One thing I love about fall is that it just makes you feel like cozying inside with friends, making a homecooked meal for dinner, and gazing out the windows at the beautiful fall foliage (that is, if you live in the suburbs, I guess.) But, as a city-dweller, we can at least take advantage of the first two. And this past weekend, I did!
I tried to construct a menu that consisted of all things fall. Here are the recipes I used:
Hot Caramel Apple Cider (yields 12 ounces)
1 1/2 cups of apple cider
1 1/2 tablespoons caramel sauce (I used the stuff that is used for ice cream sundae toppings)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Combine apple cider, caramel, and vanilla into a sauce pan. Heat over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until apple cider is hot and caramel has melted. (Be careful, it gets REALLY hot!) Pretty simple, huh? And very delicious!
Cowboy Stew (courtesy of my good friend-chef,
Caylen)
1 onion
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
1 lb ground beef
1 lb sausage
1 lb mexican velveeta cheese
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp. garlic salt
1/2 tsp. cumin
And, 1 can of each:
Black beans
Kidney beans (I used Pinto beans in place of this... because I like them better)
Rotel tomatoes
Stewed tomatoes
Corn
Chop veggies into small bite-sized pieces and saute in 2 tsp. olive oil until soft. Brown the meat, then add the veggies. Cut velveeta into chunks and melt into beans and meat, then add spices. Simmer until heated through. (Basically, I just cooked and opened everything and then poured it all together in a huge pot!) And believe me, it will feed an army!
I might have shared the recipe for these here before, but I'll share them again because they're that good!
Garlic Cheese Biscuits
2 cups buttermilk baking mix
2/3 cup milk
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Combine all ingredients until soft dough forms. Drop dough by heaping tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 450 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown.
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
1/3 teaspoon garlic powder
Combine ingredients. Brush on warm biscuits before removing from cookie sheet.
A nice, not-especially-fallish salad (everything can't be fall-esque, I guess). Katherine majorly contributed to this, and Brendan got the cranberries and walnuts. The salad was his creation...too bad I forgot to snap a picture of it.
Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes by Maggie (get her recipe
here!) They taste as good as they look!
And, a delicious Pumpkin Crumple made by Ann-Marie (and I think Jon did the crumple on top). I don't have the recipe for this, or a picture, yet. But believe me, you'll want to add it to your recipe box as soon as I get it!
Carrie, thanks for starting this tradition! And please plan to come back one year... 5 sure is a good number to celebrate!
Then, as you can see in the photo below, it had a deep chocolate brown rope piping that offset the color of the "cork" so perfectly... the two neutrals especially set the stage for the main effect: the buttons in the tufting. 
Every button in every tuft was different! They had one American flag button, solid color, multicolor, buttons with rhinestones...every button imaginable! It added such a nice pop of color but not so much that you were confused about the main design idea. I've been thinking about this couch all week and can't get over how amazing it was!
Then, for proof that we really did try out the cake, I took a pic of our clean plate!
This place gets two thumbs up from me: one for the pretty good dessert and another for the superb atmosphere and design.
...to remember a show about nothing. Brendan and I went to brunch on Saturday morning in Harlem on 112th Street and Broadway. Right across the street from where we ate was the Seinfeld restaurant! I loved that show too much not to take advantage of a photo op.
And as I mentioned in my previous post, we had sparkler candles (Thanks for those too, Maggie!)!! They were exactly like sparkler fireworks, except in the shape of a "2" and a "7". They were beautiful and perfect, but if you ever have them for your own cake, you should be ready to blow them out immediately because they aren't like regular candles that keep burning until you blow. They, just like a sparkler, go out on their own sweet timing. But they make for some pretty great pictures, don't they?!
view from the summit.
favorite hiking snack of the day...
the group at the top.
does it look like they're skydiving? They aren't, but thought it was a nice effect...
Last weekend, while in New Hampshire, Brendan and I went hiking on a small mountain in southern New Hampshire, Pack Monadnock. It was perfect weather: mid 80's with a constant breeze, sunny and beautiful views. We conquered the feat with only one snake sighting, so I'd call it a success! Brendan was very gracious in letting me stop as often as I wanted to take pictures, but I chose to forego the option of capturing the snake on film and just screamed as loudly and shrilly as possible instead.
