Starving Artist

One of the few quintessential Boston events that occur during the Fall is the Head of the Charles. The Head of the Charles is the world’s largest rowing event that lasts for 2 days and takes place on the Charles River. The girls and I had been looking forward to attending the event, but were unsure if the weather was going to cooperate for us. Luckily, I woke up and although it was f-r-e-e-z-i-n-g outside, it was sunny and beautiful!

We met at my apartment for some apple cider mimosas (champagne + apple cider… so good!!), bagels and muffins. I made a batch of Pecan Apple Spice Muffins for the girls to enjoy! :) They were really easy, and with some healthy substitutions and add-ins, they turned out to be super flavorful and moist!

They started with Trader Joe’s Spiced Apple Bread mix as the base…

.

.

And voila!

.

.

.

.

Here is the recipe for Pecan Apple Spice Muffins:

Makes 10 large muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 box of Trader Joe’s Spiced Apple Bread Mix
• 1/4 cup Apple Cider
• 3/4 cup Skim Milk
• 2 Eggs
• 4 tbsp of applesauce
• 1 apple (peeled & chopped)
• 5 tbsp chopped pecans
• 2 tbsp oats
• 1 tsp honey
• 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp water

.

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine the eggs, apple cider, milk, and apple sauce
2. Fold in the muffin mix, careful not to overmix.
3. Stir in 2 tbsp of the pecans, and the chopped apple.
4. Lightly grease the muffin tins, and pour in the mixture (I fill the mixture almost all of the way up to the top, so that there will be a larger top to the muffin).
5. In a small bowl, combine 3 tbsp of the pecans, the oats, honey, water, and brown sugar.
6. Top each of the muffins with the pecan/oat mixture.
7. Bake at 400 degrees for 22 minutes.
8. Let cool and enjoy! :)

.

I served the muffins with some low sugar Apple Butter that I purchased at Honeypot Hill Orchards on our apple picking day.

.

.

.

We enjoyed our breakfast and bubbly, then set off to walk to the H of the C. Apparantly the champagne had gone straight to our heads, because none of us realized that the finish line of the race is in Cambridge, and we were in the Back Bay. We were on about mile 2 of our walk, when we reached the beginning of the race.

.

.

.

Then it dawned on us. We were still oh so very far away! We jumped into 2 separate cabs, and unfortunately encountered crazy cabbies who dropped us off in the middle of nowhere, so we were separated for the rest of the day. We finally figured out where we needed to go, and were able to enjoy some of the race.

.

.

Of course the sample tents were quite the highlight of our afternoon ;-)

.

.

Granola…

.

.

… and more granola! And some Slice of Life gummy vitamins.

.

.

For dinner we decided to check out the fairly recently opened Pazzo on Newbury Street.

.

.

I ordered the Chicken Piccata (obviously), but substituted pasta for the potatoes. The pairing just seemed odd to me.  You’re not able to sop up the delicious lemony sauce with potatoes, I feel like it needs a rice or pasta!

.

.

My meal was delicious, but unfortunately my friends’ portions were much smaller than my own, and for the price it just didn’t really seem worth it. I would probably only go back for their $5 appetizers at the bar deal, and would prefer Piattini for dinner (Pazzo doesn’t quite compare).

Despite our directional confusion (story of my life), it was a lovely day with the girls :)

.

All of that tree climbing and apple picking made us work up quite an appetite, and by the time we got to Steph’s we were more than hungry!

I put together a quick snack to tide us over while we were cooking…

.

.

Cranberry Almond Brie

Ingredients:

• 1 small wheel of Brie
• 2 tbsp cranberries
• 2 tbsp almonds
• 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp honey
• 2 tbsp apple cider

1. Mix all of the ingredients (minus the Brie) in a small bowl.
2. Place the Brie on a microwave-safe dish, and top with the mixture.
3. Microwave for 45 seconds
4. Serve with apple or bread slices!

.

Wine definitely is a cook’s best friend! We sipped on some Yellowtail Cabernet. Mmm.

.

Steph got to work making her Ravioli with Apples and Walnuts from this month’s issue of Real Simple.

.

They were sooo good! The sweetness of the apples, and the nuttiness of the walnuts paired so well with the creamy ricotta raviolis. The added parsley gave it such a fresh taste. So yum.

.

While Steph made her ravs, I was cooking my Cranberry Apple Cider Chicken. With all of the ripe apples we had, I thought sauteeing the apples with an Apple Cranberry Chutney would be a great sauce for a chicken dish.

.

.

.

Cranberry Apple Cider Chicken

Ingredients:

• 4 chicken breasts
• 2 apples (peeled and chopped)
• 1/2 jar of TJ’s Apple Cranberry Chutney
• 1/4 cup apple cider
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp fresh parsley
• S + P to taste

1. Saute the chicken with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper.
2. Once the chicken is cooked, remove from the pan and set aside.
3. Add the apples and chutney to the pan, and cook until the apples are soft.
4. Add in the parsley, honey, apple cider, and cinnamon and cook for another minute.
5. Add back in the chicken to the pan, and let it all simmer while the chicken absorbs the juices.
6. Plate and serve!

.

A simple healthy Waldorf salad was put together to yet again highlight the freshly picked apples.

.

Our apple feast!

..

Such a perfect day :)

Saturday was our apple picking day! Steph picked my vehicularly challenged self up in Boston and we drove out to Stow to meet Julie and Sheena at Honeypot Hill Orchards. Sheena came up from New York for the weekend, and it was so good to see her! We were so lucky that the rain cleared up – it was such a beautiful day.

.

.

Jules, me, Sheena and Steph

LOVED Steph’s flannel apple picking shirt! We may have made one or two farmer jokes ;-)

.

Those ladders are so darn tricky ;-)

.

Our Desperate Housewives pose.

.

So much fun :)

.

.

Attempting to juggle… as you can see it wasn’t working out so well…

.

..

.

Such beautiful scenery!

.

.

Shined and ready for its closeup!

.

.

.

The little pigs were so cute… smelled horrendous, but looked cute.

.

After we picked our bag chock full of apples, we ventured over to the Country Store where we each picked out a pumpkin…

.

…and had the most incredible cinnamon sugar apple cider donuts!

It was the absolute perfect day :)

After leaving the orchard, we headed back to Steph’s apartment to cook dinner with our apples. Stay tuned for Part 2!

.

I think pumpkin is starting to run through my veins, I’ve been eating so much of it. Flavorful pumpkin oatmeal for breakfast, and now onto creamy pumpkin pudding for dessert. I’m definitely making sure that I soak up every bit of these Fall flavors while I can!

After a delicious dinner of whole wheat pesto vermicelli with slow cooked lemon pepper chicken (recipe to come tomorrow!), I realized that within my pantry I had the ingredients to put together a simple pumpkin pudding. And that I did.

.

.

For the pudding, I had a box of Sugar-Free Jello Singles Instant Vanilla Pudding. Individual packets with 60 calories worth of pudding (when mixed), it was the perfect portion. I combined the dry mixture with the following:

• 1/2 cup cold skim milk
• 1 tsp pumpkin butter
• Pinch of nutmeg
• Pinch of cinnamon

.

I mixed all of the ingredients together and popped the bowl in the refrigerator to set up. Meanwhile, I prepared a simple crunchy topping consisting of:

• TJ’s Pumpkin Spice Granola
• Pecans
• Light Maple Syrup

When the pudding had set, I piled the topping in the bowl.

So tasty and comforting…

.

.

The perfect treat to cozy up to on the couch while relaxing and watching some Sunday night TV. Desperate Housewives, Brothers & Sisters, Mad Men, and The Next Iron Chef. Oh, what to watch, and what to DVR??

.

FILHO’S!! That’s all I could think about once I got home with the fam (minus my sister). I hadn’t eaten that much today since I was rushing around to get home, and was more than excited / ready to go out to a delicious dinner with my family. Filho’s is an incredible Italian pasticceria about 15 minutes from hometown that has an extremely wide array of pastas, sandwiches, salads, etc. Their pasta is to-die for, so I never venture off of that page of the menu. Another wonderful plus – Filho’s is BYOB and - gasp – attached to a liquor store. My, how convenient!

My dad, brother and I split a 6 pack of 2 different local Fall beers:

1 – Wachusett Octoberfest (from Westminster, MA)

.

2) Fisherman’s Pumpkin Stout (from Gloucester, MA)

.

Loved them both, although the Octoberfest was my favorite. It was the perfect blend of spices, and not too heavy. I really think it might be my favorite Octoberfest! The Fisherman’s had a light pumpkin taste, but I was hoping for a bit more to it. It wasn’t a heavy stout though, so it was very drinkable along with my meal.

Ohhhh my meal….

.

.

To say it was delish is an understatement. I went with the Chicken Piccatta which is one of my favorite dishes. Obviously swapped spinach for mushrooms since mushrooms = ICK in my book. The chicken was very tender, the sauce a tangy lemon with a splash of cream, and the pasta was cooked to a perfect al dente. The portion was massive, so I was able to save about half for dinner tomorrow. Can’t wait for round 2!

Bedtime for this girl, as tomorrow will be an early morning with the walk. Night! :)

.