Simplest Tomato Salad - vegan & gluten free

Lately, Mr Official Taster has been working late, like really late (12:30am last night), and leaving me to my own devices for dinner. In some ways it's really nice. I can eat exactly what I want when I want it, and no one will make disparaging or skeptical comments about those choices.

On nights when I dine alone, I usually go for super simple, barely cooked meals. In the summer, they tend to be dishes that celebrate the summer like open face avocado sandwiches, or pea pesto on bread, or fried potatoes with eggs and a corn+tomato scramble, and, always, when possible, fresh fruit or a crisp for dessert.

Tzatziki Potato Salad - gluten free & egg free

knock, knock? uh, hi, it's me, Kate. I, er, guess I needed a blogvation last week.

Sorry about the disappearance, folks. I didn't quite realize it was happening until about Thursday, at which point I figured the week was lost anyway so I should just take advantage and read a book. Believe it or not, not only didn't I stop by to talk with you folks, I barely read the internet. Weird, I know. I guess some weeks are just like that.

The Bakery Chronicles

Last year at this time, I was working at a small startup. I worked closely with my good friend, E; in fact, we shared both an office and desk (it was pretty big. and we like each other) when we were both in the building at the same time. One of E's many accomplishments in life is that she earned a Masters degree in Architecture. Unfortunately, she graduated right about the time the economy tanked. Thus, the startup.

In any case, one morning a coworker stopped by our office for some advice. C is a highly intelligent, highly energetic and excitable person who often stopped by to bounce ideas off of us or hear about our weekend or just take a brain break. But this visit was different. His daughter, I think around age five or six at the time, worried about a male classmate coming over for a playdate. She was worried they didn't have any "boy toys" for him to play with. Well, this plainly surprised C. After further discussion, including pointing out that she had Legos they could play with, his daughter was still worried because the Legos were pink, and furthermore, she adamantly asserted, "Girls don't build things." Well. C was at a loss, both trying to figure out how she got this idea in the first place and how to convince her otherwise.

Homemade Oreos - vegan, or not

You may have heard that there was a bit of a hubbub last month regarding a rainbow Oreo illustration that Oreo posted on their Facebook page in support of Pride. If you missed it, here is their original post, and here and here are some articles. Stephen Colbert even got in on the action.

I've talked a bit here and here about my thoughts, but, honestly, I mostly a) wondered how do people have enough free time+energy in their lives to make a hubbub. over a fake oreo. and b) thought, hmmm that looks delicious.

Classic Lemonade

I hope my fellow Americans had a festive (and hopefully work-free) Independence Day. Mr Official Taster and I both had the day off. Last week I figured out that there would be fireworks practically in our backyard right behind our apartment, so we invited some friends over for dinner and a show. We had a mix of diets and allergies, but everything turned out really well. Burgers, veggie burgers, marinated vegetable skewers, fresh watermelon and strawberries, potato salad, pickled cucumbers, cake, and cookies. Plus various libations. To dress up the table, I, er, borrowed lavender stems from the neighborhood landscaping and stuck them in two IKEA vases I've had for years. It was a pretty good feast, if I do say so myself.

A New T-shirt Slogan

Baking isn't for sissies.

I haven't talked much here about my "real," i.e. non-blogging , job. You know, the one that pays some of the bills around Chez Sweets. I haven't talked about it partly because it hasn't been terribly interesting and partly because I like having some separation between work and play. This isn't play exactly, because it takes a good amount of time, thought, and energy, but I certainly wouldn't classify it as "work." Back in the day when ballet was my full-time job, I never called it work. I  always said, "I'm going to ballet" or "I'm going to the studio." When I started referring to it as work? Well, that was one of the indications that it was time to retire.

Anyway, for the past few months, I've been working in the "front" of a bakery. By that, I mean I deal with customers and merchandise and whatnot, you know, basic retail. I wasn't working in the "back" where cookies are baked and cakes are decorated. But an opportunity to work in the back presented itself, and I jumped at it. I applied, put together a collection of photos, and interviewed with our boss. I was excited to get the job (yay!), and Friday I finally started learning my way around.

4th of July Recipe Round Up

I'm guessing the blogosphere is going to be relatively quiet this week. Since July 4th (happy belated Canada Day to our northern neighbors!) falls on a Wednesday this year, I know some people are just taking the whole week off. Sounds nice, right? I've put together some ideas in case you are looking for some picnic, bbq, and/or patriotic inspiration. You can also check out my Red, White & Blue board on Pinterest.

Vanilla Filled Cupcakes: this recipe is for gluten free & dairy free, but you could just use the technique for any cupcake you like.

Sparkling Lemon Sandwich Cookies: why not roll them in red, white, and blue sugar? or sprinkles? Or keep the cookies white and change the filling colors?