applesauce

Originally, I wanted to make apple butter and pumpkin pancakes this weekend. Big surprise, I changed my mind. When I saw the apples we picked from last weekend on our counter, I wanted nothing else but applesauce.

Applesauce belongs in the top ten easiest homemade awesome yummyness ever. The smell took me right back to days of my mom and grandma canning. My family always used foley food mills to strain the peels and mash the apples for large batches to can. Since I don't have a foley food mill and I only made a small amount, I peeled my apples and mashed it with a wooden spoon. I boiled the peels with the apples to give that pretty pink color (my favorite) and add more nutrients. 

Homemade Applesauce
6 medium-size apples (I used a combination of macoun and liberty)
3/4 to 1 cup water
None to 1/4 cup sugar

Core apples. Peel apples. Chop apples. Use some fresh lemon juice to keep apples from browning.

Mix apples, water, and sugar. Add apple peels (this gives applesauce a pretty pink color and more nutrients). Bring to a boil, cover and cook on medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Allow to cool, remove peels, and mash with a fork or potato masher. I didn't even mash it, stirring occasionally made it into a chunky applesauce. Add cinnamon if desired. Serve warm or chill then eat. Makes a small batch: four servings.

I hope you have a chance to make applesauce this fall. The smell alone makes you smile. Enjoy!

spiced pumpkin doughnuts

Fall baking, you keep me from taking naps. That's probably a good thing.

Today, I tried to make doughnuts... again. When I was home a month ago, Mallory, my sister-in-law, and I attempted since she had a deep fryer. It didn't go very well. The oil was too hot, we didn't have enough oil, and the doughnut recipe wasn't very good.

At least, this attempt redeemed homemade doughnuts. I've been craving them ever since we went to the orchard last weekend and bought apple cider doughnuts. I improvised on many levels: no buttermilk, no doughnut cutter or any cookie cutters (whoops, forgot that on my registry), and no chilling. And, I also let my oil get too hot.

As a result, these were my problems. The first few, during the too hot oil phase, were not cooked in the center. While the whole chilling the dough for three hours does not solve immediate cravings, I'm assuming it prevents the outside from overcooking making an overall fluffier doughnut. Mine were crunchy on the outside like elephants ears. I'm not complaining. I really like elephant ears.

In the end, they were awesome. It was like biting into deep-fried fall.

Next on the baking list: pumpkin pancakes and apple butter. Look for it this next week. Oh, and do you see that cute little pumpkin? 69 cents at Trader Joe's. I love it. For the spiced pumpkin doughnut recipe...

apple cider donuts

We drove along single lane roads, mostly lined with trees, random openings of corn and bean fields to Terhune Orchards. Parts of Princeton have a funny way of feeling like the middle of nowhere, and I like that. We spent our Friday afternoon picking apples. Beginning of the season, red delicious, liberty, empire and macoun, but no granny smith. We'll go back. We must for more apples, and I plan on eating apple cider donuts, Fall's version of elephant ears, every Saturday morning for the next month.

The rest of the weekend was good and simple. Homemade pizza, another evening of tea, ice cream, and cider with neighbors, episodes of Mad Men and Parks & Rec, afternoon naps, reading books, church and making friends.

     

pumpkin latte

It's fall as I have already mentioned. And I'm pretty sure, yes, I already stated my love for pumpkin lattes. Starbucks pumpkin lattes at $4 + no stable income = problem. The good news is you can make anything thanks to the internet.

So, I found a pumpkin latte recipe from the kitchn and gave it a try. It's really good. I made it with strong coffee since we don't own an espresso machine, and made my own cinnamon/nutmeg mix since I didn't have pumpkin pie spice. I tried this coconut milk whip cream recipe since I had coconut milk and not heavy cream, but I didn't really like it. I'll probably stick with typical homemade whip cream next time I make it, you know, tomorrow.

If you like pumpkin and fall and cheaper things, you should try it. Enjoy.

Pumpkin Latte from the kitchn

2 cups milk
2 tablespoons canned pumpkin OR 1 teaspoon of Torani Pumpkin Spice Syrup (your choice)
2 tablespoons sugar or sugar substitute - you can halve this amount
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1-2 shots espresso (about 1/4 cup of espresso or 1/2 cup of strong brewed coffee if you don't have an espresso machine)

In a saucepan combine milk, pumpkin and sugar and cook on medium heat, stirring, until steaming. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and spice, transfer to a blender (I used my hand blender) and process for 15 seconds until foamy. If you don't have a blender, don't worry about it - just whisk the mixture really well with a wire whisk.

Pour into a large mug or two mugs. Add the espresso on top.

Optional: Top with whipped cream and sprinkle pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg, or cinnamon on top.

first day of fall

I can't believe it's Friday. I can't believe it's the second to last Friday in September. I can't believe it's September. I can't believe summer is over. How many different ways can I say this summer flew by? This summer flew by. Goodness, September 23rd, first day of fall, hello, how are you? Oh goodness, I can't believe it's fall.

What's new? Moving. It's a funny feeling.

It's interesting because at a time like this, with so much change, plenty to think about, I have to force myself to write about it. I really don't feel like thinking about it to the point where I can read it. And as a result, I spend my time looking for jobs or sewing pillows or doing something else. Typical distractions.

It's hard and it's not hard. Moving, that is. I'm not crying everyday, but I'm in that stretching kind of season, away from family, being more independent (but not really, I need Logan more than ever), uncertainty of jobs phase, trying to find places and friends that continue to inspire me to live with meaning, trusting God with my worried head. Thus, it isn't easy, a little awkward. The marriage part is fun, really fun. That's good news.

What have I done this first week in Jersey? A lot and not a lot. Logan keeps telling me to relax - it's okay for me to have a break until I get a job. He's right. In some ways, summer wasn't really a break. We were always going somewhere or doing something. It's not easy for me to sit still. And at the same time, it's been hard to be adventurous because highway 1 and roundabouts are scary. I'll learn, sometime, soon. I hope.

This week, I am thankful for friendly neighbors who ask me to babysit their kids (since I still don't have a job, did I mention that already?) and invite Logan and I for tea, for birthday parties and a new friend (I hope) who assured me of her insecurities of moving, for sushi and a trip to New York City for passports, for a home to make chocolate chip cookies and pumpkin muffins, for skype with friends and phone calls with family, for Logan and our new home.

I miss the old, but I'm certain the more I try to hold on to it, the less my hands are open to what God has planned for Logan and I here in New Jersey. Hands opening. Oh my, the leaves are falling.

(photo via Cherilyn Kurtz)

autumn love

Oh baby, it's that time - pumpkin spice lattes, scarves, and bonfire, fall weather. Except Marion, can we talk please? You are, in fact, not the city of London, and I can't have a bonfire due to the never-ending vegetable section mist at the grocery store, constant wetness thing you're doing. It's fall, which means it should be dry or thunderstorms, no in between. Seriously, how could you be so selfish? The crops need to dry up so the farmers can harvest so they can make money to feed their families by selling food for the animals to eat.

The only good thing about this weather is I can curl up with this latte at Starbucks and play on the internet. Okay, I guess I'll live until the rain goes away.

Happy Friday, friends.

I am definitely loving summer, but these photos of the Ozark Highlands make me want fall.

(via Carl Zoch Photography)