CARAMEL APPLES

I make caramel apples every fall...but this year's batch is definitely my best. The difference? I usually go all budget style and make them from a kit...or melt a bag of pre-wrapped caramels and dip away. But not this year. This year I made my caramel from scratch. And it made a serious difference. It turned out super creamy and buttery and fresh. And it was the PERFECT consistency! Not too hard...not too soft.

I found a bunch of different recipes for making caramel...but they are all just variations on a theme. Some use sweetened condensed milk instead of heavy cream...some use brown sugar instead of white...some add molasses. I went with this recipe because I happened to have all of the ingredients for it. I think the most important thing is to get the ingredients to the right temperature and then take them off the heat. A candy thermometer definitely helps.

Note: If you're gonna make your own just use a non-stick cookie sheet. They come right off when they cool. No parchment necessary. And the best part? I had leftover caramel. So I portioned that out onto another cookie sheet...

And when that cooled I dipped the discs in dark chocolate and sprinkled them with sea salt. SO GOOD! Like...maybe even better than the apples! Long story short: I've been indulging in sticky sweet deliciousness all week. And I think I'm gonna make another batch. Yum.

IT’S HALLOWEEN*

Happy Halloween everybody!

Justin and I decided we're gonna dress up as Victorian zombies. Or, more accurately, as the ghosts of Lieutenant Roache and his wife...the original owners of our house when it was built in 1890. We are going to stay at home and hope for trick-or-treaters. So if you're in the neighborhood, stop by!

I was REALLY hoping to watch the 1987 masterpiece, “The Worst Witch”...but it's not available instantly on netflix OR on itunes. BUMMER. Maybe we'll go join a video store. Do those still exist?

If you are not familiar with the awesomeness of this seminal film, please see below:

(NOTE: The REALLY next level effects start at the 1 minute mark...so be patient)

* The title of this post was inspired by the Shaggs song. So here it is, for your listening pleasure:

The Shaggs, “It's Halloween”

GETTING FESTIVE

Justin and I are REALLY hoping we get a few trick-or-treaters this Halloween. Unfortunately, we live on a tiny dead end street that's off the beaten path...so it's definitely possible that no little ones will venture down here. But if they do I want our porch to look welcoming....so I gussied it up in the spirit of the season.

I got some really beautiful pinky purple mums and a couple of ornamental cabbages. I love the purples and minty greens with the bright orange of the pumpkins.

I decided to stick with that color palette for my Picasso inspired jack-o-lanterns.

I ended up painting them with screenprinting ink because I happened to have some lying around the house...but I doubt it's waterproof...so I gave them a good coat of matte varnish. Hopefully, now they will be able to withstand the elements.

The only part I actually carved out are the eyes. I LOVE the way they look all lit up at night.

I took Martha's advice and used a strand of twinkle lights wrapped around a jar to light the inside of the pumpkin. It's much brighter than a candle...and I won't be quite as worried about burning the house down.

We finished off the porch by hanging up some colored globe lights in orange, pinky-purple, and clear.

They make the front of the house look a zillion times happier. Justin and I are kinda tempted to leave them up year round.

WATCHING THE LEAVES CHANGE

Fall is truly magical upstate. I love waking up each morning and seeing the bright, beautiful leaves out my bedroom windows. And with all of the trees up here it's like every room in the house has a brand new view!

This is what I see when I walk out the front door...

And this amazingness is right around the corner...

I'm not that into the earthy palette usually associated with fall---browns, burnt oranges, yellows, maroons---but I REALLY respond to the crazy neon oranges and electric reds that I see on these trees around town. Apparently it's impossible to capture with my camera...but I swear, they look radioactive.

PUMPKIN, SAGE, and PECORINO RAVIOLI

I know posting has been spotty around here lately....but we've had LOTS of guests the past few weeks. So much entertaining means we've had a chance to try our hand at cooking some new seasonal dishes. Our latest: pumpkin, sage, and pecorino ravioli.

Justin and I make homemade pasta a lot but this was our first attempt at ravioli. It turned out pretty darn delicious...and now all we can do is talk about all the things we can fill ravioli with. FIGS! KALE! GOAT CHEESE! PROSCIUTTO! So many possibilities!

The recipe we used came from the cookbook In Season, by Sarah Raven. Her recipe isn't available online so I scanned the page from the book with the ingredients and directions in case anyone wants to give it a whirl. It's posted here.

HELLO FALL

We've been DYING to use the fireplace ever since we moved in back in April...but the weather didn't really call for it. Finally, the evenings are getting cold enough to deem it appropriate...and last night we gave it a whirl.

Justin is quite the little fire builder (thank you Camp La Junta). He had it up and going in no time. We had our fingers crossed, and thank goodness, the smoke was indeed going up and out the chimney and the whole thing seems to work like a charm.

The cats were mesmerized by the whole process. Steve kept a safe distance from the actual fire...but Julian, in his usual fashion, wanted to be as close as possible. You'd think he would have learned his lesson after singeing off half of his whiskers from a too-close encounter with a candle a few weeks ago...but, no.

It's looking like fall is gonna be as dreamy as I'd hoped.

CONCORD GRAPE PICKING

On Monday Justin and I drove down to DuBois Farms in Highland to pick our own Concord grapes.

In case you don't already know, I'm a HUGE fan of Concord grapes. I basically have a countdown every year until the season starts in September...and proceed to eat as many as humanly possible right through October.

We ended up getting about 12 pounds worth. I plan on taking half of them and attempting to make some sort of grape jelly. I've never done it before...but how hard can it be? Anyone have any tips?