FFWD: all i have to say. . .

. . .is YUM. I love you, Marie-Hélène & Dorie. I made mine extra rum-y. :) Next time, I'll use a wider variety of apples, but these Fuji's held up well and are super delicious.

Wiksten

I, unabashedly, have a humungous girl crush on Jenny Gordy of Wiksten-made. For serious. Her blog is beautiful, she has impeccable taste, makes the most beautiful clothing and handknits, and is just an all around phenomenal gal. I envy her lifestyle as a lovely artist/maker with a fantastic studio with an awesome name (Dobbin Mews), a cute, city apartment, and a cute, loving hubby. I really, really, reeeeeeeeeally want to buy a Wiksten handknit item for Fall/Winter. *Sigh* Enough babbling.

(I'm really jealous of Jennifer Sarkilahti for getting these socks)

What A Surprise!

French Fridays with Dorie. Post #2.
I made Gerard's Mustard Tart last night for dinner. . . What an interesting dish! It was really tasty!! Even my picky eater of a Dad loved it!!!!! (SHOCKER) To be honest, I wasn't really sure what to expect, but the delicate mustard flavor was certainly a pleasant surprise (and is what my Dad enjoyed most). I have to admit, I did not exactly follow the instructions, because. . .well, I was out and about all day until about 4:30 when I came home, read the recipe, and saw how long I was supposed to be chilling the dough! YIPES!!!!! My bad. . . so, that didn't happen. I got the dough together and chilled it in a disc for about an hour before I pressed it into my tart dish and immediately popped it in the oven to partially bake. And then again, I took the crust out of the oven and immediately poured in the filling; no messing around with waiting for the crust to cool (I just didn't have time for that!) Despite all of my poor planning and skipping steps, it came out fabulously! . . .thank goodness! :) Someone was on my side.

It was a yummy dish that we all really enjoyed! My parents might like it even more than I do! Funny, huh?! I think I'd really like to try the traditional recipe using tomatoes rather than carrots and leeks; those flavors sound totally delicious to me. This time around I may have used too many veggies (step-Mom disagrees; she loved all the veg). It was jammed packed (using 3 carrots and 3 leeks- they must have been much larger than what Dorie/Gerard used). So, next time, I think I'll lighten the load and see what happens. This one will definitely be making it to the table again, in some form or another! :)

Bon appetito miei amici! xo

Autumn

This is the first Fall I am experiencing with falling leaves, changing colors, crisp, cool nights, pumpkins out on doorsteps, in a very long time; since I was a little girl. And, I have to say, I am so deliriously happy about it! The prospect of apple cider, glowing candles, little kids all dressed up, smells of homey spices, beautiful, warm colors, leaves crunching beneath my feet, warm sun and cool air. . . what's not to love?!?!

Many of my fellow bloggers have been posting "to-do lists" and I'd like to share a list of things I would like to do in celebration of Fall. Please indulge me.

*Pick a pumpkin in a real pumpkin patch (Yes, I am 6 yrs old)
*Go on a hayride @ said pumpkin patch
*Roast a pumpkin and make something with it
*Create a really sweet jack-o-lantern
*Pick apples @ an orchard
*Pass out candy to little trick-or-treaters!!!!
*Take photos of the Fall foliage and demonstrate the passage of the season into Winter
*Break out the glory that are boots/scarves/jackets/thick socks (However, I am admittedly nervous about not being able to wear flip-flops all year round! You can't completely take the Arizona out of the girl)

By the way:
The end. :)

Gougères

YAY! It's our first French Fridays with Dorie recipe: Gougères!

I made them last week, tweeting along with several, long-time TWD-ers and it was so much fun. These little bites are un'esplosione di formaggio. I was extremely surprised by their texture; akin to a cream puff, as they were hollow and slightly damp on the inside but golden crisp on the outside. I made them with gruyere (most delicious cheese everrrr) but am intrigued to experiment with other cheeses as well (my Dad is not a big gruyere fan. In fact, he's not one to really branch out much in the realm of food and cooking, which should make this experience highly interesting. . .). In any case, I hope I don't get yelled at because I didn't get a picture of the finished product before these babies were devoured. I won't make that mistake again. I do, however, have an image of my *in progress* dough on the stove. I hope this will suffice for this week and I'll be good next week, taking plenty of pictures of Gerard's Mustard Tart.

Bon appetito i miei amici. xo

P.s. I may be whipping up some cream puffs in the very near future. It is such a perplexing, yet very easy dough!!!

Hey Liz Stanley, you're a genius!

I'm pretty positive that anyone who has come into contact with me is aware of the fact that I am a Hello Kitty fanatic. In my undergrad course, Art and Cultural Criticism, I even conducted a study and presentation about the visual culture and identity politics of Hello Kitty (and made Kitty White a facebook page that I still update here and there, despite the fact that I took this course three years ago; friend her here). I don't mess around with the kawaii. . . ;) At any rate, along with my fascinations with the image of HK comes a love for ginormous bows. Liz has created the ultimate Big Bow Pencil skirt that is nothing less than perfection!! Check out her post!! This whimsy yet sophisticated skirt will be made and it will live in my closet!! Thank you, Liz!

I will leave you with a bit of joy which I found and incorporated into my presentation on HK. It is amazing. I hope you like it!

The first time I saw Hello Kitty, the temptress, was in 1982. She seduced me from my Japanese roommate's notebook, managing to get me to rush out and buy a yellow and pink Hello Kitty wallet. I preferred her right away to Minnie Mouse who wore a boxy red polka dot dress and way-too-big red pumps. Hello wore a jumper slipped over bare arms. It was a new wave frock, no doubt about it. Even her double set of whiskers seemed trendy, even her cone-shaped ears exuded cool. Even her poor excuse of a nose (yellow button boxed in a black circle) was fabulousness, pure girl-fun. Chinatown became the preferred shopping mall of the twenty-somethings concerned with Hello Kitty fashion. A yellow daisy sometimes graced Hello's bodice so she doubled as a 60's peacenik, a mammoth yet miniscule symbol, a kitsch-princess who stayed frog free. "You're putting too much on me," Hello Kitty might say, if she could slip out of feline city. "Try another temple," she might meow, her tiny voice raw and red.
But Hello doesn't have lips, those double delicious pink worms that girls paint red for special occasions. She can't yell if she's in trouble or kiss Mimi on her temple. Without a mouth, Kitty's not able to confess her secrets. But dissecting Hello is slippery business. Feminists surely prefer girls who are able to make noise, like me. But who knows? Monks might find Hello pure Zen, the way she smiles without teeth, going to and fro with Kitty purposefulness- content on pencil boxes and purses, holding her world together, managing to keep perfectly still. No slip of the tongue possible. Hello is manufactured in China, but she was conceived and born in London, much like a box of Cadbury chocolates. Post-Shirley Temple, Hello is a whole industry, frothy and competitive as shampoo or beer. -Denise Duhamel, Screaming Monkeys, pg. 244-245.

drooling over. . .

. . .this (and everything in her store).


And, that.