One of the more unexpected effects of Hurricane Irene last August was a shortage of canned pumpkin puree on the local supermarket shelves. Flooding had evidently destroyed a significant portion of the commercial pumpkin crop on the East Coast, and as a result, my husband, Keith, has been deprived of pumpkin pie, pumpkin butter, pumpkin […]
Mulled apple cider is the perfect way to warm up on a crisp fall day. It has a ‘choose your own adventure’ quality to it because there are a variety of spices you can use to make your own custom favoring. If you can’t get your hands on apple cider for whatever reason this works […]
Early numbers are in for the world’s largest 2012 beer festival. Despite Saturday’s rain, 850,000 people attended opening weekend of Oktoberfest in Munich. It didn’t slow beer consumption either: One million liters of beer were sold. I put together a massive resource for those of you who are headed to Theresienwiese. And an extensive collection […]
“It was a dark and stormy night…” Honestly, I’ve never been good at telling ghost stories. The best ones are too spooky for me to want to remember and anything else, well, just isn’t worth telling. But I’m always game for inventing a tale or two and for having a laugh with friends, and that’s […]
Can a house have too much orange and black decor this time of year? I doubt it. Around these parts, we love candles. They’re cozy. They’re festive. And when you take a quick trip to the craft store, customizing them for whatever occasion you fancy is pretty easy. I had most of this on hand […]
It is tapped. The world’s biggest party has begun. At noon in the Schottenhamel tent, which was twenty minutes ago according to my complex time zone analysis, the mayor of Munich, Christian Ude, swung a wooden mallet to tap the first keg at Oktoberfest 2012. He shouted, O’zapft is! A 12 gun salute followed to […]
“If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.” –Carl Sagan I’ve long held the suspicion that apples were invented so that humans could make them into pie. I mean, if Carl Sagan thinks so, I must be on the right track, right? Luckily, the universe has already […]
I’ve learned a thing or two about crafting both with kids and crafting when the kids in the house are awake. And bored. 1. It’s got to be simple. There’s no room for fancy sewing machines (as I’d originally intended to use when making a fabric Halloween bunting) or other fancy equipment that require sharp needles […]
Ahoy, matey! International Talk Like a Pirate Day be here. Ye best be brushin’ up on yer pirate talk this morn or you’ll walk the plank: Arrrr, it’s Davy Jones’ Locker fer ye skippers! Want to know how Talk like a Pirate Day got started? Avast ye landlubber. There’s an interesting yarn. After a few […]
This rich and creamy cheesecake is flecked with cinnamon, topped with apples and full of melty caramel. It’s the perfect dessert for a farmer’s market or apple picking day – you can make the cheesecake ahead of time and add the apple topping with time to set before serving or top the chilled cheesecake with […]
