Feeling Applesaucey

Another post about apples, I know. And I don't even like to eat whole apples, it freaks me out. But I made applesauce last night and it was delicious, and really great warm on a cold night.

Here is my recipe - you can tweak it to your tastes as you like.

Ingredients:

6 apples, peeled, cored, and cut into chunks (I used 4 granny smith and 2 red delicious because that's what I had, but you can use whatever you like to eat)

1 1/2 cups water

Juice and zest of 1 lemon

1/4 cup sugar (depending on your taste/sweetness of your apples you may need more/less)

Directions: Place all ingredients into a large saucepan or dutch oven over medium heat. Cook covered for 20-30 minutes, or until apples get nice and soft. Remove from heat and cool; mash with a potato masher or fork.

Done!

You could put it in the food processor or mill if you want it to be smoother but I like a few chunks in mine. Also, cinnamon would be a logical addition but I ran out.

Free Fancy Apples!

So you know I love free stuff, right?

Check this out! Go to the Ivan Mog Gourmet Caramel Apple website and you can order yourself one of their fancy candy apples, and they will send it to you for free! Go here if you want to see all of the available flavors.

I picked the Cranberry Walnut - all of them look really good. If you like surprises you can select "random" and they will pick one for you.

Thanks to Be Different, Act Normal for the alert!

Oh my darlin', oh my darlin, oh my...

I am working my way through a box of clementines and I love them so much. Sometimes I chain-eat them, two or three at a time. Can I finish the box in one week? I think so.

If you can't, check out this recipe from smitten kitchen (how I love love love that blog). I have to try it this year now that I have a brand spanking new Cuisinart (thanks mom and dad!)

I tried it using the magic bullet last time and it worked but now I can grind up all the clementines at once! This Cuisinart really is a lifetime dream come true - if you are need of any food processing I'm your girl.

How do I get this?

Isn't this pretty? Its the chandelier from Tavern On The Green - it can be yours next week at auction if you have a spare $40,000 lying around for light fixtures, gigantic ceilings, and love green. Unfortunately I can check off yes next to just have one of those things. Oh well...

I've got a new attitude

POW!

See? Birds are DANGEROUS.

Unrelated, I wanted to announce a new feature on the site: "Ooh! I want to make that!"

In this area I'll be posting links to other sites with cool tutorials for sewing projects and crafts I hope to tackle in the near future. Mostly, its just a way for me to keep track of cool stuff I've seen, then forget where it was and scramble around the web trying to find it when I'm up for a new project. The pile of printouts wasn't doing anything for the environment or my organizational strategy. So check it out! I'll be adding more, and (hopefully) crossing things off as I complete them.

But you can use it too to check out the cool tutorials I have on my radar! Everyone wins here.

I've Got Culture

Things I love: my new yogurt maker! It is so awesome - thanks mom and dad!

I eat a lot of yogurt - I don't like milk so its pretty much the only way I get calcium. I bring it to work for my lunch so I'll end up eating several per week - but they can get expensive! Plus I am particular about what flavors I like (non fat, fruit on the bottom, preferably red) so if the kind I like isn't on sale that week, I'm screwed. Then I got into Greek yogurt - so tasty, but even pricier than the regular kind! Whats a culture loving girl to do?

Lucky for me, this Christmas I received a fantastic yogurt maker and it works like magic! Seriously. You warm up some milk, stir in some dry milk, let it cool, add a bit of pre-made yogurt(or some from your last batch) and a few hours later - gold! I'm sure there is a lot of chemistry and/or biology (or maybe botany?) involved here but since I haven't taken a science class since 1998 I'll skip that explanation and go with MAGIC.

Now I can consume yogurt when I want, how I want. Which usually means, for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and with honey and/or cereal. I'm psyched to experiment with my new toy and maybe try it with soy milk, different flavorings, freezing it - ah so much fun!

If you don't have a yogurt maker its ok. Check out this article for how to do it without one (and some of that complicated sciencey stuff).

Happy New Year and a Book to Boot

Happy 2010 everyone! Wow I can't believe its a new year, new decade, Y2K+X blah blah blah. Moving on.



I'm back and blogging again as you can see. I wasn't sure how to kick off the blog for the new year, but I think I'll just jump into it. Here goes:

I've wanted to get a sewing book for a bit but wasn't sure which one, so after getting some Christmas money earmarked for my new hobby (and some sweet Borders coupons) I checked out a few and selected Seams to Me by Anna Maria Horner. I love it! It includes 24 patterns (with an envelope in the back to store them), plus several totally readable chapters on techniques, fabric and color selection, machine basics and a ton of other stuff that is really useful. This book is pretty to look at - lovely photography and layout, but also packs a ton of important information - I am a dork and actually ready it cover to cover before embarking on any of the patterns but the fact that it doesn't feel like reading a textbook is awesome.



There are a ton of free patterns and sewing ideas out there in the blogging world and I have used many myself, and I love that you can find so much for so little on the Internet. Yet I think this book is totally worth the dough because it takes daunting tasks - like making your own bias tape and quilt binding, sewing a zipper, gathering, and more- and makes them seem less scary. Seriously! I feel like I could try my hand at quilting under these instructions. And the patterns that are included are fun and different items that I hadn't seen anywhere else.

Thanks to another birthday present - a gift certificate to Brooklyn General Store (Thanks Sasha!) I was able to get some really nifty fabrics for my first project. I've realized I don't have an apron and thought I could really use one, and probably do less laundry that way too. Its almost done and I'll post a pic when its complete - the image from the book is above.

Yay! An apron all my own - I can't wait to use it. Once I find some cute buttons to finish it off I'll be ready to go.