New England: Apple Picking

Apple Season Is Upon Us.
I like to reminisce about past adventures. I mean, that's kind of the point, right? To remember the good times? So when it's cold and bitter outside (I live in Cambridge - it gets BITTER), you can remember the warm sunny-ness of Spring. Or the cool ripe crispy Autumn air. And the laughter. And the good outfits you wore. Cmon, you know that in all your best memories you are dressed to the nines. 

This is a not-so-distant flashback. A few weeks ago (prior to the Thanksgiving baking and unearthing of my grandmotherly crochet needles), we went apple picking at Tougas Farm. I know that apple picking is what all the cool kids are doing these days, but that's not why I pick. In my opinion, apple picking is the most charming and memorable fall activity. And I happen to be very, very good at it. Well, I mean, I'm very good at being enthusiastic about it.

It's An Event.
I love the whole process: wearing fall clothes, taking an excessive amount of photos and devouring cider donuts whilst assessing the ripeness, firmness, and color of each apple. I shop the aisles, really. And there are so many varietals (yes, I said varietals) so the recipe options are endless – some apples are best for baking, some are best for eating in the raw. You like that? Eating in the raw. Like the sugar.



Apple picking with friends only ups the anty. You can have the shared experience of making apple-ish shenanigans (as in, getting yelled at by the apple farm police. Yes, this really happened. To me.) In my case, having friends along for the ride also lends the supportive camaraderie needed when you beg your husband to let you buy a second 20-lb. bag for more apples (because 1 is clearly never enough.) Also in my case, my husband never relents and I spend about 10 minutes pouting before moving on to the next shiny object I can find. Or I eat a second cider donut.

And Again.
Also, there are often pumpkins and petting zoos and hayrides. Why don’t we apple pick more than once a year??

I loved apple picking so much that I wrote an article about it for my husband’s school paper, The Harbus.  Like I said - I had WAY too much fun.

Now that we are all easing into true wintery crispness (the hefty puffer coat has come out of the closet), I wanted to share this lovely adventure with you so that we can all reminisce about our favorite fall activities. What was your favorite autumn expedition? And if you say apple picking, I want to see links/pics the pies you baked!

Holiday Gift Guide: For Her

Thanksgiving is over, but the holidays are in full swing! That means we are legally allowed to listen to Christmas music and shop for our favorite people (as if I needed the excuse.) The big holiday question: What makes a really great gift? I think it’s something you would never buy for yourself. Something just a touch extravagant. Something unnecessary; a “just because” item. Well, here is the opportunity to celebrate the most wonderful chickadee in your life, whether it be your sister, mother or best friend. These fun treats are sparkling with holiday cheer, thoughtfulness and straight up fun. If you’re stumped on what to give, look no further! Presents are just… the best.

1. Sephora Perfume Sampler - $50
I know that Sephora never fails, but I am ridiculously impressed with this gift idea, a 12-piece perfume sampler with a voucher for a full-size of your choice. Not only does this lovely little kit contain mini perfumes from a range of big-name designers, but once your dear friend your dear friend can bring in a voucher (included) to any Sephora store for a full-size version of her favorite! I have the smaller version of this kit and I absolutely love it. The perfume lasts a long time and I love having so many choices to switch between. Does Sephora get women or what?

2. Vonny Casserole Carrier - $48
This adorable carrier is for the true bearer of warm holiday treats. This is a necessary accessory for the lady who likes to cook and likes to share her cooking even more. This case is made to fit a standard 9X13 dish (or smaller) and is available in a variety of colors. What a delight. I want one!

3. Birchbox Gift Subscription - $30
Looking for the perfect gift for that lady who is always on the cutting edge of trends? That’s always hard for me. How can you surprise the ultimate fashionista in your life? Well, Birchbox has made it a lot easier. This 3-month gift subscription contains a variety of full-size and sample-size beauty products and arrives in a perfectly packaged present each month. However, there is a waitlist for this subscription, so hurry and sign up!

4. Baublebar + Essie Snap Happy Set - $50
For the lady who loves to showcase her hands Baublebar has teamed up with Essie to create custom nail polish-jewelry Snap Happy Gift Set. Choose a shade from Essie’s winter collection and two complimentary bracelets for decked-out hands and a surefire gift.

5. One Canoe Two Letterpress Calendar - $26
This 2013 calendar by One Canoe Two adds a special twist to a holiday gift staple. A letterpress calendar is the perfect way to add some whimsy to the year, plus, whomever you give this to will think of you with each passing month! Bonus: This calendar comes complete with a wooden stand, so at the end of the year you can use it to prop up a picture or personal photos. Or a brand new calendar. Love it.

6. Anthropologie Marguerite Headband - $32
This headband is the ultimate girly indulgence. A glitzy headband is the perfect ingredient to amp up any outfit (plus, it decorates your head!) My little sis is a sucker for girly headgear, so maybe yours will be too. Plus, it’s an Anthropologie gift, so how could you go wrong?

Happy Shopping!

Eat. Drink. Thank.

Thanksgiving came in extraordinary fashion this year. This was a year of many firsts: NOT being in Atlanta, not being with family, and not sitting back and chit chatting while someone else does all the cooking. Instead, my husband and I stayed in Cambridge, celebrated this holiday with dear friends and I cooked my tail off. And you know what? We kind of loved it. Tangent: My husband’s name is Steven – he wanted me to mention him by name… I think he was getting paranoid that I kept referring to him as “my husband” as if I were trying to protect his anonymity on purpose. We are in the age of Facebook and drones; none of us are anonymous anymore. Anywho, he answers to Steven. Or Stevie. Or Shmoopsy-poo. Just kidding. He won’t let me call him weird names. It’s a real bummer.
Well I digress. I started Thanksgiving Day off right, with a cup of Starbuck’s Christmas Blend while watching the Macy’s Day Parade. That part of the morning did not last long. Once Stevie turned on football there was little else in the world that mattered to him. The crazy part is that I loved the cooking storm I created, mostly because it was storm-free! It was such a peaceful, fun and creative process for me. I (proudly) cooked the following:

Stuffing

Sweet Potato Soufflé (the first batch was chronicled here)

Roasted Vegetables

Cranberry Sauce

Pretzel Jell-O Salad

Pumpkin Pie

I was a regular Betty Crocker (I would like to think of myself as Giada, but I don’t look that hot while I cook.) We packed up the food and drove 3 minutes down the road to dear Troy and Carrie’s place (they are officially our Cambridge family.) They hosted a crowd of 10, and the 4 of us were the only Americans. AND we were the only ones who have ever celebrated Thanksgiving. The rest of the crowd was from Malaysia, Germany and Brazil. It was so interesting being with amazing people from all over the world and coming together to celebrate this holiday of gratitude. Troy and Carrie set a gorgeous table of fanciness AND they cooked the turkey (it was ridiculously impressive.) The four of us ended the night curling up on our couch enjoying mugs of rum apple cider (my own little concoction!)

Photo Credit: The Gorgeous Stevie Hale

Weekend Takeaway

Though it was truly bittersweet missing out on family traditions, it was a merry time indeed. As I think forward to next year, I know that we will be living in a different state (location unknown), potentially celebrating with different people in a new way, so this was a nice way to commemorate our time here in Cambridge. This Thanksgiving was cozy, warm and marked by lots of sleep. Much to be thankful for. 

Martha's Vineyard

There are time when you experience absolute euphoria being in a new place. It's like, you belong there, but you've never been there. For me, that place is Martha's Vineyard. Bring on the pastel seersuckers, popped-collar polos and salt-water taffy.

The Vineyard is a special place of old-world charm, quaint cobbled streets and misty sea breeze with an undercurrent of laid-back, come-as-you-are attitude. And so we came as we were.

Map.
Accompanied by our seasoned Vineyard tour guides (and traveling partners-in-crime), Troy and Carrie, we left Cambridge early (well, hello 6 A.M.), drove as far as there was land, then ferried over to Vineyard Haven. By 9:30 A.M. we were standing on the dock, trying to decide what we wanted to eat for breakfast (my vote is always clam chowder, no matter the time of day.) What a marvelous feeling, to have an entire day of exploration ahead. This is the stuff I live for.

Mmm.
We rented scooters at Sun 'N' Fun Rentals in Oak Bluffs and meandered our way from town to town. Martha's Vineyard is a mecca of tiny coastal spots, complete with lobster bites, ice cream shops, open coastal highways and kites flying high along the way. We laid ocean side at South Beach in Edgartown, laughed at the nudists from the cliffs of the Gayhead Lighthouse (you can't make this stuff up), and ate lobster at Nancy's on the water. We took far too many pictures, soaked up the sun and dreamed about the year to come. This is an interesting year for my husband and myself, as he is in his last year of business school. I only just graduated college this past summer, and all our free time is spent wondering, planning and dreaming about the "real world" (and an impending move - to somewhere!) that is quickly approaching.

Moment.

Early September at the Vineyard is a tiny taste of Heaven, and spending one glorious day there refreshed my spirit and provided me with a strange and wonderful sense of clarity. Apparently the island is inhabited by tons of artists, including big name like James Taylor and Meg Ryan, but also the lesser-known designers, authors, composers and freelancers that bring famed Hollywood entertainment to life. I see how these geniuses are able to draw inspiration by living in such a secluded and majestic cove. I felt a wonderful sense of creative assuredness wash over me while we drove along those open roads on our funny scooters. I had this feeling of "I can do it." "It", being some sort of creative professional endeavor. I have always wanted to be creative for a living, which is why I am drawn to professions that are artsy-fartsy. Singing, dancing, acting, coloring, creating, interacting... I don't know exactly what I want to be when I grow up, but it felt like another piece of the puzzle came together for me that day on Martha's Vineyard. Cheers to an "Oy!" moment!

TASTE: Sweet Potato Soufflé

The Food Coma Shall Commence.

Where I come from, Thanksgiving is a big deal. My family and my husband’s family are from the same town, so going home is a double whammy of love, fun, and FOOD. However, this year, we decided to stay in Cambridge in order to save money and honestly, catch up on sleep.  We could use about a year’s worth of sleep. So we’re penciling that in for this week’s main activity.

Although we are not flying south, I can’t exclude myself from the glorious bought of cooking and baking associated with this holiday. I am a Southern woman, and what does that mean? I have a few recipes up my sleeve. And since I have several celebrations and dinners this week, and I am cooking up a few of my very favorites!

Sweet Potato Souffle

If you’re from the South, this is simply a staple at the Thanksgiving dinner table. This is a recipe that both my mom and my mother-in-law make, and for the past several years I’ve adopted it as one of my staple Thanksgiving contributions. Last year, I made this dish and brought it to a potluck-style dinner for my husband’s 90 classmates. Since many of the students are international (and were celebrating their first Thanksgiving ever!) they didn’t quite connect with the idea that this casserole should be on the dinner menu. They looked at it curiously, exchanged confused glances and promptly moved my pseudo-confection dish to the dessert table. Clearly these Yankees have been missing out on the CENTERPIECE of Thanksgiving supper (am I biased? Surely not. These are facts.)  I had to tell the party organizers more than once, “No, it’s not a dessert, it’s really a dinner item. Yeah, it really doesn’t belong at the dessert table. Seriously.” This year? Same dinner, and I’ve got tons of people asking for the recipe. I just told them all to move to Georgia. We cook country and we do it right. (In all honestly, cooking these family recipes away from home has made me realize what grandmotherly instincts I have, like pushing my cooking on others and getting waaaaayyy too much satisfaction out of them actually liking it.)

Here it is! My favorite November dish:

Sweet Potato Souffle

Ingredients:

- 3 cups mashed yams (1 40-oz. can)

- 2 eggs

- 1/2 cup milk

- 1 cup sugar

- 1/2 tsp. vanilla

- 1 cup brown sugar

- 1/3 cup flour

- 1 cup pecans

- 1/3 cup melted butter

Directions:

Combine the drained yams, eggs, milk, 1/3 cup melted butter, 1 cup sugar and 1/2 tsp. vanilla. Mix together (preferably with a beater) until fully combined and then put in a 10" casserole dish. Then combine the brown sugar, flour, pecans and 1/3 cup melted butter and mix together and spread this mixture on top of the casserole. Bake at 350 for 30-40 mins. Take a bite, and for a fleeting moment, experience Heaven.

I also whipped up this pumpkin pie and a pretzel jello salad (my husband’s personal favorite.) Hope you enjoy!

Fave: My Girls

Girls, Girls Girls

Did I ever mention my family obsession? Yeah, I have that. Thankfully, I had the privilege of hosting both of my sisters and my cousin (who is literally like a sis) when they came up and visited good ol’ Boston. We ate, we drank and we laughed incessantly. It was food for my soul. And liver, teeth, esophagus… you get my point. It was righteous. And so long overdue.

Painting the Town

We visited a few of my favorite Cambridge spots, including dinner at Grafton Street Pub, whoopee pies at Clover and drinks at John Harvard’s. We got up early in the morning and did the Freedom Trail Run (one of my favorite Boston activities) and then enjoyed the best clam chowder in the world at Union Oyster House, which is only known as America’s oldest restaurant. We also spent a little time shopping at Anthropologie (the mother ship) and watched a very strange movie.  We were busy little betties, but we had so much fun.
 

Over-dramatic Emotions, You Are Welcome Here

You know when you just need girl time? You need to be able to vent, laugh, cry and get your head screwed on straight with truthful advice from those who love you most (and let you get away with things least.) It was such a beautiful time and was, unfortunately, cut short due to Hurricane Sandy. My sister and cousin flew out a little early to ensure they could make it home on time, which ended up being a very wise move. My big sis had a flight a few hours later in the day, so we avoided the rain storm together before she had to depart. All in all, it was a treasured weekend. Do you have a special band of women in your life that strengthen, encourage and just “get” you? Take a moment to reach out and thank them for their investment in your life. We are lucky ladies to have each other, and girls, we gotta stick together!

City Musings: Ode to the Green Line

I take public transportation to work. It’s as grimy as it sounds.

DISCLAIMER: If you are my mother (or my mother-in-law), just stop reading. You will not like what is about to follow. Because although I am extremely thankful to take the Boston Subway (or MBTA, fondly known as “the T”) to work, I often encounter grimy-ness that can only be described as odious. Being squished up against strangers during rush hour, smelling their coffee breath, dodging their up-close and personal sneezes… it’s all a little stomach-wrenching. Especially in the wee hours of the morning. Actually, its equally as sick in the evening, too.

To be completely honest, I am thankful to live in a walking, community-oriented city that provides public transportation for its inhabitants. It’s a wild world out there (cue Cat Stevens jam), and we are all just trying to find our way. Mostly to work, but occasionally our way also leads us to a new restaurant. Or bowling alley. I promise I’m not as grandmotherly as I sound (although, I have yet to gush about my new crochet project. Details to come.)

My personal work journey involves walking about 6 minutes to the T, taking two trains (red line, switch to the green line) and then walking about 6 more minutes to my office. Haymarket is one of my favorite stops, not necessarily because it leads me to my office, but it is also the stop that takes you to Boston’s historic Italian North End (to-die-for cannolis anyone?)

Hailing from Atlanta, where public transportation is only used by criminals (sorry MARTA), the initial thought of taking the subway to work just made laugh. With ironic glee. In Atlanta, my husband and I each had our own cars and frequently drove hundreds of miles per week. Just for life stuff. Church, family, work. In Georgia that’s just the norm. My new norm? I exist within about a 4-mile radius. And I never leave it. I have to attribute most of that to the MBTA. So as much as I complain about the T and its germ-laden handle bars, I am secretly relishing the city-girl lifestyle it provides me. And the lack of a car payment and insurance. Oh, and gas prices. I have stopped paying attention to gas prices. Don't cry, car owners.