When Vin gets sick, I swear to god he is the biggest baby ever. It's like he's dying or something. He wanted to call his momma for sympathy and her special chicken soup, but I wouldn't let him. "Oh grow up!" I'm saying as I wait on him hand and foot. I'm as bad as she is. I made Potato Jalapeno Soup and he had 2 humongous bowls. Couldn't be that sick.
 Anyways, I don't admit it, but I love to feed him. (No, I never ever admit it.) He wants me to make more tomorrow. Next time, I'll add the jalapeno amount that I want. When it comes to hot stuff the kid is such a wimp. I used the lowest amount, and it was a mild salsa heat level. But he's sick, so I decided to go easy on him today...

Roasty Toasty Potato-Jalapeno Soup Above is my gorgeous chunky Soup [RECIPE HERE]. It surprised me, it was THAT TASTY. Simple ingredients, too. I actually had everything! I freaking love it when that happens.

Banana Bread with almonds & chocolate chips

2 eggs

2) In a separate mixing bowl combine the flour, salt, cinnamon and baking soda; mix thoroughly. Add this to the other bowl and mix well. Next add the walnuts and chocolate chips. Save some of each to add on top of the loaf before putting it in the oven. Bake for one hour and place a knife or fork in the center of the loaf to make sure it is completely done

My First (successful) Banana Bread! With almonds instead of nasty walnuts...

So while I was slaving away for a belated Thanksgiving, my friend Carly was eating West African food at her boyfriend’s sisters place. They are from Sierra Leone, and the food is VERY spicy hot. No fair, no fair. What a waste -- Carly hates spices of any kind (lives on Spaghetti-o's and McDonalds). But they would be insulted if she didn’t eat, so she ate their mildest dish with tons of milk. The sister was so impressed, she made Carly a special batch and gave her some spice mix.(Carly wanted to THROW IT AWAY!Aaaaaah!)

It was couscous with some vegetable that was totally new to me. I brought Courtney, of Naughty Curry a small bowl of it, just so she could tell me what the vegetable is--. plantain, found only at the Asian grocer in our town. So that’s where I went. I lightly fried two plantains cubed in a little oil and what was left of the spice mix. Then I stirred in the Veggie Couscous Upma from the NC site [RECIPE HERE]. Oh my god! Oh my god! I immediately made Hamburger Helper to divert Vin. I'm kind of a selfish bitch when it comes to food. Oh well.

Indian-Spiced Couscous with African-Spiced Plantain Above is Veggie Couscous Upma [RECIPE HERE]mixed with the addition of spicy sautéed plantains. Better than sex (lately, anyway. haha) The plantains were sauteed with a spicy hot mix, and the couscous Upma is a super quick-easy-tasty dish that takes 15 min. tops. (you just need frozen veggies and a lime)

"There is one picture on your website that kinda sucks," I was telling my friend Trobee (of Naughty Curry) when she was making pumpkin pie at my place on Sunday. "The rest, awesome, but there is one..."

I love pissing her off every so often. It's hilarious. And easy. She looked it up on my computer and said, "Yeah that's the one Courtney took, and it always bugged me, but... That's it. We're making this right now! It's super fast."

So she made this addictive curry-spiced pumpkin dip. Honestly, I wasn’t planning on eating ANY, cause I’m used to associating pumpkin with icky sweet spicing. But I'll be damned. It’s actually got the garlicky-onion mojo that I am a total slave to. I didn’t have the garam masala, so she used 1 tsp of coriander seeds with the cumin seeds, whizzing them into a powder after roasting them.

Anyways, the dip was all orange gorgeousness. Trobee won’t be outdone. She pulled out stuff and created this platter in 2 minutes. Damn her. I guess she is going to use this pic for the website. But we all know who really made it. Anyway, I noticed that the old photo is gone... HA!

Curry-Spiced Pumpkin Dip

Above is Naughty Curry’s YUMMY Pumpkin spread [RECIPE HERE] . Spicy and garlicky, it is fantastic on bagels, crackers, chips, and veggies. (I added cayenne so that Vin won’t eat it. I’m such a bitch.) It happens to be vegan, cause the cream cheese is soy.And it's gluten-free. 

Vin made me do it. Clean out my closet. I’ve been fudging on it for months now, and he finally took no mercy. Clothes that I do not officially wear had to go. After the dramatic experience, I felt totally out of shape , and made (what Vin and I call ) Popeye Patty Cakes [RECIPE HERE]. Its basically potatoes, spinach, peas, onions, garlic and spices…all mashed up and fried in a titch of oil. The original recipe uses mustard greens, but you know Vin and his spinach. Spinach is much easier, anyway. Not so stiff.
Anyway, it is full of vitamin and stuff, bursting with spice-love and something for Vin to gobble with his plate of bacon. But then I ended up eating them with those buttery ready-made pastry shells, full of trans-fats (whatever those are) so whatever.

Spicy Popeye Pattycakes Say hello to Peppy Green Pattycakes [RECIPE HERE], made with stuff easily found in your pantry. The texture is soothing, and the flavor is bursting with spice-love. Healthy, low fat, vegan, all that good stuff. Fun little twerps.

"I like apples," was the first thing Vin ever said to me, at the club where he used to work. I was wearing a tight t-shirt with an apple on the chest. I thought then that it was a compliment to my chest. Turns out he really is an apple fanatic. The entire bottom drawer in our fridge is devoted to his apples. The kid knows every variety (it's his dream BTW to be an apple farmer in New Zealand one day. Don't tell him I told you.)

He's always bugging me to make fruit salad. You know, the kind with gobs of whipped cream. But I'm more of a salty-hot chick, and anyway I've had enough of that stuff from my Midwest childhood. So when I saw this recipe, using Indian spices, I thought it would be a good compromise.( I used soy yogurt so that my vegan friend could eat some, and I'll be buying soy from now on! ) Everyone at the going-away party loved it, and Vin had me make his own batch. He said it would be even better if I would add chunks of crushed Snickers bar, like his mama used to. I told him to shut up.

Zucchini-Apple Bliss Salad Magically pepped up with non-hot spices [RECIPE HERE]. The dressing is just yogurt, so it's very light. I used soy yogurt, and no one could tell.

This has been the summer of these *Curry-Ranch Oyster Crackers*. They zoom with flavor. I swear they give you a buzz. I love them and I can’t stop eating them. I hate them because I can’t stop eating them. My friend Trobee of the Naughty Curry blog would bring over a batch IF I would do her laundry. Vin kept eating them all up, and the situation was causing heated fights, so I had Trobee make them with extra cayenne so that he would stay away (though sometimes he would try. How I loved seeing HIM cry for once. Haha.)

And all this time they were so simple and cheap to make. Grrr. Trobee (the little wench) made it seem like she was a spice goddess and that it was complicated. I guess the NC blog was never planning to post the recipe – but all our friends kept bugging them. So here it is. If you like spice at ALL, I promise you will go wild for these. Like everyone else. You can use however much hot stuff you want.

Curry-Spiced Oyster Crackers My favorite munchie. Tangy-Hot-Zesty fireworks in my mouth, my good god I can't stop eating them! I finally got the recipe (CLICK HERE), which is a very good thing and very bad...

Major mental overload. (Old lovers, evil cell phones, Vin's annoying friends, and more.) 
So I just want rice. Rice. Just rice. This is the third kind of rice I have cooked up in the last two days. I'm posting on this one because it did me good. I guess the recipe [click here] is authentic, from an Indian woman known for her cooking. Anyways, it did me good. It has golden raisins and a light sweetness from the spices. The rice is boiled kind of like pasta... I didn't know it could be made this way! Love it.

Bengali Pilau Rice This pic DOES NOT do this gorgeous-flavored rice justice! I was hungry, I was in a hurry, OK? RECIPE HERE