A good WI-kend.

We had a wonderful and relaxing weekend. It's finally fall, my favorite season, and it feels like it, too...yay for sweater weather and boots! It's funny to me how tired I get of wearing boots into springtime, but how exciting it is to dig them out again once it starts getting cooler.


Andrew and I both had free time this weekend...and even if we (read, Andrew) actually didn't, we made time for it. This was one of the first instances that we haven't had to go anywhere on a weekend off; during the summer, free weekends weren't actually free but were saved for wedding activities or family events back home. Of course, this isn't to say that we didn't love going home on the weekends when we could, but it was a nice change of pace to spend some time on the WI side of the border.

So what did we do with all our free time? Friday we had friends over for dinner, Saturday we made pasta (stay tuned for an In the Kitchen post in the next few days!), and Sunday we went to Madison to celebrate a friend's birthday. It was a lovely weekend.

In fact, we've got a few lovely weekends on the horizon! My mom comes to visit a week from today (WOOHOO!) then we have a wedding in Iowa, then my sister comes the following weekend! AND, the fact that wedding photos are coming in is the cherry in top of an already pretty great start to fall. Seriously. I could look at our wedding photos all day, on repeat...more of that later this week!

Five things.

{via}

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My mom and sister went to the best apple orchard in MN today. Who's jealous? Moi.  What I would give for a turnover with cinnamon ice cream...

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Today is the first day that it hasn't felt HOT outside. There's an actual chill in the air this afternoon.  While I'm ready for the weather to change over from 90 degrees and humid to something much more pleasant, I'm sad, too, which is strange for me since I love fall! This summer was beautiful, in every sense of the word, even if we did have to turn the bedroom into a makeshift kitchen to survive the heat (that actually happened). The changing season is already making me miss all the wonderful adventures of summertime. 

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I finished writing our thank-you notes to all our friends and family last night. I already knew this, and have said it before, but we really do have THE BEST group of friends and the most generous families. Just rereading all the lovely cards put a huge smile on my face. I'm a sucker for all kinds of stationery, even blank cards with puppies on the cover with a quick but heartfelt note inside...so everyone's messages and good wishes made my day. 

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I made this for dinner the other night. So, so good, probably the best thing that's happened to cauliflower yet. Ms. Izard does not disappoint. For proof, see here...and here, and here. 

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The X-Factor is back. It's one of my guilty pleasures since...last year. We were hooked last fall, probably because it was one of the few things on non-cable tv that we didn't hate watching. It took a bit of adjusting to get used to being limited to 6 channels, though we're doing just fine now...thanks to Netflix, Hulu, etc. But really, I don't know why I like this show - it's basically the same as American Idol and America's Got Talent, which I don't watch at all. Andrew put it well last night, tweeting this: 

Watching #XFactor is like listening to this. You can't help but enjoy it even if you know you should be hating it.

Michael Jackson - Will You Be There - Version Free Willy - [HQ]

MN Mondays: Pine Tree Apple Orchard.

The air is crisp this morning, and the sky is that brightest of blue shades that you see only in the fall. This reminded me of one of my favorite places in Minnesota during autumn, which brings me to our third installment of MN Mondays: Pine Tree Apple Orchard! Located in White Bear Lake and nestled in between ridiculously ornate mansions and golf courses, this orchard holds many memories for me and my family. Every fall, we would drive to Pine Tree for apples, turnovers, hayrides, and pumpkins. 

While Pine Tree is open all year (you can pick your own strawberries in the summer!), I think the best time to visit is in the fall, when it's just cool enough to really enjoy some warm apple cider. There are plenty of family photos of us bundled up with coats and mittens on cold afternoons, waiting in line for the tractor ride up to the top of the orchard. We've visited Pine Tree on field trips during elementary school, on quiet and grey days during the week, and on busy Sunday afternoons when there's been no place to park. Each and every time, I've found something more to love about the orchard, and the views are just the loveliest. 

Inside the shop, visitors can see the orchard's apples being trimmed, cleaned, and prepared to be sold by the bushel. There is also an on-site bakery that sells the most amazing apple treats; my favorite is their apple butter, which tastes incredible on homemade pumpkin bread or pancakes! I could really go for some this morning...

During fall weekends the orchard hosts all sorts of family-friendly events, including corn mazes, pumpkin patches, and pony rides. The pumpkin patch is, by far, the best I've ever seen. Pumpkins dot the fields everywhere you look, and it's just the sweetest seeing all the little ones picking out which one they want to take home. 

I've been trying to find an orchard to visit near Milwaukee; any suggestions from those who've been? I know that our next visit home to the Twin Cities will have to involve a trip to Pine Tree, even if only for the apple butter! 

Going vegetarian...for tonight.

For dinner tonight, our dishes were all vegetarian. Now, this is by no means an everyday occurrence, as some of our absolute all-time favorite dishes involve meat (and lots of it). Our families know from experience that most of our hosted family dinners center around pork shoulder or some other sort of slow-roasted meat. We didn't consciously decide that we were going to "be vegetarians" tonight, but it just so happened that every recipe that stood out to us called for vegetables, not meat. 

On the menu: 

Broccoli and leek pie, from Yotam Ottolenghi's Plenty.

Apple and ginger chutney, from Max and Eli Sussman's This is a Cookbook: Recipes for Real Life (we first saw this new cookbook highlighted on Smith and Ratliff and can't wait to try out more recipes!). 

Zucchini and hazelnut salad, also from Ottolenghi. 

All so fresh, flavorful, and (relatively) healthy...except for that pie, which definitely wasn't healthy, but it tasted so, so good. And honestly, we didn't miss the meat at all. There are some all-veg dishes that taste fine, but leave you wanting something heartier. All three tonight were completely satisfying. We've felt that way about most of the dishes we've tried in Plenty, a really great book that proves vegetarian cooking can be exciting and creative (the eggplant croquettes are a personal favorite). And I can't wait to try more of the Sussman brothers' recipes after flipping through their book; I'm especially looking forward to the s'mores with maple-bourbon marshmallows...maybe this weekend?!? 

What are your thoughts on vegetarian cooking? Love it? Hate it? Give Plenty a try - we promise you won't be disappointed! 

~N.