My mother biking around Sacramento!

Unremarked by me until now, I have passed my two year California girl anniversary. Two apartments, one job, two years, and countless Jesse visits to both spaces. Despite all these milestones, and the wonderfulness of developing a full time tan, it is my mother’s first time visiting me here in my Sacramento home. What does any mother want to do when she sees her daughter’s apartment for the first time?

“What do you need? When do we go shopping?”

My mother and I on an Amtrak to Portland. We don’t fish face very well, but we have fun!

Funny story, since I have been here for quite some time, there really isn’t much that I need. Of course there are a few things I’ve been meaning to get but haven’t, like wood polish, a new nail clipper, and one of those things you put in your bath tub to stop your hair from clogging the drain. However, none of these things are very exciting or expensive buys. My mom wants to buy bigger purchases, like Tupperware sets, baking pans, bath mats, rugs, tool kits, and picture frames. Thinking hard, I thought about what I could possibly ask for that I would both want, use, and take with me in a year when I moved in with Jesse. The answer?

A Dessert Decorator Pro, Cupcake Carrier, and an Easy Layers Cake Pan Set. Oh, and maybe an Ultimate Cake Leveler too!

Isn’t this AWESOME!!!!?

These requests made my mom scrunch up her face in confusion.

“You certainly have weird priorities!” She exclaimed. Here she is offering me high quality items of every day necessity, and instead I have counter with a reusable frosting dispenser and a way to carry my cupcakes to work with me.

“Why do these things make you so excited?” She asked.

I responded with “Food is my advocacy.” Recently, I have come to the conclusion that due to a mixture of food budgeting, past family cooking experiences, Netflix food documentaries (like Cowspiracy), and inability to protest due to the Uniform Code of Military Justice, cooking has become my chosen method of world change. Simply put, one person eats a crap ton of food each year. The changing of someone’s diet from an unsustainable to a sustainable one, has a complete and total world rocking impact. For example, the greenhouse gas emissions from animal agriculture is greater than all of the emissions from the whole world wide transportation industry combined. Bike to work all you want, but if you want to have a true global impact, look at what is on your plate. Each time I cook with local vegan produce and dried goods, I feel like I am part of a global change movement. Furthermore, it is a positive movement, not a negative one. How can baking and sharing recipes with your friends ever be negative? Food brings people together, regardless of their political and environmental views. A house that smells wonderful, is a house where all who enter get just a little bit (or a lot) happier. I feel like if I can just make the most delicious sustainable meals and treats for everyone, maybe I can make all our lives, and the world, a better place.

Thus, maybe my priorities are not so strange after all. I hope I get that Dessert Decorator Pro. My third First Cake Friday is coming up, and I want this cake to be a showstopper!

This week in updates: Late Night Flight and Mom Visits

To add to my recent running around and weekly disorientation, my mom is visiting (see above post) and I got to go run out on a Search and Rescue mission from 11:30pm-4am in the morning. All you who know me, know I am an incredible early bird. 4am is when I usually wake up. Thus, I am a little trashed. However, that’s all okay. I have a very entertaining woman with me, some coffee, and the prospect of new baking supplies!

American heroes after late night Search and Rescue. We were feeling great!

The Recipe: Easy Crock-Pot Split Pea Dal

Yum