Who Loves Fall the Most?

Answer: Me! Me! Pick me!

In all seriousness, I fully expect my Google reader today to be stuffed to the brim with weekends that included pumpkins, apple cider, fall foliage, and baked goods. 

And mine is going to be one of them.

My weekend started with a trip to Trader Joe's, which turned into a Fall decorating, baking, and cider-drinking extravaganza when I returned home (in that order!).

Pumpkins were only $3.99 at Trader Joe's and the mini pumpkins and gourds were only 69 cents!

Pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting -- Recipe here. 

How was your weekend?

Grilled

I might have gone to school to appreciate fine foods and wine as a hotel and restaurant major, but my favorite food will always be a childhood classic: GRILLED CHEESE.

I love grilled cheese. If I could, I would eat it every single day. I've never really ventured outside of the classic Kraft American (or cheddar!) singles on white or wheat bread, slathered to perfection in butter and grilled to a crisp. But a couple weeks ago at a friend's birthday dinner at Fireworks Pizza in Arlington, my grilled cheese world as I know it was turned upside down--because yes, I'm that person who got grilled cheese at a pizza place. Sue me--It was a grilled three-cheese on ciabatta perfection, with a side of tomato jelly and homemade potato chips. I asked the server to leave off the tomato jelly because it sounded gross, but he told me that he was going to bring it out anyway because I had to at least try it. Sure glad I did, because it was the perfect accompaniment to dip the trio of cheddar, gouda, and goat cheese in. YUM.

Several days ago, I was doing some internet surfing and came across this link to 40 Amazing Grilled Cheese Sandwiches (Warning: do not click on this if you are hungry or on a diet!) and I knew right away what Ian and I were having for dinner.

I didn't go off of any of the ideas on that website, but wanted to try and sort-of recreate the grilled cheese heaven that I had experienced a few weeks ago. So I went to Trader Joe's and bought some sourdough bread, gouda cheese, and brie, along with their tomato bruschetta spread.

Hungry yet? 

(If not, go and look at those 40 Grilled Cheese ideas. Then you'll hate me.)

What's Cooking, Good Looking?

It's hard to maintain a blog about vintage clothes and thrift shop finds when you don't have extra money to spend at those places.

So what do I do these days in between relentlessly applying for jobs, putzing, watching movies, and playing games?

Eat.

Thanks to the Super H Mart, which has FANTASTIC deals on produce and meat (if you're in the area...you HAVE to check it out, if for nothing else than the free samples) we aren't living on Spam and cereal. Yay!

Between me and Ian, I would say that we are dang good cooks--definitely in the higher percentile for newly married couples. I make things with recipes; Ian throws things together in the cast iron skillet. And usually, if we follow our respective methods, we eat reaaaaaal good.

When I want to make something, I look around at what we have in our kitchen, then Google a recipe for those things--and I get really, really excited when we actually have everything needed to make it. For instance, over the weekend I found this recipe for Pan-Fried Mango Curry Chicken. We had chicken. We had curry. And we even had lots of mangos!

I threw in some broccoli and green beans, and whipped up some rice for good measure. It was a feast.

I was feeling on a roll, so last night I decided to do a completely homemade, from scratch, journey to Mexico. Ole!

First things first: chop up some tomatoes, onions, and fresh cilantro (my favorite herb). Toss with olive oil and Ian's homemade hot sauce, and voila! SALSA!

Ian was out and about, so I asked him to pick up some tortilla chips. He returned with these, along with lots of cheap spirits from Trader Joe's:

Does he go above and beyond, or what?

Next: flour tortillas. Homemade ones just taste so much better than the ones form the store!

Meanwhile, the chips and salsa were quickly disappearing. I rolled the tortillas out, and slapped 'em in the skillet as some zucchini and onions were simmering in the pan next door.

When the tortillas were done, I layered them with cheese and vegetables. And then we had homemade quesadillas. And they were divine.