Autumnal Eats

Sorry I failed to post last night. I spent the weekend in Nashville attending the Tennessee Equality Project's (an LGBT equality advocacy group) Olympus gala, where I received a Champion of Equality award for my work as an LGBT beat reporter at the Memphis Flyer. And then we visited with Paul's family (they all live in Middle Tenn), and of course, I squeezed in a trip to Nashville's vegetarian restaurant, The Wild Cow!

Anyway, yesterday was the first day of fall! And I spent much of it barbecuing with Paul's family and driving home to Memphis in his car. So I didn't have time for a proper Mabon celebration. Mabon is another name for the Autumn Equinox, when we celebrate the second harvest as the earth turns inward and prepares for the long winter ahead. Basically, it's time to accept the fact that summer fun times are over, but pumpkin soups, bonfires, and apple cider are coming!

I spend all summer dreading fall. I hate the cold, even the sorta cold. I shiver when it's 70 degrees outside. But when that equinox hits, I know I have no choice but to suck it up and embrace autumn. Besides, fall is the time of my birthday, Halloween, and Thanksgiving — my three favorite holidays (in that order!).

Anyway, enough blabbering. I made a few special meals today to celebrate Mabon. For breakfast, I had these Harvest Morning Muffins.

These are whole-wheat muffins with grated carrots and apples. Very fall. And very tasty with a cold glass of almond-coconut milk and a banana. Here's the recipe (you have to scroll down). It's not vegan as written, but I subbed Ener-G egg replacer powder for the 3 eggs in the recipe.

I can't tell you about lunch yet, because I'm saving that for a review post tomorrow. But it involved a sweet potato, so it was seasonally appropriate.

Dinner was extra special. I did a little ritual honoring the changing of the seasons, lit some candles, and set out the new yellow mums I bought today. Mums are so autumn. I made Curried Pumpkin Soup.

 And Spicy Hummus with Pita.

The soup was creamy and simple — just pureed pumpkin, almond-coconut milk, onion, garlic, curry powder, and veggie stock. It's from a recipe I found online and printed out years ago, but I can't seem to find it now to link.

And the hummus was very different from what I usually make (here's the recipe, but you'll have to scroll down past some other recipes). Instead of tahini, it called for peanut butter! And you know what? I think I like that better. Tahini is great and all, but peanut butter is the bomb (can I even say something is the "bomb" anymore?). The hummus also has a chopped cayenne pepper from my front yard garden. Oh, and I picked the pita up from my favorite Middle Eastern joint, Al-Rayan. They have the softest, fluffiest pita.

But you can't let a holiday pass without dessert and booze, right? I picked up a Cream Cheese Brownie from Imagine Vegan Cafe to enjoy with this Bridgeport Witch Hunt Ale. The spiced ale had hints of cinnamon and nutmeg, and isn't "Witch Hunt" the cutest name for a fall beer ever?

Happy Autumn, y'all!