Cupcakes and cakes, oh my!

Hi all! Okay, okay, I'm still alive, I promise. I'm sorry for being so MIA this month... thanks and apologies to those who have been continuously checking without anything exciting and new to see.

Honestly, it's been a kind of a dragging much in terms of productivity. This whole job search thing is extremely frustrating and I'm getting sick of typing up cover letters. So I have kind of avoided anything that involved typing a copious amount of typing and thinking. I feel guilty because I've been wanting to write a few posts about food and politics, but I just can't seem to bring myself to do it. Eventually, eventually.

But enough whining, it's still been a good month regardless. I've made some awesome friends, I'm actually getting out and being social, how exciting is that? I had a chance to watch my fellow dance girls perform once already!







Aren't they beautiful? It's an epic dance, "Ode to the Plum Blossom," and it was an awesome performance. :)

So the past month has involved a decent amount of baking, including a cake for an order, a vegan cake for a fellow vegan friend, and 5 dozen cupcakes for a young girl's birthday!





Click the jump for more cakes and cupcakes!

Halloween has come and gone.

So Halloween this year was pretty awesome.

First, there was going to a pumpkin patch and actually carving pumpkins! I went with a few guys... two of them from India, so this was their first Halloween! Our pumpkins were awesome.



Mine was the Scarecrow! Do you have any idea what a pain it is to care thin slices out of a pumpkin with dull blades from a Safeway pumpkin-carving kit?! Anyway. What an awesome day last weekend!

Then there was this past weekend! It involved dry ice, Twister, music, costumes, and, oh yeah, FOOD. We had about 15 people over, and, of course, I made way too much food. I think people might have filled up on the appetizers. :| There were vegetarians and vegans, and there was enough food for everyone. I didn't have much time to make anything especially Halloween-themed, but at least I had enough food to feed everyone!

Unfortunately, since I was so busy with food and actually hanging out with people, I didn't have a chance to take many photos of the food. I had a chance to take a photo of the table before the craziness all began!



Those are some of the appetizers (all home-made): hummus with seasoned pita chips, bruschetta with tomato and basil, cinnamon apple challah.

The final menu went as follows (and I actually finished most of it on time... amazing, I know!!) I'll post recipes to a few of them in the up-coming weeks. :)

Appetizers
* Hummus with home-made pita chips (vegan)
* Cinnamon apple challah (vegetarian)
* Parmesan zucchini sticks (vegetarian)
* Parmesan breaded chicken
* Bruschetta with tomato and basil (vegan)

Main Course
* Spinach feta quiche (vegetarian)
* Turkey pasta bake
* Peanut soba noodles (vegan)

Dessert
* Pumpkin pie (vegetarian)
* Caramel apple bites (well, it was partially successful?) (vegetarian)
* Persimmon pomegranate salad (vegan)

I hope all of you had a fun and safe Halloween!


Photography courtesy of Debanshu (Chinu) Singh

P.S. I hope you had an awesome birthday, little brother, even though you probably don't read this!