Let There Be Ruffles

Being a bit of a planner and organizer I like to get my Christmas shopping and making done early. However, my colleague put me to shame in this regard when, in May, she requested that I make some aprons for her to give as Christmas gifts. That’s right…more than seven months in advance.

A week later I showed her piles of beautiful fabrics. She chose some of my favorites from Heather Bailey and Amy Butler, prints she thought would perfectly suit her mom and sisters. The style she requested was a half apron with a ruffley hem, cute pocket, and ties long enough to come around to the front. No problem!

I suffered with a mental sewing block before finally getting around to putting these together though. I think I feared the ruffley hem. But then I found my sewing mojo and the gathering foot I bought more than a year ago. Yep, I’d completely forgotten about it. I wish I hadn’t.

What you can do with that foot is amazing. You start with two perfectly flat, boring fabrics and in a minute or two you are left with one gathered piece of fabric attached to a flat piece of fabric. From now on everything shall be ruffled!

Recipe of the Week

Recipe: Apple Cider Doughnuts
Source: Food Network Magazine

Ingredients: *****
The stars of this recipe were our freshly picked apples and the locally pressed apple cider. With such fresh, delicious ingredients it’s really hard to go wrong…even with a doughnut.

Preparation: ***
Doughnut making is not for the weak of heart. It requires time to make the applesauce that goes into the dough. Then there is the chilling time, rolling, and cutting. All that is doable. What comes next though can be a little scary: the deep-frying. I went with a relatively narrow saucepan, about 7”-8” across, with tall sides to keep everything well contained. You also need a good thermometer and patience to get the oil heated to the proper temperature. Don’t try to speed this up. My final word of advice in prepping these: don’t crowd the pan. Two to three at a time worked perfectly with my pan size and meant the temperature stayed pretty steady.

Taste: *****
These doughnuts were delicious. They were everything I’d dreamed about and I’d dreamed quite a bit in the week since we went apple picking. Usually I just go for instant gratification and get half a dozen doughnuts at the orchard. However, the orchard we went to this year did not have a single doughnut. Shocking, right? I’m glad they didn’t though. It gave me just the push I needed to try these. And in the end they were better than anything I could have purchased. They were just the right combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, and apple. The best part may be what they didn’t have - that heavy in your stomach feeling. So go ahead and sit down with two doughnuts next to your steaming mug of cider. You’ll be happy you did.

Shop SoWa & Brunch at Gaslight

Many, many Sundays ago I found myself as a lonely only. The dudely was away and friends were vacationing or otherwise engaged. I was bored and in need of some entertainment.

I found lots to entertain me at SoWa, Boston’s handmade, antique, and farmer’s markets held outdoors every Sunday spring through fall. The handmade market was fun, especially in the creative way all those talented folks displayed their goodies.

The antiques market was a really nice surprise. Whenever I see the word antiques I start thinking pricey collectibles. What I found, though, was more like a great flea market. My favorite was the tables of vintage jewelry to sort through. I ended up bringing home a fantastic red bead necklace. The woman even gave me an unsolicited $1 off the marked price. Nice, huh?

And isn’t it convenient that just next door is Gaslight? Well, I had to have brunch. I ordered what has become my go-to dish, moules frites. I cannot get enough of this dish. I did shake it up a little though and ordered myself a cocktail to accompany it, the matin martini. It was a delicious end to a morning of shopping.

Pick Your Own

It was what can only be described as a quintessential fall day in New England. There was apple picking in the bright fall sunshine with dew still on the grass. The trees were overflowing with large, beautiful apples, Mother Nature's gift to us for bearing a cold, rainy summer. Then there was the impulsive U-turn on the way back home to make a stop at the vegetable farm that bragged of its pick your own flowers. Of course, the only proper way to end that perfect fall day was with one perfect apple pie sliding into the oven and filling the house with scents of sugary-cinnamony goodness.

Recipe of the Week

Recipe: Pork Chops with Bacon and Cabbage
Source: Everyday Food

Ingredients: *****
Just seven simple ingredients make up this one pot dish. Importantly one of those ingredients is pork chops, something I've been accused of not serving enough of around here.

Preparation: ****
The reason I love one pot dishes is the little bit of hands-on time early in the recipe followed by the walking away time as the dish finishes up. This isn't that kind of one pot dish. Basically you're doing something every few minutes over an hour which means you can't wander far...or get anything else done.

Taste: ****
The dudely is arguing that I should be giving this recipe 5 stars but I just don't buy it. It certainly tasted good but I'm not imagining the next time I can make it, the sure sign of a 5 star recipe. That didn't stop him from shoveling down two big platefuls with hardly a peep. Perhaps I need a his and her ratings scale.

Recipe of the Week

Recipe: Cannellini and Kale Ragout
Source: Bon Appetit

Ingredients: *****
Kale is abundant this time of year so I’m looking for new ways to prepare it. This recipe fit the bill and includes other favorites like cannellini beans and red pepper flakes. I skipped the Italian bread and used my homemade whole wheat bread. With a recipe as healthy as this it seemed crazy to eat white bread with it!

Preparation: *****
After a long Monday this recipe was just my speed. The hardest thing I did was wash and chop a mountain of kale and mince some garlic. The rest involved a can opener. It really doesn’t get any easier. The only thing I changed about the prep was cutting down on the amount of olive oil used.

Taste: *****
I loved this recipe. There seemed to be just the right amount of everything. From the initial bite right through the little bit of heat as you swallowed it was perfection. Going with whole wheat bread was also a great choice. The tiny bit of sweetness from the molasses in the recipe was a good foil for the heat of the pepper flakes. Add in a little glass of red wine and it made Monday night feel a little more special than most.

Recipe of the Week

Recipe: Chicken al Mattone
Source: Bon Appetit

Ingredients: *****
Simple ingredients make up this recipe. Even better, most of those simple ingredients can usually be found in my fridge, freezer, or pantry. That makes it easy to whip up a roast chicken. I find that very appealing as the fall weather makes its presence known in New England.

Preparation: ****
I’ve never cut the backbone out of a chicken before and it made me a bit nervous. With knife and scissors in hand I soon found out it’s really no big deal. From there you smear on a marinade and let it sit overnight. The cooking is equally hands-off: some browning on the stovetop and slide it in the oven with a brick, or, as in my case, a cast iron skillet on top.

Taste: ***
I had really high hopes for this dish and it let me down. The chicken was good but I was really hoping for great. Despite marinating the chicken overnight it didn’t take on any of the flavors of lemon, garlic, and rosemary. If I were to make this again I think I’d rub the marinade under the skin rather than on top as the recipe suggests. But would I make it again? Maybe. The crispy, beautifully browned skin just might make it worth a repeat.

BONUS RECIPE! Now if you're looking for something that will really knock your socks off I suggest trying the corn bread salad I served alongside the chicken. Amazing. I'm still looking for my socks. If you hurry you just might be able to squeeze this in before all the fresh tomatoes are gone for another year.