The leaves are starting to fall from the trees here. I’m sad but excited to see how the trees will rejuvenate in the spring. This weekend was pretty similar to last weekend except the weather was 30 degrees cooler. Brrrr. I did some actual audit work this week for my job, so that was exciting too.
This past week was full of cooking, as per usual. Some of the highlights are below.
I had read online that you can make your own bone broth in the instant pot. Because of this post, I started saving veggie scraps and even the carcass of a rotisserie chicken I bought in the freezer. I experimented with making my own broth this past Thursday, and it was successful! I didn’t follow the linked recipe exactly since I was using a variety of veggie scraps, but I did add black peppercorns and apple cider vinegar as suggested. I pressure cooked all of it on high for 2 hours in my instant pot.
Jake and I decorated the apartment a little bit for the holidays. Target has these relatively inexpensive ornament packs we impulse bought when we were there for something else. That’s how they get you!
We hung some of the ornaments on the succulent in the white pot – you can see if you look closely. This picture also features the Christmas table runner my mom made me for my birthday! Coincidentally, a quilt, coasters (to the left of the Christmas tree succulent), and pillows she made covers for are also featured here! She’s prolific. In the background on the floor, you can see some of the herbs I’ve been growing indoors. It’s been fun to use them in my cooking, but I’ll probably ditch them soon since they need constant watering. I can’t wait for when it gets warm here next year and I can grow some out on the balcony!
Yesterday, we went hiking at Ward Pound Ridge in New York after eating a huge traditional breakfast at the apartment. I got to use this Texas restaurant’s pancake mix Jake’s mom gave us.
The park was huge! My friend Laura recommended it to me, and I’m so glad we went! We did a 2.5 mile hike that had a lot of incline in the beginning but then turned into a flat sort of prairie landscape and ended with a walk along a river. Here are some pics in sequential order of what we saw.
We both said we want to go back! You have to pay to get in, which surprised both of us since all the other parks we’ve been to have been free. It was definitely worth it though (and only $10 if you don’t have the park pass). Last night, we just stayed in and ordered Japanese takeout and made these giant salted espresso cookies with coffee salt by Half Baked Harvest. They were quite the process but really good, especially if you like sea salt with your chocolate. Similar to the chocolate pie we made last week, the cookies were molten last night after coming out of the oven. Today, they have a much fudgier consistency, which I prefer.
Today, we went to Trader Joe’s and waited in a long line to get in, but the wait time was short. I like that they meter people though because it wasn’t very crowded once we got inside! Afterwards, we came back and ate lunch here and more cookies. Jake’s doing work now, and I just went on a run near the coast which was really peaceful (and much needed after all the cookie eating haha)! It’s already pitch black outside and it’s not even 5 pm. Oh late fall/almost winter!
We bought this collapsible wagon from Amazon to help carry groceries and other items up from the car since we’re in an apartment complex. It arrived earlier this week. I can already tell this wagon was worth the money because our bags were so heavy today and we got to leisurely pull them upstairs on the elevator and arrive to our door without being out of breath and sweating. It’s the little things!!
Lately, I’ve been really into this app called Neko Atsume. It’s basically just a game where you put out food and have cats come. The cats leave you fish currency and gifts, and you can use this to buy other cute items to put out and attract more cats. It’s pretty adorable.
Anyways, thanks for reading! I hope all of you have a great week xo.
Love the hike photos. Your food projects always look delicious.
I really like the Neko Atsume animation. I do think it’s amusing that you are becoming a virtual cat lady.