(1) Goodbye giant eyesores.
The sunflowers are no more!
That’s how I wish the sunflowers met their demise; alas, even my top-notch ninja skills are no match for the indestructibility of gigantic useless plants. In reality, Peter went at them with an electric handsaw.
I took my opportunity to awkwardly compare my arm to one of the stalks (and perhaps gloat a little over their destruction. Not that I’m saying I did this).
I now have five giant sunflower heads stuffed with seeds that I need to do something with. Any suggestions?
(2) Sausage.
I’m not kidding when I say I ate sausage three times last week. Although it’s my fourth favorite food, it’s a very sometimes food and there’s no reason for me to have it so often. I attribute this temporary trend to a lapse in menu planning and an inordinate amount of frozen sausage in our kitchen. Perhaps I shouldn’t be buying it in bulk.
(3) Southern California.
You may remember a brief mention of weekend travels in this post. Where in the world was Jessie, the happy dietitian who occasionally refers to herself in the third person?
Southern California, how gorgeous you are!
My family got together for the first time in nearly a year to taste the beauty of southern California.
There’s nothing like seeing your first large body of water in months to make one camera-crazy. I have a whole album of pictures similar to the images above, only from slightly different angles.
(4) A tripod to play with.
Our friend Andy of why-Peter-shouldn’t-host-visitors fame sent me his tripod to try out. He instructed me to give it a “full test” before the next time he and his wife visit. By “full test”, I assume he means “strap it to the roof of Peter’s car on the way to taking it scuba diving before letting the dogs have a go at it.”
Kidding! I let Maddie chew on it only a couple of times.
This tripod is lighter, sturdier, and easier to use than the tripod I borrowed from my dad (which, as he rightfully points out, is “older than you are”). There’s no way I’d be able to hold my camera steady enough for this telephoto picture without it:
(5) Fall.
This fall has been very busy for me and Peter, so we haven’t enjoyed the outdoor joys of the season like we did last year. We’re still preparing many autumn recipes, however. Perhaps I should amend my fifth love lately.
(5, 2.0) Fall recipes.
Try these on for size.
Savory:
Twice-Baked Sweet Potatoes with Ricotta
Dan’s Roasted Butternut Squash
Pumpkin Peanut Butter Soup
Butternut Apple Soup with Cauliflower “Cream”
Pomegranate Roasted Cornish Hens
Sweet:
Spiced Pumpkin Roll with Sweet Cream Cheese
Vegan Pumpkin Bread with Cinnamon Cashew “Cream”
Pumpkin Cloud Cookies
The Most Popular Chocolate Date Cake
Bring ‘Em Back Super Spiced Nuts
Pumpkin Spice Latte
And some of my favorite hearty fall recipes from my favorite bloggers:
Fall Harvest Pumpkin Turkey Chili @ The Candid RD
Nigerian Baked Beans @ Eats Well with Others
Lentil Veggie Stew @ Andrea’s Wellness Notes
Double Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies @ Anecdotes & Applecores
Peanut Butter Banana Breakfast Cake @ Samantha Menzies
Orecchiette & Italian Veggie Marinara @ Vegan Miam
Whole Grain Cardamom Pistachio Muffins @ Food, Pleasure and Health
Sorry to see that your sunflowers had to go! Are these actually sunflower seeds from their heads? If so, use them to make sunflower pate!
I’ve always wanted to see southern California, such breathtaking travel photos! A tripod is wonderful to have around for food and scenery photography! We always bring one with us everywhere we go, and it’s lightweight.
These fall recipes look wonderful – I’m a savory type! I would go for that wonderful Vegan Pumpkin Bread with Cinnamon Cashew “Cream” …. mmmmmmmm miam miam!
Btw, there’s a wee typo: Vegan Mian to Vegan Miam 🙂
Wishing you a fabulous Monday and a great week! xx
Cheers, Rika
Whoops! Fixed 🙂
Thanks Jessie!
And thank you so much for mention, you’re a darling! <3
Glad you’re lovin’ something from my oven! haha, ok, chili isn’t from the oven, but it was a good rhyme 😉
Happy Fall!! And wow, those sunflowers…my goodness they are huge! I suggest sunflower butter. Easy enough, right??
Look how thick the stalks of those flowers are! Yeesh!
Also, that PB Banana breakfast cake is awesome. Glad you’re diggin’ it.
Holy crap on those sunflowers! I knew they were big and thick but not THAT big and thick. Are you going to save all those yummy seeds and cook something with them? I’m such a sucker for sunflower seeds.
I will! I see a lot of sunflower seed butter and perhaps some sunflower muffins in my future 🙂
Southern California, yay! Good place to spend some sunny time 😉
Roasted sunflower seeds are the best. I hope you’ll enjoy the seeds more than the process of obtaining them 🙂
I love your photos – simply gorgeous 🙂
Glad Peter dealt with the sunflowers! 🙂
I have a lot of sausage in my freezer as well. I was just thinking the other day, it’ll take forever for us to eat it.
The California pics are beautiful!
Thanks for including my veggie lentil stew! I’ll have to make it again! 🙂
Thanks for the recipe lists, I love these because it means I don’t have to go searching for them!
Oh and your Cali pics are gorgeous, defintely one of places I’d like to visit.
I know exactly what you mean by ‘There’s nothing like seeing your first large body of water in months to make one camera-crazy.’ or just crazy in general. I got to clap eyes on the Pacific Ocean for the first time ever and I can’t say I was not moved by the sight and the sound. Ah now I wish I was back there instead of rainy London!
When I was your side of the pond I tried pumpkin everything and I now know that I NEED to make the pumpkin cloud cookies! I’ll keep you posted on how they turn out 🙂
Yes, let me know! 🙂 I’m glad you enjoyed SF! You must have some amazing pictures from your trip!