pinot noir marshmallows + a bonfire

over the radio, jeremy played his goldberg variations and out the window, a large flock of birds flew all oblong-like in that pretty way that birds do. i kept looking left and looking right to check for people and other cars, but there was never anyone else, not even on the highway. 

it was like being on another planet or in another time, but no, it was just north dakota being all zen and unassuming. 

i ended up at my friend evan's ranch, where we lit a fire in an old tractor part, and pet the cows as the sun set. we roasted weenies and talked about china, told our halloween stories and fed the doggies. i had s'mores and a sausage and it was the perfect sunday supper, or just the perfect sunday in general: all cozy and animal-filled. 

i do love a good bonfire.

the crackly sounds. cooking things on sticks. driving back into town, stopping at the target, and smelling like a smokey burnt up log. 

bonfires almost make me want to delay the first real snowfall. almost. 

here was our little fireside menu:

for noshing // leftover halloween candy

for melting // s'mores with pinot noir marshmallows

for roasting // bourbon smoked sausages and hot dogs

for sipping // kendall-jackson grand reserve pinot noir

-yeh!

thanks so much to kendall-jackson for sponsoring this post!!!! all opinions are my own!

weekend warriors

it started as some of the best weekends do:

with a pizza, on a tractor

(and of course some cookies for the truck drivers)

in the mornings i made potatoes and eggs... and then potatoes and eggs again

first, inspired by this cute eggy/mendelssohny video, and then inspired by the tortilla in steph's book.

my arm workout came by way of teaching a cymbal lesson

and my cardio workout came by way of jumping around all extremely ecstatically excitedly when we got showtime!!!!!!! (get at me, saul berenson!!!!!)

i took a record two (2!!!) showers. one was because i hadn't taken one in a week, the other was entirely because i wanted to become marzipan with the help of this marzipan body scrub.

we had a brunch club get together, only it wasn't for brunch, it was for nighttime pretzel making (!!!!) complete with lye and nutella and mustard and guac (and no burns from the lye!)

and then

i did a thing i've never ever done before...

i helped my new fellow east-coast-transplant friends make apple cider! they have an apple tree that rivals ours, so for an afternoon, we chopped, smashed, juiced (?), and drank part of their 300 pounds of apples. it was so fun and flannel-appropriate and autumny.

the weekend ended with a big bowl of brussels sprouts topped with hot honey and enjoyed in my new robe that is fluffy as fuck. 

eggboy was either sleeping or on a tractor or eating oatmeal for 100% of the weekend, but it still managed to be pretty deeeeeelightful!

how was yours????

-yeh!!!!

an apple picking party

fall is here!!! fall is heeeeeere!!!! holy root vegetable, i am so excited. 

clearly i've already gotten into the spirit of things, but here's a scientific fact for you: fall isn't fall until you've picked an apple from a tree. (right??) like, you can eat all the pumpkin spice things you want, but you mustn't forget about the apples. 

in the past, my annual apple orchard trip has coincided with a trip home to illinois, but this year i figured there would probably be some hardcore apple orchards in the middle of all this rural business, so i conducted some research on the best places to go apple picking around grand forks. 20 minutes of failed googling later, eggboy came in from the fields, laughed really hard, and then directed me to the two fairly large apple trees in our backyard. apple picking parties are a thing here explained cathryn. 

oh.

...cool!!!!!

so rather than having our regular brunch club, the ladies and i became the most hipster versions of ourselves, took a picnic out to my backyard, sipped some wine, and picked a ton of apples. it was perfect. we talked weddings and miss america, we ate cheese and more cheese. we took moody photos of handfuls of apples. (good thing one of us had a fresh manicure.)

and then we retreated inside, away from the buttercream-loving bees, put on the sufjan, and stretched our definition of proper caramel apple coatings...

here was our menu:

for noshing // brown sugar challah, jam, baked teddybear camembert with raspberry preserves, and a bunch more cheese

for dessert #1 // sprinkle cake

for dessert #2 // caramel apples with coconut, toasted sesame seeds, sprinkles, sea salt, and smoked sea salt

for sipping // kendall-jackson avant chardonnay

for supper // chicken with apples + chardonnay 

i highly recommend an apple picking party, even if you don't have an apple tree. make friends with someone who does! or grow your own. or trespass. (don't trespass.)

-yeh!

thanks so much to kendall-jackson avant for sponsoring this post!!!! all opinions are my own!

brown sugar challah with pomegranate glaze + friday links

it's a two-challah week. that's not weird, right? (actually when you consider the testing and a camera breakdown, it was probably more like a twelve-challah week so ask me if i've gotten sick of challah, i dare you.)

this is my interpretation of a fashionable loaf. it's got drizzlies of pink, swirls of brown, bling blings of sugar, and a well-tanned epidermis. it's fit for a party and its plus one is brisket. and the recipe is over at barneys new york! i'm extremely excited because i used to stroll into barneys all the time on my little walks home to the upper west side. would you believe it that my splurges used to be marc jacobs and denim, not sprinkles and danskware? i certainly wouldn't.

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here are some friday links!

you all made crazy shit this week, i made a lot of audible gasps: i mean, cilantro in peanut ice cream, stroopwaffels in whipped cream, furikake on popcorn?! yes. lots and lots of yes.

i guess i spaced out when this single came out last month, but stars' "from the night" is really scrumptious.

every so often i go down the youtube rabbit hole of batsheva dance videos. i found this one this week and it is ripe with perfection.

can i call this a mac + cheese cake?? (and would these kinda be mac + cheese cupcakes??)

and speaking of cake, just look at this hazelnut fig one. it is art.

i've obviously been going though meryl and charlie withdrawal, but check out kaitlin and jean luc!

this week in tahini (i should just set a google alert for it already): tahini pine nut cookies, no-churn tahini ice cream, and mini cakes with tahini frosting.

so many hearts.

the wholesome midwesternness in me doesn't really like describing things as sexy, but when i read this cucumber salad recipe, i couldn't think of any other word.

marzipan body scrub you guys!!!!!!!!!! 

there are still a few days to enter my easy gourmet giveaway!

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happy weekend everyone!!!!!

-yeh!

p.s. it's come to my attention that some of you are having trouble commenting. oyoyoy! i'm working on having this fixed right now. feel free to bop over to my Facebook page to comment in the meantime!