corn chowder

The air is cooler now and soup seemed to be just the thing. I made one of my standbys (and Aren's favorite), vegan corn chowder. Everything in the soup was locally (and mostly organic) produced. The herbs came from our little garden.

As the soup was simmering away, I felt the need for a biscuit to accompany it. This presented a bit of a problem as I don't eat butter any more nor do I use vegetable shortening. Also, I try to use as little wheat in baking as possible. Can biscuits be made with oil and spelt flour?

I was so pleased to discover, why yes! I used a recipe from my trusty Sunset Cookbook of Favorite Recipes, adding a 1/2 cup more flour and replacing the butter with oil. They are not exactly the same as biscuits made with butter and white flour as spelt makes things a little crumbly and a little more hearty. We really liked them and they will be are our new standard biscuit. They keep well, too.

pillows

It's a little strange to be subletting someone's apartment. Now, Aren and I have living in other people's apartments from the last year and a bit. It's been a great experience overall (except for the loft with two inside cats that where crazy and refused to use a litter box) and has saved us a ton of money by not having to purchase/move furniture. We've got to know the city in a different way.

It has been interesting to discover how often the presentation of a life differs from the reality of it. For example, in the apartment we are in currently, the dinning room furniture is a mix of lovely antiques from the 20s and 30s which we were thrilled to see when we came to view the apartment. Upon closer inspection, I noticed many major cracks in backs of the chairs, missing pieces and a general ricketyness. It started me thinking that perhaps while the previous occupant liked the idea and presentation of having a antique dinning furniture and a room dedicated to dinning, she might have not actually used the room.

Another thing about subletting is dealing with items that are not your taste but that you can't give away. Enter the pillows on the couch. There were many things about the pre existing pillows I did not enjoy: lumpy, unattractive fabric, strange dimensions. So I made new covers. All thrifted/vintage materials except the black demin (the gray linen like fabric, used wrong side out) which was remants from my spring bag.
The tropical leaf print might be a little summery, we'll see how I feel in November.