Spotted in Sweetwaters urban fairy guest book this morning, whilst waiting for my soy mocha.

Some background; There are fairy doors in various places in Ann Arbor. The one located in Sweetwaters is the one I encounter most often, and the guest book on the counter is generally full of sketches of fairies and other various fairy-related things. Hence the message to the fairies.

Urban-Faries.com will explain the fairy door bit in more detail. Check out Sweetwaters’ door, and my all-time favorite at Peaceable Kingdom.

Also… you will never, ever hear me reference Kanye West again. That is all.

This picture of Max is being used as the spokes-kitty for the Black & White Cats Flickr group on a post over at the Band of Cats blog. Go check out their roundup of 44 Cat Groups on Flickr.

This is my most popular picture on Flickr… with good reason.

I’d like to say that I was the mastermind behind this, but alas, I was just the cake decorator. The day I found it in my to-do stack was among the best days at work to date.

I <3 The Office.

As predicted, my balcony is not quite suited for a vegetable garden. I’ve harvested a total of ten cherry tomatoes and one yellow pear. The lettuce did alright, but I sort of let the basil go when it wasn’t cooperating earlier this summer. (I may be too passive-aggressive to care for plants.)

Next year, I’m thinking about getting a plot in the community garden Project Grow just put behind my apartment. It’ll be almost as convenient as having my own backyard, but I’m still not sure I have the time and attention span for it. I’ve got a handful of gardening books coming my way via HomeStyle book club, and I’ll see if I can draw up a good layout over the winter.

As for the balcony, I think I’ll stick to shady foliage and a few gnomes. Make it a nice place to sit with a cup of tea.

So, today…

I woke up just a tad late, and was just about to get in the shower, when I see Alfie playing with something next to the door. I don’t think much of it, as anything not nailed down is considered a toy around here… until I notice that it’s dark, somewhat limp… and moving.

After spending ten minutes trying to wrangle a half-alive mouse from a newbie hunter, I finally manage to get ready and leave the apartment, forgetting my phone and bus money in the process. I have to go three blocks out of my way to an ATM, which will give me nothing less than a $20, then proceed to Starbucks to get change, when what I really wanted was a tea from Sweetwaters. (Now three blocks in the opposite direction.)

For my grande finale, I missed the bus by a half a block. This would have resulted in my third tardy write-up… so, I figured fuck it. I’ll take my first absentee write-up instead.

But isn’t the sunflower pretty?

I’m currently in the process of setting up NothingPastNoon: A breakfast, brunch, and lunch blog.

I’ve noticed that I rarely feature dinner on my blog… and honestly, I rarely make dinner at all. I have a deep love of breakfast and brunch, and I’m trying to put more effort into bringing a healthy (and pretty) lunch to work everyday. As far as I’m concerned, these are the only meals that matter.

My plan is to have a few other foodies blogging at the domain, but I’m not entirely sure of the details just yet. If you have any interest in being a Nothing Past Noon blogger, be sure to let me know. I’m looking for the standard food porn pics, cookbook or restaurant reviews, and recipes related to the first (and best) three meals of the day.

For the moment, I’ve set up a Flickr group with the same name, so feel free to join and add your pictures to the pool!

My third project from Vegan Brunch, Bakery-Style Berry Muffins, turned out to be my first dud from the book.

I still think the recipe has the potential for awesomeness, as the majority of the issues seemed to stem from the fact that the frozen berries I used were ginormous. I roughly chopped the strawberries, and halved some of the larger blackberries… but, they still seemed to cause a bit of trouble.

Despite leaving them in for a few extra minutes, the muffins never seemed quite done. They weren’t doughy, exactly, but there was something just a little “off” about them.

Also, some of the muffins seemed to have the structural integrity of an ice candle. (You can see that the one to the left had collapsed from a strawberry crater.)

I just went out and bought a larger muffin pan, since these cupcake-sized muffins just aren’t my style, and plan to try these again soon. Wish me luck.

So sad.

So, earlier this week, when he was very obviously craning over to see where I was in my post-work internet crawl… I knew something was up. Curious, I double-checked all my email accounts, all of his sites and mine, just trying to find anything that might be new and exciting.

Finally, I make it to Twitter to find this:

He bought me a new domain and set it up while I was slaving away at work. I think this is the geek-love equivalent of roses and Godiva…

NothingPastNoon.com is on its way.

I’ll be honest: I don’t think chocolate belongs in muffins. If you want a cupcake for breakfast, I say go for it. I find no shame in eating leftover brownies and chocolate cake when I first wake up. I just think muffins are better left to fruity fillings and spices.

That said, Brad likes chocolately muffins, and I didn’t actually have the ingredients required for any of the other muffins in Vegan Brunch… so I decided to give the Coffee Chip Muffins a try. And you know what? They weren’t bad.

I have a bad habit of altering recipes before I even taste them, so these muffins got a splash of chocolate extract that wasn’t called for. That, combined with the instant coffee powder made for one of the most delicious muffin batters ever… almost like cappuccino-flavored ice cream.

The coffee flavor didn’t come through as strong in the muffins, but I do have to say that these were much better than the average chocolate muffin you’d find in a bakery. More subtle, I think.

So, maybe the problem is not the use of chocolate in muffins… maybe it’s the misuse of chocolate in muffins. Further investigation is needed.

In 2008, four filmmakers went to find him.”

I can’t tell you how excited I was to hear about this documentary. The films John Hughes made in the mid-eighties are without a doubt my favorite teen movies ever… despite the fact that I was born in 1985.

From the website;

“How did John Hughes capture the growing pains of adolescence so perfectly? Why do his films resonate with those that grew up with them, and those that have just discovered them? Why did he leave?

Don’t You Forget About Me cuts insightful and entertaining interviews with the honest, humorous, and tension filled road trip the filmmakers go on, hoping to find John Hughes and secure an interview with the reclusive director and closure for themselves.”

Check out August’s Geek Monthly for more on the documentary, and head on over to the filmmakers’ blog for video interviews including Ally Sheedy and Degrassi creator Linda Schuyler.

What is your favorite John Hughes movie? I’m having a tough time deciding between The Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, myself.

The recent flood of restaurants and book reviews should tell you that I haven’t been spending much time in the kitchen lately. Our cupboards are awfully bare these days, and I just haven’t had the desire to bake at the same time that I’ve had the supplies to do so. Even this super-simple coffee cake required me to send Brad to the store for basic ingredients. Twice.

However, dusting off the stand mixer and finally getting to break in Vegan Brunch was worth the effort. The East Coast Coffee Cake was my first recipe from Vegan Brunch, and my only coffee cake to date. I chose the Jam Swirl version, and used strawberry preserves. I sort of “eyeballed” the jam measurement, and it wasn’t quite enough for my tastes. Still yummy, though.

Also, how cute is that ceramic dessert stand? I bought that, along with a matching full-sized cake stand, the day after Easter. (There is a small bunny imprint on the surface, under the foodstuffs.) With the clearance price and my employee discount, I paid roughly six dollars for the two of them combined. I whole-heartedly recommend buying novelty serving ware off-season. The appropriate occasion might not roll around for another year… but, your piggy bank will thank you.

Seal Press has a number of anthologies of women writing on a particular subject… from cats and dogs, to science and technology, to housekeeping and food.

Not surprisingly, my first choice was Women Who Eat: A New Generation on the Glory of Food. Covering everything from Baking Bootcamp to placenta pâté, the essays describe experiences and relationships with food that nearly any food-lover could relate to. (Okay, so maybe I can’t particularly relate to the meal described in After Birth, but it was an interesting read none-the-less.)

Carvel by Elizabeth Nunez describes a devotion to “happy-making” sundaes so strong that not even a traffic accident can detour a woman on a mission.

Read the rest of the story at Humangirl Eats

Regardless, here are some of my favorite “fake songs” from television, in no particular order…

• 1. Freelove Freeway – David Brent (The Office)

  ‘Training’ is by far one of my favorite episode of The Office, and I think a lot of that is owed to Free Love Freeway. The song is later released as the b-side to David’s cover of If You Don’t Know Me By Now, which was a flop. If only he had released Free Love Freeway as a single instead…

Read the rest of the story at Humangirl Geeks Out

Soon after we brought Alfie home, we noticed he had a bit of a flea problem. Since Max has been indoors-only with few critter housemates over the years, this isn’t something we have much experience with. So, we took to the internet and found a few tricks to try out.

Obligatory disclaimer: I am not a vet, and the internet is not the best place to find health information for your pet or yourself. Proceed with caution.

Read the rest of the story at Humangirl Nests

Our second morning at Stone Hill Inn, we had Banana Oat Griddle Cakes. They were super-filling, and a good start to our wedding day.

A yummy, yummy, fruit cup… which appeals to my penchant for putting things in martini glasses. (Exhibit A, Exhibit B)

I’m going to be honest… Part of the reason this post is short and to the point (aside from the fact that I ate this meal almost two months ago, and am struggling for details) is that this picture is making me so hungry for a starchy snack that I can hardly think. Hashbrowns… yum.

Not Pictured: Cranberry Walnut Muffins, orange juice

We’ve picked up a few “old standbys” for our days off, when we are in need of a little treat. The first was brunch at Cafe Zola, which was in pretty heavy rotation this past winter. Once it warmed up, we started heading to Cake Nouveau for cupcakes, then walking to Sweetwaters for drinks.

Earlier in the week, we tried the cupcake/beverage outing… I’d had my heart set on a vanilla cupcake and a “homemade” ginger ale, but struck out on both counts, leaving me with two second-choice treats and a bad mood. So, a few days later, we headed to Cafe Zola for the first time in months, to set things right with my belly.

My Usual: Zola’s Classic Waffle with flavored butter and maple syrup. Most of the time I get strawberry butter, but this time I decided to give the orange butter another go. (The first time it was a little bitter, this time it was tasty.)

Brad’s Usual: Strawberry-Banana Delight Waffle. This is a little too extravagant for me, but I always steal a piece or two of fruit from his plate. Because that is what husbands are for.

There are a few fancy-schmancy waffles on the menu we’ve yet to try, including the ‘A la Gabus’ – Topped with chocolate-hazelnut spread, vanilla ice cream, crème chantilly and raspberry sauce.

I was hoping to get a good, sunny, outside shot of our meal… but, struck out once again. (The food, however, was wonderful… even if poorly lit.)

This is our new kitten, Alfie. We brought him home last night, and just named him about an hour ago. (Other choices included Griffin, Dodger, Oliver, Bailey, Colin, Tobias Funke, and Cat Kirk.)

Max is less than thrilled. I think he’s rather enjoyed his eleven years of being an only child. (He’s lived with various dogs for brief periods of time over the years, but has never really had a live-in housemate.) He spent roughly 24 hours sulking in the bedroom before venturing back out into the rest of the apartment, and still won’t get within six feet of Alfie’s kennel… but, I think he’ll come around in the next few weeks.

You may notice that Alfie matches the carpet and furniture. This was not intentional… but, I find it amusing. Clearly, Alfie understands the value of not being seen. (Max, on the other hand, has always been a bit too conspicuous to be stealthy.)

Better six weeks late than never, I bring you the wedding.

Brad and I were married in Stowe, Vermont on May 19th of this year. It was a private ceremony at Stone Hill Inn, the bed and breakfast where we stayed during our trip… just the two of us, a Justice of the Peace, and a photographer. The ceremony itself lasted approximately five minutes, after which we spent about two hours getting pictures around Stowe.

Read the rest of the story at Humangirl Nests

Fabulous Sex and the City-style cocktail… or healthy vegan fruit gel? Either way, it’s delicious. (And would make a wonderful addition to a veggie BBQ.)

This is an adaptation of the Fruit Gel Babies found on FatFreeVeganKitchen. I halved the recipe, which was just enough for these two “martinis” and one fruit cup for my lunch… which should be making an appearance later in the week.

The adapted ingredient list;

1 cup cherry juice
1/2 tsp agar agar powder
agave nectar to taste
1 Pink Lady Apple
strawberries

The best thing about making agar fruit gels at home, in my opinion, is the world of possibilities. Sure, they don’t contain gelatin, but neither do Dole fruit cups. Yeah, they’re healthier… but, that’s rarely a huge selling point for me, unfortunately. But, the idea of playing with flavor combinations and presentations? Well, that just fills my little heart with glee.

For more homemade fruit gel inspiration, check out this post over at Lunch in a Box. I’ve now added those animal-shaped food cups to my ever-growing wishlist of lunch supplies.