Create!

The weekend started off ambitiously with me awakening on Saturday morning at 6am, after a night of working. Hooray, I thought, I will get so much done on my do-nothing weekend! Craft projects, cookie recipes and novels floated around in my mind. As I put the coffee on, I remembered that I had forgotten to take my garbage down to the curb. (Remember that the purpose of this weekend was minimal leaving the house and being selfish by focusing on ME).

Well, it had rained overnight and still wearing flip flops…can you see where this story is going? Um, I fell down the steps outside. Letting out the girliest scream at 6:30am, I did the whole “buhm buhm buhm” down the steps, hitting each one. Sitting at the bottom in shock, still clutching my bag of garbage, I could feel various parts of my body start to thump and throb. Owwwie.

Because I am me, I immediately think, “What does this mean??? Is this punishment for wanting to shun everyone? Am I too selfish? Is this punishment for leaving the house? Is this a bad omen and should I throw out the whole weekend plan?” Lying down and alternately applying ice packs to 5 bruising spots I couldn’t help but think, “Wow, it would be really nice if someone were here.” I decided to let the weekend unfold without sticking to what I arbitrarily planned. This amounted to:

-reading the December Martha Stewart Living cover to cover (wowzers such beautiful stuff!)
-making new crochet items (see below) and new soaps
-watching a nail-biter of a football game
-sewing repairs
-a lot of unfinished work from the week
-making exceptions for 3 people, i.e., hanging out with 3 different people, 3 separate times
-watching one Godard film
-cooking a farmer’s market meal and baking

It turned out to be a really great weekend, despite getting off on the wrong foot (pun!). For all my to-do lists and ambitious ideas, I would so much rather face a plan-less day and be surprised at the turn-out, even if this does involve tumbling down the stairs with the garbage–I did get a lot of good thinking out of it! Sometimes a failed plan is the best plan of all.

Something else I got out of it was quality time with Safety Cone, contemplating his winter wear (it’s important!). Tired of feeling so Halloweeny with his perpetual orange “outfit,” he was determined to add a little holiday pizzazz! So, I made him a Santa Claus Hat! You can buy the Santa Claus Safety Cone OR you can crochet him yourself! The Safety Cone pattern is here and the Santa Claus hat pattern is after the jump. Also, check him out in an ear flap hat, of which he is really happy about, despite not having ears. “Mommy Alicia, style, not function.” Excusez-moi, Snow-Proof Safety Cone!
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Less the title be misleading, let me elaborate: I was hanging out with someone this past weekend and he convinced me to resurrect something I used to incorporate into my life years ago. Back then, I worked approximately 5-6 jobs over 6-7 days a week; I barely slept, downed a lot of coffee, managed to socialize at night (if I wasn’t babysitting) and yet, loved all of my teaching and childcare positions. But, suffice it to say, I was always exhausted, always hanging on by a thread, waiting for that occasional day off, which would usually be filled will chores and errands anyway.

I have always been someone who likes people and enjoyed jobs where I was constantly interacting with them, but this usually resulted in me coming home and only want to curl up with a book, or bake something, or basically engage in an activity that was all about ME and didn’t involve any talking. I specifically remember expressing, “I just can’t talk anymore.” This proves to be difficult when you have a lot of friends, roommates and a live-in boyfriend! On my first date day with that (pre-live-in) said boyfriend, we attended my friends’ law school comedy show in Boston, where he lived at the time. (This was after I spilled soup all over my skirt at MFA with friends, then he and I met up at Starbuck’s, he got feisty with the barista for not having fair-trade coffee, and I threatened to walk out right then and there, almost having the shortest relationship (34 seconds?) in the history of time.) On the comedy show booklet, he made me write, “Next weekend: Do nothing, then write about it.”
Take time to…

The idea is not to do nothing–because really, what does that mean? Even sleeping and watching TV are somethings–but to only do things for yourself, that don’t involve running around the city, that don’t really involve making plans with ANYONE. Sometimes I would cancel with friends and make the mistake of being honest, saying, “Yeah, I want to read a novel,” or “I just don’t feel like being around people–don’t take it personally” (Ha, right!) This wasn’t always received well, but I tend to be pretty blunt to a fault and I treasure my alone time too much to make light of it. Call it selfish, but isn’t that a good way to be selfish?

Since going freelance, I find myself just as harried and sleepy all the time from work, and not a day goes by that I don’t work, so the Do-Nothing Weekend hasn’t even been on the radar. I’ve also had a ton of house guests lately! But that will all change this weekend because I am going to try with all my might to turn down ALL plans to go out and do things, concentrating on me, myself and I. I’ll have to do *some* work, but that’s okay. Here are some of my ideas:

-catch up on sewing projects (some mending, making a bag from tea towels/placemats, cookbook binder covers)
-attempt to knit/crochet for personal use (as opposed to work); a cowl, perhaps?
-go to the farmer’s market with specific recipe in mind and buy ingredients and hopefully cook for hours
-catch up on a slew of Godard films
-listen to my Mitch Hedberg cd, one of my birthday gifts!
-squeeze in a bike ride, potentially to Coney Island in a “coming full circle” way that I will elaborate on if I do it; weather permitting
-read for at least 3 hours
-delve into a personal writing project and actually pursue, like my “philosophy of pie-baking” or “always talk to strangers” ideas

He’s baaaaaack. Free pattern here and the finished product for sale here. New Thanksgiving creations and recipes coming soon!

And that’s what we did. Whether you waited the few hours last night for election results, just under 2 years since Obama announced his campaign, 8 years since George W. Bush took office, an entire lifetime, or all of the above to sense change in the American air, it finally feels palpable.

Not exactly like Michelle Obama’s iteration, “For the first time in my adult life, I am really proud of my country because it feels like hope is finally making a comeback,” but related in a more prosaically domestic way, hope hit me yesterday when I was mixing up cookie dough for these star sandwich cookies. Silly I know, but I do a lot of thinking when I’m creating. =) I had felt goosebumps for almost 24 hours straight, unable to focus on work and only able to channel my political interest into baking, reading articles online, watching the coverage on TV and voting, of course. As I was kneading the red and blue food coloring into the sugary masses, I remember thinking, I haven’t felt “this” in a long time. A combination of hope, excitement AND patriotism–these are rarely concurrent for me.

Patriotism had lost its appeal to me during the last 8 years and yet I still love this country and the freedoms inherent in living here. I can wear my Dubya Decepticon shirt and make a mockery of the current president, articulate the same opinions in print and on the web and rest assure that nothing bad will happen to me (Well, in New York City and “virtually” at least!) While I’m grateful for that, I am anything but grateful for the current administration, the disgust felt towards it here and abroad for good reasons, the horrific consequences of not one, but two wars that are still going on, even though so many people, myself included occasionally, turn a blind eye to them.

Last night in the East Village, as the wine and beer flowed in anticipation of celebrating but ready to function in its drowning-sorrows role if need be, and the above cookies and potluck-style food were consumed for comfort more than anything, thirty or forty of us watched and waited. When I saw my home state of Pennsylvania flash from gray to blue, I could feel tears in the back of my eyes; it wasn’t over, but we all knew the Keystone State was exactly that tonight. The woohooing and texting would only increase from there, a “Shit yeah!, “Yes we can!,” “Gobama!” and all the other little snippets of joy typed into phones across the country. For us twenty-somethings, this is probably the first presidential election that was going “right” and thus, we were cautious. (Four years ago, Bush won his second term ON my birthday–talk about “it’s my birthday and I’ll cry if I want to”). But the electoral vote number kept going up and up for Obama, and switching the channel to the ridiculous and nauseating Fox, we all watched the conservative newscasters pronounce Obama the president-elect. Oh so sickly sweet…

Towards the end of the night, as Obama delivered his victory speech, we all fell silent, hanging onto every word, processing what this means, laughing when appropriate but generally staring in disbelief. One guy at the party was a bit liquored up, but watching just as intently. He was the only one to scream at the top of his lungs during the speech, uttering things like, “This guy is f—ing awesome” and “Come on everybody, you’ve gotta get excited!” and saying to someone aside, “Don’t just sit there! Do you realize what has just happened?” As fuzzy as his head may have been at that point and as funny as we may have looked at him, chalking up his outbursts to beer, I think he had it right: this guy is f—ing awesome. He definitely had it right.

Walking from the East Village to Little Italy and eventually riding the subway back to Brooklyn, my hands proudly stained red and blue, I witnessed a fervor in the streets never seen before. New York gets excited about all kinds of events–New Year’s, a Super bowl win, the Today Show–but not like last night. It wasn’t just screaming, impatient honking and erratic running through the streets, it was pure energy and invigorating hope. Hugging and high-fiving strangers, smiling when you saw the same Obama pin or sticker on someone else, and going home at 3am feeling like anything was possible. Is possible.

“It’s been a long time coming.”

Although I will be baking later for an election night party, I don’t think I’ll be getting this ambitious. But for once, I would rather stand in a line for however many hours it may take than be at home in the kitchen. I love living in New York where Obama signs are everywhere, scribbled on the sidewalk with chalk is a “Bake Sale for Obama,” and there’s an overall invigorating, left-leaning sentiment that pervades so many venues, conversations and events.

I’ve had goosebumps all morning and I hope the election goes the way that I, and the majority (all?) of my friends are hoping. “Wait and hope.”

It took moving to New York and indulging in frequent farmer’s market purchases for me to discover what has to be one the best fall treats in the Northeast: the apple cider donut. When you start to see the bounty of apples available in September and envision the numerous apple dessert recipes you’ll somehow squeeze into the next 2 months, you’re momentarily sidetracked by these cake donuts with their hint of tartness, residing inside the glass cases next to the produce. If you wait too long to make the decision to indulge, they will sell out–they always do!

Not familiar with the apple cider donut? The Washington Post has a great article on them from a few years back and includes a recipe that hails from a pastry chef at Hearth, a revered restaurant in the East Village that I’m saving up my pennies for.

If your cooking skills and waistline are up to the task, make some apple cider donuts. As a side note, while “cake donut” seems to imply a healthier alternative to Krispy Kreme and Dunkin’ donuts, this isn’t really so; apple cider donuts contain buttermilk and shortening, and are still deep-fried the same way regular donuts are. I’m all for splurging, but donuts are more of a treat in my mind, and not a daily or even weekly treat at that.

But muffins? Homemade muffins are most definitely on my breakfast menu at home, almost every week. For that reason, I decided to come up with an apple cider muffin recipe so that autumn indulging in the morning isn’t restricted to the Cinnamon Mini-Wheats I spotted at the supermarket.

Apple Cider Muffins

Ingredients
Streusel
1/3 cup light brown sugar
3 tbsp flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
3 tbsp butter

Muffins
1 3/4 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
3/4 cup apple cider
1/4 cup vegetable oil

To make the streusel, mix together the brown sugar, flour and spices in a small bowl. Cut in the butter (or pulse in a food processor) until it resembles course crumbs. (I will admit, I used to make streusel just to eat, when I didn’t feel like going to the trouble of baking an entire dessert and because I almost always have the ingredients on hand).

Onto the muffins! Preheat the oven to 400. In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, nutmeg, baking powder and salt. In a small bowl, mix together the egg, apple cider and oil. Add the contents of this small bowl to the flour mixture and mix just until combined.

Prepare your muffin tins by either greasing them or using paper cups. Because I like my muffins to be tall, I always fill only 11 when a recipe could technically make the typical dozen. This is optional! Fill each muffin cup halfway with batter and then spoon about a teaspoon of the streusel on top. Fill muffin cups with the rest of batter until a 1/4 inch away from the top of tin. Sprinkle the streusel evenly on the tops.

Bake for about 20 minutes or until tops are golden brown and puffed out. Remove from muffin tin and allow to cool.