I Hear You Like Stories

Poor Little Blog. Here, Eat Some Cake.

meg.favreau@gmail.com (Meg) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 09:38:00 GMT

Whenever I get busy, this blog is the first thing to get neglected. I've been meaning to post this cake for a while, but it kept getting buried under other tasks on my to-do list.

Anyway: I've been doing a lot of baking this fall, and I've become a big fan of moderately sweet recipes that can work equally as desserts or afternoon snacks. Thus there has been a lot of gingerbread in my life, along with barely sugar-kissed apple pies and Orangette's clafoutis that I made with the last of the summer peaches. But my favorite recipe lately has been this pumpkin-apple coffee cake, adapted from a recipe I found on the blog Mennonite Girls Can Cook. It took me a while to find a recipe even worth adapting—I had a long sit-down with the Google trying to find instructions for pumpkin gingerbread, but most of what Google spit back at me were cream-cheese-frosting pumpkin cakes. I am quite happy with the results of this cake, though, and strongly suggest that you purchase some apple cider to accompany it.

Pumpkin Apple Coffee Cake

Streusel:
1/4 c brown sugar
1/8 c flour
1/3 c rolled oats
1 tsp cinnamon
2 T cold butter

Cake:
1/2 c butter, softened
1/2 c sugar
2 T molasses
2 eggs
1 cup pumpkin
1 tsp vanilla
2 c whole wheat white flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp each cloves and ginger
1/2 tsp each baking soda and salt

Filling:
2 apples, peeled and sliced

Mix together the first four streusel ingredients, then cut in the butter until it resembles crumbs. Set aside.

Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs, followed by the pumpkin, molasses, and vanilla. In a separate bowl, stir together the dry ingredients and mix with the wet.

Put half the batter in a greased 9" round pan, sprinkle with half of the streusel, and arrange the apple slices in a single layer. Repeat the batter and struesel layers on top. Cook in a 350 degree oven for 50-55 minutes.

An Open Letter to Snapple

meg.favreau@gmail.com (Meg) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 11:02:00 GMT

My friend Mike made this, and I highly recommend it:

An Open Letter to Snapple - watch more funny videos

Some Recent Articles and Such

meg.favreau@gmail.com (Meg) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 12:10:00 GMT

I recently revised my old DIY column as Foodstuffs over at The Smart Set. The first two pieces consider the humble bran flake and Old Bay.

New Huffington Post piece: 75-Year-Old Man Writes Fan Fiction; BTW, That Man is Ralph Nader

This Picture of a Bird Having a Food Party Is My New Happy Place

meg.favreau@gmail.com (Meg) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 12:01:00 GMT

From Let's Celebrate Pet Birds! by TJ Lafeber DVM. This book also claims that "Some day birds will be the most popular pet."

How to Sample Wine

meg.favreau@gmail.com (Meg) — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 04:30:00 GMT

I like it when people explain the reasoning behind food and drink rituals:

How to Sample Wine Without Looking like a Clown from Kathryn Borel on Vimeo.

Via Boing Boing.

New Meg & Rob Video! And Come See Us in the Philly Fringe!

meg.favreau@gmail.com (Meg) — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 04:27:00 GMT

Drag out your show-watching spats, folks, because it's Fringe Festival Season here in Philadelphia. Not only are Rob performing a full set of entirely new sketch comedy this year, but we're also thrilled to be splitting the bill with improv group BWP, which is comprised of two of the funniest ladies I know in Philadelphia, Liz Scott and Alli Soowol. They perform as Connie and Connie, two sassy broads who hand out snacks and kvetch. One time I saw them give each other face lifts with scotch tape and it was one of the most ridiculously amazing improv-watching moments of my life.

Some details on the show:

Dates/Times:
Tuesday, September 8 at 7 p.m.
Friday, September 11 at 8:30 p.m.
Tuesday, September 15 at 8:30 p.m.
Saturday, September 19 at 8:30 p.m.

Location:
The Adrienne Mainstage
2030 Sansom Street
Philadelphia!

Tickets are $10 and available on the Philly Fringe website and at the door. I suggest following that link for tickets, the Philly Fringe website's search function won't find "Meg & Rob" for some reason. Also, the Fringe is offering a 20% discount if you purchase tickets for more than one show at the same time in advance. So do that.

Now! Here's a preview video (audio is NSFW):

One of These Things is Not Like the Others

meg.favreau@gmail.com (Meg) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 00:36:00 GMT

Apparently one of Wilmington's many tourist attractions is girls with bad MySpace photos. Sure, I'll vacation there.

Notes on HSN's "Marilyn Miglin Phermone Golden Aura Collection"

meg.favreau@gmail.com (Meg) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 15:49:00 GMT

Seriously, HSN? Phermones? This is 2009 on national TV, not 1983 in the back of Popular Science.
Oh, apparently "Phermone" in this case is just what a crazy woman chose to name a perfume. This perfume was created "for the woman who makes life an adventure."
Included urn gives purchaser a place to keep recently deceased dignity.

Tubes

meg.favreau@gmail.com (Meg) — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 03:21:00 GMT

Trash day in front of an old TV repair shop.

New Meg & Rob Sketch: Nothing Bad Happens on the Moon

meg.favreau@gmail.com (Meg) — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 05:36:00 GMT

First I need to gush: last night's moon-sketch contest was absolutely amazing. Chip Chantry and Johnny Goodtimes always put on a high-quality show, and everyone who participated in the contest was especially hilarious. I feel lucky to be performing in a community—and be friends—with these folks.

I'm also honored to note that Rob and I took first prize for our video Nothing Bad Happens on the Moon. Here it is: