ONLY TWO WEEKS and five days until the great reckoning. I'm having a bit of trouble focusing, how about you? I've been taking breaks from the seesawing polls by drawing in my sketchbook, or channeling that restless energy into baking (recipe links to follow).

We (ahem, Chad) finally figured out how to use the back sun room. We put the round dining table in there along with some benches and it is a very nice place to have breakfast. Now that the light is changing it's not roasting hot in the afternoon, which means that it is a pretty ideal place to read or work (or draw, see image below) almost any time of the day.

This past weekend was Chad's birthday. It seems almost too perfect that Chad's birthday falls during Oktoberfest, since he loves fall, is proud of his German heritage, and enjoys a nice cold stein of beer. My mom suggested we celebrate at Edelweiss Restaurant, which, naturlich, proved to be an excellent choice. In keeping with the Oktoberfest vibe, there was a polka band with a vivacious leader who played a very nice version of "Edelweiss" on a variety of cowbells. She also led beer-stein-holding contests for ladies and gents. I gave it a shot, but had to put down my stein about a minute or so in.

The polka-band leader also trained everyone in the restaurant to yell out "Oi Oi Oi" whenever she chanted "Zicke Zacke Zicke Zacke." I have been to Germany, specifically Berlin, a couple of times, and never once have I heard anyone do this in a bar or restaurant or beer garden. The only other time I heard this "Zicke Zacke" was at a German beerhall in Epcot Center in Disney World in February. Inside the beerhall it was kind of a spring vibe, with a twilit sky. (Outside, back in Florida, it was raining cats and dogs.) I found the whole thing to be quite effective. I enjoyed the singing. Maybe this "Zicke Zacke" thing is more typical of towns or cities aside from Berlin, who knows. Or maybe it only happens during Oktoberfest, which I have never been to (in Germany). Dear German friends, please enlighten me: do Germans actually sing, "Zicke Zacke Zicke Zacke, Oi, Oi, Oi"?

Meanwhile...

Three Things That Kept Me Going This Week (all food related)

1. I borrowed the Ovenly Bakery cookbook from the library. I used to live not too far from the bakery's original site in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and thought it was incredible and have been pleasantly surprised by how easy (some of) the cookbook recipes are. These chocolate chip cookies have the added bonus of being vegan. Since the recipe calls for freezing the dough anyway before baking, it's extremely convenient to freeze a whole bunch of them (or make a dough log for slicing, Pilsbury-style, which I did). Then you can bake them as needed and eat them fresh and warm from the oven.
2. This banana bread was also quite simple to make and remained moist for the few days it lasted until we ate it all up. I've made a few different banana breads over the years, usually crammed with nuts and chocolate chips, but this one, which is very minimal in contrast, is the real deal.
3. I've been buying the Whole Foods brand of oat milk and there's a recipe on the side that has intrigued me for some time: a "carrot cake smoothie." It contains some kind of protein powder, which I am not interested in, but I took the general idea of the recipe and ran with it. I put two shredded carrots, about a quarter of chopped-up apple, some yogurt, the requisite oat milk, a sprinkle of cinnamon and nutmeg and some maple syrup and damn if it wasn't the most delicious smoothie ever.

Lastly, some good news this morning: Robert Roberson lives!

That's it for me this week. If you are lifting a stein of carrot cake smoothie, then cheers to you! Zicke Zacke Zicke Zacke! Oi Oi Oi!

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