[Music Monday] CocoRosie for a Spooky Halloween

One of my favorites, I listen to CocoRosie all through the year. But for newbies to their music, these two sisters may be more suited for All Hallow's Eve. Enjoy! (Their music is gorgeous and addictive and I bet you'll be listening to it every day of the year!)

[Things We Adore Sunday] Autumn Mornings, Sam Cooke, Southern Tea Cakes

It's been a long weekend for me. While everyone was out partying and having a good ol' time drinking witches brew, I was stuck inside shivering and eating little besides chicken soup with a swig of orange juice. So boring.

What have I been doing to escape? Reading blogs and back issues of Sunset magazine. And watching Keeping Up with the Kardashians. No judgies! When was the last time you had a flu so bad you fainted? Yeah, that happened to me on Thursday... So I am allowed to spend my Saturday night watching Kim get married, thankyouverymuch.

But back to the blogs, which are reminding me of all the things I can't wait to do now that it is autumn and now that I am finally starting to feel a bit better:

1. Different ways to cook quinoa, and how homey that grain tastes with everything this time of year:
Cannelle et Vanille's Savory Crumble:

via canelle et vanille

And butternut squash pomegranate quinoa from Family Spice

via Family Spice

2. Once I'm done being sick, I am SO pampering myself with this olive oil face scrub from Wit & Delight. It only requires three ingredients: olive oil, honey, and sugar (which is great for sensitive skin).

via Wit & Delight

3. Taking long walks in the morning. The air is just starting to get a bite of coldness in it in the mornings, and, despite being sick, I have been taking walks all around my childhood neighborhood in the mornings. This helps me clear my head and start the day without wearing me out like running has been lately.

4. Sam Cooke has been getting me through this sickness as well. I can't get enough of this song. It makes me feel much better about, well, everything. 

5. I have been working on the prototype for my southern tea cakes. These are a traditional southern cookie that is served with tea, but I have never been served these by family in Tennessee. They originate more from southern Georgia and the like, but I am determined to make them in the spirit of my Grandma Jones, who made the best cookies you could ever imagine, and they kept fresh for ages. I wish I could send some to her this holiday season, but I can feel her guidance in my hands while I tenderly roll out the delicate dough. She's telling me, in her British accent, to put in just a bit more butter.

I've been working mainly with Paula Deen's Gamma's recipe, but I've also been using several blogs for inspiration including this one:

via delicious inspiration

And this one, which includes a beautiful story about the author's southern cooking heritage:

via Lana's Cooking

Okay, that took a lot out of me. Time to take another nap.

[Food + Drink Wednesdays] Mini Pies for Autumn (Sweet Potato and Plum-Pear Port)

On Monday night, after a long day at work, I decided to work through some recipes I'd been meaning to try and send them to my friend Mike in Los Angeles for his review (and enjoyment too). My friend Will also came by, and I owed him a pie from the raffle, so I threw together a bourbon apple pie crumble pie for him. He was eating it before it came out of the oven, and brought it to his friend's house, where it promptly disappeared.

For me, fall is all about thanking the summer for all that delicious, vibrant fruit, and turning to warmer flavors like sweet potatoes (or yams), pumpkin, squash, pecans, bourbon and port, and lots of butter. With that in mind, I decided to try out two new recipes, and they were an absolute success: Sweet Potato Pie and Plum-Pear Port.

Placing the Bourbon Apple Pie beside the baby pies and the momma sweet potato pie

Plum-Pear Port in the foreground, and sweet potato just in front of it

Sweet Potato Pie gets its time in the spotlight

And here are the recipes!

Sweet Potato Pies (recipe modified from Paula Deen's)

Mine has less sugar, and you can totally get away with it!

Ingredients

2 cups of whipped sweet potatoes (you'll need about 2 large sweet potatoes or 3 medium-sized ones, and I'll explain how to whip them below)

3/4 - 1 cup sugar (depending on how sweet you like it; brown sugar could also work nicely)

1/2 stick melted and cooled butter

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ginger

1 cup milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Roll out the pastry and transfer either to a 9-inch pie plate or cut with circle cookie cutters and press lightly into buttered muffin tins. Trim and decorate pastry, and then place it back in the fridge to set up. 

2. Peel the potatoes and cut them into evenly sized cubes. Then steam them for about 20 minutes, or until soft. Transfer to a bowl to cool. Once cool, mash with a potato masher (or a wooden spoon or some other mashing implement), then transfer to a mixer and whip them up. You can do this by hand, but I got a KitchenAid for my birthday, and it is the single-best gift of all time.

3. Scoop out 2 cups of whipped potatoes and put into a bowl. Combine with the sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla, salt, and spices. Mix thoroughly. Add the milk and continue to mix. 

4. Pour the filling into the cooled pie crust and bake for 35-45 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool to room temperature. 

You can add a meringue to this, but I love how it tastes by itself. 

Plum-Pear Port Pies (recipe modified from BHG)

Mine is heavier on the plums because I love their tartness

Ingredients

1-1/4 cups sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

Squeeze of a lemon

1/2 tsp cinnamon

4 cups chopped plums (I leave skins on)

2 cups cored and chopped pears

2 tbsp port (you can omit this if you feel like it, but add in some more lemon)

1/4 tsp vanilla

Pie crust for either a double-crust pie (you can do a large lattice, or tiny muffin-tin pies like I do)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Roll out the pastry and transfer either to a 9-inch pie plate or cut with circle cookie cutters and press lightly into buttered muffin tins. Trim and decorate pastry, and then place it back in the fridge to set up. 

2. Combine sugar, lemon, cinnamon, a pinch of salt with all of the fruit and allow it to juice for about 30 minutes. Then pour off the excess. Add lemon juice or port and vanilla. Transfer the mixture into the pie tin(s).

3. Roll out the remaining pastry for the lattice crust, or do whatever you want really with the top a crust. A crumble would be a good choice since this pie is REALLY juicy. It could soak up some of the excess.

4. Bake 1 hour-20 minutes if you are baking a large pie, or 1 hour if baking in muffin tins.  

[Food + Drink Wednesdays] Pie Pops!

Last week, I made some tiny little pie pops. Actually, I made four dozen, and we won't even go into how long that actually took me to make. 

Here are the supplies you need to pursue a similar project:

• Ingredients for regular pie filling (or you can do store-bought, but you're hella cheating), cut into one quarter the amount
• Pre-rolled pie crust
• Lollipop sticks (you can buy these at Michael's)
• Rolling pin
• Patience. Worlds of patience.
• A cookie cutter, about the size of caramel apple pop

This is how they'll look before they go in the oven.

Some of the filling may spill out. It's okay.

And here is me making sure to secure the sticks in place.

The final product! Well worth the effort!

Pecan was by far my favorite, so I'll give instructions for that.

Pecan Pie Pops

inspired by bakerella

Ingredients: 

What is listed above (pie crust, lollipop sticks, rolling pin, etc.)

For filling:

1/3 cup dark corn syrup (I use half corn syrup and half molasses)

1 egg, beaten

1/3 cup sugar

2/3 tbsp butter, melted and cooled

1/3 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup chopped pecans (dice these if possible)

For brushing: 

1 egg white

brown sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Mix all filling ingredients together in one bowl (I love how easy pecan pie is).

2. Roll out the crust and use a cookie cutter or biscuit cutter to cut out circles in the dough. Make sure you have enough for the top and bottom of the pie pops. 

3. Place one circle down and press the lollipop stick into the middle of the circle to secure it in place. Place about 1/2 tbsp of filling into the CENTER of the circle. 

4. Take another circle and place it on top of the bottom circle, pressing into onto the lollipop stick. Then press the top onto the bottom with the end of the lollipop stick to make a pretty design. 

5. Use a pastry brush to cover the top crust with an egg white and then sprinkle with brown sugar.

6. Place back in the fridge for a few minutes before baking to set up. 

NOTE: You may need to place the dough back in the fridge before putting the top circle on. This is because the crust is much easier to deal with when it is cold. 

7. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until lightly browned, just before the juices start to bubble (this timing is an art that takes practice).

[Music Monday] Wild Child

A beautiful start to my day! I parallel parked successfully the first time (don't judge - it is hard to learn!) And had a delicious brunch with Seds and Mandz at Urth Caffe in Downtown (post on that tomorrow.) This fall weather has me into my folk music to an absurd extent. Right now, I have Wild Child on repeat and love the song PIllow Talk:

Pillow Talk (full album available Oct. 25) by WildChildSounds

Enjoy
*Google Readers click through for music player

[Things We Adore Sunday] My Weekend in Photos

This weekend went by all too fast and now I'm rushing off to dinner with the fam at our friend Katherine's house. Here are a few things that made me happy this weekend:

1. My puppies (being six years old, they are not actually puppies, but they will always be my babies) - I just made this video really quickly (the song is Tighten Up by the Black Keys). I love my munchkins (as you can probably tell by my ogre like laugh and my high pitched: "PUPPIES, ARE YOU READY FOR A CAR RIDE!")

2. Last night's charity event on campus, PILF Noir, and how chic our section is.

Gillian and Me

Aviva and Me

3. My mother's garden :-)

4. My mother's apple tart for breakfast this morning. Yum.

5. Visits to the Pooch Park. There are dogs and dog people. My favorite things.

6. And catching up with Cass on the phone today, as well as making plans to see my roomies, Seda, Mandz, and Alene tomorrow for brunch. Plus, receiving a great video from Grant of Tawsh dancing in the grocery store, coffee with sea-salted caramel ice cream, and walking the trails with Kelsey. <3.

Pawnee Goddesses

The Pawnee Goddess Motto, just because I can:

I am a Goddess.
A glorious, female warrior.
 Queen of all that I survey.
 Enemies of fairness and equality, hear my womanly roar:
YAAAAAAAAAAAH!

On Everyday Goals

via tumblr

Yesterday, my friend came over at around 10 PM and asked me what I'd been doing since we last talked at 5 PM, and I listed the following:

did an hour of yoga, wrote two blog posts, made two miniature chicken pot pies, watched a DVD on public speaking techniques (while doing some crunches and arm exercises), took a shower, researched graduate school programs, looked up new job opportunities, negotiated for work, hung out with my roommate, and planned my recipes for my baking contest on Sunday

Some people think I'm crazy and would never want to live in my oxymoronic organized dissaray, but other people ask me how I get so much done. It's quite simple though really: set goals for yourself over your lifetime, once a year, once a month, once a week, once a day, every few hours. I kid you not. It is as easy as creating a mental checklist for the daily goals, but it's as complicated as reflecting on the narrative your life has taken on for your lifetime and yearly goals. 

But let's start easy here: At the start of each morning when I get to my office, I reflect on the day before, read my horoscope (yes, I give into that one new age-y thing), go through Twitter quickly, look at pretty things on Pinterest, and then concretize what I have to get done that day both at work and during breaks. Only then do I really take the time to go through and answer my work emails. 

I couldn't do any of this each day if I didn't have larger narrative arcs I wanted to follow throughout the month and year. For instance, this month is the month of my birthday, but it is also early fall. For me, that means clearing out the old things I have and making room for new opportunities. To that end, last week I held a garage sale and I obviously set my yearly goals during my birth month. I have several concrete goals in mind for this month: make travel plans, clear out the clutter in my room, do more yoga and run every other day, and begin studying for the new GRE. I make sure that I have the time to do at least a bit of this each day. It helps me sleep better at night, what can I say?

So, okay, I'm a little bit crazy about these things. I don't know how the people close to me can stand me sometimes because I can be so adamant about accomplishing so much in an afternoon. But the people who make plans to make things happen are the people who get shit done and change things and are in control of their own pathways in life. And I want to be one of those people. 

One of my goals this month is also to relax about the goals and let things unfold in their own time. Which is why I love a good cocktail in the late evening to wind down and take life slowly again. Sigh. Life is beautiful, but only if you are determined to make it so. 

And, to finish, some words I live by:

via public school

[Food + Drink Wednesday] Speakeasy as Pie in San Francisco

In case you haven't heard me go on and on about the Pie Speakeasy I hosted in my basement and backyard this weekend, now is your chance.

The event was formed on a simple premise: small-scale bakers can't afford all the permits and kitchen space required to sell on a large scale, but SF does allow people to sell food if it is at an invite-only location. So, of course, my housemate and I just HAD to invite all of our friends over for a pie party. The fact that she is a singer and her mixtape is titled "Speakeasy as Pie" was a natural product of the party itself.

We spent the last several weeks cleaning, re-organizing, cooking, and cleaning some more to bring together a great evening with so many wonderful people. The fact that it was 75 degrees all night and day just made the whole thing perfect.

Our DJ for the evening

Me serving pie to the people!

The bar before dark

My pie pops

Our two custom-designed drinks of the evening

The four pies: lemon chess, chocolate chess, banana cream pie, bourbon apple pie

Oh Britney, You Did It Again

As you can probably tell, Carrie and I like, if not adore, Brit Brit. She's catchy, she's bubbly, she's made a comeback and we support her. And she's been looking great lately, she's my fitness inspiration, and omg I love her new CD blah blah blah. But let's get down to business. Her new music video is ridiculous in a you're-trying-too-hard-to-be-edgy-and-now-you're-just-offensive kind of way.

So let's start the textual analysis of "Criminal," Britney's answer to "Papa Don't Preach." The basic premise of the film is that poor, little rich girl/trophy wife suffers abuse from equally rich boyfriend. Note fake tears and great perfume product placement. Brit storms out only to officiously take her aggression out on a possibly unsuspecting female who was being preyed on by abusive boyfriend. I find this misplaced aggression disturbing. Britney is much less assertive with the male figure, and the director purposefully pits female against female. Not a fan. Then the domestic abuse happens. Glamourized violence runs rampant, so I'm just going to say it was tasteless and added nothing to the storyline.

Cue badboy in leather and also Britney's real life BF. He swings a punch (plus some more gratuitous violence) and saves the damsel in distress, who can only assert her agency once rich BF is cowering on the ground and still adheres to badboy's time frame. (Also, the tacky British pansy villian thing was so over beginning with Charlies Angels 1.)

So then Britney goes from abusive relationship to a coercive one, becoming a, and I hesitate to say partner, but pawn-in-crime of bad boy. Hmmm, gotta love those two options. The relationships depicted are emotionally unhealthy. So she is either being physically abused or used in criminal activity and as a sex object. Ppppperrrrffffeeeccccttt. I want to grow up to be just like Britney. (Not that I did before, but the Britney in “Stronger,” “Oops I Did It Again,” even “I'm a Slave 4 You,” indicated a bit more female empowerment and sexual agency then this piece of crap did.

So then we have some awkward sex scenes. (Note her passiveness, his archetypal masculinity. Irritating). Some more violence. A shootout where the lovers get away unscathed. And then depiction of dumb British cops. Eh. Probably my least favorite Britney vid ever.

I'll concede two things: Brit's bf is hot. Also, I love the depiction of London, because I love London and not because the cinematography was stellar or anything.

[Music Monday] Youth Lagoon, Wild Beasts, Tim Hecker, Twin Sister and Megafaun

So I've been in a music quandary lately, hopping back and forth between Jay-Z's new stuff and indie-folk from last summer. It's been frustrating. So I accosted my new law school friend, Greg, on FB chat for music recs after hearing that he liked Bon Iver (sure win) and also that he had been to the Wild Beasts concert recently. So here are Greg's suggestions for indie/folk/chill music that is perfect for studying. I hadn't heard Youth Lagoon before and now they are on repeat. And Twin Sister I hadn't previously been a huge fan of, but on a second try, I'm finding them oddly appealing.

Check it out and thank you Greg!

[Food + Drink Wednesdays] Pumpkin Spice Latte

Carrie is in the middle of planning of Pie Speakeasy and I am sooooo proud of her! She has been baking, shopping, planning, and networking, taste-testing and publicizing for months and I so wish I could up in Bernal Heights with her on Friday. Alas, I am moving from my apartment to my mom's house in Orange County for a couple of months until I find my dream apartment :-) Thus, there is no new recipe this week, but I did find a delicious one I must try: Pumpkin Spice Latte from Recipe Girl. How amazing does this sound?

pumpkin spice latte
Yield: 1 drink
Prep Time: 10 min Cook Time: 4 min
Do It Yourself version of Starbuck's delicious Pumpkin Spice Latte...

Ingredients:
1/2 cup whole milk

1 tablespoon unsweetened canned pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon packed light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup hot brewed, strong coffee
2 tablespoons half & half cream
1 teaspoon granulated white sugar, or more to taste
whipped cream, optional
ground nutmeg

Directions:
1. In a glass measuring cup or microwave-safe bowl, whisk together milk, pumpkin, brown sugar, spice and vanilla. Microwave for 1 to 2 minutes- watch closely and remove it from the microwave when the milk is hot and frothy.

2. Pour the pumpkin milk into a tall mug or glass. Add hot coffee. Pour in the cream. Add a teaspoon of sugar. Stir, and taste. Add more sugar, if desired.

3. Optional, but oh so good... add whipped cream on top and a sprinkle of nutmeg. Serve immediately!

Tips:
*Feel free to lighten up the recipe by using nonfat milk and fat-free half & half. It won't be as rich, but it will still give you that yummy pumpkin latte flavor.

*If you don't have pumpkin pie spice in your collection of spices, make your own! Mix equal parts of cinnamon, ginger, allspice and nutmeg- and measure from there.

Source: RecipeGirl.com

Law School...

I had my first law school midterm today. It was one hour. Then I spent 6 hours discussing said midterm, complete with two IPAs, some pizza, Jack in the Box and like a liter of Coke. And didn't finish my reading. Long story short: I'm glad it is done. If anything, going through this stress reaffirmed why I love debating, exceptions, hypotheticals, and pressure. Even if I fail, at least I had fun doing it. Now I'm going to collapse into bed before my brain atrophies from overwork.

In other news, my friend Katie sent me this. I'm going to have to remember that despite my desire to never-endingly argue to the contrary, sometimes you have to commit to an answer.

xoxo,
Amber

[Music Monday] 60s Faves

Hmmm... So I'm moving home to my mom's house for a couple of months and I'm looking forward to it for the most part. The biggest thing, however, is that I will no longer be able to blast Eminem at all hours of the day and night and play Superbass on repeat 17 times. Sad times. On the other hand, my family still has great taste in music, but I still need to transition. Hence this playlist, which contains some of the fam's throwback faves. Enjoy.



*Google Readers should click through for the playlist :-)

[Friday Link Round Up]

1. New Matchbook Magazine is out. As is Rue, Lonny and Adore. OMG SO MUCH INSPIRATION, I CAN'T BREATHE. (All these are online fashion, decor and lifestyle magazines with amazing photos and links and all-round gorgeousness.

2. Fashionologie published a slideshow of the best street styles from Paris Fashion Week. Look for the polka dots - in love.

3. Some fall recipes I must try:

Source: willcookforfriends.blogspot.com via Amber on Pinterest

Source: seeminglygreek.blogspot.com via Amber on Pinterest

Source: brunchatsaks.blogspot.com via Amber on Pinterest

4. I just discovered this site, Of a Kind - Know and Own, which features limited designer pieces. From the website: "Each week, we select one designer whose work we love to feature on the site. We share a series of stories about that designer—inspirations, personal life, taste, training, you name it—along with a limited-edition piece designed exclusively for Of a Kind.
Editions range in size from five to 50 pieces, and each piece comes with a certificate of authenticity that’s signed and numbered by the designer. You can display it proudly wherever you wish." There are some really gorgeous pieces, as evidenced below:

[Music] If I were a preteen...

I would love this music. Ok, well actually I do anyway, even though it is slightly embarrassing.

The first song of choice is my UK X-Factor fave Cher Lloyd and my love Mike Posner (don't judge) - With My Love. Poppy, wonderful - I'm in love. I played it 13 times in a row while I was studying and my brother was nearly going to rip my computer off the desk and throw it off the balcony. Sorry about it. Lovesit.


The next is Willow Smith (omgommgomgogm - how cute is she?) and Nicki Minaj (no words can describe my love and admiration f her.) The song may be a little generic. But it doesn't matter, because they are so cool.



what do you guys think?

[Food + Drink Wednesdays] Autumn Inspiration

Some recipe inspiration for the gorgeous fall weather we are having:

Pumpkin Cinnamon Streusel Pancakes via two peas and their pod

Pumpkin Cream Pie via the Pioneer Woman

Roasted Pumpkin Salad via 101 Cookbooks

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Brown Butter and Sage via Bon Appetit

Next week, I'm posting about my blue cheese stuffed figs wrapped in prosciutto and my sweet potato and onion tarlettes!
xoxox