Double Your Pleasure, Double Your Fun

There’s no better fall activity than apple picking. It’s a quintessential autumn activity. Lucky for me, Kyle and I picked the perfect sunny, cool day to do it in. We went to a lovely little place, Shelburne Farm, in Stow, MA—they had pumpkins, apple cider, floppy-eared bunnies, and kettle korn. What more could you ask for. It was a wonderful morning, and we walked away with an enormous, overflowing bag of gorgeous apples—every shape, size, and kind. Afterwards, we swung by Concord Center, another one of my favorite places, for a little antique fabric shopping…

 

  (Turns out, these old fabrics were quite appropriate for this week’s apple-picking-inspired ninepatch)

 …and lunch at Walden Grille. The day was going perfectly, until I suddenly realized during the carried home that my slouchy knit beanie was nowhere to be found. Maybe losing a hat isn’t such a big deal to most people (and most hats) but, to be honest, I was heartbroken. In the couple short weeks that I’d had that beanie, I’d really fallen in love. We called the restaurant, the farm, the antique stores, and then drove back and searched around ourselves… nothing. I’ll admit I was more than a little grumpy. But, rather than let this mishap totally ruin the rest of my day, I did something about it. That’s right, in one single afternoon/evening, I re-knit the entire hat. If this sounds crazy, well… it probably is. But I felt a million times better when it was complete.

 

 Probably looks like exactly like it did the first time and that’s because it is exactly the same. But having to re-knit this hat raised a good point. My working process is usually as follows: get an idea, start stitching/sewing/knitting/cooking without any steadfast plan, improvise as I go, achieve a respectably high rate of success, then find myself unsure whether or not I will be able to reproduce my results. Interesting… and sort of a problem when I do want to reproduce them. Luckily, I managed to figure out the hat again, and this time you’d better believe I wrote down what I did. I’ve also decided to share this simple pattern with the masses. It’s very straightforward but with some creative yarn/color choices, you can make yourself a totally unique accessory. I love these slouchy beanies because they keep you warm, but they’re casual and stylish enough to wear indoors as well. So, here you go…

            SLOUCHY BEANIE

                        Note: I’m including instructions for my color scheme in [] but feel free to use whatever color combos you like, alternating every four rows, every other row…  or maybe not at all. I used Heirloom Merino Magic yarn from Australia, but most worsted weight yarns will do- just check your gauge. While it doesn’t matter if the body of the hat is loser, you don’t want to the rim to be too baggy (or tight).

            Yarn

• Four colors of a lightweight wool or cotton yarn [Green (A), Purple (B), Orange (C), Red (D)]

            Gauge

• 5 sts/1 inch on size 10 needles

            Needles

• 16″ circular needles, size 6 and size 10
•  Double-pointed needles, size 10

            Ribbing

• C.O. 100 stitches to the 6-inch needles [with A]
• Knit a 1 x 1 rib in the round (*K1, P1, repeat from *) until you have completed 10 rows, or about 1½”

            Body

• Change to the size 10 needles
• [Still using A], *K3, inc, into the next stitch, repeat from * until you have completed one row
• Knit  32 rows of stockinette stitch (knit every stitch in the round), or until the hat measures 6″, not including the ribbing [4 rows B, 4 rows C, 4 rows D, 4 rows B, 4 rows C, 4 rows D, 4 rows B, 4 rows C]

           Decrease

• [change to A] *K3, K2tog, repeat from * until you have completed one row
• Switch to double-pointed needles
• *K2, K2tog, repeat from * until you have completed one row
• *K1, K2tog,  repeat from * until you have completed one row
• *K2tog, repeat from * until you have completed one row
• Cut the yarn and pull it through the remaining stitches. Weave in all loose ends.

             I’ve also engaged in some double knitting that was a little less heartbreaking—as in, not motivated by loss. You see, I’ve fallen in love with funnel scarves (again, I really take back what I said about having enough scarves) and after purchasing this one from Madewell in New York

 

        I decided to create one of my own. So I dug into my stash of Ariosa from that glorious summer that I interned at Classic Elite Yarns, and came up with this:

 

            Another incredibly easy project…and luckily, I kept track of this one as well. But I don’t want to bombard you with too many patterns in one post, so I’ll hold off on it for now…a little motivation to keep coming back 🙂

Pleased with this first funnel scarf attempt, I decided I needed to make another—ideally, one that was multicolored. But I quickly realized that an intarsia funnel neck would only be semi-successful since you’d see through to the carried yarn on the back. Not all that attractive. Here’s where the double knitting comes in. Basically, after scrolling through all the online tutorials I could find, I introduced a new skill to my knitting repertoire: quite literally, double knitting. While the online tutorials are helpful, they’re unnecessarily intimidating, and tend to claim that this is one of the trickiest techniques out there. It’s really not, as long as you keep your wits about you and think about how you’re knitting. The only drawback, as far as I can tell: it really does take twice as long. The bonuses: endless. No unsightly intarsia work on the back, thicker/warmer knitted fabric, and for some reason… it’s just fun. So, here’s what I came up with:

 

            Don’t think that all this glorious knitting means I haven’t been sewing. Au contraire. Then again, this blog post could go on forever, so for now I’ll just share one of my latest little creations, and save the rest for another day.

            Coming home at the end of a long day is such a good feeling. But I decided it would be nice to have a little something on the door to welcome me back—and to make it clear which apartment is mine for friends who are unable to remember/get lost in the apartment building. There’s no better way to identify my doorway than, you guessed it, a little quilt.

 

            I’m going to guestimate that this took me approximately 1 hour to make…so try it out yourself!

  Mini Door Quilt

             Materials

• Four 2½” squares cotton fabric, any pattern of your choosing
• One 5½” square fabric for the back
• One 5 ½”square batting
• One strip 2½” x 7″ (can be shorter or longer depending on how you want your hanger to lay on the door)
• One button

             Directions

• Sew together two of the 2½” square using a ¼” seam allowance. Repeat with the other two squares. Press the seams open.
• Sew together these two rows of squares, aligning the seams, to form a patchwork square that is two 2½” squares by two 2½” squares. Press the seams open.
• Make a mini quilt sandwich: lay your backing fabric wrong-side up, your batting, and your patchwork square. Center the patchwork square so there is an extra ½” of batting and backing fabric at each side. Pin the three layers together with four safety pins.
• Sew your button through all three layers at the point where the four top squares intersect. To hide the first knot, begin by pulling your needle through the top layer, then back up through the back. Sew through the button several times so that it is secure. To hide the end knot, you can try knotting through the thread between the back of the button and top of the quilt, but this may leave too much bulk. If so, simply a tie a knot at the back of the quilt, and pull the thread through some of the backing and batting before trimming it.
• Trim away any excess batting so that it is the same size as the quilt top. Fold the extra ½” of backing fabric at each side in half and press. Fold it again over the top of the quilt (so it is overlapping ¼”), press, and pin in place, creating mitered corners.

• Edgestitch around the boarder, as close to the edge as possible, through all three layers of the quilt.
• To make the hanger, fold the two long sides of the fabric strip in toward the wrong side of the fabric so that the edges meet and press. Fold in the short edges of each strip about ½” and press again, then fold the strip in half. Stitch the strip together by stitching very closely to the edge along each short side, and the open long side.
• To attach the hanger to the quilt, simply stitch using coordinating thread. You’ll be able to see the thread on the front of the quilt, but I personally think this is no big deal.

 

In retrospect, some step-outs might have been helpful for this project. I’ll keep that in mind for next time. Meanwhile, email me with questions!

            Of course, there’s also been cooking…with apples…lots and lots of apples. For starters, I used Warren (my yeast) for the first time on Saturday night to make whole wheat sourdough pizza crust. He didn’t rise quite like I had wanted him too (I told you, Warren is moody) but was still quite delicious. Kyle made one pizza (hot sausages, hot mustard, and apples) and I made another (butternut squash, raisins, broccoli, prosciutto, cheese, and of course… apples). So good. There’s really nothing like homemade pizza.

 

    I used this recipe from Pizzathepie.com, but substituted whole wheat bread flour for regular bread flour, and upped the honey to more like 1½ tablespoons. My one caveat: be sure that the pizza is relatively thin before cooking (about ½”) and place it on a greased baking sheet—don’t use foil, it won’t come off easily!

            And what other fool could I possibly make besides caramel apple? That’s right, my second time making this as well. So I paid attention.

 

Caramel Apple Fool

             Ingredients

• 8 small apples, cored and diced (I used a combination of all different types: since they’re all stewed together, it doesn’t really matter. Some might get softer more quickly than others, but you won’t notice in the final stages.)
• 1 cup caramel sauce
• ½ cup sugar
• 2 pints of whipping cream (I like good old Hood®)

              Directions

• Place the apples and caramel in a large saucepan over medium heat until the caramel begins to bubble just a bit, and the apples, and stir until they begin to soften. Add the sugar and stir.
• Turn the heat to medium-low and allow the apple-caramel-sugar mixture to stew on the stove for about 20-30 minutes, or until the apples are very soft.
• Remove the apple mixture from the heat, and allow it to cool completely.
• Once the apples are cool, whip the two pints of cream using an electric mixer (or by hand, if you’re patient!). This goes very quickly if you place the mixing bowl and whisk in the freezer beforehand. Whip until the cream begins to firm, forming stiff peaks as it whips (or, obviously, so it is the consistency of whipping cream). Keep an eye on it and don’t go for too long: you want it to be soft, not foamy.
• Place the whipped cream in a large serving bowl, and fold in the apple-caramel mixture, ¼ at a time. Mix so that it is evenly distributed throughout the whipped cream.
• Allow to cool in the fridge for at least two hours before serving. It only gets better with time (though goes bad after about a week) and usually tastes even better the next day.

 

            I also figured out a wonderful, quick, weekday dinner: pulled pork and apple polenta. I made it on Tuesday, and loved it so much, I had to make it again on Thursday. Which means, yes, I had to remember what I did. Since polenta is 100 times better when it’s fresh, I’m giving the recipe for one serving, but it can easily be doubled, tripled, or quadrupled, depending on how many you are serving.

 Pulled Pork Polenta

         Ingredients

• ½ cup yellow polenta
• 1 ½ cups chicken broth
• 1/8 cup grated parmesan cheese
• ¼ yellow onion, diced
• 1 small apple, cored and diced
• ½ cup baby carrots, halved
• ½ cup spinach/any leafy green
• ¼ cup pulled pork*
• 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt to taste

        Directions

• Coat the bottom of a small frying pan with the olive oil, and place it over medium heat. Add the apples and carrots, and cook until they have softened, stirring them continuously. This takes about 20 minutes, depending on how soft you would like them to be. I find it’s nice when the apples still have a little crunch.
• Place the chicken broth in a medium-sized sauce pan over medium heat, and cook until it begins to simmer slightly. Poor in the polenta and stir continuously. Add the parmesan while stirring, and add salt to taste (be generous: polenta needs a lot of help to bring out its flavor). Turn off the heat while the polenta is still very soft, since it continues to firm.
• Meanwhile, turn the heat on again under the apples and carrots, and add the leafy greens and polenta, stirring until all the ingredients are warm—only a couple of minutes.
• Pour the polenta into a soup bowl, and form a slight ditch in the middle. Add the pork and vegetable mixture. Eat it with a spoon, and enjoy!

*I love the store-bought kind those plastic tubs, such as that made by Lloyd’s®. But, if you have 8-10 hours   to spare, you can always make your own quite easily. Simply place 1 ½ lbs. of pork shoulder roast, ½ cup water, and 6 oz. barbecue sauce in a slow cooker or crock pot. Cover and cook on medium heat for 8 to 10 hours, stirring every now and then so the pork shreds. When done, stir in the remaining barbecue sauce.

            So, I hope you find these patterns and recipes usual, or inspirational at the very least. They mark a new path in my crafting and cooking career, and I’m looking forward to including even more. I’ve always loved sewing, knitting, and good food, and I look forward to spreading the joy.

Starting From Scratch

It’s easy to take the building blocks of everyday objects for granted. Most of the time, we don’t know what exactly the ingredients or materials that we’re dealing with are. (I felt this way about gnocchi for a long time—for some reason, I couldn’t even remotely fathom what combination of ingredients and what kind of cooking process could produce such miraculous little pillows of goodness. A few tries later, I definitely understand the mystery, though I haven’t exactly perfected it).  

Now, I do enough sewing and cooking to qualify as not completely out-of-touch with the basics, but sometimes I’m still tempted to get even closer to the sources of what I’m making.

This impulse led me to spending my entire Saturday dyeing fabric. I’m going to come right out and say it; this was fun, interesting, and somewhat gratifying—but mainly, it was a pain in the butt and not all that successful. I’m sure I just haven’t gotten my groove, and one can hardly expect their first try to be a roaring success, but I don’t think fabric dyeing is really for me in the end (even after my little spiel; I forgot to mention that once you understand your basic building blocks, it’s OK to not make them yourself every single time). I literally spent all day at it, and only came away with a few strips of fabric that I’m truly pleased with out all of this:

 

  That being said, I don’t regret that Saturday afternoon. It was an experience I’ve always wanted, and now I’m even a tiny bit more aware of what goes into this incredible fabric-dyeing process—and very grateful that there are others who are more gifted than I. Maybe I’ll give it another go (next time I’ll wear gloves since I think the friends I had over for dinner for on Saturday night were somewhat alarmed by my purple- and red-stained hands though I tried to convince them their food wasn’t poisoned with fabric dye) but for now, I’ve selected my favorite strips and I’m keeping them in mind until a brilliant project idea comes along…

 

 At the very least, I got this week’s nine-patch out of it:

Back to basics step number two: I rekindled my yeast. Well, I started it all over again actually since my first one was lost in the moving shuffle. So far, it’s looking good—or, it’s looking (and smelling) the way that yeast should. Now, I used to think it was weird when people named their yeast, but then I discovered that Clotilde Dusoulier of Chocolate and Zucchini, someone who I very much admire and respect, named her yeast (http://chocolateandzucchini.com/archives/2009/07/natural_starter_bread.php#more), so I don’t feel quite so judgmental. In fact, I’ve named mine Warren. He’s somewhat moody. I had to shut the windows in the apartment since he did not respond well to the cold and developed a layer of hooch. But hopefully he doesn’t let me down. My last sourdough was so very, very good.

Anyway, shortly after my semi-successful fabric dyeing, I was fortunate enough to stumble upon another (free) source of fabric, and one of my favorite types: old clothing. My boyfriend spent his Saturday unpacking (yes, after about two months of living in our new apartment, he is finally unpacking) and going through all the old clothing he no longer wears. Lucky for me, this includes some polo shirts:

 

This isn’t exactly the easiest fabric to cut into super-precise shapes, so I did a bit of brainstorming and concluded that rectangles would be best. But, since I didn’t want to waste any fabric, and since it’s hard to get to exact, I decided they could be of any length as width they were all 5″ high. Now I have some lovely stacks of variously striped fabric to work with:

  I’m planning on a kind of uneven brick-like layout, like so (just in case you don’ t know what bricks look like):

 

I’m hoping I have enough for a full-sized quilt. If not, the local Goodwill is just around the corner so I can easily and cheaply augment my polo shirt collection. Something about the cooler weather really puts me in the mood for a full-sized quilt project. It’s so nice to get into a piecing rhythm and have a steady, reliable project to go home to in the evenings. I almost started piecing it together this past Sunday but suddenly realized I couldn’t proceed in good conscious until I finished my poor Story Quilt. Somehow, this had fallen shamefully off my radar! And so close to done; just ¾ of the border had to be finished. So I spent a couple of hours blind stitching the final bit of border and voila:

I’d sort of forgotten about this quilt but finishing it made me fall in love all over again. It’s colorful and soft, and covered in wonderful words. I’m thrilled to have it completed.

While I was still in school and my boyfriend lived in an apartment with two of his guy friends, we had a tradition called Spaghetti Sunday. Which is just what it sounds like. And this Sunday, I returned to it with a rather unconventional take on Spaghetti and Bolognese. I feel like Bolognese sauce is another one of those things that’s just so easy to buy, most people don’t bother to make their own or even wonder about what this involves. Well, let me tell you, it’s really quite simple. And when you’re making it yourself, you can throw in whatever weird ingredient you like… in this case, pineapple.

 

This might sound weird at first, but haven’t you ever had pineapple on a burger, or any other piece of meat? Maybe not, but it’s not such a far-out combination (very common in Hawaii and Puerto Rico) and it’s very tasty.

Finally, my fondness for the fall weather is growing every day so I had to make an Autumny fool: maple syrup, pumpkin, and dates. It’s a perfect dessert for this time of year, like eating fall leaves… but tastes a whole lot better.

 

 If only I’d pureed the pumpkin myself; then it would truly be fool made from scratch. Maybe next time…

Patchwork Pants

(I just couldn’t resist another P alliteration)

You know the expression that money burns a hole in your pocket? Well, I never really seem to have that problem… perhaps because money doesn’t linger in my pockets for all that long. Gorgeous unused fabric, however, is another story. It calls to me tauntingly, always catching my eye when I’m too busy to actually do anything with it. Even worse when it’s beautifully wrapped into a fat quarter pack, all coordinated and nicely folded. Remember that trip to Portsmouth Fabric a few weeks ago, and the Kafe Fassett packet that I bought there? I didn’t either until a few days ago, when I realized it had remained shamefully untouched for far too long. Fortunately, a gloriously unbooked Sunday afternoon rolled around so I decided to do something about it. My first instinct was a skirt, but I have lots of skirts (truth be told, I have lots of anything that can be made out of fabric) so I decided to mix it up a bit. Some of my most random—but successful—ideas come to me while I’m swimming, and this one was no exception. Mid-stroke, I suddenly decided to make loose capris with these colorful striped prints. Since my vision was very precise, I made the pattern myself. This isn’t that impressive; it consisted of one piece which I modeled off of a favorite pair of pants I already owned: 

Naturally, I patchworked the fabrics together before cutting out the pattern piece four times (two for each leg). The waste is simply a thick strip of fabric with a 2″ elastic in between. 
 

Every now and then, a sewing project turns out exactly how you imagined. This was one of those projects. They’re super comfy—which I attribute in large part to the thick elastic, something I will definitely use more of in the future—and colorful…and the kind of crazy thing that I love to wear. They’ll be perfect in warmer weather but, with tights underneath, they’ll see me through the fall and winter as well.

Fortunately, I had just enough fabric leftover to squeeze out this week’s nine-patch: 
 

I’m also pleased to announce The Return of Knitting. Yes, I hadn’t been hitting the needles much for the past few weeks—except to pass the time in bad traffic. For one thing, warm weather doesn’t exactly make me crave knitwear. And I guess I just fell out of the habit. But all that changed when a couple of knitting books were randomly sent to the Quilting Arts office (this is the kind of wonderful thing that happens when you work at a quilting magazine) and since I’m the only knitter there (!), I was told to take them home. As you may have realized by now, I’m only so-so on strictly following knitting patterns, so I used these books for general inspiration. In particular, Hattitude by Cathy Carron, caught my eye and motivated me to fulfill my long-held ambition to create a floppy beanie. I dug through my yarn stash and rediscovered the lovely Australian wool that I’d purchased in Tasmania, and a few hours later, completed this: 

It’s a promising reentrance into the Knitting Season. I’m pleased and inspired, and reminded of what I love about knitting. It’s slow and sensual (yes, I’d really use that word). On a shallower note, it’s perfect after a long day at work, when you’re tired and ready to park yourself in front of the TV to watch the latest episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Knitting is officially back in my life.

Thanks to big Saturday night dinner of chicken, root vegetables, and sweet potato gnocchi—and a fresh supply of green tomatoes for frying—I spent the week working away at leftovers, which means no new pasta to speak of for now. On the other hand, I had a particularly successful fool: Kiwi-Grape. Turns out, these two fruits are as close to ideal as it comes for fool. The kiwis get very soft, and disperse themselves nicely throughout the whipped cream, while the grapes stay a little more intact and add a lovely bit of crunch.

 

I wish I’d have the foresight to save a couple slices of kiwi for garnish, since the grapes don’t do much decoratively. But trust me, it tasted good.

Finally, my latest bread-baking adventure was also a great success. As a housewarming gift, my mother bought me La Cloche, by Sassafras. This is a glorious stone dome that can be used to bake bread, among other things (including a roast beef recipe that I’m eager to try out). Aside from simply being a beautiful piece of kitchenware, this thing really creates a lovely loaf. I made Honey Whole Wheat that came in the box, a pretty standard, simple recipe. So many factors go into the bread-baking process, it’s hard to know whether or not to give La Cloche full credit (I do believe my milk was at a perfect 105 degrees before I dissolved the yeast, and that I kneaded just the right amount, stopping before the dough became too firm), but it no doubt had something to do with it. The curst was just right, the inside fluffy and soft.  

I’d highly recommend this to anyone vaguely interested in bread baking. And if you’re not interested in bread baking, now’s the season to start…the same goes for knitting. Hence why I love this time of year.

In Defense of the Impractical

There are times in life when everything you do seems geared toward a general, even sensical, purpose. Other times, you find yourself engaging in those wonderfully unnecessary, but fun, endeavors; the kinds of things that add  a bit of pizzazz to your life, however silly they may seem.

For instance, in one of those inexplicable moments of sudden inspiration, I decided to make patchwork covers for my salt and pepper shakers. They were simply too dull without them. It took me a little while to figure out how exactly I was going to go about doing this, but I did succeed. Basically, I made  little patchwork bags, into which I inserted a yarn drawstring closure, accented by beads. This was, overall, an easy process, but working with such small bits of fabric can be tricky. You really have to respect those ¼” seam allowances. So I took it slowly and managed to get through nearly hiccup-free.

 

In another random moment of inspiration, I also added buttons to the black cube side table that we inherited from the Eccles furniture stash. A hot glue gun, my button collection, and about half an hour later…

 

I also took a break from home décor sewing to make… I have a confession… a scarf. I retract my earlier statement that I have enough scarves. Turns out, there’s just no such thing. Scarves are the ultimate accessory; they add so much to a simple (or not-so-simple outfit), they’re comfortable, and perfect for cutting that slight chill out of these early fall days. They come in all shapes and sizes. I will never, ever stop making scarves. My latest is more out of the ordinary for me; first of all, I’ve never sewn (rather than knit) a scarf. I used leftover corduroy  from an old pair of pants, and more scraps from my dad’s fabulous silk tie collection:

 

Notice the cigar pattern. I’m no smoker, but that’s got to be my favorite–it’s just hilarious.

Between the soft corduroy and silky ties, this is one comfortable scarf. It’s also a little lighter than my patchwork and domino scarf-blankets. The silk makes it nice enough to wear out in the evening, which I did indeed do this weekend in NYC. I also wore it all day long while walking throughout the city, or taking a break on the steps of the MET:

 

I love the city. I mean, I’m a total Bostonian at heart, but NYC is this exciting whirlwind metropolis that’s fun to escape to every now and then. So, naturally, this week I made a Big Apple Nine Patch:

 

I’m not sure why, but these fabrics speak NYC to me; the vibrant color and joyful pattern, that Big Apple red. I also made another nine patch earlier in the week. The inspiration for it is sort of vague, but for some reasons the week (pre-NYC) felt very steady and calm; one of those routine, delightfully uneventful weeks. So I tried to make some very steady, calm fabric choices:

 

Though I had a weekend of indulgent eating out in the city, I did manage to get in some kitchen time of my own before leaving. Firstly, I took my second stab at whole wheat anadama bread, following a recipe in the Laurel Kitchen whole grain bread book.

 

This one was much more successful. It called for whole wheat bread flour which, for the record, is not easy to find. I finally tracked it down in the bulk section at Whole Foods after the helpful but misguided employee insisted that no such flour existed. The bread had a lovely flavor, but still wasn’t quite fluffy enough for my taste. I’m sure there will be a stab three.

 I also planned ahead, and realized that returning to Boston late on a Sunday night would leave me little time to grocery shop/cook, so I made big bowls of (you guessed it) pasta and fool to tide me over. I’m always so delighted by how well these two foods save. I swear they often get even better as the flavors all stew together.

The pasta is a combination of some of my favorite staple foods; sweet potato, broccoli, raisins, and chicken, accompanied by a light cream sauce.

 

The raisins and sweet potatoes add a lovely, sweet undertone–and a creaminess–which is balanced out by the salty-savory chicken and broccoli. This one is definitelya new favorite.

As for my fool, I made use of some very end-of-season peaches and a couple cartons of blackberries.

 

After a long, busy weekend, it was such a relief to come home to a delicious, wholesome meal that I didn’t have to buy, or slave away at.

However, just to point out that I do actually make more than pasta and fool (I evencooked kangaroo last weekend, believe it or not), I’m going to briefly mention some other recent cooking adventures. In honor of Kyle’s Southern (Floridian) roots, I made a Sunday dinner of chili, corn bread (yeast-free and hence a whole lot easier than most of the breads I’ve been making), and fried green tomatoes (fresh from my mother’s garden):

 

I added in a medley of colorful potatoes (also from my mother’s garden) which were so fresh, they tasted divine just simply roasted with a bit of thyme and rosemary:

Since NYC was one of those blow-the-budget weekends, I see lots of eating in in my future—and I’m completely looking forward to it. Dining out is a wonderful treat, but nothing beats home cooking. Fall is settling in more and more every day, and those cozy indoor evenings are becoming increasingly appealing.