Must Read More Judy Blume...

Words I thought I would never need to consider, as my childhood/young adulthood was spent in a mighty fortress of Judy Blume lit.

The Judy Blume Quiz



Score: 82% (9 out of 11)

But then I got an 82% on The Judy Blume Quiz. Oh, the shame!

I didn't even know that Ms. Blume had written a teenage divorce guide! I really could have used that in my teens. OK, it's going on my list. Along with a reread of Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself.

I'm sorry, Judy.

Crumble

Tonight I'm going to whip up a double batch of Martha Stewart's Crumb Topping to keep in my freezer. I did this last winter and whenever we had last minute guests (or wanted a cozy dessert) I just had to reach into the freezer and sprinkle a portion of the crumble over my fruit of choice and bake. Easy peasy.

*Image from The Kitchn

My favorite fruit-bake combo is granny smith apples and blackberries, but the classic apples tossed with cinnamon and sugar is pretty hard to beat. For guests, I posh the whole thing up by using cute individual ramekins. For just BB and myself, I tend to pack the topping directly onto halved, cored apples.

The Kitchn over at Apartment Therapy has two more Crumble Topping recipes that you can use in exactly the same way.

Red Kuri

BB and I had a particularly autumnal weekend, full of leaves, farmers markets and Red Kuri Squash. I had never actually cooked with Red Kuri before, but certainly will again. They're a beast to cut, but your efforts are well rewarded flavor-wise.



I used my mighty muscles to cubed them up, roasted them and used them in an improvised soup. My brain still isn't entirely jet lag free or I would have roasted up the seeds with some spices as a garnish.

Here's the recipe, which is really more of a formula. I just drop in different vegetables according to the season and my whims.

Red Kuri Squash Soup
1 ½ lbs of Red Kuri squash cubed
1 quart of chicken stock
1 medium onion
1 large clove of garlic
1 tbsp fresh thyme
5 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper

Toss Red Kuri Squash and 2 tbsp of olive oil, with a pinch of salt and pepper and roast (uncovered) at 375 degrees for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Chop onion and garlic and sauté in remaining olive oil in a medium sized Dutch oven. Once the onions are translucent, add the squash, thyme and chicken stock and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. Season to taste.

After 30 minutes, blend to the desired consistency. If the soup seems too thick, it can be thinned down by adding additional stock or water.

Brutal Forgetting

I've just become aware of Jonathan Safran Foer's new book, Eating Animals and am really looking forward to reading it.



There's a sentence in the book's description that really grabs me, "Eating Animals explores the many fictions we use to justify our eating habits-from folklore to pop culture to family traditions and national myth-and how such tales can lull us into a brutal forgetting." Brutal forgetting. What a very precise description. I've been thinking about this act a lot recently, with regard to more than just dietary practices, and have been labeling it "compartmentalizing" or "wishful compartmentalizing". But that doesn't really put a fine point on what I want to express.

How satisfying to finally have the right words.

Bookplates

While in Florence, I picked up a set of bookplates that caught my eye and I find myself going through a strange book vetting process now, trying to figure out which of my books are worthy of a beautiful bookplate. Should they go in my children's and YA lit? Will I have to tear out the bookplates if I want to pass them on to my potential children? Should they only go in hardcovers? And, truth be told, I'm not even sure what name to write in them. (I'm finding the whole name changing thing more difficult than anticipated.)

So rather than confronting and ultimately answering these troubling and somewhat less so questions, I'm going to focus on pretty bookplates. Here are some that you can buy on Etsy:


You can buy these lovely Octopus Hooking Onto Mermaids Tail bookplates over at articles47.


Or these darling Swan Girl plates at The Black Apple.


Or these Personalized Vintage cuties from Oiseaux


Or these mad, Deco Magical Forest Ride numbers from nouveaudesigns that I'm entirely tickled by. I find myself drawn to this type of design more and more lately. I'm not even quite sure what to call it. Magical Deco? Folk Deco?

Ah well, back to the name dilemma...

Things That Make Me Happy

Wednesday/Thursday Edition:

1. Abbey Road (Remastered)
2. A quiet dinner at home with my BB
3. This candle that smells just like a fireplace
4. My rekindled enjoyment in knitting
5. Finding two fantastic food blogs I hadn't known about before yesterday: Tiny Urban Kitchen and Eat Make Read

Home!

We're back! The wedding and honeymoon were both divine! I'm adjusting to being back at work and distracting myself by reading Eat Make Read and planning imaginary dinner parties.

If my apartment was clean, I'd host one this weekend. But as there is no chance of that happening, I'm safe to daydream. My easy-peasy autumnal meal would consist of my Mom's macaroni and cheese and a garlicky green salad. For dessert, poached pears over Spice Bread from the Hi-Rise Bread Company. For good measure, I would serve it on my special owl plates with these polka dot napkins from Dwell:



And I'd bake the mac and cheese in this: