Changes and Ideas



First off, yes, this is only my fourth blog post in October, a month that is now almost over. There’s not really much excuse for that, except that my mom visited me for a week in the middle of the month!

It was so great to see her and share our new home with her. Now that we’ve been here for well over a year, it seems strange that some people close to us still have not seen the Hobbit Hole or met Hobbes. Not that I’m blaming anyone; it’s just weird to me that this place has become a part of my identity, for better or worse, and there are still people I count among my closest of friends who only know this side of me through hearsay. It’s the feeling of an exile who has found beauty in their new home.

Of course, I walked outside today to pick up some trash and throw out the compost, and realized with a start that the temperature today (a mild 51° F) was as cold as it ever got during the day where I lived in California. I used to think that was cold. Now it almost feels good. I would sit outside with a blanket by a fire in this weather. However, gone are the stints where I would work outside for hours. In many ways, I’m still adjusting.

A lot of new things have happened this month. The leaves are almost all gone. Aaron has been considering summer internships. I had the opportunity to interview a few of my personal heroes, including new authors Pierce Brown and Edan Lepucki. I was able to show my mom one of my new favorite cities, Boston, and eat bacon grease buttered popcorn with her at J. M. Curley’s, which is still one of my favorite foods. I've also read some unexpected books, i.e., nonfiction, and have really enjoyed them. I hope to do a blog post on that topic next week!


Another of next week’s blog posts will be my new foray into vegetarian/vegan food. I did some research for an upcoming ThriveWire article (although I won’t give you any spoilers yet!) and was fascinated. I've said it many times on Sputnik Prose, whenever I modify a recipe to make it vegetarian, that I have several vegetarian friends, and a handful of vegan friends, and while Aaron and I are pretty solidly in the carnivore category, I have been incredibly fascinated by what they eat.

I had a lot of success this past week with vegetarian dishes. I was feeling a little bit sick, which I attributed mainly to the gloomy weather, and so have been extra conscious about what I've put into my body since Tuesday (other than mid-week cookies; we all need balance!). I haven’t had any caffeine, and have drunk lots of water and tea. I also made an amazing rice dish with immunity boosters such as ginger and turmeric for lunch on Wednesday, and then made a delicious caprese salad last night, which was a hit even with Aaron! I almost never cook with ingredients like ginger or turmeric, and I've never before made caprese, and cooking these new dishes was really gratifying. Today I made up a tasty vegetarian lunch which I’ll be sharing with you on Monday. The more I've written about food, the more I've realized how much I love it, and I’m really excited to experiment further!

Aaron and I will still be meat eaters (note mention of bacon grease popcorn above) but I’m hoping to incorporate more fruits and vegetables into our diet, which has been something of an ongoing goal for me, but one which I've decided to make more of a priority. We’ll see how this new adventure goes!

If you have any tips or resources or web sites that you think would be valuable to my exploration of vegetarian and vegan food, please, please share them!

So, lots of changes. Not many blog posts. But I’m back with ideas, and excited to share them with you readers!

To end off, I’d like to share some of my recent ThriveWire articles…

Interview with Pierce Brown, Part 1 and Part 2.

Interview with Edan Lepucki, Part 1 and Part 2.

10 Farm-to-Table Ice Creameries around the United States.

I received my first phone call from Italy, and got to speak with Giorgia Caporuscio, an award-winning twenty-somethings pizza maker!

Thanks for reading!

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