apple & sage hand pies

The other night I made these complete delicious and savory little hand pies for dinner.  It was a really simple recipe, with a list of basic ingredients that I really loved.  Darrell took a few leftovers for his lunch and said they were equally yummy served cold.  I found the recipe here, made a few edits, and was glad to find that it was very easily made vegan, although feel free to make it in its original vegetarian version!  

flaky pastry crust (adapted from mark bittman):

1 stick cold butter (use earth balance for vegan version)
1 cup all-purpose flour, plus a few tablespoons for rolling the dough (i swapped in 1/2 c. whole wheat)
1/2 teaspoon salt (or so)
1 teaspoon sugar (or so)
3 or more cold tablespoons of water
1/2 cup or so grated extra sharp cheddar cheese (daiya cheddar shreds were my substitute)
a small handful or so of fresh sage, chopped

for the filling:

3 smallish apples, preferably red - the granny smith can get too tart
a few tablespoons flour
a few tablesoons sugar
juice of one lemon
one small bunch sage, chopped
five slices yellow onion, quartered
one slice extra sharp cheddar cheese per pie (i sliced pieces off a daiya cheddar block)


for the crust:
mix together dry ingredients then use a pastry blender, fork, or hulking food processor to mix butter and cheese into flour until the mixture looks like crumbs. form dough with hands by adding cold water to your crumbs, one tablespoon at a time. when formed into a ball, wrap in parchment paper and refrigerate for ten minutes while you prepare the filling. when you're ready, dump PLENTY of flour onto your surface and rolling pin and flatten away. You'll have to keep reshaping it out to cut small pie crust half-moons.

slice the apples nice and thin.  after slicing, douse apples with the juice of 1/2 a lemon. mix a few tablespoons sugar and flour into slices. add chopped fresh sage and a few slices of onion, quartered. spoon mixture onto your dough rounds (not too much!) and top with a slice of cheddar cheese. fold dough round in half over the filling and pinch shut (using a fork to tamp down the edges works well). place hand pies on a parchment covered cookie sheet and bake at 450 F for about 20 minutes, or until nicely browned.

new wife life #1

I've decided to start a new serious of posts about homemaking/things to spruce up your living space.  I'm no expert on the subject of domesticity, but over the past two years of living in teeny tiny apartments that often need a little fixing, I've learned a thing or two about how to make the most of what you've got.  First up, these little muslin tea bags: 

Darrell loves tea, he grew up in a household where there were always at least two pitchers of the iced, sweet variety, so I've always felt a little guilty about how we were an all coffee household.  Guilt x 2 once someone bought us a beautiful Cuisinart tea kettle for a wedding shower gift, and I decided it was time to make the switch.  I got fancy and went to Teavana (waste of money, realized Whole Foods sells the same tea for 1/3 of the price) and then ordered these pretty muslin teabags in the interest of being eco-friendly.  I can't tell you why, but something about having nice things to use in my little ritual of making a cup in the morning just makes me more likely to do it.  

I got these pretty ones here.  

war of words

viking symbol meaning "where there is a will, there is a way"

love anything by e.e. cummings

very cool ampersand

"in the midst of winter, i found there was within me an invincible summer"

"je non regrette rien," or "i regret nothing"

anyone with a tattoo will tell you one thing...they are a bit addictive.  i am loving all these tiny blank inked details

sometimes you just need to write them down

thanks to deer circus for showing me more ways to show love

all over again

I realize that traditionally, the New Year is the time in which people make their promises to themselves and others, and decide to improve what can be made better.  I however, usually dive into this with the arrival of fall.  Maybe its the lingering sense of the "new school year" that gets me into the mood for renewal.  I've refreshed my wardrobe, overhauled my apartment with a serious cleaning, ramped up my running schedule (easy, because it's incredibly pleasant to head out for a jog when it's 60 and sunny) and even jumped back into yoga, which I had sorely neglected this summer.  Fall always makes me remember how much I enjoy spending time by myself.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVED my crazy summer - I got to see so many of my friends on a consistent basis, and we made the most of the warmer months.  But I am also so happy staying in (sometimes reading, sometimes watching all the good shows that will be back soon!), burning a candle, and getting a big pot of chili going while Darrell watches football.  I definitely am trying to make the most of my leisure time since we are getting into the very last bits of planning the wedding!  You'd think it would stress me out, but honestly the closer we get to the day, the more fun I have with the planning.  I am so excited for the big day to come - less than a month away now.  I guess the point of this drawn out speech is to say this - yes, I'm still alive & well, and I am going to try to keep up with this blog more consistently!  I feel like I'm finally happy with the look - simple and rustic - and even though I might not be the example of perfection & consistency that so many of my favorite blogs are, documenting my life is something that makes me happy, and I should try to do a little better with it.  For now I'm going to finish my night by continuing to avoid football by watching the Emmys.