Cranberry-Apple Crumble

It was a great weekend: I saw Julian Plenti live and the Chargers beat the Eagles! You can't ask for much more. Well besides dessert of course. I made this dessert a few weeks ago when I had my Mom and Grandpa over for dinner and it was a big hit so I decided to make it again. First of all, I love crumbles, cobblers, crisps; whatever you want to call them, and I love fruit! My husband does too, so we gobbled half of this thing up in no time. It was a sweet end to a sweet weekend - and there are more sweet weekends to come! Next weekend is the New Moon premier and then Thanksgiving! Life is good.

Ingredients

Serves 4

1 1/2 pounds apples (about 3 medium), peeled and cored

1/2 cup fresh or frozen (unthawed) cranberries, coarsely chopped

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Coarse salt

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, plus more for dish

1/2 cup pecan halves (2 ounces), coarsely chopped

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats (not quick-cooking)

3 tablespoons packed light-brown sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Quarter apples lengthwise, then thinly slice. Toss in a large bowl with cranberries, granulated sugar, cinnamon, and a pinch of salt until evenly coated.

Butter an 8-inch square glass or ceramic baking dish. Mix pecans, flour, oats, brown sugar, and a pinch of salt in a bowl until combined. Work in butter with your fingertips until topping is crumbly, with pea-size chunks.

Spread apple mixture in prepared dish; sprinkle with topping. Bake until filling is bubbling and topping is golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool slightly before serving.

(From Martha Stewart Living, October 2009)

Bookkeeping

Maybe I have too much time on my hands... OK, I do have too much time on my hands. But that's a good reason to keep things organized. For too long I had kept all my ticket stubs in an old makeup bag kept inside a shoebox. But I'm one of those people who actually likes to look at all my old trinkets, so keeping them hidden away wasn't really working for me.

Who knew that you could buy albums to keep your ticket stubs in? Like this Ticket Stub Diary. Well, obviously not me. I bought this book for business cards and turned it into my own ticket stub keeper. At the time, I thought it was a pretty ingenious. For some reason it only occurred to me afterward to see if such a thing actually exists.

I filed away all my little ticket stubs by year: concert, plays, comedians, and authors in one, and movies in another. As you can see, I went to see the band Incubus a lot in 2002. I was a little obsessed.

Turns out, I really love books... and magazines. But a couple of years ago, I realized I didn't like combing through dozens and dozens of magazines to find that one article, picture, or recipe I liked. So I turned my magazines into a book. Well, two books now. I call them my "magazine books." I know, imaginative, huh? A lot of the content is from my favorite magazine, Bust, and the now defunct Jane (so sad.) It seems like all the magazines I like eventually shut down: Jane, Blueprint, Domino.

I love having all of my favorite magazine clippings in one place. And because it's all stuff I love, I never get tired of looking at it, and I reference it frequently. Here are a few pages.

Happy Halloween

Despite two practice pumpkins before the final version, for the second year in a row, I lost the pumpkin carving contest at my work. It's actually pretty sad when there are only four pumpkins competing. Ha! Both years I've tried to do something different, difficult (for me), and not to mention time consuming - and I've lost. So I've learned my lesson- I was so focused on winning that I forgot to have fun. And it should be fun! So only fun pumpkin carving from now on...

On a happier note, my husband IS a winner! He won the contest at his work with his Edward Scissorhands pumpkin. He deserved to win, his pumpkin was really good.

And finally, a loser for the second time yesterday, I lost the Scariest Dessert Contest at my husband's work. I made these Ladies' Fingers from the Martha Stewart website. I thought they looked pretty gross. I didn't even want to eat one! Especially the nails, which are blanched almonds dyed with red food coloring. Ew.

Finally!

Can you believe it? I finally finished making my dress. Well, I finished a long time ago, but it was too long and matronly looking so I decided I wanted to shorten it. Which actually only took me like 15 minutes.  It's kinda boring-looking, but I figured I would most likely wear it with a cardigan (because I always wear a cardigan.) I'm proud of myself for beginning to make things that are actually wearable. Each item I make, I learn something new, so I guess I just have to keep on plugging away!

Pumpkin Crunch Cake

YUM is all I have to say! I made this cake for my boss's birthday this week and I was able to make out with a piece for my husband to eat, after I photographed it of course. This "cake" was really REALLY easy to make and everyone totally loved it. My friend started singing "It's beginning to look a lot like Thanksgiving" when she saw me cutting it. She gets a little excited when food is around... and I kinda love her for it. But she's right, it is Fall after all, so it's the perfect time for some Pumpkin Crunch!

Pumpkin Crunch Cake

1 29-ounce can of Pumpkin

1 12-ounce can Evaporated Milk

1 Cup Sugar

1/4 tsp Cinnamon

3 Eggs, slightly beaten

1 Box Yellow Cake Mix w/ Pudding

1 Cup Chopped Walnuts

1 Cup Melted Butter

Preheat oven to 350. Mix together first five ingredients and pour into 9x12 inch pan, lined with wax paper. It's easier to take out if the paper comes up over the edges of the pan. Spread the entire box of cake mix on top of pumpkin mixture. Sprinkle nuts over cake mix and press in gently. Melt butter and pour evenly over nuts. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes. Cool completely before removing from pan.

Note: I'm not completely sure whether the pumpkin mixture should be on top or the bottom, but I just flipped it over, pulled gently on the wax paper and it came right out, pumpkin side up, and that's the way it stayed! Top with whipped cream.

Los Muertos at Disneyland

We took our last Disneyland Trip of the season yesterday because our passes expire at the end of the month. Why our passes are not blocked out on Columbus Day, I do not know... it was so crowded. But we stayed long enough to get on the essential rides. The Halloween version of Space Mountain (Ghost Galaxy) was a big disappointment, but The Nightmare Before Christmas- decorated Haunted Mansion never lets you down. Here are some pictures I took of their Dia De Los Muertos display, which I thought was pretty neat.

Shrine Time

Being that it was the first weekend in October, I was really excited to start my Halloween decorating at home. I really wanted to put up a Dia De Los Muertos shrine for my Grandma and my kitty, Miette, who died last Halloween. My shrine isn't that great, but it's a start. I'm not a very good Mexican - It definitely needs more color! I will keep working on making more paper flowers and papel picado (punched paper). Cutting the papel picado was the most time consuming, but they turned out really pretty. I also made some more felt skeletons, Halloween colored ranunculus, and black crepe paper roses to take to work. I love Halloween so much!

Home Improvement Weekend

1. Top I made, 2. Second top I made, 3. New Bathroom floors, 4. Pink Sewing Room, 5. Tea & Cookies, 6. Sugar Cookies.

This weekend was a busy one doing stuff around the house and whatnot. We have been in our condo for about a year and a half now and we are still not done doing everything we want to do. We were really gung-ho in the beginning, but then we got tired and ran out of money, you know how it goes. Then of course, I change my mind a lot. I've painted the kitchen twice and I feel another change on the way... I really like color, so I pick out all these colors and then I freak out because I feel like there are too many colors going on. So basically right now most of our interior walls are a really light blue/green, which I love. Our living room is light pink, the same color I just re-painted my sewing room this weekend. I love it. The room was blue and gray before. Now it feels so nice and warm and inviting. Which is good since I was trapped up there for five hours yesterday while we got new carpet installed on our staircases. It was a ugly beige before and now it's a dark gray. It is my firm belief that all carpet is hideous, however, it was our only option for the staircases. Speaking of ugly flooring, we also removed the beige linoleum in the bathrooms with some pretty white lacquer-ish flooring. Thank God that is gone and the transformation is almost complete.

Being trapped upstairs wasn't a complete waste of time though. I hung out with my kitties, made two tops, had tea and cookies, and watched countless episodes of "A Haunting" on the Discovery Channel.

Sadly, there was one casualty during our home improvements this weekend. While I was removing everything from the walls before we started painting, an antler on my fake deer head slipped from my hand and shattered on the ground. I will have to get a replacement when funds permit, but this one was a gift from Aaron and he even spray painted it pink for me. It was a sad day. RIP my deer.

Cookies 101: Chocolate Chip

My husband, the cookie monster, decided he wanted some chocolate chip cookies this weekend while we were grocery shopping. Chocolate chip cookies are a dime a dozen, but they are not all good. I made some a couple of months ago (out of a random baking book) that were really sugary and sweet. This time I made Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies from the Martha Stewart Cookie Cookbook. They turned out perfect and I didn't have to add or change anything- But since Sunday was Grandparents' Day, I stuck some walnuts and raisins in a few for my Grandpa, who enjoyed them very much.

Mini Pies + Praline Apple Bread

 
I LOVE PIE. I can't say it enough. These little mini pies are perfect because you can just make a few and you don't have to feel guilty about making and eating a whole pie, not that I do that.... I just used store bought pie crust to make it super easy, rolled it out thin, cut it with a round cookie cutter, filled it up, pinched the edges with a fork, sealed it with egg whites, and baked for about 10 minutes!. Super easy and not to mention, super cute. Of course.

The Praline Apple Bread was made at the request of my mother. The recipe came from her Taste of Home magazine. Pretty much every week my mom has some new food item she wants me to make for her. This bread did look so good though, and easy enough to whip up. I don't know if my loaf pan is too small or what, but I usually have too much batter, so I made my grandpa his own little loaf with the raisins he requested. It turned out really moist and yummy. My mom said it is the best thing I've ever made... but like my banana bread better.

Praline Apple Bread

1 cup sugar

1 cup sour cream

2 large eggs

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/4 cup finely chopped granny smith apples

1 cup chopped pecans

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

In a mixing bowl, beat together sugar, sour cream, eggs, and vanilla on low speed until combined.

Stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add to sour cream mixture, beating on low speed until just combined. Stir in apple and 1/2 cup pecans. Pour into greased 9x5x3 inch loaf pan. Sprinkle with remaining chopped pecans and press lightly into the batter.

Bake in 350 oven for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cover loosely with foil for the last 10 minutes of baking to prevent over-browning. Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 mins.

In a small saucepan, combine butter and brown, stirring constantly until mixture comes to a boil. Boil for 1 minute. Remove bread from pan; drizzle top with brown sugar mixture. Cool completely before eating. Makes 1 loaf.

It's Almost Time...

I know, I know... Halloween already?? It's still two months away, but you have to enjoy it while you can. Well actually, I still have a few Halloween decorations up from last year. Only the super classy ones, of course. Skulls are always in season. Halloween is my favorite holiday as far as home decor goes. So this weekend when I walked into the craft store and saw them putting up Halloween decorations, I got excited whereas most people would just roll their eyes.

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And, of course, you have to get a jump start on any crafts because there are so many. My mother-in-law found these cute guys in a magazine called Cloth, Paper, Scissors. It was a contest winner, so there were no instructions, but we winged it and they came out cute. Mine is above and my mother-in-law's artistic broken-hearted skeleton is below.

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We also tried this Martha Stewart craft, paper-covered switch plates. Only we had to stop after a few switch plates because I couldn't decide which paper I liked best.

And finally, I also made the new pillowcases for our living room pillows. Unlike our last covers that I just sewed right on the pillows, I made these cases with zippers, so I can throw them in the wash when they get dirty. I get smarter every day...

I'll say it was a productive weekend.

Neat & Nostalgic

{the happiest place on earth}

I go to Disneyland... maybe six times a year. I love to just be there. It brings back a certain nostalgia for me because I went there a lot when I was young. Back then, the trip from San Diego to Anaheim seemed like such a long journey, the small drop in the beginning of Pirates of the Caribbean made my stomach flutter, and riding the doom buggy in the Haunted Mansion with my Grandpa was the highlight of the trip.Today, my Disneyland experiences are shared with my husband and friends. Disney's California Adventure park is right across the entrance from Disneyland and, while it has more "grown up" rides, I still prefer Disneyland. Just walking down Main Street brings back all the memories of good times I had with my family. Like the Main Street Candy Palace, where my grandma (who had a huge sweet tooth) always bought vanilla nut fudge or a pecan log, while I opted for some rock candy or lemon drops. Or the theater where I used to watch "Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln" with my grandpa.

Of course, things change; rides are updated to keep up with the latest movie or taken out all together, but it's still always a good trip down memory lane.

(ahh the good old days)

In the Making + Sour Cherry Crumb Cake

Most of the time when I make an article of clothing it is just almost wearable, with some fit issues. I think I rush things - I like the instant gratification that shopping gives me, but I also like the satisfaction of being able to say I made something. So those are good reasons to do both. I went to the fabric shop with the intent to buy some material for new pillow covers. While I was there I came across this really cool black and white patterned fabric that I thought would be neat for a dress. This time I made my own pattern from a top and skirt that I already had. And I’m taking it slow. Putting some love into it. So far I’ve finished the top pieces and started the bottom pleating. Stay tuned to see how it turns out.

On the sweet side of things, this weekend I made this Sour Cherry Crumb Cake. It was really good... and much better than the dinner I made to go with it. If you like crumb cake, you'll like this.

I spent the rest of my free time this weekend catching up on the first season of True Blood. Sookie is mine! Also, on Saturday I took a break from dress hunting at all the Anthropologies in San Diego to see Paper Heart. Charlyne Yi is painfully dorky but super cute at the same time. It was a good little movie and a good little weekend. Now it's back to the working world until next weekend. Sigh.

Weekend in Pictures

1. Mad Me, 2. Me, 3. Greatfruit, 4. Bellove, 5. While I was sleeping..., 6. Nap time, 7. Magazines, 8. Buttermilk Cupcakes, 9. Yellow nail polish with my name on it, 10. breakfast!, 11. Wicked, 12. Cafeteria Style Sushi

Yeah, not a super exciting one, but weekends are always good! This weekend I felt like we just did a lot of running around. I got a haircut (new/old bangs), I got a new and much-needed battery for my camera, I took a nap while Aaron hurried to finish his artwork. As you can see by number six, he failed and went skating. We went to see Wicked on Saturday night. My week-long desires to see Paper Heart and to buy a dress from Anthropologie were NOT fulfilled. I guess there is always next weekend... it just feels so far away....

Strawberry Tart

I made this SUPER yummy tart a couple of weeks ago. It is, of course, another Martha Stewart find. Can you go wrong with Martha? I don't think so... Can you go wrong with strawberries, cream cheese, and sugar? Absolutely not! My only trouble was finding a 9 inch tart pan with removable bottom. Well, at least it was trouble for my mother. She ended up ordering me one online. Most places have 11 inch.

This looked so good, I couldn't wait for some sort of event to make it for. So I made it for myself . I didn't eat allllllllllll of it though, I took some over to my mom and grandpa. However, I think she ate both pieces... and she asked for more...

Try it out for yourself here and enjoy! http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/strawberry-tart

Doggone Baking :)

I've done some baking, but not for humans! In an effort to give Wellington something besides chicken breast treats, I've made him a few things. My mom bought me two doggie treat cookbooks. So far, he likes the honey nut cheerio and peanut butter cookies above the best.

He also liked the cheeseball cookies:

I made him some oatmeal balls that he doesn't really want anything to do with. He will eat them, but only because he doesnt' want Bella to have it.

Can I have one of these mama?

CMY Cake Balls

Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow were the inspiration behind these little guys. I made them for a "zine swap" art show that Aaron participated in - they were to reflect the colors of his zine; a reference which no one got.

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Boy, oh, boy did people like them. Too bad once they were on the food table, no one knew I made them. So no recognition for me. I love recognition!

Aaron at the show, sporting his new wolf shirt bought the previous day at the Del Mar Fair. It's a chick magnet. Or, wait, is it repellent...? Doesn't matter - he's mine! Want one of your own? http://www.amazon.com/Three-T-Shirt-Available-Various-Sizes/dp/B000NZW3IY