Halloboo

Y'all, I have never been a huge or inspired fan of Halloween. Costumes aren't my bag. I believe my best effort was in high school when I pinned lots of purple balloons to a sweatshirt, made some odd green felt hat and called myself a bunch of grapes. Halfway through trick-or-treating, I'd popped completely and just had to call it quits. My laziest costume came about in college when I dressed in black, drew a moon on one cheek and a star on the other and declared myself Night. When my friends and I reached the party to which we were headed, and I saw all my guy friends dressed as Hasid cheerleaders, I felt pretty lame. It's not like Halloween in Chicago is warm, so really, they and pretty much everyone else put me to shame. Until I had kids, in fact, the only thing I did much like about Halloween was candy corn, a sweet that is nearly unpalatable the rest of the year but right around 31 October draws me in with some sort of waxy, sugary allure.

The kids think Halloween is AWESOME, and though I've still not found the love for it, I try to be festive for them. If, however, they suggested going out just with their dad tonight, I would take them up on it 5 minutes ago. Damn would I love to just light a fire and have a glass of wine in peace and quiet. I'm got a hell of a headache and am tired as get-out. Rather, T and I will watch -and they are cute when they amble up to people's doors- as the boys go nuts with glee and become increasingly high. Then we'll wrestle them into bed and I'm sure there will be tears along the way.

Sigh.

Rustic Vanilla Apple Bread Pudding

Well-executed bread pudding has got to be one of the most amazing desserts ever. The combination of an eggy custard, bread, vanilla and sugar is comforting and delicious, making it difficult for carb lovers like me to eat just a bit. All too often, bread puddings are, however, dry or overwrought disappointments. White chocolate? Bleck! Not enough moisture? Sad. But a good one, moist and dense yet light and drizzled with a warm whiskey sauce, brings me back to Louisiana and the many times my mom made a bread pudding for dessert. Aah.

Today, I added in some butter-sauteed apples as well as steeping my milk with a full vanilla bean. This is going to be a real treat for us tonight; at least I'll prefer it over Halloween candy. Oh dear, will I end up eating the whole thing by myself? Hmm....

Fab-o Yotam dinner

This dinner was super good. I made two recipes from my new cookbook, Jerusalem by Yotam (Ottolenghi), and they did not disappoint. YO! The first was this roast cauliflower with hazelnuts, celery, pomegranate seeds and an incredible cinnamon/sherry vinaigrette/maple dressing. Who knew cauliflower and cinnamon loved each other so very much?! Not I, my friends, not I. But now I do. This will definitely be remade many a time in this house!

I'd finally soaked some garbanzos but as I'd bought King salmon today decided to make a basic hummus with them rather than some sort of main dish. Again, I turned to Jerusalem, and this is a hell of a hummus; it's one of my very favorite foods, and this one doesn't disappoint.

Finally, T grilled our salmon which he'd dressed with a cracked coriander-maple glaze. He's now using the leftover bittersweet chocolate (from my peppermint patty making) to craft some toasted hazelnut bark. Go T!