WE WON!

It has not been mentioned here yet, but I think this would be the appropriate time to tell you that I love baseball. I love baseball and Philadelphia and we just won the World Series for the first time in 28 years. Even the following day I have to say that I'm still in a bit of shock. Listening to the radio at work last night (yes, work, on the most important night of the year), I paused when we were one out away, stood quietly hunched over a table as Uncle Harry in his soothing timbre say "Swing...and he missed it."

Wait...WHAT? He swung and MISSED? I couldn't move. He swung and missed? That means strike 3! That means out 3!

THAT MEANS WE FUCKING WON!

Loud cheering on my part ensued. It's something that I'll never forget as long as I live.

As soon as we went outside we were showered in champagne and beer and high fives and more yelling. As expected insanity ensued and working at Broad and Walnut, we had a front row seat for what was probably the most destructive crowd in the city. What started with 100 people quickly turned to thousands with folks climbing street lamps to snatch down World Series banners, people scaling buildings, newstands, bus shelters, anything to get a better view. And my personal favorite, the 5 guys who stole our trash dumpster and rode it down Broad Street.

The following are photographs I took with my phone.

The Beginning

Note the Bus Shelter is still intact

Victory Face

A fire truck rolled down the street and people climbed on it

Someone fell through the bus shelter, (across the street a crowd tore another one down completely)

Riot Police

Trash Fire on 16th below Walnut St.

Little Pete's was mobbed, but my victory meal of grilled cheese, fries, and a milkshake was well worth it.

The Aftermath

OM NOM NOM

I realize that the whole cupcake fad has more or less come and gone, but really, how far can it go? Who doesn't love a single serving size of cake with an overabundance of delicious frosting. To celebrate the fall weather that we're finally privilege to, I made my favorite pumpkin cupcake recipe, with some delicious cinnamon cream cheese frosting. It was a rainy weekend, probably not the best for baking, but man, that cream cheese frosting...I can't resist it. Even if it was only for a few minutes, I was a total spoon licking, batter eating fattie...and it was glorious!

The cupcakes were actually not just for my voluptuous hips, but actually to help raise money for the Philadelphia AIDS Walk happening at the end of the month. The folks at work seemed to enjoy them, and, admittedly, I may have bought a few myself during a particularly stressful day.

Sometimes, it's really refreshing to work with my hands and produce something that isn't made of fiber. On that note, the cupcakes were only part of that afternoon's project. Next up was Dirty Risotto, the Everyday Italian take on dirty rice. Spicy sausage, pancetta, mushrooms, red peppers...pretty much all of my favorite things in a risotto. Genius!

It started like this...

And then it grew a little bit...

And then I added some rice and the real work began!

I love risotto, but you really have to put some muscle into it to get that rich creaminess. I've heard of people who add a lot of cheese or heavy cream...this is completely unnecessary. Cheese, you need a little at the end, along with some nice flat leaf parsley.
It was so good that I ate it more or less every day for a week.

PS. I have been knitting, and actually finishing things that I will share with you very soon.