Pumpkin Curry | Virtual Pumpkin Party

It’s been a rough week over here. Evan and I were just on vacation in Maui, celebrating our 3rd wedding anniversary. When we left Seattle, I was still wearing sandals, and when we got back a week later, from the sunniest, beachiest vacation, it was full on Seattle fall. All the rain. All the wind. All the chilly chill temps. Luckily that also means all the unbelievable fall colors (seriously I can hardly stand how beautiful the trees are right now), and all the fall treats… which brings us to the annual Virtual Pumpkin Party (the best fall food event!), hosted by Sara from Cake Over Steak... and this here curry situation!

Passionate Palmer Pops | Popsicle Week 2017

It’s Wit and Vinegar’s WORLD FAMOUS POPSICLE WEEK! The hottest (yet, chilliest/chillest) week of the year! Check out the 2017 popsicle week page for a plethora of pops. Some are covered in toasted marshmallow (!), some are made with pudding, others are boozy and fruity, a few have chunks of cake in them. And this, my friends, is mine: The Passionate Palmer Pop™. 

Father's Day Waffles with Cardamom-Vanilla Strawberry Rhubarb Compote & Whipped Coconut Cream

My dad occasionally visits me in my dreams. In the beginning, I had these dreams much more frequently. They’re so vivid and real, he’s so vivid and real, that in the rawness of fresh grief, they were devastating to wake from. My dad has been gone almost three years (this August) and while I still wake tearful, with the scar of loss newly opened once more, his dream visits have started to feel like something else. Like a gift. Like an extra, stolen moment of time I get to spend with my dad, however fleeting. 

Coconut Lime Scone Loaf with White Chocolate and Mac Nuts

Let me be clear: this is not a Mother’s Day post (sidenote, happy Mother’s Day, mom!). This recipe isn’t for Mother’s Day. You can, of course, make it for a mom, but you can also make it for yourself (you can enjoy it even if you’re a dad, a cat-mom, a dog-mom, a non-binary non parent, an LGBTQ teen, a single dude who loves video games, a dude married to a dude, a woman in a long-term relationship who may or may not want to get married and has decided she doesn't want kids, a pregnant lady, a DINK couple, etc!), and you can also make your mom a big spicy pan of enchiladas if that’s what she’s into. Because moms, like all human women (and like all of the humans mentioned above, plus more... all the humans, even!), are complex creatures who don’t fit into one mold.

Crispy Cracker Coconut Mounds

Alternate title: Dipping Things in Chocolate is Hard.

I recently learned that the reason a lot of people don’t like coconut (according to two people I know who don’t like coconut) is the texture. I don’t really get it. Do these people just not like sweetened shredded coconut? What about desiccated? What about fresh? Or big dry flakes? I feel like there are way too many coconut types and applications to just give it a blanket dislike. I’m the kind of person who loves coconut, both in flavor and texture. I truly think it makes everything better. I was the kid who wished for Almond Joys at Halloween, who requested chocolate cake with coconut pecan frosting for every birthday, and who poked a hole in the bottom of every chocolate in the box, until I found the coconut one. I’m that person.

White Bean Dip with Salsa Macha Swirl

Thanks to Good Health Snacks for providing chips and inspiration for this post! 

I’ve tried two new things this March!

Chicken Salad Pita Sandwiches with Lemon, Dill, & Pancetta

The last few weeks have been full of: cold but sunny blue skies, blooming cherry blossom trees, pouring rain, hail, and snow. The glimpse of clear-skied weather on the horizon, paired with an even more soggy dreary grey, has me longing for spring and summer so hard. I miss sitting on a patio, sipping a cool crisp white or rose as the sun sets. I miss using the grill and watching things grow in my garden bed. I miss jogging outside with bare arms. I miss sun ripened berries and stone fruits. Deargod I miss nectarines.

Raw Layered Cashew Cheesecake

A few months ago I decided to do the Whole 30. But really, I decided to do a Whole 5. If you don’t know about Whole 30, the gist is that it’s a 30-day elimination diet, wherein you don’t eat things that cause inflammation, including dairy, grains, legumes, processed sugar and maybe a few other things. Then at the end of the 30 days, you’re supposed to slowly add back in those items, which should help you find out if you have particular sensitivities. They can’t stress enough the importance of doing the entire 30 days, and they basically say you shouldn’t even bother doing just one week, because that’s not enough time for the toxins or whatever to leave your body.

Cream Wafers with Grapefruit Blood Orange Filling

As I write this post, my valentine is off on a work trip, and I can hardly stand it. A lot of my friends think Evan and I are pretty independent because we have our own hobbies that, after years and years of being together, we don’t try to push on each other. He has his nerd things and video games and electronic music, I have cooking and being in nature and scary movies and reading. We’re pretty good about doing our own thing and being totally cool with it.

Feeling the Weight

For a while I thought “it’s bound to get better,” or “things will slow down.” But in reality, the hits keep coming. And maybe that’s what life is and what being a grownup out in the world is. Or maybe some people are just luckier than others… but even then, it’s all relative.

In 2014, six weeks before my wedding day, my dad passed away. I was 29 years old, and our little family unit—my mom, dad, sister, and myself—we were closer than most families I know. We had never spent a Thanksgiving or Christmas apart. The grief of losing him was overwhelming and all encompassing. I felt cheated that he didn’t get to be at my wedding. That he would never meet my future children. But then, my sister didn’t even get to share her engagement with him. My mom had been with my dad since she was sixteen, more of her life with him by her side than without. Grief is personal. Grief is all relative. 

Buffalo Chicken Rolls

Today is the final post in the #foodiefootballfans recipe collaboration! My team didn’t make it to the big game, which means I can actually focus on the halftime show and the food this year. And that’s a big win (sigh, sorry hawks), because we’re having buffalo chicken rolls!