Sax getting a bath

Wedding in the Lou

Second and last wedding of the year -- this time in St. Louis: Gateway to the West, home of the arch. I've never been to the Midwest and so was delighted to see a lot of particular Midwest-y things, like the Mississippi, lots of industry, toasted ravioli (a St. Louis specialty), and the St. Louis zoo. The arch was actually pretty amazing. And it's true - there were actually an overwhelming number of obese people!

Don and I flew out there on Friday (he qualified as my "plus one" because we live together hehe) and met up with other UD friends and had a pretty intensely good time. I was even further rejuvenated from the Crystal Castles show on Wednesday and finally feel relaxed enough to go back to work on Monday. Maybe my stress-induced scalp flaking will finally go away!

A few of these pictures are my own, but some are taken from friends' collections and -- yes -- the wedding app. The Wedding Party is an app for guests of the wedding to upload pictures to and so allows everyone to have access to the same photo stream. It's actually pretty useful, but as you can imagine it led to some irrelevant uploads (a Bud Light can, pictures of factories, blurry close-ups, etc.).

 Sarah and the wedding party, before the ceremony

 Looking across the Mississippi to Illinois... yuck

 The arch!

Hippos at the zoo

Toasted ravioli. It was meat-filled, though, so I never tried it...

Sarah and Scott (bride and groom)

Reception -- first dance

Sarah's ridiculously well-designed program schedules

End of the ceremony-- the wedding took place at the Missouri Botanical Gardens

Blurry good times with Don and Bill at the reception

Obligatory photo under the arch

............

I have to admit, as much as I'm personally against the idea of getting married, it is pretty nice to be around your friends in love...

CRYSTAL CASTLES // HEALTH

Went to see Crystal Castles and HEALTH last night at the Roseland Ballroom with Kelly and Charles. That show set me straight!

Photos from deathandtaxesmag.com and pitchfork.com.

This is 100% terrifying.

"Today, whatever you are, whatever you do, wherever you may go, you are a part of atomic warfare -- it involves you, personally."

Food Blog

So now that I have an iPhone ($.99... the cheapest most complicated piece of technology I've ever purchased) I am able to take pictures of my food like the rest of the world.

Vegan apple pie: our hand-picked apples + a pie crust made with Earth Balance Buttery Sticks. Sweetened with honey and maple syrup instead of white sugar. Hand-ground cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg.  

Red beet eggs: a Pennsylvania Dutch specialty that I brought to a "cultural" potluck/wedding party with some of my work colleagues. First time I've made them, and successfully! Fresh boiled beets, a little sugar, white vinegar, salt, hard boiled eggs. My grandma's recipe called for canned beets but I think using fresh ones was really essential.

Sauerkraut: red and white cabbage in a canning jar. This is my third attempt at homemade sauerkraut, and it finally worked -- the problem was getting the fermentation right, which means making sure no other airborne bacteria/fungi/yeast will find their way into your cabbage, which is essentially open-air for about a week. This was once crunchy raw cabbage, and now it's soft, tangy, and a little salty. Wild fermentation!


How am I managing to cook so much when I have so little time??

Harvest

Don and I went apple picking with Viv and Nicole last weekend... I told my French teacher about it and she said it was a "very American and city-person thing to do."

 Taken by Nicole

 Taken by Nicole

Glorious Macintosh tree


I've so far made a batch of apple butter and some air-dried peels (for snacking during hikes...). Vegan apple pie is next!

Sax Russell the Hedgehog

We got a hedgehog! His name is Sax Russell.

He's from a breeder on Long Island. Don and I rented a Zipcar and drove out to the breeder's place of work in Maspeth to pick him up. We were inspired by watching YouTube videos of people giving their hedgehogs baths...

Everyday, the Wizard tries a new way to figure out how to eat him, to no avail. See below for Sax's defense technique.

He's a bit of a grouch, but I think he's getting a little better. We take him out at night and he runs around and tries to find spots to burrow under. He runs like a maniac on his wheel when we're sleeping. It's like having a little alien in the house!