Friday Favorites: Recipe for a Friday Morning

As Friday mornings go, taking into account that whole have-to-get-up-and-go-to-work thing, this one was relatively lovely. It started off on a good note, as I woke up next to this snugglebug:

I was running early this morning (which never happens) and was rewarded with a blissfully empty gym for most of my workout:

that, except dark (tanks to our neighborhood's website for this pic)

... which was powered by some excellent new purchases, including this song:

Gives me chills every time.

The weather outside is just perfect today. It had already hit 60 by the time I left for the gym, and on my way to work it was pouring in some parts of town but not raining a bit in others. These pictures were taken from the same spot -- one side sunny, the other looking a little ominous. 

My morning commute included my favorite five minutes of radio every week:

mascara alert: today's is a sad one

and a stop at Starbucks for a healthy dose of chai:

yum.

Even after all that, I was early getting in to the office, which afforded me a lovely 30 minutes to get work done before the phones started to ring.

blurred to protect the innocent... or something like that

Two to do lists are better than one? Things at work are crazy right now and are only going to get worse in the next few weeks. I suppose it's better to be busy than bored, at least.

My quiet half hour was also enhanced by the best sourdough toast on the planet:

excuse the missing bite... I couldn't wait

What a great way to start the day! Now only 5 more hours until I am officially on weekend time... I am so ready for this one.

Hope that your Friday morning was just as wonderful!

   Love,

    Meg

Colors of January

Cool thing #362,835 about the iPhone? Instagram.

Love,

 Meg

Pumpkin Apple Muffins

Just an hour before we planned to leave town on Friday, with packing and laundry still to finish, I got an overwhelming urge to bake something for our trip. It was one of those urges that tends to strike at the least-opportune moments in my life (late at night, or when I am stressed and have a to-do list that could stretch for kilometers... or both), but one which I know better than to deny. I did a quick search and picked this recipe (detailed below) on a whim because I happened to have everything it called for, so I crossed my fingers that the finished result would be decent, taking comfort in the fact that at least I was using up the apples on my kitchen counter that were about to go bad. Thankfully the prep was simple and quick, and my helpful hubby was around to chop and taste test the apples, since I have that little deathly-allergic problem.

I had a little extra batter but didn't want to break out a third muffin tin, so I poured the rest into two ramekins that I baked alongside the 24 muffins. When they came out of the oven, I tried a bite out of one of these ramekins.... yum. These guys turned out delightfully moist and flavorful and were a huge hit with everyone from my baked-good-skeptical husband (who took one bite and told me he would "chop apples every week if I would keep making muffins") to our friends' nine-month-old. I'd call that a success.

I didn't have time to make the streusel topping that is included in the original recipe, but I did add one quick step to the recipe: after Dan chopped the apple, I threw it into a pan with some butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon and sauteed it for a few minutes. I drained this and then added the apples in to the rest of the mix. I can't say for sure that this made a huge difference in the end, but I think it may have helped boost the flavor.

Ingredients:

3 cups all purpose flour
¾ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
1 (15-ounce) can solid pack pumpkin (don’t use canned pumpkin pie filling)
¾ cup vegetable oil
2 ¼ cups sugar
4 large eggs
2 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and chopped 

Directions:

 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and place a rack in the center of the oven. Generously grease 18 muffin cups or line them with paper muffin liners.

*my addition: Saute chopped apples in 1-2 tablespoons of butter with ~1/3 cup brown sugar and ~2 tablespoons cinnamon for 5-7 minutes or until soft. (sorry for the approximations -- I sort of made this part up as I went along)*

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves. In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, vegetable oil, sugar, and eggs. Slowly add the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture. Whisk until the flour is incorporated. Stir in the apple pieces.

Spoon the batter into the muffin cups; filling them almost to the top.

Bake for 18 to 12 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool briefly in the pan and then transfer to a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Definitely worth a try if you're looking for something easy but yummy... or if you get one of those unavoidable urges to bake and happen to have apples and pumpkin hanging around. Just me? Oh well... Happy baking!

   Love,

    Meg

Great Friends, Great Wine, Great Weekend

As Monday mornings go, this one seems particularly hard to get behind. Maybe it's the cold rain falling that made my morning walk to the gym positively bleak, or perhaps it was the face that I stayed up entirely too late last night throwing together a batch of chili to simmer in the crockpot overnight. Could be that this is the first five day work week I've faced in quite some time. Most likely, though, it's because all I really want to do is go back to our vacation, curl up besides our gorgeous fireplace with a glass of wine and good friends, and continue to ignore the real world for a few more days weeks.

Our home this weekend was absolutely gorgeous. I was a little nervous because I had never seen one of the condos at this resort, but Dan and I were very pleasantly surprised when we walked in. It was spacious, incredibly clean, very well-equipped, and wonderfully decorated:

The real fireplace was by far the best part, and we enjoyed great fires both nights that we were there. There were so many pieces of furniture/decorations that I wanted to take home with me, including these awesome lamps in our bedroom:

We were lucky enough to be joined this weekend by our wonderful friends T, who deployed with Dan, and N, who helped so much to keep me sane here at home. Their adorable nine month old little girl is just about the sweetest thing ever and was so much fun this weekend. We have just gotten to know them just over the past eight months or so, but they have quickly become some of our closest friends, and this little trip was the perfect way to get away and celebrate the five of us all being together again.

Friday night, we snuggled in next to a fire with lots of great wine, munched on cheese and crackers and an excellent pasta dish (thanks to T, who is a fantastic cook), played the game Mad Gab, and stayed up super late just having a ball. Saturday morning I headed to check out the resort gym, which turned out to be pretty nice, and then we packed up for a day of wine-tasting. We took our time and enjoyed beautiful views:

... some great wine:

... and one very happy little girl:

... who especially loved a few fast stroller rides through gravel parking lots with her dad.

We made it to two wineries and had planned to have lunch at the brewery before heading to two more, but by the time we made it for lunch it was almost 4:00, so we postponed the remaining wineries and relaxed over some beer and excellent food:

... and then headed back to snuggle up by a fire, play with the little one, eat a light dinner, top off the night with oreos and milk, and crawl into bed early.

Sunday morning, we woke up to a beautiful view:

I made it to the gym again, and then we packed up, checked out, and headed out to make up for the wineries we missed on Saturday. We ended up tasting at three more venues, picking up several more bottles to bring home, and enjoying a fantastic lunch (fish and chips and a great hefeweizen) before finally waving our white flags. We snapped a few more pictures:

the girls

guys being... guys

... before saying our goodbyes and heading back home, already making plans to hopefully check out another wine expo in February. 

I was exhausted last night (and still am this morning), but it was absolutely worth it. Dan and I are so lucky to have such great friends and as much as I love spending girl time with N and her baby girl, having our wonderful husbands home is perfect. I am really looking forward to lots more wine and dinner dates, late night laughs, and weekends away with these guys!

   Love,

    Meg

Silent Sundays

Weekend: accomplished.  

Love,

 Meg

Friday Favorites

My favorite thing about this Friday? It's almost over.

In just a few hours, I am escaping from work half a day early to head off for a lovely mountain:

(which will unfortunately have significantly less snow than this picture)

We have rented a great condo for the weekend:

... and will be spending the next few days visiting a few of our favorite vineyards:

  and introducing friends to our very favorite brewery:

There will also be lots of napping, yummy food, a new gym to check out (am I crazy for being excited about that?), and lots of quality time with great friends!

Hooray for Friday! Happy weekend, everyone.

Love,

 Meg

So What Wednesday

Because sometimes, especially on Wednesdays, it's a little hard to care.

So what if…

 -- I'm a little obsessed with breakfast foods right now. My amazing hubby indulged my need (yep, definitely a need) for crispy-to-the-point-of-burnt bacon last night (so worth the smoky haze that settled over the entire apartment for the rest of the evening). He also made cheesy scrambled eggs and the most incredible french toast. The guy has talent. But the cravings continue: today for breakfast and lunch, I packed pumpkin bread and oatmeal. I could seriously go for some hash browns, too. Nothing wrong with eating breakfast three times a day, right?

 -- I'm a little ok, ok, a lot late on the grey nail polish trend. I have been dying to try it for quite a while but didn't have the courage until I saw it on a coworker (on whom I admittedly have a bit of a girl crush... she has adorable, effortless style and is incredibly sweet and successful). Mine don't look nearly as good as hers, but I'm still in love with them.

 -- I park a little closer to the door on super cold mornings at work.

 -- I wish that Siri could do slightly more advanced tasks: "Pump my gas, Siri." "Go to the gym, Siri." "Unplug the shower drain, Siri." "Take Tess for a walk, Siri." No luck on these so far, but I feel sure that she is trainable -- I'll keep you updated on how this goes.

 -- Some days I miss college only because I long for the days that I could roll out of bed, throw on a pair of yoga pants, grab a fantastic cup of coffee, and prop myself up in class behind my laptop. Better yet, I miss the rare days when I could turn off my alarm, skip the class, and start my day closer to lunchtime. Life in the real world makes those four years seem better and better.

 -- I waste large chunks of time daydreaming about my next life, in which I will be a pastry chef with thick, wavy hair, a closet full of cute shoes, and a supersonic metabolism. I'm not asking for much here, people.

 -- I get a little annoyed at the girl in the car in front of me on my commute who is doing more dancing than driving. It may be true she will reach her destination in a much better mood than I if I choose to let her get to me... but happy or not, late to work is late to work.

 -- I forked over big bucks for a nice hotel room on a weekend trip this spring that I'd really rather not take. I'm crossing my fingers that the gorgeous pool and in-room jacuzzi will make up for the high levels stress and frustration that this little "vacation" (ha) is sure to cause.

 -- I crave the same foods over and over again day after day... even when I've just eaten them. I would be thrilled if I could eat pasta and toast and drink iced coffee forever -- days that include those foods are just happier.

So tell me: what are you saying "so what?" to today?

   Love,

    Meg