Sunday Scenes {9.16 Edition}

Hi hi!

September was a tasty month, so I was inspired to stage a Sunday revival of my old Monday Morsels posts.

I was going through my archives and realized how much I miss these posts. They’re the perfect way to check in, catch up, share things I’ve found and loved, and generally talk to you guys about things other than my abashed adoration for coconut flour and other food nerdy things. I run a blog and not a magazine, so I think talking about behind the scenes things makes this website more human.

And, let’s be honest, there’s nothing like a good blog bonding session. So let the bonding begin!

1) Good news!! The recipe index actually works now!!!

That only took, oh, three years. Maybe more. In my defense, it did take a ton of dummy organization work on my part.

But I hope the new index makes up for it! It now has a bunch of nifty features that lets you organize recipes by type, dietary restriction, ingredient, and even calorie range per serving! And it actually works! What a concept.

Bonus, everything is visual because everyone knows the eye/camera eats first.

Via thefias/CO 

2) Speaking of my beloved Tumblr, I wrote a cycle of seventy poems and I’m publishing the whole thing on there! Because of course you absolutely want to read seventy of my poems.

But hear me out! They’re super short (we’re talking 3-10 lines each) and they’re all stand alone, but if you read them together, they tell a story! I’m experimenting with this uncommon yet very easy to read format, so I hope you get a chance to check it out. Yay literary adventures!

I was going to save these poems for when I make it big as a poet and publish my universally acclaimed anthology, but I decided I wanted to share them with you first, dear reader. My Pulitzer can wait.

I’m publishing them backwards so, if you start from the top (as most people do when reading anything), then they’re in order.

Which only makes sense. Of course, I didn’t realize this is what made sense until about halfway through publishing them in the wrong order.

Stubborn as I am, I felt no choice but to delete them all and started over. So the Tumblr dashboard and I are very well acquainted now.

Fun fact: it took me no fewer than five tries to spell acquainted. Perhaps I should use this gap year to re-learn my native language.

3) Up until about halfway through my senior of high school, I was planning to go to school for writing.

Fast forward through a series of frank (but probably necessary) conversations with my mother, we decided it was best for me not to starve to death as an artist.

The moral of the story is that I now plan to pursue a degree in finance! Because spreadsheets are kind of like poetry?

4) Even though I have tabled my dreams of becoming a professional writer (at least beyond the realm of food), I decided to submit some of my work to professional literary contests anyway. So there’s good news and bad news.

The bad news is that, like every other writer in the history of writer kind, I have received a healthy dose of rejection. These are literary publishing houses mind you, so the rejections are still quite eloquent. I’m thinking of keeping them in a shoe box under my bed for whenever I need a well-worded reality check. Alas, a writer’s life.

The good news is that I did get some good news!

I wrote a one act play and submitted it to the California Young Playwright’s Contest. They received 385 submissions and selected 10 finalists, and I’m ecstatic to say I was one of them! While they chose not to produce the play, it is beyond an honor to receive this award. I’d like to take this time to thank my mom and my laptop, for always being there when I need them.

I also wrote a full-length poetry anthology, and submitted a small excerpt to a content judged by none other than my favorite poet, the Pulitzer prize winning Stephen Dunn. *swoon*

Again, my poetry was not selected for publication, but I was a finalist. Which means Stephen Dunn liked my poems. I’ve never been so honored to get a no.

5) Getting the recipe index was no easy task, as it involved going through all of my recipes ever (and there are hundreds!) and manually categorizing all of them. Despite the hours of tediously mindless work this required, I’m glad I was forced to look through my old posts.

And I noticed that, although Foodie’s traffic was significantly less back in the early days, it was getting significantly more comments.

I really value your thoughts/opinions, so I almost wanted to write a post addressing this question, until I realized I already have. Four years ago.

Reading through this old post forced me to think about how everything has changed, my website, myself, and the blogging world as a whole.

I might still dedicate a whole post to this, but in the meantime I would love your thoughts. Hearing from you always brightens my day.

6) I know that one reason for the comment drop is that I’ve almost completely stopped commenting on other blogs! Which I am not proud of. I want to support my blogger buddies! All of you are doing such a good job, and you deserve a lot of recognition/encouragement/support for it.

I’ve dedicated some time to blog stalking, and I found these stunningly beautiful, healthy fall-friendly recipes that I wanted to share. These bloggers are all so talented, and I want to get to know them/their recipes better!

A pear apple crisp?? Doesn’t get much more fall-friendly than that.

Grain free apple cider waffles are no doubt the breakfast of champions.

Speaking of breakfast, a pumpkin pie smoothie is perfect for celebrating autumn in 95 degree weather. Thanks, LA.

Instead of sipping an artificial “pumpkin” latte, how about this beautiful wholesome chia pudding version?

It’s okay to eat these fudgy flourless pumpkin bars for breakfast, right?

Taking the savory route, this recipe takes butternut squash to the next level.

Also I am 1000% using this toasted pecan vinaigrette to amp up roasted brussels sprouts.

I LOVE kabocha squash, and this soup looks like a super classy way to use it.

Uh, flourless sweet potato brownies? Is this a cool idea or is this a cool idea?

Of course I have to finish with something pumpkin, and these mini pumpkin tarts look just darling.

7) Now back to Foodie Fiasco, please enjoy September in recipes!

Healthy Mexican Lasagna

Perfect Protein Fudge

My Go-To Grain Free Cookie Formula

Protein Red Velvet Truffles

Scrumptious Cauliflower Spanish “Rice”

Healthy Almond Butter Fudge

Carb Free Cheese Crisps

Do you comment on blogs?

Is it just me, or is commenting on food blogs less prevalent than it used to be? I’m definitely guilty of letting commenting go by the wayside, but I really want to get back into it. As I said before, I want to support my blogger buddies! All of you are doing such a good job, and you deserve a lot of recognition/encouragement/support for it. Comment with your blog so I can check it out!