A Gift for Every Decade

A few days after my 30th birthday, I got an intriguing package in the mail from my friend Laura, who is one of the best gift-givers I know. It smelled like lavender, then as I opened it, it smelled like vanilla. Everything was individually wrapped, and I was insanely curious what might smell like lavender and vanilla!



When I upwrapped everything, she had given me three little bottles (one for every decade of life! I have no idea if that was her intention, but I like it :). One was filled with homemade lemoncello, and the other two were empty glass bottles with the supplies for me to make homemade vanilla extract and homemade lavender syrup.



It was such a great gift! And so creative. Don't you love homemade gifts?

The Best Fall Breakfast

I can't imagine a more perfect morning to tell you about my favorite recipe at the moment. It's cold-enough-for-a-real-coat outside, and gray and rainy. The best kind of morning for something warm and filling. Enter: sweet potato hash. Roasted sweet potatoes, crispy chorizo and deeply caramelized onions all mixed together and, if you're me, topped with a fried egg. It's perfect for a fall brunch or just your average, drizzly morning in October. Oh, and it makes awesome leftovers. So, really, you should make this soon.


Sweet Potato Hash
adapted from this recipe 

- 3 medium onions, diced
- 1 lb chorizo (I used 4 links)
- 4 large sweet potatoes
- 6 cloves of garlic
- olive oil
- butter or ghee
- salt

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Heat 2 tablespoons of butter (or ghee, which I used to make this paleo-friendly) in a skillet over medium heat. When it's melted, add the diced onions and sprinkle with salt. Stir them occasionally and lower the heat if they start to burn, ideally they'll brown very slowly over about 30 minutes. Cook until they're a deep, dark brown.

While the onions are cooking, peel and chop the sweet potatoes in roughly 1/2 inch cubes. Lay them out on a cookie sheet and drizzle with 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil and a pinch or two of salt. Roast for 20 minutes, turning them over about halfway through.

While the sweet potatoes are in the oven, prep the chorizo. Crumble the chorizo into a skillet over medium-high heat and cook until browned and crispy on the outside (if you're using links, cut them into small cubes first). While the chorizo cooks, mince (or grate on a microplane) the garlic. Add it to the pan with the chorizo and cook for a minute or two.

Once the sweet potatoes and onions are done, mix everything together in your serving dish or a large skillet. Top with fried or poached eggs, if you like

Life of Pi

Did you read the book Life of Pi? I'm late to the party, but my friend Megan recommended it recently and I loved it. The story is so fascinating, and crazy. I stayed up until 2 a.m. finishing it! (Plus, it had beautiful sentences.) The movie comes out next month and I'm so excited to see it. Doesn't the trailer look intense?

p.s. If you need a movie to see this weekend, Looper was awesome!

(A Thifty & Apple-y) Weekend in Pictures

{friday afternoon storms}

{striking a pose at a neighborhood flea market}

{dream folding chairs}

{apple picking and blue skies}

{pretty and red}

{fresh off the tree}

{our harvest}

I did some flea marketing this weekend and fell in love with pretty, old things that were too expensive to buy (like those mint green folding chairs) and saw some odd things (like that mannequin!). Sunday I went apple picking with some friends, and it was great to get out of the city for a bit. The apples are sitting on my counter now, begging to be roasted! Hope your weekend was lovely :)

The Last of Summer

“Autumn begins in the night. Now the days, often as not, are still summery, if more bearably so. The midday sun is not perceptibly lower in the sky. But the sun has, somehow, gotten faster. And with night settling in at dinner time and burrowing deeper, it is in the hours of darkness that summer literally runs out of time.”-  Andy Newman

Happy last day of summer! Here’s to crisp breezes, jackets, scarves, boots, and hot coffee.

Photo by Lisa Teso

Hats, Hats, Hats

Do you wear hats? I've always wanted to/tried to, but end up feeling weird or frumpy. My winter hat last year made me feel like Paddington Bear, so I had a cold head more often than not. But I might be changing my mind after seeing the new styles from my friend Dara's company, Preston & Olivia. Check out this gorgeous video of her new fall pieces, shot by Nick Bowser. The blue one up top is my fave!



Top photo by Trent Bailey, Dara's husband. Quite the talented team, right?

September Tastes

I can't count how many times a day I hear about pumpkin spice this or that (mostly lattes) but to me, it's not yet time for pumpkin. Pumpkin belongs to October. September is time to turn the oven on again, but fill it with summer's harvest - like tomatoes. September's appetite is for warm food mixed with cool, like roasted squash with goat cheese. September doesn't stick to your ribs, but it's almost time for food like that. Here's what I'm craving now, in this limbo land between summer and fall.



Slow Roasted Tomatoes A recipe from one of my favorite food writers, by way of her favorite restaurant in Seattle. A small group of friends ate a bowl full of these with crusty bread and creamy goat cheese on Labor Day, and I still need more of these in my life.



Ultimate Grilled Cheese Sandwich I love tomato on grilled cheese, but this one takes it up a few notches with basil, prosciutto, and red pepper flakes too.



Butternut Squash and Goat Cheese Salad I don't always love butternut squash, it's sometimes too sweet or too heavy, but the cilantro and goat cheese in this salad really brightens it up. I usually eat a big portion as a meal, but it'd be great before something warm and hearty like roast chicken.



Chicken Stew with Onions, Tomato and Dijon This stew is perfect for fall, but I'll definitely be eating it through the winter. It's rustic and flavorful, equally good on a pile of rice, mashed potatoes, or sopped up with a baguette.



Roasted Apples (with Vanilla Ice Cream) Every fall, when the counters are full of apples from a recent apple picking trip, my friend Kate requests baked apples in some form. This year, I want to try these roasted apples instead - don't they look amazing?



Plum and Mascarpone Pie Roasted plums over lightly sweetened mascarpone cream. I'd add a little cinnamon, I think.

What are you looking forward to cooking up this fall? Or just eating, if cooking isn't your thing :)

Photos by: moi, Molly Wizenberg, Scott Peterson, me again, Elise Bauer, Ashley Rodriguez, Ditte Isager