. Those town halls. The infamous filibuster. The 60 "democratic" senators (inc. Lieberman, ick), which we only just gained this summer w/ the recent seating of Al Franken. Looking back the signs were there; he didn't go to his sister's funeral, he sent a letter, dated 6 weeks prior, to Deval, Bobby and Terry asking for a quick, short-term appointment should he die before his term ends, but I never doubted that he would board that plane to come down and not only vote for health care reform, but likely speak on the monumental meaning of its passage. Alas, health care reform may have unfortunately died with him. One can only hope, as I did watching Orrin Hatch and John McCain speak at his memorial service tonight, that his death will reinvigorate the understanding of what this debate is actually for, and what the reform bills actually are comprised of.

But I wasn't ready, I am not ready to say goodbye to the lion of the Senate and the important and incredible work he did for the citizens of Massachusetts, and for all Americans. And, I wasn't ready for the feelings it would bring up in me about Boston, Massachusetts, and leaving. Overall, I know DC is the right place for me right now, for my political self, for my career, and likely my personal life too, but I can't help but think over and over this week, that Boston is where I should be. I should have been standing amongst my peers and colleagues on Bowdoin St, shoulder to shoulder w/ the guys from Capitol Coffee to bid farewell to my Senator. I've realized this week, that Boston truly became my home. I relate more as a Massachusetts resident, then I ever did as one from Connecticut. I know the inner workings, the main players, the inside jokes, the moonbats, and I miss them all. Maybe that will come in time w/ DC, but I'm not sure. DC is defined by its transient population. It is a place where people travel to for meetings, conferences,etc. It is a place where people from all over the country and the world come for short or long stays, but always with the plan to go "home" again. When I moved down here, I said I didn't know how long I'd be here, and that while I cannot say what the future holds, Boston was always a place I could see myself returning to. I didn't leave cuz I hated it, I left cuz I needed change. That is more apparent to me now than ever. In a way my future may be shaped by the loss of Senator Kennedy. The Massachusetts political landscape has just changed drastically, and depending on how it shakes out, it is possible I could want to be back there sooner, rather than later. Or perhaps a position would become available down here that would allow me to stay better connected to Boston. It is too soon to tell how it will all shake out, but this week has certainly made me think about my past, present and future in new and different ways.

And of course this week has made me reinvigorated in my career path. I am honored to work in the same field as Senator Kennedy, and I believe that he would value the work that I do daily to ensure that women (and increasingly men) have access to reproductive health care informed through evidence-based science.I look forward to the day when Congress passes the Edward Moore Kennedy Health Care Reform Bill, and the day that President Obama signs it into law. A fitting closing chapter to Camelot.

Project Runway & Bruschetta

For weeks now, Mollie, Daphne and I planned to watch the season premiere of Project Runway together. Originally, we were going to do it at Daphne's new place, in the screening room in her building, but she had a work thing, so instead we went to Mollie's and Daphne came after work.

Mollie made veggies and rice w/ Indian sauce from TJs. It was yum! And, Daphne made a Blueberry crisp. I heart crisps of all kinds! I made a trio of bruschettas. I did an olive tapenade, a traditional tomato and white bean. For the white bean, I used this as the guide. This time I used scallions and chives, instead of red onion, and fresh basil and parsley from my herb garden instead of dried spices. I also used a bit more lemon juice to make it a bit more summery. For the tapenade, I just blended black olives, a clove of garlic and a bit of olive oil. Super easy, super delish. Finally, for the tomatoes, I diced up abt 3 tomatoes, added s cloves of garlic, fresh chives, basil, parsley and oregano, some s&p, and a dash of oil and balsamic. Online I had seen to drain the tomatoes, but I dismissed it. I wish I hadn't. I'm not sure exactly how to go abt draining them, but after walking to Mollie's, they were really saucy. Still yummy tho. I like combining a few of them together on one slice. Mmmm. And SOOOO easy!

Project Runway was also awesome, and I'm happy its back on! And while I agree with most that Korto deserved to win, and while I didn't really get Daniel's collection, I was happy he won.

Grillin'

For my parents last night in DC, we grilled out w/some friends. I found a grill on the street a few weeks back, and after a bit of a struggle w/ my landlord, ended up passing it over the locked fence in the back so I wouldn't have to bring it thru the house. Whatever, my landlord sucks, but I have a pretty decent grill now!

My parents and I made the majority of the food, and boy, oh boy, did we have a feast! My mom, per my request, made potato salad. It is quite the process and has a ton of ingredients, but it is amazing and I try to get her to make it for me once a summer. She also made her famous chicken, also from my childhood. Of course I haven't had it in abt 10 years, but I do remember it fondly. She marinates it w/ soy sauce, lemon juice and garlic. I marinated veggies-- portabellos and zuchinni in balsamic vinegar and garlic and eggplant in olive oil, fresh herbs and garlic. This was my first foray into marinating and grilling vegetables other than portabellos, and if I do say so myself, this was a HUGE success. The veggies were awesome! I also made a 3 bean salad. This is the easiest salad in the world, but always a big hit. It is a great way to clean out the cabinet and fridge, and I bring it to almost every summer potluck/cook out I go to. I typically use black, kidney and garbanzo beans. I then add diced bell peppers (this time red and green) and red onion (or scallions). I also added corn this go round cuz I had some in the fridge. In the past, I think I've added diced olives. I use salsa as the main sauce, but kick it up w/ some dried spices (cayenne pepper, chili powder, cilantro, cumin, etc). This batch came out w/ a bit of a kick... We also did some corn on the cob.

For additions, Daphne brought this amazing walnut broccoli dip (cream cheese base), haloumi cheese that you grill in tin foil, squirt some lemon juice on and crack some pepper on (delish!), corn pudding and incredible white wine sangria. Mollie made an incredible trifle dessert. It was fresh strawberries and blueberries with cheesecake pudding, angel food cake and whipped topping. So incredible. Needless to say, we were stuffed by the end of it all. But it was great to utilize the grill, eat outside and have my parents meet my DC friends. Another successful dinner party!