lefse!

the other day, i was at the town boutique trying on a sprinkle sweater when britney spears started singing from my phone and, mostly as a reaction to my embarrassment and wanting that ringtone to stop (eggboy, please change my ringtone, ok thanks!!!), i picked it up immediately. on the other end was his jolliness sam sifton, who said something to effect of, hey! i was thinking i'd come over to make some lefse! and i thought holy poopcakes!

what followed was one of the most memorable weeks of my life, but only after i could annoy poor miss ethel a few times because contrary to what you'd think based on her perfect performance on camera, she had been adamant about not even being in the presence of a reporter. and i was a pushy patty.

(it all worked out in the end because that sam can really charm.)

for a few days, we covered ourselves in flour and rolled in potato fields and it was all so unreal because when i lived in new york, i'd sit at my little desk and count the seconds until sam's restaurant reviews would come online, and then i'd savor every last word. i may have moved on to marilyn's turf, but sam will always be one of my favorites :) 

i loved having him and the amazing sweet video crew from the times here, they were my first visitors from brooklyn! after our shoot, we celebrated with venison and hotdish, and then eggboy and eggdad took the crew on a workshop tour. they got a little welding lesson and at some point i think sam drove a tractor, which was practice for when we hire him for beet harvest. hehe.

anywho, i've received the sweetest messages from so many of you guys about the video and i want to hug all of you!! if you haven't seen it, here it is! the recipe for ethel's lefse is here. happy lefse season, everyone!!

-yeh!

some of these photos were taken by one of the wonderful crew members, eric moran. check out his site, his photos are amazing!!!!!

chicago + minneapolis

thanksgiving came early this year!!! i just returned from my week spent in chicago and minneapolis, spreading all the love and gobbles for jennie-o turkey on the teevee!!!! it was so much fun. when i wasn't in the tv, i got to celebrate stoopie's birthday, eat a butt ton of tacos with some college homies, and have thanksgiving number one with my chicago family. 

since we actually had a massive wedding-related to-do list in chicago (find eggboy a wedding outfit! get me sparkly dancing shoes! convince stoopie that she certainly will not be walking down the aisle in a snowsuit!), our thanksgiving consisted of some unbelievable aleppo cornbread that mum whipped up, one of the easiest turkeys in the whole wide world, and take-out from the restaurant that i absolutely must go to every time i'm home, mizrahi grill. we had turkey and hummus all cuddled up in a bed of pita and it was the tastiest, not to mention the laziest, and i was v down with that, especially considering that thanksgiving number two is coming right up. dessert was our friend marshy's famous lemon cookies, and then later that night, mum made this absurd bar type thing that was pumpkin pie filling topped with yellow cake. it was incredible. sort of like this recipe, but she used a homemade cake because that is how she rolls.

after chicago, i scooted on over to minneapolis, where i made cornbread stuffing on fox (you can watch it here)!!! and then i celebrated my not-barfing-or-potty-mouthing-on-air with a trip to my new favorite store, askov finlayson, and some bison tartare and za'atar cod at spoon & stable. yummmm, what a place. so worth this. 

i mosied on home last night, but not before another quick segment and a bite with the gem that is melissa from the faux martha. <3! holy guacamole, minneapolis is such a great city, especially after having adjusted to *these winters*. i wish i didn't live so far away. maybe one day i'll convince them to build a bullet train from grand forks to the cities.

i hope you all have wonderful weekends everyone!!!! get those thanksgiving menus planned!!!

-yeh!

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thank you soooo much to jennie-o for sponsoring this week and this post!!!! all opinions are obvi my own, and i had such a great time being their turkey girl!!! check out their thanksgiving site for recipes, tips, and other holiday goodies :)

also big thank you to shabby apple for my mustard dress!!! i loved wearing it on air, and it did not get one wrinkle despite the fact that i smooshed it into the bottom of my carry-on. perfection!

naptime in a bed of stuffing

you know, for how good stuffing tastes, you'd think it'd dress a little nicer for the occasion. it always looks so disheveled and unkempt, like please, we are at an event, would it have killed you to run a brush through your hair? (i guess i shouldn't talk?) it was probably stuffing's beat up homeless look that kept me from trying it for the first approximately 18 years of my life. if someone had told me that it's just bread with a few harmless vegetables and tons and tons of fat, i would have been all in.

maybe that was my family's plan all along: keep molly alienated from the stuffing so that there's more for us.

oh well, they won!

but now i'm making up for lost time. i've been dipping my toes in these past few years with challah stuffing, sufganiyot stuffing, and a soon-to-come bagel stuffing, and now i'm thinking i'm grown-up enough to make a boozy one. it's inspired by shelly's pretzel panzanella, it references my past life as a mustard collector, and it requires you to open a can of beer, pour a little bit into the stuffing, and then pour a lotta bit into your mouth because what is a giant dora the explorer float without a slight buzz anyway? oh, and bacon!!!!! duh. 

this recipe is over on jones dairy farm's stuffing microsite! it might be one of the jolliest sites ever, because my stuffing is cozied up next to outrageous things like cinnamon roll stuffing and hawaiian sweet bread stuffing and a bagillion other casseroles of love that i just want to take a nap in once i'm all tryptophanned out and ready to explode. 

thanksgiving is in 15 days people!!!!!!!!!!! get jazzed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-yeh!!!!!

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thank you so much to jones dairy farm for sponsoring this post!!! they are the bee's knees and you should all check out their stuffing site because it's got >25 stuffing recipes, a stuffing vs. dressing poll (team stuffing 4ever), cooking tips, a $1 off coupon, and a really great aqua/lime green color scheme. follow them on fb and twitter for giveaways, tips, and other fun goodies!

apple & honey muffins

alright so as of right now, my rosh hashanah menu consists of:

challah

more challah

tacos

and these apple and honey muffins (when i imagined myself getting all sticky from balancing a jar of honey and slicing an apple in the cramped little cab of a tractor, i got all squirmy...)

do i need to have a vegetable? i should probably have a vegetable. who has easily transportable autumn-y vegetable recipe suggestions??

and maybe i'll try to stuff some matzo balls down the nozzle of our big tall thermos.

i've never been the biggest fan of honey cake. either that, or by the time dessert rolls around i'm just so stuffed with brisket and challah that i could give zero shits about what the dessert table looks like. guilt came over me this year though when i realized that i've been treating a cake--a cake!--with such little love and respect. so i fiddled with it, failed a bunch, read five thousand recipes, pulled knowledge that i learned from my homemade funfetti® process, and came up with a honey cake that i am proud to call a friend.

this is a no-pressure, low-commitment honey cake that is actually a muffin, so you can get away with eating it at breakfast, lunch, or whenever you want. you do not need to wait until after brisket. you can load the sucker up with cream cheese, yogurt, buttercream, or any other dairy product of your affection and be 100% kosher about it. and you can even toss it around a tractor as your fiancé chisel plows and you let your challah digest. the texture is on the pleasingly denser side and the honey doesn't overpower. apples keep it *moist* and just a teensy bit of whiskey in the batter adds a yummy little zing while leaving you more than enough to sip on while you celebrate. 

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apple + honey muffins

makes 12-16

ingredients

2 c all-purpose flour

1 c sugar

3/4 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp cloves

a pinch of cardamom

2 large eggs

1/3 c vegetable oil

1/2 c honey

2 tb whiskey

1/4 c hot coffee

1 large apple, chopped

clues

preheat oven to 350, and line and grease a muffin tin. 

in a medium bowl, combine all dry ingredients. in a large bowl, combine eggs, oil, honey, and whiskey. whisk in the dry ingredients and then whisk in the coffee. fold in the chopped apple and then scoop into your muffin tin.

bake until golden brown and a toothpick stuck into the center comes out clean. begin checking for doneness at about 20 minutes.

let cool and enjoy!

i like sprinkling them with powdered sugar or plopping a nice blob of yogurt on top. 

-yeh!

ingredients for this recipe were provided by minnesota grown, which makes it easier for minnesota ladies (like me!) and gents to support their local farmers! thanks, minnesota grown!!!

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p.s. the winner of last week's giveaway has been notified!