DIY PAPER ORNAMENTS

New in my etsy store: cut-and-fold paper polyhedra ornaments!

I have gotten deep into folding crazy geometric shapes out of paper. Nerdy? Kinda. I mean...I have been cruising MATH sites on the internet. But now that I've done all the footwork I thought I'd share the love. I put together a set of templates in 8 awesome colors which make super sweet 3-D shapes when you fold them together. Perfect for tree trimming. Or just general hanging around looking cute. And you can tell your friends you know how to make a tetragonal trapezohedron. Sounds pretty darn impressive...right?

TRADITIONS

Justin and I got our tree on Sunday! We went back to Saltsman Christmas Tree Farm since our experience there last year was so awesome. (We scoped out another place in the name of research, and can confidently say that the vibe at Saltsman's is unbeatable. If you live in the area it is TOTALLY where you should be getting your tree.)

Last year we got a blue spruce...which wins hands-down in the looks department...but MAN, that thing was prickly. We had to wear GLOVES to put the lights on...and had battle wounds after hanging the ornaments. So we changed it up and went with a Fraser fir this year. It doesn't have the dreamy blue-green color that the spruce did, but it is still a VERY handsome tree. And it smells amazing. And it doesn't try to bite you when you touch it.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

I kinda can't believe it's Halloween. Partially because it's 33 degrees outside and it just SNOWED. And partially because Justin and I have been so busy recording that we haven't had any time to make costumes or carve pumpkins or go to any parties.

I did, however, manage to get some decorations up last week. I went with a Mexican style Diá de los Muertos vibe, and crafted up a storm. I made tissue paper flowers, papier-mâché skulls, papel picado votives, and then threw in anything glittery, and some pumpkins for good measure.

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.

WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

I forgot to tell you guys. Justin and I shared some of our favorite web videos over at Portable.tv for their weekly What We're Watching feature.

The stills above are from one of my picks -- Basic Black from 1967. Shot by William Claxton and starring Miss Peggy Moffitt.

Here's the link. Go check 'em out!

HEMLOCK HALL

In celebration of our two year anniversary, Justin and I took a 24 hour jaunt up to the Adirondacks and stayed in a little cabin on Blue Mountain Lake. In classic Darbie and Justin style, we made these plans sometime around 7 o'clock Sunday evening, packed, and left the next morning.

We stayed at Hemlock Hall...which we found after sifting through random google results and Adirondack hotel reviews on trip advisor. We knew we wanted to be in the woods...in a cabin...on a lake...with a fireplace. Hemlock Hall seemed to fit the bill. We also came across some unbelievably grand, picture-perfect places like The Point and The Lake Placid Lodge. But they were WAY out of our price range. I stress WAY.

Luckily, the budget vacation gods were shining down on us...and besides being incredibly affordable, Hemlock Hall turned out to be EXACTLY what we were looking for. The main lodge is a big old Victorian beauty built in 1890 (same year as our house!). It's got all of the rustic charm you expect from an Adirondack hotel. Beautiful old pine and cedar paneling, impressive stone fireplaces, and a wraparound porch with incredible views.

We stayed in a sweet one bedroom cabin, tucked in the pines on a hill overlooking the lake.

We went canoeing in the afternoon.

And spent the evening in the cabin listening to records, hanging by the fireplace, and toasting our anniversary.

The next morning we stopped by Buttermilk Falls on our way out of town. A perfect end to our Adirindack adventure.

RECIPE: CARROT GINGER SOUP

My new favorite food? Carrot ginger soup. It's all I crave anymore. Seriously. Justin and I have made two giant batches in the past couple weeks and I'm already starting to panic because I finished the last of it about an hour ago.

We didn't follow any one recipe. We kinda just winged it. I'm sure you could use the same ingredients in different proportions and it would probably still taste good. And I'm sure you could use this same technique with other vegetables to make all kinds of velvety pureed deliciousness.

Here's what we did:

Ingredients:

2 lbs carrots sliced

1-2 onions diced

1-2 potatoes diced

2 tbsp fresh ginger grated

1/2 tbsp cumin

2 tbsp olive oil

6 cups stock

salt and pepper to taste

You're gonna need a big pot for this. Preferably one with a thick bottom that cooks nice and evenly. We used our Le Cruset French oven (yay for wedding registries). First you are going to saute the vegetables. Justin and I like to add a little bit of salt as we go. Coat the bottom of the pot with the olive oil and add the onions. Cook them until they are golden. Add the potatoes and cook them for a few minutes until they start to soften up a little bit. Then add the carrots and cook for 8-10 minutes.

Next add the 6 cups of stock, the ginger, and the cumin. Cover partially and bring to a boil. Then bring the heat down and simmer until the carrots are tender when pierced with a fork. About 15 minutes maybe?

Next you are going to puree all of this in a blender. This obviously has to be done in batches. Unless you have a REALLY big blender. Put it back into the pot and salt and pepper to taste. YUM.

This recipe makes a lot of soup...but it makes awesome leftovers. I swear it gets even spicier and more delicious.

And I don't want to overload you with recipes here...but I've been super into frying up breaded goat cheese medallions and throwing them onto an arugula salad. It tastes pretty darn good with the soup...and it's a super easy way to class up some greens. Here's the recipe from the Barefoot Contessa.