Seeing Snow

This past week has been hectic. I took these pictures a few weeks ago and have been meaning to post but I barely had time to sleep this past week. With my birthday, parents visiting, job interviews, as well as a super busy work week I couldn't find the time. Finally things have slowed down again and I can catch my breath. As I mentioned, on Wednesday it was my 30th birthday. I guess that's a pretty big birthday. Other than a few nice dinner plans with family and friends, I decided to keep things low key. I always feel so much pressure to do things for my birthday, so this year I decided to do nothing. It worked out for the best and I feel like this new year will be full of amazing experiences. 

Outfit Details:

Dress: Anthropologie

Belt: Zara

Shoes: Caparros

Tights: Uniqlo



Whirlwind of a Weekend

I took these pictures in January, the day is finally snowed in New York. It's been a pretty snow-free winter, which I am not of fan of. I do enjoy the snow at least a few times during the year, but instead this year seems to bring the weirdest weather. Anyway, I hope you all have had a nice weekend. I had an extra long weekend, which came at the best time possible. I have a lot coming up this month and I needed to rest up before all the stress piles up. So I spent most of my free time catching up with friends, exploring the city and having the best celebrity sighting ever!!! Also I enjoyed the season finale of my favorite show, Downton Abbey! Hope your weekend was also wonderful.

Outfit Details:

Dress: Miss Selfridges

Shoes: Urban Outfitters

Tights: Good and Plenty

Cardigan: Free People

Belt: Uniqlo



Pancake and Vermont Maple Syrup

I love long weekends and free Sunday mornings, because I use that extra time to make homemade pancakes. I love topping my pancakes with fruit and Vermont maple syrup. I'm a big fan of pancakes, I can eat them every single morning. After spending many years making pancakes from a mix I decided to try and make mine from scratch. The funny thing is that it takes the same amount of time to make both types of pancakes. So I now only make homemade, cause I can play around it the ingredients and try new things. I  hope you all have a Happy Valentine's Day!!!

 

Pancake Recipe:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tsp of lemon zest

1. In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, whisk together milk, eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla extract. Add dry ingredients to wet, and whisk until just combined. Let it rest for 10 minutes.

2. Heat a large frying pan or griddle over medium-high heat. Lightly grease pan with butter. Pour batter by the quarter-cupful on to pan, being careful not to overcrowd if cooking more than one at a time. Leave each pancake alone until edges start to turn golden and little bubbles form on top and flip.

3. Repeat with remaining batter, adding butter to the pan as necessary. Serve pancakes right away, or keep in a warm oven (250 F) until you're ready to eat. Top with warm maple syrup.

Cozy Scarves in Winter

This winter has been all over the place. I have to check the temp every morning to figure out what I am going to wear. Some days are like early spring while others are so cold all I want to do is stay in bed where it's warm and toasty.

When taking these pictures, on my roof, it was freezing and windy. I could barely keep my eyes open and after awhile I lost all feeling in my fingers. Good thing I was on my roof, so after this little photo shoot I ran right back in and made a warm cup of tea.

Outfit Details:

Skirt: Anthropologie

Blouse: Urban Outfitters

Scarf: Gift from my roommate

Belt: Uniqlo

Cardigan: Uniqlo

Headband: H&M

Tights: Good and Plenty

Boots: Bandolino



Apple Crisp

When I come home after a long day at work or just a long and cold day of running errands, all I want is something warm and sweet. Since it's winter still (sort of) it's still apple season and I feel that the best way to eat apples is when they are warm and sweet. A week ago I went to the farmers market and bought more apples then I could possible eat, so I decided to make apple crisp. Never made it before, but went searching for a recipe that sounded perfect.

What's great about apple crisp is that I can pretend it's a healthy breakfast food because of the oatmeal crust on top and it's a dessert paired with ice cream. Enjoy!!!

Apple Crsp (adapted from Tartine Cookebook)

Ingredients:

3 pounds of assorted apples

1/4 cup of sugar

3 tbsp of lemon juice

zest from 1 lemon

1/8 tsp of salt

Topping:

1 cup of unsalted butter

1 cup of sugar

1 and 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour

1/2 cup of oats

1 tbsp of cinnamon

1 tsp of nutmeg

1/6 tsp of salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees/ Butter the bottom and sides of a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Peel, core, and slice the apples and place in a large mixing bowl. In a smaller bowl, stir together the sugar, lemon juice, zest and salt. Add to the apples and toss together well. Transfer the apples to the baking dish.

To make the topping, place the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl. Beat the butter and sugar until smoothed. Add the flour, oats, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and mix just until the mixture comes together. Top the apples with the topping mixture by scooping up palm-sized balls of the dough and flatten on top of the apples.

Once the apples have been covered with the dough, bake the crisp until the apples are tender and the topping is golden brown, about 1 and 1/2 hours.