Fall Fridays Vol. 1
Welcome To Autumn
Fall Fridays Vol. 9
Last week of November! Kind of the best time of the year. Anticipation is almost always better than the actual thing you’re anticipating. Tell me I’m wrong. Here’s what went down this past week.
BAKING/COOKING
I made a new stuffing (sausage gravy stuffing) for (fake) Thanksgiving and I’m so happy with how it turned out. I’m gonna make it again at Christmas to see if my family likes it, but I can’t see how I don’t make this every year from now on. I’ve loved Chef John’s recipes for such a long time and it’s wild that he’s been this consistently great for years now.
Sausage Gravy Stuffing
CRAVING
A phone-free holiday season. Is it even possible? Will everyone hate this idea? I’m gonna try my best to see if my family can get onboard with this idea next month at Christmas but it might be an uphill battle.
DRINKING
Candy cane cocoa in iced coffee. What can I say, Merry Christmas.
EATING
The Thanksgiving turkey dip sandwich from Deux Luxe in NYC. It’s a “turkey burger with cranberry onion jam aioli and mozzarella, ready to dunk into a house-made gravy sauce and topped off with a stuffing cranberry crunch on the side for dunking”. So good. I love a seasonal sandwich. And I’d never thought of a sandwich having a crunchy dip, but stuffing is such a genius idea.
Turkey Dip from Deux Luxe, NYC
Fall Fridays Vol. 8
This is the earliest that I’ve ever decorated for Christmas and I can’t decide if it was a good idea or not. That first snowfall two weeks ago really tricked me into thinking I could justify a wreath here and a Christmas village there, but I think I messed up. There’s something special about December and decorations. Lesson learned for next year. Here are the highlights of the week!
BAKING/COOKING
I cannot wait to make this sausage gravy stuffing from Chef John. I love that man and I love everything he creates so I’m convinced this might change my life, stuffing-wise. (My favourite recipe of his that I make each Christmas is this spinach & artichoke dip.)
Also, I really want to try this with the kids this weekend.
CRAVING
With fake Thanksgiving next week, I’m making this s’mores pie that I make every year and it’s honestly the easiest/best pie I think I’ve ever made. Anyone can do it and it hits every time. I know the s’mores trend is long dead, but absolutely no one says no to a slice of this pie.
DRINKING
Silk’s Festive Nog and wow it was the worst. It was thick in all the wrong ways. Stay far away.
Fall Fridays Vol. 6
I know women say this a lot, but I am on a mission to use less exclamation points. I mean it this time. (Okay but that was actually difficult to not have one there in that last sentence. This has to be a disorder.)
I’ve also thought of a phrase that I one hundred percent need to stop saying out loud to people because not only is it overused by all women, but I hate the connotations beneath it. And that phrase is… “Does that make sense?” after saying something that most definitely makes sense. I know that I really want to stop saying it, but maybe we can all make a pact to try? I hate how much it screams that I don’t believe what my own thoughts/opinions are.
You can read the rest of Fall Fridays Volume 6 over here.
Fall Fridays Vol. 5
Happy Halloween!
BAKING/COOKING
I made this apple cider braised pork tenderloin and it was really good.
CRAVING
Homemade Halloween decorations! So I watched a YouTube tutorial on how to make a lifesized Georgie from It and it turned out pretty great!
DRINKING
I have all this extra apple cider and I don’t know what to do with it, but I really don’t want to drink it. Maybe apple cider coffee cake? Air fried apple fritters? Or maybe I’ll just boil it on the stove so the house smells amazing.
EATING
I made quesadillas with the leftover apple cider pork and yikes was it good. Added sauteed jalapenos and onions to it to oomph it up and it was an incredible lunch.
EXPERIENCING
Took a fall drive with Nathan because Ontario is exploding with colour right now.
LISTENING
To all of the hype around Scream 7. I am IN.
LOVING
We went to the Skydome to see the Blue Jays in a WORLD SERIES GAME and Joe Carter threw the first pitch. How is this real life.
SHOPPING
If you give out candy on Halloween, it should be law to also have a fog machine. Also, the Band-Aids that come with Polysporin on them? Life changing.
WATCHING
I saw the latest Halloween episode of Bob’s Burgers, which was just all right. Have to start the newest season of English Teacher soon.
WEARING
You can read Fall Fridays Volume 4 over here, I’m doing an autumn highlights reel on Instagram and you can see more posts like this on my latest newsletter.
Fall Fridays Vol. 1
Fall Fridays have returned! Once a week I’ll post about whatever seasonal stuff I did that week so here we go!
BAKING/COOKING
I accidentally overcooked some jalapeno-popper stuffed mushrooms and they became incredible. I didn’t realize that when you overcook a mushroom, it completely loses its shape and becomes almost flattened. It was ridiculously good and I want to do it again and then use it as a burger topping maybe.
CRAVING
The breakfast sandwich from Gud Daae is an unholy amount of delicious.
Gluten free breakfast sandwich from Gud Daae in Etobicoke, Ontario
DRINKING
President’s Choice French Vanilla iced coffee.
EATING
The Thanksgiving sandwich from Firehouse Subs is phenomenal.
EXPERIENCING
I went to see the salmon run in Etobicoke on Sunday and then went again to show Nathan yesterday because it’s kind of magical to see?
LISTENING
LOVING
The Swiss Chalet Sauce potato chips are back and they remain fantastic.
SHOPPING
The home decorations from Spirit Halloween really do get better each year. Absolutely love the Bates Motel sign. Even their mugs are pretty great.
WATCHING
So many Jays games last week.
WEARING
My first pair of thrifted Guess jeans (thank you Marla) that I had tailored and they. are. wild.
I’m also doing an autumn highlights reel on Instagram if you have any interest and you can see more posts like this on my latest newsletter.
The Best of October
October in Mississauga, Ontario
October in Mississauga, Ontario
I love Octobers but I’m grateful to be moving on to the holiday season. Halloween was so good this year. I used a fog machine (it’ll now have to be a staple each year) and a bluetooth speaker that played horror movie soundtracks and it was. the. best. Here’s what else went on last month.
You might think you’re better than fake tattoos, I assure you that you’re not
I made a list of my favourite Halloween tweets.
Put up some new Halloween decorations.
Tombstone Halloween decorations
Creepy doll Halloween decorations
Baby Dog, October 2024
We must reward greatness
The best tweets of the month can be found here.
I made this apple crisp coffee cake, which was fantastic. I’d prefer more crumble than cake, though.
Apple crisp coffee cake
I tried the new spicy all dressed chips and it’s a big meh. All dressed is already so perfect, they really should just leave them alone.
I got a ton of old VHS and camcorder tapes converted to digital at Digital Treasures and they did such a good job.
I’ve been constantly wearing the Anne Marie Beretta coat I got last month at the vintage clothing show.
I hadn’t had a DQ cake in years, so I bought one and it remains as good as ever.
I don’t love donuts (too doughy), but a holiday themed donut? Obviously I'll get those.
Thanksgiving donuts from Sanremo’s in Etobicoke, Ontario
Thanksgiving was really great, if not a little quieter this year. The next-day sandwich was one for the books. (If I started a business that solely made these sandwiches and just tried out new versions each month, could that work? Call it Turkey Time? Patent pending.)
Thanksgiving dinner
Thanksgiving sandwich
Went to Downey’s for their pumpkin donuts (for a donut hater, I buy an alarming amount) and got this apple pie flavoured milk. It was a bit gross, but you have to try new seasonal items. It’s law.
Apple pie milk
Took my parents on an autumn drive through Belfountain and our car broke down in the middle of nowhere! It was exciting.
Where the car broke down
I went to Ottawa for the first time! The drive was intensely beautiful. My dumbass didn’t realize how close Quebec was, otherwise I would’ve made sure to get a poutine across the water. Next time.
Baby Dog in Ottawa!
Parliament Hill, Ottawa
Ottawa, Ontario
Ottawa, Ontario
Stopped at The Big Apple on the way back and just wow. I’d never been there before, so I loved it.
The Big Apple in Ontario
I bought a few new pairs of bootcut jeans (I know, pretty cool) and had them all tailored. They fit perfectly. I will tailor my pants for the rest of my life now.
October sunrises >>
How is this real
Some things I watched:
Nobody Wants This: other than some really bad dialogue, I’d definitely watch season two.
English Teacher: best new show on TV, hands down.
Only Murders in the Building: good season, not great. Martin Short will be the main reason I keep watching.
The Blair Witch Project: I got my niece Maya to watch it and she loved it. A perfect horror movie.
The Return of the Living Dead: okay, it’s obviously bad but fun bad.
The Bob’s Burgers Halloween episode this year was awful?? What the hell?
I’ve been on a real Twilight Zone binge and this quote, “As long as there are men, there cannot be peace.” PREACH.
Some things I’m looking forward to this month: good god, I don’t even know. The election is today so… let’s just wait and see what happens before I look forward to anything.
If you’ve got any interest in reading last month’s roundup, you can see what went down in September over here and you can see more posts like this on my latest newsletter.
Autumn List
“Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.”
Here to welcome you to the greatest time of year. Not just because of cooler weather or the anticipation of Halloween but because of the constant changes happening around us each day. The official beginning of the end of the year. Absolutely nothing better. Here’s what I’d love to do this fall.
Make pasta from scratch.
Go to Downey’s Farm or a harvest festival.
Make a turkey poutine.
Make an apple or pumpkin savory dish.
See the salmon run.
And here are some of my past autumn lists incase you’re looking for more ideas of things you might want to do this season. And you can see more posts like this on my latest newsletter.
