Thanks IKEA!

OK, although IKEA is not on my good side currently, they helped me narrow down my style a little bit by provided a style quiz. I took Young House Love's  advice to kind of pinpoint what I like. I have been feeling very scattered in my life and brain and sometimes have a hard time really knowing what I like, haha. Anyway,... here is mine!IKEA STYLE QUIZ RESULTS

I plan to start my own Inspiration Book/ Folder very soon to organize all my ideas, magazine clippings, and websites that i love!

Wednesdays!

Every Wednesday evening, I meet up with my good friends Andrea and Lisa for a dinner date. We each take turns hosting at our homes and making the main dishes. Last week it was my turn, and I made Mediterranean couscous packed with yummy tomatoes, onions, zucchini, grilled chicken, feta, and lots of garlic! I tweaked the recipe on the back of a box of couscous. (sorry, when I get a digital camera that works I can upload pictures so this isnt so boring!)

 But anyway it's such a great time for us to get together and share our lives with one another. We talk about whats going on in our lives, food, fun, love, boys,jobs, kids, and everything in between. (And swap recipes and fun DIY ideas as well!) Lisa and her husband Scott have been married for 6 years, and Andrea has been dating Dano for almost 2 years (right?) Almost the same amount of time as me and Garrett :) So we dish out lots of advice, hold each other accountable,  and seek out some guidance from Lisa because she's "been there, done that". :)

This past week I made Artichoke bites. SO good. (I used gorgonzola instead of parm) I love artichokes! I think they seem a little intimidating to mess with when theyre not marinated and found on the shelf at a grocery store in a cute  little jar. BUT, here is a slideshow tutorial thing Garrett sent me a while back on how to tackle them!

Oh,.. Lovely fall weekend.

I was so looking forward to this weekend! I had absolutely nothing planned so my day was open to fill up with friends, relaxation, and spontaneity :) Saturday I wanted to attempt to make some apple butter in  our slow cooker and I SUCCEEDED! OK OK OK,....this is turning into an "apple blog" and I am sorry, but tis the season,... right? :) It turned out so well. I saw some recipes for this online, but I didn't follow one specific recipe because it differs depending on what kind of apples you use (how sweet they are) and I used a few different types. (Honeycrisp, Macintosh's and I believe Gala.) This is all I did:


-Peel, core, and thinly slice enough apples to fill your slow cooker 
-Add 1 cup of sugar (some recipes called for 4 cups!!!, even with just 1 cup it was still on the sweet side)
-Add 2 tablespoons of cinnamon
-Add 2 tsp of cloves
-Cook on high for 1 hour, and then stir.
-Leave cooking on low/med for 8-10 hours stirring every now and again
-If it's still a little chunky, run it through a food processor for a second


I love learning how to make my own stuff like this instead of buying it somewhere. Our house smelled delicious!!This only canned about 3 mason jars of apple butter. If you want to yield more jars worth, just simply add more apples as it cooks down.
Saturday evening, some friends and I went to Brahaus Schmits,a German beer hall here in Philly on 7th and South. It's quite the experience, and it's pretty fun! They have a really huge beer list, and waitresses in full  German attire. I actually went here with some people during the World Cup and it was crazy! So fun, i'd recommend it for the experience at least, and the really good beer options! Apparently, in December they start making this warm spiced wine that is served in Germany called Gluehwein, I really want to go back and try it!

Then after dinner, we headed over to Old City to  Eulogly Belgian Tavern, it was pretty cool. Small and cozy, and the staff was really nice (which is sometimes hard to come by in Philly!) It's a cool bar to go to with a small group of friends. I'd recommend the Brooklyn Sorachi Ace, its a nice IPA (which I am beginning to be a huge fan of, I heard it's a "hoppy" beer... ?" I felt like I was joining my boyfriend on his travels in Europe <3 :)

I should be sleeping....

WHOOPS! Instead of laying in bed until I fell asleep, I decided to bring my laptop with me for some company. I found myself getting caught up in this blog site about this newlywed couple who are immersed in DIY projects. I find a lot of their stuff inspiring and wonderful!

http://www.younghouselove.com/

But, if you are a regular blog reader, you've probably come across them before. I am still new to this blog thing though, so its new to me and I loved it!

Oh yeah, I did bake apple dumplings! I used the Pioneer Womans' recipe! for a dinner date with two lovely women I meet with on Wednesdays. SO SO tasty! I'd recommend it but I would use less butter/sugar than she calls for! 

I have absolutely no plans this weekend and I am so looking forward to enjoying it!

When the apple is ripe, it will fall.

    I'll admit, I feel bad about picking apples off trees, when there are perfectly good apples that have just fallen off the tree lying all over the ground! What a waste. Anyway, last Sunday my friend Kathleen was celebrating her birthday and decided to have all of us go to Linvilla Orchard! What a great idea, especially since it was the first weekend of fall. And, it was actually on my "September-TO-DO-List"It was my first apple picking experience here. Here are some lovely ladies, Gretchen, Kathleen, Sarah and I in the middle of apple picking.

  There are so many types of apples, and the orchard actually gave us a list of all the apples and what they're best for. (baking,eating,salads,...etc.) I have actually been wanting to find out what apples are best to use for pies and such. Anyway, my favorite apple is definitely the honeycrisp, (pink lady to be exact) but they for some reason trigger headache's for me, so my friend Nicole suggested we make apple turnovers, or dumpling! So i'm thinking we will try this recipe

Apple Dumplings Taste of Home

 What a cool little bundle! Any suggestions for other recipes that include apples? I typically stay away from allrecipes recipes. They never turn out the way I expect! I'll be crossing off "bake new treat" off my October-TO-DO-List!

-Jess