One time, a few years ago, Ryan and I went apple picking with our friends Phil and Meg. It’s incredibly easy to pick too many apples while apple picking and I remember thinking, “what can we possibly do with a wheelbarrow full of apples?!” And I think we made pies, and tarts, and ate them raw. But now, I think we should have made apple cider. Homemade apple cider makes your whole house smell like autumn and pie. And also you can use up a ton of apples. In the interest of full disclosure, I didn’t go apple picking for these apples. I just got them from the store. It’s less exciting, I know. 

But let me tell you more about the time we went apple picking – because I do have an exciting story about that time. This is a story that I think all four of us tell a lot. We drove out to a farm in rural Maryland and the place was decked out for fall. There was a little shop, hay bales, and pumpkins. And rows and rows of apple trees. We got wheelbarrows and strolled up and down the rows of apples.

There were all different kinds of apples and we picked out gigantic apples, tiny perfectly spherical apples, and overall we picked way more than we needed. In general, I need like 5 for a week so I can have one each day with lunch. And then for an apple pie I want 8-10 apples. What can I say, I like a fat pie? Anyway I think I went home with over 30 apples – and that doesn’t even count the ones we snacked on during the day.

Now back to the story…the four of us start to walk down this row of apple trees. We’re chatting mindlessly and enjoying the fall day when suddenly we see something we can never forget. One girl is holding up a coat at about waist height to cover her friend. Her friend had dropped her pants down to her ankles and she is peeing. Yes, she is peeing in the apple orchard!!! There are people – families even – all around us picking apples and this chick is peeing in the middle of it all. There was even a portable toilet back by the parking lot. But apparently this girl could not wait.

We quickly turned around and rushed to the next aisle. We’re having way down the row when we hear that girl loudly groan,

“Ugh! Feels so good!”

Most awkward and wildly inappropriate apple picking experience ever. It was shocking and horrifying in the moment, but it’s turned into a hilarious story ever since.

Ok, so I admit it, this post  was mostly an excuse to tell that story again. But if you are going apple picking this year making apple cider is a good way to use up your apples. I haven’t gone apple picking this year, unfortunately. But still, I used 18 apples from three different varieties (Braeburn, Gala, and Pink Lady) for this recipe; and it made a nice big jug of cider for me and Ryan. You can use whatever kind of apples you like, but I choose a mix so I’d have a balance of sweet and tart flavors.

This is also fun to make because it makes your house smell absolutely amazing. Seriously. It smells like pie, and cinnamon, and the best holiday scented candle you could buy at the mall. The end product will be a thick-ish concoction that tastes like liquid apple pie. You can also drink it hot or cold. When warm, I felt like it was fine as is (although a little added rum or whiskey is nice too!). When cold, I think it’s too rich and should be used more as a cordial to be diluted with water. Try it yourself and see what you think, but diluting it is a nice way to stretch the recipe. And don’t just stick to regular tap water, it’s lovely with sparkling water and ginger ale.

Adapted from Food.com

Messy level: Easy and straightforward until it’s time to strain it. Then you have to use a strainer, pour back and forth, use a lot of containers – and even strain it through cloth. It’s a bit oozy and messy and sticky. You’ve been warned.

Apple Cider

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

3 hours

Total time

3 hours 10 mins

 

Serves: ~ ¾ gallon

Ingredients

• 18 apples
• 1 - 1½ cups of sugar (depending on how sweet you'd like it)
• 3 cinnamon sticks
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 2 - 3 tablespoons all spice (depending on how much spice you'd like)
• water

Instructions

1. Wash the apples and cut them into quarters. Don't worry about cutting out the seeds or stem, it will come out later.
2. Put the apples, sugar, cinnamon sticks, ginger, and all spice into a large pot.
3. Cover the apples with water. This is tricky because the apples float, but do your best to add enough water until apples are just covered.
4. Put the pot on the stove and turn the heat to medium-high. Bring to a boil and let it bubble for one hour, uncovered. Check it regularly just to make sure it's not bubbling over. You can also stir it a bit if you feel things are rising to the top and should be mixed.
5. Lower the heat, cover the pot, and let it simmer for an additional two hours. Your house will smell amazing.
6. Remove from heat and let it cool to the point that it's safe for you to handle.
7. Put a fine sieve over a large bowl. Carefully pour the contents of the pot into the sieve. The liquid in the bowl is your cider, set it aside for now.
8. Remove the cinnamon sticks from the sieve. Now, take the contents of your sieve and put it all in the blender. Blend it up until it's a even mush.
9. Put this apple mush (which is yummy by the way, take a spoonful to taste) and put it into a cheesecloth or other thin cloth that you don't mind getting dirty (like a tea towel).
10. Squeeze the mush in the cheese cloth over your bowl of cider. Squeeze until you get as much juice out as you can.
11. If you don't like bits of pulp or spice in your cider, then you can continue to strain it through the sieve and/or cheesecloth until you get it as clear as you like. I only ran it through once as I don't mind things settling to the bottom of the glass. Do what feels best to you.
12. Now you have all your cider in a bowl! Transfer it to a pitcher and put it in the fridge to cool. Or heat put it back in your pot to heat it up if you'd like it warm. You're done!

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I have a new addition to my cookbook collection that I want to tell you about. It’s Domestic Chíc by Kristin Sollenne. The book came out earlier this month and it’s lovely. Kristin Sollenne has been on a few Food Network TV shows as a judge or mentor and she’s oversees the three kitchens of New York City Restaurant Group’s Bocca Di Bacco. Her style is lightened Italian-American fare that aligns with what’s in season. 

Domestic Chíc isn’t just recipes though, it’s about making entertaining easier and more enjoyable. The book is divided into four sections for each of the seasons, then within each season there are menus for different entertaining occasions. So, for winter there is a New Year’s Eve menu, a Super Bowl menu, as well as a few other menu ideas. The idea being that if you were having a party you could cook everything from a given menu and you’d have your starters, mains, and desserts – but alternatively you could go à la carte and just pick and choose what you liked.

I’m really into the menu ideas. I think it’s helpful for holidays when you know you’ll be cooking – like Thanksgiving, or maybe Valentine’s Day. I also think it’s nice because it could encourage you to be festive even without an occasion – like her Nautical menu. Also, I really loved that she used similar items across menus. I think this makes cooking really easy and less expensive – especially for new or infrequent cooks. If I was going to be asked to buy pecans for a pecan pie – then I knew I could go back to Domestic Chíc and find one or two other recipes that called for pecans. I love that because then nothing gets purchased and then left to take up space forgotten in my cupboard.

Above each menu is a head note with a little anecdote about Sollenne’s own memories or experiences and then a decorating suggestion to complement the menu’s theme. On the surface I like the idea of this. I think when entertaining it’s valuable to set a whole mood. And why not run wild with your theme? But, I really wished the accompanying photos showed what she described. For with a fall menu she suggested using jewel tone plates to highlight the bold colors of autumn, but the photo was of white plates and some orange leaves. I like the visual inspiration and just thought that would have been helpful.

But, while we’re talking about photographs let’s talk about Kristin Sollenne. She’s crazy beautiful. She looks like Princess Jasmine. In the cookbook there are a few photos of her working as a chef, and those are my favorite. There are also a few photos of her in heels and a cocktail dress wearing her Cellini aprons (I think it’s a brand she designs). She’s super cute. However, I’m not sure anyone can cook for a dinner party in a cocktail dress and heels. You gotta throw that on right before guests arrive so they can be all, “wow you are so put together,” and you can nod and say, “oh thanks!”

What makes the book though is the recipes. There were so many recipes that I immediately wanted to make. In reviewing this cookbook I made four recipes. I made a cheesecake with berries, melting brie with fruit, pumpkin gnocchi, and this recipe for pumpkin bread. As this is an entertaining book the portions are huge. Specifically, this pumpkin bread recipe makes two really big loaves! I made the cheesecake first and it was really delicious and much easier than I thought it would be. It also was really delicious with a subtle flavor of vanilla and lemon zest. It was so good Ryan and I decided I shouldn’t bring any in to work to share with my colleagues.

For this recipe, and for some of the others I made, I would have liked visual indicators in addition to time indicators. I had never made cheesecake before… and as it cooked it rose and looked like a giant cheesecake muffin. I was nervous. Should it look like that?! The recipe just said how long to bake it. I listened to the recipe and the cheesecake deflated and looked and tasted great in the end. But I was worried, I didn’t know! It worked out well though, so maybe I’m stressing too hard.

The melting brie was beyond easy and would be perfect for an appetizer at a party. Who doesn’t love melted cheese? The pumpkin gnocchi is where I ran into problems. I was not able to get the dough to come together and so all I had was orange goo. I’m willing to try it again as it might have been user error. As well, sometimes I have problems with US recipe using UK dairy. My guess it that the fat contents are different and so things don’t come together in the same way. Who knows, it didn’t work.

The pumpkin bread however was a different story. It worked like a dream and was so delicious. I love pumpkin bread from Starbucks or from the Pillsbury box – so I’m excited I can now make this on my own. It was so easy to make and tastes delicious. The bread is soft and tasty. It’s great for breakfast, probably with enough structure to toast, and infinitely snackable. I know snackable isn’t a word, but it should be. I can see this pumpkin bread becoming my autumn staple. It’s perfect for the season, sweet, and simple to make. I can see bringing it to work to share with coworker, I can see making it for cabin weekends with my friends, and I can see making it just to have for breakfast.

Although I have a few issues with the book, overall I’m really into it. I can completely see turning back to it on Thanksgiving to make a pecan pie, or on Christmas for cinnamon buns, or just for dinner so I can make curried linguine al’vongole. I think it will become a book with food splattered pages and creases in the spine. Check it out, it’s great.

Domestic Chic was given to me for free by Waldorf Publishing. The opinions, writing, and photographs in this post are all my own. 

Recipe from Domestic Chic by Kristin Sollenne. No changes or additions from me.

Messy level: Pretty straightforward recipe, you just need two bowls, mix, and bake. Very simple.

Pumpkin Bread

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

90 mins

Total time

1 hour 40 mins

 

Author: Kristin Sollenne from Domestic Chic

Serves: 2 loaves

Ingredients

• 3½ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons sea salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground cloves
• 3 cups sugar
• 1 cup canola oil
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 2 cups pumpkin
• ⅔ cup water
• ½ cup candied pecans, loosely chopped

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two loaf pans. In a medium-mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda, sea salt, baking powder, nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon and cloves.
2. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, blend sugar, oil, and eggs. Stir in pumpkin. Slowly blend the flour mixture into pumpkin mixture. While blending the mixture add the water incrementally. Pour the batter into two prepared loaf pans. Sprinkle chopped pecans on top. Bake for 90 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before removing from the oven.

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But England does not celebrate pumpkin everything like the U.S. I can’t find pumpkin spice in the grocery store so I make my own instead. A few weeks ago I had a craving for a pumpkin spice latte. Ryan and I decided to trek over to Starbucks to find out if it had arrived. Mind you, in the U.S. you’d never have to guess because every Starbucks window would be plastered with orange writing and pumpkin pictures. On the way to Starbucks we passed at least four proper coffee shops and a few other places that also sold coffee, but my heart was set on a PSL. We got there, and we were nervous, but they had it! It was advertised with only one small picture and a line item on the menu. How are the people of England supposed to know about pumpkin mania with such little advertising?

To get my true pumpkin fix, I hit the kitchen. I found this recipe for a pumpkin swiss roll on Pinterest and I was excited, but nervous to try it out. To make the beautiful swirl you have to bake then roll up a cake. Roll up a cake?! What if I break it? The key is, as soon as it comes out of the oven, you roll up the cake (without the filling) while it is hot. The cake won’t be so hot as to burn you, but I recommend using gloves or an oven mitt to make it easier. Then, wait for the cake to  be completely cool. It’s hard to be patient (and Ryan and I weren’t entirely patient), but if the cake is hot it will melt your filling and you don’t want that.

This cake is a great treat for any old day, but I also think it can be pretty enough to bring to a party or to your Thanksgiving feasts. The swirl of cream cheese looks just beautiful when cut. And you might not believe me, but this is actually easy to make. Any level of baker can make this recipe, I know it. Most importantly, this roll is incredible delicious. Ryan and I ate this whole roll in about two and a half days and have been talking about making another one ever since. As you can see, we still haven’t gotten our pumpkin fix yet.

I hope you enjoy the new recipe format below. I like this a lot because it looks more streamlined and easy to read. If you like to print recipes, you can finally do that. If you bring your computer into the kitchen, like I do, then you don’t have to scroll as much and won’t get dirty fingers on the keyboard. The only drawback is that I can’t post pictures alongside the steps, but for difficult or strange techniques I’ll still post those pictures above the recipe.

Now enough talk. Get your pumpkin on! Recipe by Sweet Anna’s.

Messy level: This is a three spoon recipe, but just barely. I’m giving it three spoons because you need two bowls for the cake, one for the frosting, and then you still have to sprinkle powdered sugar everywhere. Also, if you over fill the inside you’ll have a cream cheese burst (like I did) at the end of the cake.

Pumpkin Rolls with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Filling

 

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Ingredients

• for the cake:
• ¼ cup powdered sugar (for dusting the towel)
• ¾ cup flour
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp salt
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ⅔ cup pumpkin purée
• for the filling:
• 8oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 6 tbsp butter, softened (if you don't let it soften you will have butter chunks in your filling)
• 1½ cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp cinnamon

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 375º/190º.
2. Line a 10x15" jelly roll pan with parchment paper. (a pan with edges all around, you have to have this pan) Then grease the parchment paper.
3. Somewhere on your counter, spread out a clean kitchen towel or piece of parchment paper, and sprinkle that with powdered sugar.
4. In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice & salt.
5. In a large bowl, beat eggs, vanilla & sugar until thick & creamy.
6. Add in the pumpkin and mix to combine.
7. Stir in the flour mixture.
8. Pour the batter onto the prepared pan. Spread the batter evenly.
9. Bake for 13-15 minutes, or until the top of the cake springs back when touched. Stay on the side of slightly under cooked, if you over cook it then cake will be too dry and won't roll.
10. Immediately loosen the edges of the cake and turn it out onto the sugared towel/parchment. Peel off the parchment paper.
11. Roll up the cake & towel together fairly tightly, starting with a narrow end.
12. Cool completely on a wire rack.
13. Now start on the filling. In another medium bowl, beat the cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter & vanilla until smooth.
14. Carefully unroll the cooled cake (removing the towel) and spread the cream cheese filling evenly over the cake, coming to about 1″ away from the edges. If you go all the way to the edge, you will have filling oozing out the end.
15. Carefully reroll the cake, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour.
16. Before serving cut a little slice off of each end so the roll has a smooth look. Then dust the top with powdered sugar.

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Rice crispy treats seemed like the perfect treat to make. They are ooey-gooey, pure sugar, and remind me of being in elementary school. But, I wanted to step them up a notch and include candy corn. I’m not a huge fan of candy corn; I want to eat about twelve pieces and then I’m done with it. Other people must feel the same because I had to go to two different CVS locations to find candy corn. When I finally did find it, I was directed to a tiny bag in the regular candy section, not with the Halloween section.

Candy corn might be waning in popularity, but it’s still a Halloween staple for me. I knew they’d add a nice color and different crunch to my rice crispy treats. With marshmallow, butter, and candy corn, there’s no better quick and yummy Halloween treat. So now I’m sugared up and ready! Happy Halloween!!

Adapted from the Rice Krispies website

Ingredients:

4 tbsp butter

1 10oz bag of regular or mini marshmallows

6 cups of Rice Krispies cereal

1 cup of candy corns

2 tsp Halloween sprinkles

Recommended: A silicone spoon or spatula. It will get coated with butter and so nothing sticks to it. 

Directions

1. Using a large pot, met the butter on low heat.

2. Add the marshmallows. Stir occasionally until melted. This takes less than 10 minutes (though I didn’t time exactly).

3. Remove from heat. Add the cereal and candy corn and stir. Do this on a flat surface because the cereal will try to shoot out! Stir until everything is coated in a web of marshmallow.

4. Press the mixture into a 9×13 pan. Press it in using your silicone spoon.

5. Sprinkle the sprinkles on top of the mixture. Press them down using your spoon.

6. Let sit until cool, then cut and serve.

Messy: Seriously a one pot dish. Ordinarily, melted marshmallow gets all over everything – but it doesn’t! It’s so coated with butter and cereal that the pot was almost spotless. I had NOTHING on my spoon, shirt, hands, or hair. It was awesome. I think this is one of the easiest and cleanest desserts  you could make.

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Yes, you read that right, I’m a big fan of Brussels sprouts. Growing up, I had always seen on kids on TV scrunch up their faces, stick out their tongues, and groan “eww Brussels sprouts.” So, I thought they were going to be gross and inedible. But then, a few years ago my friend Emily got them in her farm share and had me over and served them to me for dinner. I was nervous. I was 25 years old, I’d never tried a Brussels sprout, and I didn’t want to embarrass myself by refusing to eat my veggies. I cautiously speared one with my fork and tried it. And I liked it! Everything I had thought before was wrong! It was like when the character in Green Eggs and Ham finally tries the green eggs and ham, and realizes that after repeatedly saying  “I do not like them Sam-I-Am,” his world is blown and he does in fact like the new and strange looking food.

So now I’m crazy about Brussels sprouts. When they’re well-cooked I just want to scarf each sprout down like it’s a handful of popcorn. And this recipe is that good. I ate them fresh from the oven and later warmed in the microwave. I also ate them cold, while riding a school bus with fifth-graders after a field trip. This recipe is good in all conditions. Before I found this recipe, I found a lot of other recipes I didn’t want to make.  Apparently a ton of Brussels sprouts recipes include bacon. Don’t get me wrong, bacon is great. But I didn’t want to have to make bacon just to make the dish. And I wanted to make something that would let the vegetable flavors shine. I also wanted to roast the Brussels sprouts because I love when the inside is soft and chewy while the outside leaves are crispy, blackened, and a bit sweet.

Today’s recipe is adapted from a Whole Foods recipe. I was nervous about the proportions of rosemary, pine nuts, and cheese because I thought they would overpower the Brussels sprouts. I was wrong. The rosemary adds a great scent that evokes memories of the holidays and helped get me excited about the colder fall weather. The pine nuts add a nice toasty crunch. And finally the cheese… ahh the cheese. I love cheese, but I often feel that people use cheese to mask vegetables and I didn’t want to do that. So at first I added only two tablespoons of cheese. But Ryan, who never over cheeses anything, said he thought more cheese would be good because it really accentuated the flavors of the rest of the dish. So I think you should taste test between 2 tbsp and 1/4 cup to see what you like best. And if you’ve never had Brussels sprouts before, I hope you’ll try this  and let it change the way you think about this vegetable.

Ingredients:

1 pound Brussels sprouts

2 tbsp olive oil

1/4 tsp pepper (or more to taste)

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary (use 1 tsp in using dried rosemary)

1/4 cup pine nuts

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°.

2. Cut off any brown bottoms and pull of yellow leaves from Brussels sprouts.

3. Put the Brussels sprouts in a medium bowl. Add oil, pepper, salt, and rosemary. Stir until the sprouts are well coated.

4. Spread the Brussels sprouts on a rimmed baking sheet. Cook for 25 minutes.

5. Sprinkle the pine nuts over the roasted Brussels sprouts. Cook for 5 minutes more. By the end of cooking, nuts should have a darker brown color and the Brussels sprouts should be dark brown-black in color.

6. Remove Brussels sprouts from the oven. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and serve.

Messy Level: 

This gets one spoon. The whole thing goes from bowl, to baking sheet, and then you can serve it back in the bowl you used for mixing. There is very little work and mess in this recipe!

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