Squirrel Cake Toppers

Yesterday, I found the perfect wedding cake topper for our autumn-themed wedding next October.

Homemade Pumpkin Pie

Last week my fiancé made homemade pumpkin pie using a baking pumpkin that we bought at the Union Square Greenmarket.  

Baked pumpkin

The finished product

Chicago Deep Dish Pizza in NYC

Earlier this week, I received an awesome present in the mail from Chicago: a Lou Malnati's deep dish pizza.  It arrived completely frozen with the help of dry ice.  We baked it tonight for dinner and it was wonderful.  

Carl's Steaks

On this same walk downtown, we discovered Carl's Steaks, an old school dive in Murray Hill that serves the classic Philly cheesesteak:

We opted to split a basic cheesesteak with provolone (cheez whiz is for only the most intense of cheesesteak eaters) and it was quite good:

Kalustyan's

Today on our way downtown, we stopped at a great spice shop called Kalustyan's between 28th and 29th on Lexington Avenue.  It is three floors of seemingly every spice imaginable. 

Kalustyan's also sells interesting cooking utensils and pots like these tajines:

If I am ever cooking an exotic dish that calls for a hard-to-find spice, I will definitely come back to this shop.

Yankee Harvest Candle

One of my favorite aspects of autumn (and there are many) is that Yankee Candle's Harvest candle becomes available again.  It is my absolute favorite of their scents and cozies up any cold fall night.

Shirley Temple (Kiddie Cocktail)

I have just fixed myself a Shirley Temple using the available ingredients in our apartment (ginger ale and grenadine).  A truly doctored Shirley temple would also include ice, maraschino cherries, and orange slices, but this simpler version is just as delicious.  This drink always reminds me of being a kid at family weddings or grownup restaurants and feeling extremely luxurious with my fancy-looking Shirley Temple.

Beany Malone

I first read Lenora Mattingly Weber's Leave It To Beany (1950) as an adolescent growing up in the Midwest.  The title character of Beany Malone, whose fictional self had been my age over 50 years earlier, was to me the ideal all-American, self-sufficient, Midwestern girl.  She was attractive, but not showy, intelligent, but not too outspoken, well-liked, but introspective, neat and tidy, but creative.  To this day, I still think of her character and strive to replicate some of her qualities in my own life.