Fall Mood Board: #1

I still lamenting how short the summer seemed and having trouble adjusting to the idea of fall maybe because I'm dreading the winter that follows. I actually love the snow but not commuting in the bitter cold. But I'm rushing ahead a season!

Back to fall. In an effort to get inspired by and into the season I've been browsing and came up with some images to set the mood. And hopefully inspire some fall activities.

Judging from my first set of images, it seems as if eating will be one of my preferred fall activities. The recipe for the Chocolate Pear Tart can be found at Confessions of a Tart.

Apple Picking Part 2: Simplest Apple Tart

After recovering from our outing in the orchards, the very full basket of apples that resulted was begging to be made into something. I searched for an apple pie recipe, I had success with a few years ago to no avail and decided if I didn't act soon our harvest would end up as as deer food. (More about that later.)

I opted for this "Simplest Apple Tart" posted on Smitten Kitchen with beautifully photographed instructions. I didn't follow Deb's advice on the sugar and went with the full five table spoons of Alice Water's original recipe calls for. Two would not have satisfied my sweet tooth or our mix of apples which included Granny Smith. The final tart was not overly sweet even with 5 generous tablespoons. We had the tart with ice cream and there was a nice contrast between the still semi-tart apples and the truly sweet ice cream. It was a perfect reward for our apple picking effort.

To make things even simpler I cheated and used pre-made pie crust. I cheated again and made the fold over edge by tearing a second pie crust and adding it on. No rolling pins were involved in the making of our tart and it turned out just fine. I'll take on pâte brisée another day when the tractor is working.

Early Apple Picking

We went apple picking early this year. In fact on the first day our local farm was open to the public for picking. We were looking forward to a hayride but we were so early, they were still fixing the tractor or running to get fuel for the tractor depending on who you spoke to.

So we had to walk out through the orchards ourselves and carry the basket as it filled up. My little one wanted to carry it in the beginning. She told me she was fours years old now and had enough "enjurey" to carry it herself. A few feet later she decided she wasn't strong enough yet and I took over. Without the extra weight she ran ahead of me, when I finally caught up out of breath and took the lead again, I was scolded for going too fast. We ended up going further out than I expected and got quite a work out in. The problem with a good apple picking session is, at least without door to door tractor service, by the time your done there's no "enjurey" left to make the pie.

Now We Are Four

Yesterday my little one turned four! Seems unbelievable to me that she is already four and wearing 5T clothing and size 11 shoes. She's grown so much this year. The baby is disappearing and the little girl/teenager is emerging.

Yesterday for her birthday, I signed her up for Soccer, so I guess I'm officially a soccer mom now. Yikes! Not looking forward to getting up early on Sunday mornings, better figure out the auto timer on the coffee pot, so I have hot coffee for cold mornings standing on the sidelines cheering.

A Moody Rainy End to Summer

The Labor Day Weekend and beyond has been a wet mess. Certainly not the weather I was hoping for the unofficial end of summer and my vacation. We've had exactly one sunny day which I slept through out of sheer exhaustion having come off a rough week of work prior to the holiday. The rest have been cloudy with some form of rain, from shower to down pour.

I'm finding it hard to be sunny at the same time I'm looking at the garden I was hoping to mulch drowning in water and places I toyed with visiting being actually under water. We're trying to make the best of it.

Here are some photos of the last days at the pool. Sad it will be another year before I catch her going down the froggy slide.

Speaking of Safaris

How cool would it be to have your own safari tent set up in your backyard? All that's missing is the bug zapper and a few giraffe.

El Capitan Canyon safari tent pictured above. Get rates and an overview of the El Capitan Cayon camping experience at Sunset.

Sunflower Safari

We went on a Sunflower Safari this weekend. We didn't have to search very hard to find them. There were 40 acres of bright yellow flowers to look at during our walk through the Duke Farms.

The sunflowers are being grown in partnership with the NJ Audubon Society and will be harvested and sold as bird seed. We are definitely going to support the program and buy some at our local Agway after the harvest.

Our safari adventure was the perfect activity for an overcast day. The bright yellow faces of the sunflowers made it feel like a sunny day.

Recession Fun # 14: Baking a Classic

We bought new baking sheets last weekend to replace ones well past their prime. there was a picture of chocolate chip cookies on the wrapping and my daughter said "cookies with brown spots - my favorite!"

I felt bad because she's mentioned this before but I always seem to buy Graham Crackers instead. Maybe because store bought chocolate chips seem so unhealthy and well like real junk food.

So this weekend one of our projects is going to be baking a batch of real Toll House Cookies. Yummy!

Endless Summer

There's a feeling in the air that summer is winding down and yet, I also feel as if it's barely begun. Maybe it's that the garden has never really taken off after the deer attacks or there has been one too many rainy weekends. It could be there were too many chore filled days without a sense of just hanging out. Maybe I expected to get more done.

It didn't help not to have a real vacation. Next year no matter what I'm planning a week off in the heart of the summer. Today, I'm envying people like surfers who live in places and have a mind set that is summer centric. I could use a dose of endless summer.

The beautiful surfing images are tintypes by Joni Sternbach for her SurfLand series.

Let's Join The Circus

My daughter was tight rope walking the other night along the metal support of her canopy bed. She would hold on to the dresser and steady her self before edging towards me and using my shoulder for support before shimming to the bed post at the end of the bed. She would grab it with great relief , a satisfied sigh and a look of pride each time she made it across. She was really enjoying her death defying feats.

I'm very tempted to indulge her inner circus performer with one of these Cirkustalt tents from Ikea. How much fun to have a circus tent of one's own? Ever want to join the circus?

Cirkustalt tent available at Ikea.

Sells Floto Circus Poster various available on eBay.