Feeling sheepish...

...that this Time Out New York cover photo sat around my apartment for more than a week before I realized (slash read online) that the food is in the shape of the five boroughs. What an idiot.

Betty Draper Red

There's no way I could pull off Joan, and I'm really more of a Peggy, but that would make a pretty boring Halloween costume, so I decided to go for Betty instead since I already had most of the costume (pumps plus full-skirted shirtdress? check. flowered apron? check.) It's really just an excuse for me to pretend it's still 1963, which I love.

And I'm happy to report that I have found the crowning touch for the costume---the perfect red lipstick, Maybelline in Are You Red-y.

After a brief scarring experience at the Clinique counter in Macy's Herald Square packed to capacity with thousands of tourists fleeing the rain and a quick foray into Sephora, I decided I couldn't justify spending $20 for a lipstick that I'll probably be too chicken to ever wear again, and opted for Duane Reade (way less pressure).

Now that I have a matching white headband and string of plastic pearls, all I need to decide is whether to carry a fake cigarette with me.

Currently freelancing

Wondering why the scarcity of posts in the past week? This book is why.

Weekend cooking

What with the freezing cold and the rain and the proofreading, I did a lot of staying in and trying some new recipes. Saturday afternoon I made a huge pot of chili semi-following this vegetarian chili from Anna at Door Sixteen (an awesome design-y blog, written by a book cover designer), except I totally cheated and added ground beef.

Continuing the seasonal pumpkin kick, I used up what was left of my sage after last weekend's risotto and made the pumpkin, sage, and browned-butter quick bread from the new Thanksgiving issue of Martha Stewart Living.

Next weekend the pumpkin craze continues with an actual visit to a pumpkin patch and tackling turkey-pumpkin chili at Kathryn's.

B is for Bethany

This is my super fun Scrabble birthday necklace from Armine on which I received lots of nice compliments today. It has a cute owl on the other side. You can visit the maker's Etsy shop here.

make you feel brand new

Dear Jay-Z and Alicia Keys' "Empire State of Mind,"

If you could stop being stuck in my head for days on end and blaring from the iPod headphones of every person who sits near me on the subway, that would be awesome.

Thanks,
Bethany

Currently f-f-f-freelancing

Risotto Success

This weekend (a.k.a. my birthday weekend) I wanted to try a fancier-than-usual recipe for dinner so Kathryn and I hit the Union Square farmer's market to buy ingredients for risotto with squash and sage.




I don't think I can oversell the fabulosity of this dish. I was nervous about making risotto, but with plenty of time and working as a team of two, it came out PERFECTLY and we were quite pleased with ourselves. Does your mouth not water looking at this?




Recipe here, at The Kitchn.

Pumpkin Patch

Pumpkin time! CupcakeStop debuted their new pumpkin flavor which I broke down and tried today. All this week I've been bringing this pumpkin spice cake to work for breakfast (minus the honey frosting) and I've added these two amazing-looking recipes to my to-try list.

• pumpkin cheesecake with marshmallow-sour cream topping and gingersnap crust
• pumpkin turkey chilli

Pumpkin turkey chilli--I know, it sounds super weird but strangely enticing, right? I will let you know how it goes.

Coffee buzz

I had a sudden urge to try baking a coffee cake, so after researching some recipes last night I decided to try Sara's Classic Sour Cream Coffee Cake from Martha Stewart. It has a brown sugar and pecan filling, and I followed some suggestions in the comments and added a little cocoa powder to the filling, too. Also, I need to add bundt pan to my Christmas list since that's what this recipe technically called for.

And if you are one of the people coming to see me this weekend, you get to eat it for breakfast!

Sometimes I give myself a talking-to for not taking more advantage of living in New York. But hey, it's hard when you work here too and all you want to do at 5:00 is go home and eat a sandwich in front of Gilmore Girls.

Last weekend I got it together and Armine and I went to the Whitney to see the Georgia O'Keeffe special exhibit, and it was totally worth effort. I must say, I really hate listening to other people standing near me be all pretentious talking about the drawings and paintings, but once I block them out the paintings were beautiful, and because it focuses solely on her abstract work, it was cool to see some things other than her more familiar flowers and southwestern pieces.

Next up on the cultural agenda is an American Ballet Theater performance at Lincoln center this weekend!

Currently Freelancing

I am decidedly anti-wedding-obsessive and this book is kind of making me want to die. But such are the things I do for money.

happy october

It's October and I'm making soup, digging out the thick sweatpants, and jonesing after this beautiful knitted scarf on Etsy.



Oh hey and my birthday is a week away! What a coincidence.