I love Target

These are my new favorite shoes - light, comfy, match all sorts of things (including this skirt - perfectly). And less than $15.

 

Impulse buy of the week

A lovely Banana Republic leather jacket! I am still deciding whether to keep it (this is a much bigger purchase than most/all clothes items I own) but it is beautiful and I think I'm talking myself into it.

And bonus non-impulse-buy (if only!) - a way too expensive owl coin purse by Kate Spade:

(Update: sold out / no longer listed)

How to get rid of CSA cauliflower

My roommate's CSA started giving us cauliflower for a few weeks - unfortunate for her because she hates it, but excellent for me because I got to make this delicious soup. I'll try posting a recipe, although I didn't use one to being with, so it's mostly guesswork.

Not the prettiest picture (perhaps I should have found a cute garnish), but it was yummy

Caitlin's Roasted Carrot-Cauliflower soup

• 1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
• 3-4 carrots, peeled and chopped into large chunks
• 1 head of garlic
• olive oil
• salt & pepper
• dried or fresh herbs - I used dried rosemary, thyme, and sage because I didn't have the fresh versions around
• 1/2 large yellow onion, diced
• Crushed red pepper (optional)
• 16 oz chicken stock (half of a box)

Preheat the oven to 400° F. Toss the cauliflower and carrots in about a tablespoon of olive oil and salt/pepper to taste. Sprinkle on a bit of the herbs (you can add more later) and spread on a cookie sheet. Cut off the top stem of the garlic so that you can see the tops of the cloves. Drizzle a small bit of olive oil in and wrap the whole head in foil. Put the veggie cookie sheet and the foil-wrapped garlic into the oven for about 40 minutes. Stir the veggies occasionally. Take them and the garlic head out when the cauliflower is starting to brown in places and both the carrots and cauliflower are beginning to become tender (poke them with a fork to be sure).

Meanwhile, saute the onion in a medium saucepan in 2 tablespoons olive oil.  If you like a bit of heat, throw in some crushed red pepper (to taste) at this point. When the onion is soft and translucent, add the chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Add the roasted veggies and squeeze the roasted garlic head into the pot - be sure the papery bits don't fall in. Add more herbs to taste (I went heavy on the rosemary). Continue simmering for about 10 minutes. 

Pre-immersion blender

Using an immersion blender (or a regular blender), puree the soup until it is uniformly smooth and thick. If you want extra creaminess, you can stir in a bit of heavy cream, but I thought it was plenty rich (and healthy) served as is.

Halloween, and half-hearted apologies

How do people manage this blogging thing? Between a full-time job, a near-3-hour round-trip daily commute, not abandoning my friends and boyfriend, and cooking dinner several nights a week, I hardly find the time to bake anything, let alone write about it and post pics. This is evidenced by my 2-week-overdue Halloween post. I'm pretty pleased with my semi-homemade (and baking-related!) costume, so better late than never, no?

My awkwardly-posed and -lit self-portrait, pre-work on Googleween (Oct 28)

Me with my coworker Jen, as the Peanut Butter Jelly Time banana

My work/dance buddy Adrienne

One of my favorites, the LGBT Android pair, with bonus Android dog!