[ transplog ]

With an unexpected windfall in the form of 30 pounds of pureed pumpkin, we hunted high and low for recipes. But before diverting into the more obscure uses of this tasty squash—sage, pumpkin, and prosciutto filling anyone?—we started with the basics. First on the list was pumpkin gingerbread and pumpkin pie.

The surest way to whip up a batch of autumnal feelings is to bake gingerbread (or in this case, pumpkin gingerbread). The baking bread dispenses a perfume far better than anything Chanel or Guerlain might offer: wafts of earthy pumpkin and tangy ginger along with the punchy kick of allspice.

Pumpkin gingerbread emits tendrils of steam from its fragrant and moist interior.

Pumpkin gingerbread on its well-deserved pedestal.

Pumpkin gingerbread, slightly askew

In the quest for that rarest of recipes, a healthy, gluten-free dessert, I found any number of tempting distractions. Chief among these distractions was a recipe in my beloved Turkish cookbook for apricot cream.

After some exploratory googling on the matter of apricot cream and apricots stuffed with cream, I came up with the following.

Apricot cream tastes far better than it looks: apricots stewed in cinnamon and cardamom, and orange blossom water folded into billowy whipped cream.

Oh heaven! As the sweetness of the apricots threatens to overwhelm, along comes the satisfying weight of cream. And next time, garnish with chopped hazelnuts instead of almonds.

Houston, It's Worth It: Ike is a book that celebrates the city's dogged and sometimes wry recovery from the hurricane's visit in September 2008. It arrives on Amazon and a few local bookstores in a timely manner, on September 12th: link to Amazon.

Houston, It's Worth It: Ike [5411] by transpixt

I captured these pixels during the swampy, sticky, leaf-cluttered aftermath of Ike. But alas, I know not what I meant to show: the return of semi-normal traffic? the comforting buzz of transformers bringing A/C into the house?

In any case, I rather like it. The sinusoidal trek of light across the frame, the deep blue of an evening sky, and chaos of colors below that.

Rogue pixels showing a place and time unknown [8016]