Fall in the Neighborhood

Fall seems to be taking a long time in coming this year. Sure, the apples have been picked and here and there you can see a spot of fiery leaf if you keep an eye out, but it's also been 80 degrees more days in October than I'd really care to recall.

There's a red building I can see from the road when I'm driving to the highway that I've always loved. I've always meant to walk over there instead of driving by it so that I could take some photos because it looks so rustic. I had noticed that leaves were starting to turn in its vicinity, so I decided to walk over to see the leaves and take some photos of the building so I can cross if off the "things I have been meaning to do for 4 years" list.

It turns out that the red building sits on the edge of the dam for the City of Cambridge Water Supply. You can see the man-made dam here, and a few bright trees peeping out in the background.
Next, I walked over behind the building to see how close I could get. There's a fence around the water supply (presumably, protecting it, but other than a short chain link fence we didn't see much in the way of security), but I was able to take a few shots through the chainlink.
And, here's the water supply in all its splendor. Notice how few FALL looking trees you see in the area. It's a great view, but it could stand to look a bit more seasonal...
Luckily, I was able to find a few more bits of fall on our walk. We found a building that's cared for, but not inhabited. Not sure whether it's related to the water supply as well, but I liked the green door and scatter of fall colored leaves.
This next tree clearly knows what season it is, regardless of how the rest of the climate's behaving. The bright orange color of these leaves is my favorite fall color.
Another thing I love about fall here is the variegated look of the trees. I'd always thought of fall trees in a sort of primary school way - with all yellow, red, or orange leaves on a single tree. When I moved here, I wasn't prepared for the way that leaves would change slowly - some orange, some yellow, some still green even, all on a single tree. The color effect is beautiful, and it really helps to bring the seasonal change in slowly. You see a few leaves here and there first, and point and stare in excitement. Then, the weather starts to chill and you see the bright fall colors in denser, and denser arrays.

Preserving the Harvest

The last half bushel of apples were taken care of this weekend. We decided to give canning a try as a strategy for preserving the rest of the apples until a later date. The canning kit came Friday, so we got down to work making applesauce and apple butter. (Recipes below the photos).

I discovered that I really like canning. It's rewarding to know that we've managed to put away a bunch of the apples we picked at the beginning of fall into little jars of spicy apple delicacies that we can pull out in the dead of winter. I'm sure that we'll enjoy the apples much more then than we would if we'd eaten them all right now. It'll be fun to pull out on of these jars on a frosty day in February and remember the fun we had picking apples in the sun as the leaves had just started to turn.

I'm also pleased knowing that these treats are free of fake preservatives and extra sugars. The more I think about it, the more additives in food bug me. Please, just let my food taste natural! I'm thrilled with canning as a way of preserving foods. I'm looking forward to eventually getting a pressure canner so that we will be able to can less acidic things, too. It'll be nice to have a shelf full of home-canned pasta sauces and soups to reach for as convenience foods instead of the store-bought varieties. That'll have to wait for a bigger kitchen, though!

All in all, the proceedure is very gratifying. I find myself sitting and looking at all of the jars with a miser's satisfaction. I know logically that these few jars of apple products aren't going to keep us alive all winter, and that we could easily stop by the store and grab any of these year round - but somehow looking at the jars does make me feel a little bit more ready for the coming cold. It must be some sort of primal instinct. I can't help but think that if I had been a pioneer, I would have stood in my root cellar at the end of harvest, looking around at all the stored and preserved foods feeling secure and knowing that my family would be prepared for one more season.

Our apple sauce recipe was pretty standard (basically a combination of a bunch of recipes I read):

1. Fill large pot with cored and sliced apples
2. Add about 1/2 cup water, heat on high until water is boiling
3. Reduce heat to medium, and cook covered until apples are mushy (about 30 minutes)
4. Fish out all peels (or push through strainer)
5. add cinnamon to taste
6. Blend with hand blender until desired consistency
   

I decided to try cooking the apple butter in the crock pot. This meant it had to cook longer, but due to the low temperature we didn't need to sit over it stirring the whole time. I based it on this recipe, but decided as I went along that I didn't like their proportions, so I changed it up. I used less sugar (6 cups seemed excessive, so I only used 3), and it was still too sweet for my liking. Next time I'll use much less sugar. I also used more spices because this recipe wasn't spicy enough. In the end, we had:

• 3 quarts unsweetened applesauce
• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup apple cider
  
• 1 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg1
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice1
• 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 tablespoon cinnamon

1. Add applesauce, sugars, and cider together in crock pot.
2. Cover and cook on low for 3 hours.
3. Add spices and cook on low, covered, for 3.5 more hours.
4. Uncover and continue cooking on low for 4 hours or until sufficiently thickened. May take longer, depends on how thick you like it and your crock pot.
5. Ladle hot apple butter into 1/4 pint or 1/2 pint size canning jars and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

Makes about 5 pints.

Apples, apples, apples...

I love the smell in the air as it starts changing to fall weather. Regrettably, it took awhile for that season to get to us this year, but mornings are finally starting to be crisp. One of my favorite fall activities is apple picking. Two weekends ago, we went apple picking with some friends, and then last weekend we had the opportunity to go apple picking again with Matt's company.
As you can imagine, this resulted in a lot of apples. Almost a bushel of them, to be precise. What on EARTH does one do with a bushel of apples?

Well, first one takes fresh apples for lunch daily. To vary things a bit, sometimes one's fiance cuts the apple slices into anteater shapes.

Next, one makes three and a half apple crisps. One to be enjoyed immediately, half of one (made in individual tins) to pack in lunches, and two to be packaged up and stored in the freezer (we're set if we need to do any surprise entertaining!).

After the apple crisps and fresh apples, you need to start looking further afield for ideas. So, you make a pot of applesauce, eat several bowls of it hot, and take applesauce in your lunch for a week.
After all that, you still have half a bushel of apples. At this point, you really need to get creative. You'll see what we did with the second half-bushel of apples in my next post!

Home Improvement

When Sheila and I moved into our apartment last summer, it seemed pretty perfect...especially compared to some of the really scary places we'd looked at. We moved in, and everything was hunky dory for, oh, something like 2 weeks. Then we started realizing all the little things that bugged us.

Take this, for example:

Looks like a perfectly respectable kitchen, right? Well, until you add in a microwave, a coffee maker, a toaster, the mother of all spice racks and some drying pans. See the problem here? Practically no counter space.

However, being rather ingenious people (after several cups of coffee, anyway), we saw a need and decided we could fill it. Of course, we procrastinated a bit, but last week we decided was finally the time to start on a bit of around the house Do It Yourself. Sheila and I contemplated the space in the kitchen, and formulated A PLAN. Luckily, the apartment we live in allows us to drill "a reasonable number" of holes in the wall, so we got to work.

First step, measure areas in need of improvement. Check.

Second step, buy shelves. Check.

Third step, install shelves. (??? -> Profit! Wait, no...that's a different story) Wait, there appears to be a problem. The instructions say "Drill a hole. Do not punch." We looked at our screwdriver, the wall, and the instructions. We did not own a drill. Neither did anyone else we knew.

Ok, third step, buy a drill. Sheila and I set out for an evening of drill shopping and looking at bridesmaids dress colors at the mall. Side trip for burgers at Burger King. We walked confidently into Lowe's Hardware and made a beeline for the drill section. Found our drill, purchased it and a set of appropriately sized drill bits and were on our way. We were a little disappointed that nobody asked to assist us or whether it might be better for our boyfriends to buy the big scary tools, but we decided that it was probably our confident, knowledgeable air that stopped them. We then proceeded to spend too long at the mall and craft store to make it home by a reasonable drilling hour in an apartment complex, so we put our finds on the table and went to bed so as not to disturb the neighbors.

Next day, fourth step, install shelves. Hm, the tape on the drill box was already open, but whatever, carry on. But...wait. The instructions say that the drill should twist here, and that should loosen the place we need to put the drill bit. It's not turning. "Wait, let ME see the instructions. Nope, that's what they say. Try again..." *mutter mutter, much twisting of drill that is not budging* Ok, fine. Maybe our hands are too small. Matt! Try this! Hm, you can't do it either? Well, we all have college degrees, we all read the instructions thoroughly...this isn't working. CLEARLY, it is the drill, not us.

Fourth step, go back to hardware store to exchange drill. Explain to man at exchange counter that the drill was previously opened, and furthermore does not twist where the diagram says it should twist. (Large, beefy) man at exchange counter raises an eyebrow, opens the drill box, and proceeds to twist the stuck drill part with what looks to be the side of his little finger. Looks at us, looks at drill, scans drill for exchange and hands us the receipt without question. We sheepishly went and selected a new drill off the shelf, paid, checked the much more functional drill in the car (THIS one we were able to operate on the first try without exertion) and went home. Once again, too late for drilling without disturbing the neighbors.

Step five, install shelves. When I got home from work today, I said to myself, "Self: those shelves are GOING UP today." I measured, checked instructions, mesured, checked instructions...damn. The instructions say "drill a 1/4" hole." Our biggest drill bit is a bit smaller than that. I think about the drive to the hardware store, and look at the drill bit. Then, I settle on wiggling the drill around just a bit after drilling the initial hole to widen it. From then on out, things proceeded rather normally, aside from the usually extremely loud neighbors upstairs who took exception to my hanging shelves and stomped on the floor while yelling obscenities every time I hammered in a nail.

Step six, stand back and admire self-installed ingenious drying rack that not only frees up counter space, but also lets dishes drip directly into the sink.


While I was drilling and all, I also installed our mail sorting box in the kitchen so we can reclaim the table space it used to use up:

Lunch at the Container Store

While on a trip to exchange a broken drill (don't ask), I decided to stop by the Container Store yesterday to look for lunch supplies. I had one lunchbox, but life would sure be easier if I didn't have to wash and dry it every night, and not all kinds of lunch are well suited to it.

Soon, I found myself standing around in the kitchen section contemplating the tupperware with Matt (who graciously agreed to come along, despite his suspicion of a store that purports to be the "Container" store and sells many things that aren't "containers").

See, Sheila and I suffer from the human condition...that is to say, a whole slew of mis-matched tupperware, missing tupperware lids, and a tupperware cabinet that spews plastic lids and boxes at us every time we peek in the door. I was examining a tupperware set at the Container Store that sits on a lazy susan, and all of the types of box take the same lid. Genius!

A Container Store employee approached us to talk about this set, and asked why I was so interested in it. I explained the missing lids, cascading tupperware dilemma to her, and we conferenced for a few minutes exploring several options. After much discussion of our problem, she suggested that we might be better off buying a basket to keep all the tupperware contained in one place, that we could easily pull off the shelf, select the needed items, and stick back on the shelf. Clearly, a woman who knows her job! I love going to stores, having them talk to me, and then talk me into buying a better, cheaper thing than I had originally intended to purchase rather than trying to get me to spend more money. (The original set I was looking at - $20. The box we ended up buying - $6.) As we left, Matt laughingly said, "I can't believe we got a consult at the Container Store!" I explained that it's just what they do...and part of why I love the store!

Of course, I was not content simply to buy a box to house my tupperware. We'd been in there to find new lunch-packing options, and that we did! I picked up a half dozen tiny tupperware-style boxes to package condiments, dips, desserts, etc. However, my favorite find of the day is a small lunchbox with a liquid-tight snap on lid. The lid is clear, so you can see the food presentation inside, and there's a movable divider inside so that you can keep your food from leaking into other food, but you can change the portion sizes.

So, now my renewed goal is to get back in the habit of packing cheap and healthy lunches in my nifty new container-organization system. Today's a good start!

Bag is an insulated lunch tote from The Paper Store.
Box is my new bento from The Container Store. (I apparently only shop at places with very obvious names.)

Lunch is a salad of mixed greens, Craisins, walnuts and cucumber with an oil and vinegar pig bottle, wheat thins, and a couple Japanese mochi candies.

Friendly neighborhood oil and vinegar pig:

Good Food in Colorado

Between my grandparents and Aunt and Uncle, trips to Colorado are never a gustatory disappointment. I was in Colorado this past weekend, and this trip was no exception.

After flying in Thursday evening, Grandma and Grandpa and I tried our hands at making gourmet pizzas (I was especially fond of the pesto, artichoke heart and roasted pepper variety), and I got the grand tour of their elegant new house.

Friday morning, we first stopped at the Molly Brown House.
We couldn't take photos inside, but we did get an exclusive tour of the third floor after inquiring about what was up there. (Turns out it's the staff kitchen, former servant's quarters and a used-to-be-ballroom that they're not sure what to do with.)

We then stopped for lunch at the Rock Bottom Brewery on the 16th street mall. I had some tasty chicken enchiladas and some sort of local beer. Following this, we traipsed around downtown for a bit and went past the Denver Convention Center so that I could meet someone I'd been eager to meet:


We narrowly missed a drenching rainstorm, and proceeded to the Aquarium that's under relatively new ownership. A good time was had by all, though everyone declined to try the palm tree climbing challenge.

After the Aquarium, Andrew and Terri joined us for dinner (green minestrone, garlic toast, fresh veggies, and raspberries with ice cream: see what I mean about the food?) . This was nice, since the last time I'd seen them, we'd been in town for their wedding, so they were somewhat occupied. We made plans for our Saturday travels...

Saturday started with a tour of the Celestial Seasoning's facilities. This was awesome, even though the plant isn't producing anything on weekends during the summer. We got to sample several teas, see the original oil paintings of some of the tea boxes, tour the storage and production floors (including the sinus-healing mint room), and visit the giftshop.


We made a quick detour to the Leanin' Tree Southwestern Art Gallery, where we saw some incredible statues:


Then it was off to a goat farm to pet the goats and taste various cheeses.


We headed on into Boulder for lunch, where I had the largest vegetarian quesadilla known to man at the Pearl Street Mall. Then we toured an art gallery with many tempting wares that I resisted, and a gourmet cooking shop (Peppercorn's) that I was not able to resist as easily. Eventually we headed home for the evening, where we had leftover delicious pizza and went out for ice cream.

Sunday morning, I went to church with Grandma and Grandpa. I got to meet a lot of people who knew Mom when she was growing up (they threatened to tell embarrassing stories!), including the lady who taught mom to make the cinnamon rolls she still makes every Easter. Then we headed out to see bits of Red Rocks, and hiked halfway up to the visitor's center. The view from there was plenty for me, not being used to the altitude and that many stairs!


A highlight of every trip is always a meal cooked by Terri. Below is the photo I took of Sunday's brunch to make Matt jealous. You'll see a zucchini muffin with walnuts, raisins and lemon glaze; a roasted tomato with fresh goat cheese; a pork sausage glazed in apricot-habanero jelly; an egg souffle-puff thing(?) with peppers; and melon salad with mint and lemon. Delicious!

After lunch, we made a quick stop at a local farmer's market where I was able to pick up a couple jars of the habanero jelly to give Matt to make up for sending him gloating food photos all weekend, and I was off to the airport for my trip back to Boston. (The delicious food did not stop there, as Midwest Airlines bakes and serves fresh cookies mid-flight!)

This has been a sampling, but you can see all the photos I took at my Colorado 2007 Photo Album.

All in all, it was a busy weekend but loads of fun. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa, Terri and Andrew for the great weekend!

Mount Auburn Cemetery

On Friday, our company seminar was actually a field trip. We got to go across the street to the Mt Auburn Cemetery that my office building overlooks, and anyone who was interested got a walking tour of the place. I was completely astounded by all of the history, architecture and plant life that had been hiding across the street from me for the past year, and immediately wanted to go back with a camera.

So, this morning and I drove into the city, parked at my office, and spent a little over two hours wandering around, hiking up hills, and taking in the scenery. The cemetery was the first in a new movement to encourage people to enjoy visiting their deceased friends and relatives rather than fear death. By creating a park-like atmosphere and banning things like the slate "memento mori" gravestones (the ones featuring a prominent skull with wings) that had been popular up until that time, the founders hoped to make a place that people would be comfortable in and visit out of pleasure rather than obligation. To compare to Arlington National Cemetery, the Mt Auburn cemetery has just over 94,000 residents compared to the Arlington count of more than 300,000. Some noted residents include Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Oliver Wendall Holmes.

This photo was taken in Consecration Dell, the site where the cemetery was originally consecrated in 1831. At that time, the area looked like any other woodland in the region, and 2000 people gathered to hear Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story speak. The vernal pool is home to the endangered Spotted Salamander. Over time, the area had been re-planted with invasive species and the character had completely changed, but a restoration project began in 1997 to return it to its original New England splendor. It seems that things are going along well in that regard! (as always, click on any photo for a larger view!)
This is just another view from the bench I was sitting on in the Dell.

We had actually walked around quite a bit (while I showed Matt some historic spots from the tour on Friday and forgot to take photos) before reaching Consecration Dell, so we sat there for a bit for a rest and to see if we could spot any salamanders (we did not).

After that, we hiked up to the highest point in the cemetery atop which sits a tall tower built as a monument to George Washington. I was sort of tired, so I decided to sit and admire the view of the Boston skyline. (I wasn't kidding when I said we hiked up to this point!)
While I sat and admired, Matt climbed to the top of the tower to take some photos. First, he took a stealth photo of me sitting on my bench. This shows how high the tower is above the vantage point where I took the previous photo!
Photos of the Boston skyline photos from the tower:
After returning to ground level, Matt snapped another stealth photo of me on my bench. Unfortunately for him, I noticed!

(All together now: "Gee, doesn't Liz look like her mom?!")After all his stair climbing on the tower, Matt took a break and I took the camera. This is just another shot of the skyline with a few monuments that were in front of the tower. Matt's breathing on the bench on the left.
This is a shot taken sort of down the hillside from slightly below the base of the tower just to prove there are actually graves! Shortly after this, an elderly couple stopped us to ask whether we were having a nice walk and to point out some areas that we wouldn't want to miss.
Further down the hill, we saw this amusing headstone. Would that we could all have this strength.
On the recommendation of the other walkers we had run into, we headed down toward one of the sets of lakes.
While walking around the lake, we encountered a mama duck and her brood:
The man who had designed the tower, Dr. Jacob Bigelow, also commissioned this sphinx to commemorate the preservation of the Union after the Civil War, as well as to celebrate the destruction of African slavery. The bird on the sphinx's forehead is an American Eagle, her face is purposely Caucasian, she wears a six-pointed masonic star.
Across from the sphinx stands the Bigelow Chapel, also designed by Dr. Bigelow. Stained glass imported from Scotland, granite from Quincy, the Gothic style was meant to imitate the trees under which the Druids performed sacred rights.
By standing at the chapel, you can see the entire Bigelow trinity. Chapel to your back, Sphinx in front of you, and in the distance you can see the tower as well.
Near the front of the cemetery stands a monument to Nathaniel Bowditch (astonomer, mathematician, and author of the "American Practical Navigator"). According to my guide pamphlet, the founders hoped the cemetery would become a place for public memorials, and this one was raised by public subscription.
This is only a small fraction of the photos I took and the history I absorbed this weekend. Even with that, what we saw is also only a small fraction of the cemetery. It was truly a great experience, and I'm looking forward to seeing more of it soon!

In Support of Coffee

We were in New York again this past weekend, and packed it full of activities as usual.

Saturday we attended a Bar Mitzvah for a family friend of Matt's. It was interesting to attend temple and look at a service from a new perspective. I found overall that it really wasn't all that different from church services I've been to in the past. A little more difficult to follow along, since many parts weren't in English, but not really any more so than Catholic Mass.

In the evening, we were at the Weird Al concert at the Westbury Music Fair (which apparently goes by more different names now than I can keep track of). I really have no idea why it had never occurred to me to go to a Weird Al concert before, because really, it was even better than I had hoped. The music was great, Matt's mom got a chance to kiss Weird Al, he swooned in her lap, Al performed Albuquerque (much to everyone's surprise!), and a great time was had by all.

On Sunday we trekked into Brooklyn (Park Slope) to see Darnisa's brand new apartment, have brunch with friends, and generally take in the sites. We (and by "we", I mean "I") were impressed to find a 2-story Target with a special escalator built for carts (I swear, Matt's going to stop taking me out in public if I keep acting as if I've never been out of the countryside when we find things like that). Darnisa's apartment is really great for a first apartment...and I can't wait to see it with furniture.

We met for brunch at Beast in hopes of having a meal full of mythical creature, but found that the wait was over an hour. We decided to backtrack a bit and go to the place that had been advertising granola crusted french toast with nutella creme instead. Good choice. At Melt I had a pomegranate mimosa, the aforementioned french toast (that came with a huge fruit salad as well), and a side of home fries because, really, who can resist a good fried potato? All of the food was delicious, and we were astounded by the prices.

As we were finishing brunch, it became apparent that the restaurant was being cleared for a surprise party, so we enjoyed watching friends and family congregate and bustle around excitedly. We happened to be standing outside chatting when the guest of honor arrived, but I think his toddler son was more surprised than he was...as the child burst into tears and had to be consoled down the block before he would look at anyone in the party again.

After brunch, we strolled around Park Slope and visited some of the shops along the way. We stopped in at a ritzy pet shop and considered getting Tabi rhinestone leash harnesses, giant catnip mice, and gourmet fresh baked cat treats. We passed on all of these. We did not, however, pass on the human treats we found across the street at The Chocolate Room. We didn't get one of EVERY chocolate (quite), but we made a fair attempt. So far, my favorite has been the Hannah - Soft caramel in dark chocolate drizzled with milk chocolate & sea salt. Salt and caramel in chocolate is genius.

After that, we reasoned that Darnisa didn't actually have anything to sit on in her apartment, so we opted to stop and sip coffees at Gorilla Coffee for awhile rather than prop ourselves awkwardly around her apartment. I always feel pressured when I meet up with friends that I don't see frequently, to try to have MEANINGFUL conversation and make every second COUNT. Sitting in Gorilla Coffee, it occurred to me that the meaning isn't all that important. Sharing a cup of coffee, lingering over conversations about nothing, enjoying company...these are all important parts of friendship.

Those moments do count, for a lot. They don't have to be earth shattering, you don't have to solve world peace or even figure out once and for all what that guy is really thinking. It's enough to sit, and share, and be. And so we did. We talked, and laughed, and relaxed knowing that despite the distance, despite the time between visits, we were among friends...and as much as I miss my scattered friends, I know that we're all where we're supposed to be, doing what we're supposed to be doing, and we'll still support each other along the way through a phone call here, a quick cup of coffee there.

Graduation

Knights of the Round Danish

This weekend Matt and I are in Vermont to take a couple baking classes at the King Arthur Four Baking Education Center. One of my professors recommended it to me as a great website to buy gourmet baking goods, but when we saw that they had some classes coming up, we decided to make a weekend out of it.

Today's class was "Laminated Dough." Contrary to popular belief, this does not refer to a glazing process, but rather to the process of layering dough and fat to make flaky pastries like croissants. The class itself was from 9-5, and after all of that laminating I'm a little overwhelmed (and exhausted!) to go into any detail, but I have a lot of photos to share!

Matt modeling the class apron.

Our chef, showing us how to roll the layers and layers of dough we'd be using. Every step was followed by, "But of course, you will be doing this by hand with a rolling pin..."

Our favorite implement...this is only used for marking dough in equal increments, not for super slicing, but it's still great fun.

The classroom. We had 11 people in our class.

Giant Wall o' Mixers. Mine was the green one!

The Baking Education Center.

We were inside all day, but the weather is gorgeous this weekend. We didn't mind being inside once things started coming out of the oven...

I'm not an expert pistachio chopper, but I play one on the internet.

Pastries!
top is hazelnut, chocolate, pastry cream and crumb topping
next down is cheese and apple (I think?)
3rd from top is boursin cheese, pesto, carmelized onion, and some bell pepper with asiago
I don't remember the bottom one

I love kitchen power tools. We didn't get to use this, but it's still mighty fine!