I made apple cider doughnut cookies that were really good (although shouldn’t there be apple cider in a cookie with a name like that?), so I’d definitely make them again.
Apple cider doughnut cookies
COOKING
Made Halloween cake pops with my niece Maya and they came out perfect. (Sprinkles and sticks from Michaels.)
Halloween cake pops
CRAVING
The nutella-covered hazelnuts at Nuts Factory on Sixth Avenue.
DRINKING
The ‘This is Halloween’ cocktail from the bar Beetle House in the East Village and it was stellar.
Cocktail from Beetle House, NYC
EATING
Had dinner at Grano Ristorante with Harmeet and it was so lovely, I always forget what a sweet, dark place this can be.
EXPERIENCING
Two things: 1)The annoyingness of locating apple butter. I needed it for that cookie recipe above and couldn’t find it anywhere (I just subbed in applesauce). I hate when a recipe has one obnoxiously hard thing to find. It’s 2023, we don’t have time to be going to numerous grocery store for homemade baked goods. DO BETTER. 2) MOSQUITOES got into our bedroom last night because of how warm it was outside. Mosquitoes in late October. I woke up with ten bites and I wanted to murder someone.
LISTENING
Halloween playlists on Spotify while carving mini pumpkins and I’ve got to say - the song choices weren’t very good or unique. I’ve gotta make one this weekend.
Mini jack-o-lantern
LOVING
I visited my parent’s house and I can’t express how satisfying it is to rake leaves. It’s the second best outdoor chore next to shoveling snow.
SHOPPING
The sweetest felt Christmas ornaments just went on sale at Target and yes I’m breaking my rule of no-Christmas-activities before November 1st, but if I wait too long to buy them they’ll sell out because other psychos are Christmas shopping already.
WATCHING
The horror movie Thanksgiving looks kind of good maybe? I might be thinking that because I love a holiday-themed movie.
WEARING
I’ve decided I need to expand the feathered section of my closet because I’m wearing this one black top to death.
Forgive the lateness of this monthly post! I wish I could say it’s late because I’ve been crazy busy, but it’s really been because I’ve been lounging my ass around various corners of my parent’s house and trying my best to not watch any American news. Here’s what went down last month.
I started watching The Parkers and, as expected, it’s pretty great. Kim for life.
I got a lash lift aaaaaand it was bullshit. My eyes have never been more irritated and that’s coming from someone who went through corneal surgery. I think lash lifts are supposed to be for people who already have long lashes. But if you have long lashes, then why the hell do you need them to be lifted? SCAM.
Are eyelash curlers bad for people with short lashes? I was told they were. But that was by someone who also recently fucked my lashes, so I’m not sure what to believe now.
So many new movies were watched in October: Killer Klowns From Outer Space (absolutely great), Motel Hell (also great), Moment of Truth: Stalking Back (too real, a little hard to watch, but I’m really looking forward to watching other made-for-tv-movies from the series), Hush (a great movie, but again: too much, I might not be able to handle modern horror & I’m fine with that), Summer Camp Nightmare (great), Goodnight Mommy (parts of it were really cringe-y to watch but it was incredible), Mom (so, so underrated), Wolf (it was actually pretty good, how on earth had I not seen it before?), House on Haunted Hill (the old version and it was great! It ends abruptly but it’s still a fun movie), Elvira: Mistress of the Dark (80s as hell, but not as terrible as I thought it’d be), Creepshow 2 (just a good time), Frogs (terrible and not in a fun way), Cujo (just a story of neglectful pet owners), Night of the Demons (not bad, not good), This Is Paris (it was really, really good. It’s definitely hard to watch if you’ve dealt with abuse in any way, but it’s really well done) and I got through about nine minutes of Cats before I just had to call it.
Started getting the cashew yogurt from Trader Joe’s and it’s so addictive.
The new SNLs have been all right, nothing special. And look, I love Jim Carrey. Forever will. But he isn’t good as Biden. It’s such a weird choice. Highlight of the episodes this month? The Bieberperformances, surprisingly.
I made the Impossible Burger at home (you can buy them at any Fairway Market) and they’re absolutely the top veggie burger on the market today. So damn good.
There’s this restaurant in Mississauga (Erin Mills Pump & Patio) that does such a good job of replicating this now-off-menu pasta that I used to love from Snug Harbour and I’m so thankful to have found it. (It’s the Hunters Penne Pasta with chicken, cremini and shitake mushrooms, Italian parsley, black truffle oil in a white wine cream sauce incase you want to taste heaven.)
We went to Downey’s on Halloween this year and for the first time got their homemade cheese bread. Life will never be the same. Some photos of the day below.
The LCBO puts out a seasonal magazine with food and drink recipes that I looooove. One of my favourite magazines for sure.
I made a batch of hot ginger toddies and yes they were good but waaaay too high maintenance to make at home. It’s definitely a drink that’s easier to just order when out.
I made these ginger sesame noodles with caramelized mushrooms and wow. Definitely will make again. I’d never thought of having broth at the bottom of a bowl full of noodles, but it’s such a great idea.
If you watch it with the sound off, it looks like she's revealing to James Bond that she was on Goldfinger's side the whole time https://t.co/1Uy81p1fCc
I once had a coworker who had just moved here from France and she could not get over her horror that on Halloween we waste pumpkins by making lanterns out of them and not turning them into soup or whatever
Our whole lives we hear: Don't talk about your period. Don't talk about sex. Don't talk about infertility. Don't talk about miscarriage. Don't talk badly about a pregnancy. Don't talk about PPD. Don't talk about anything post-partum except the baby. Only a baby matters. Not you.
You don’t “make” $15/hr. You “make” 100s or 1000s of $$ worth of product each hour and sell it for $15 each hour. You didn’t make anything for yourself. You sold an hour of your life and your body for $15. Don’t let them convince you otherwise. Your labor value is getting stolen
— Bryan Lindstrom (he/him/we) (@BryanLindstrom4) October 11, 2020
Normalize starting over as many times as you need.
Just spoke to a friend who was beating herself up for not doing more with this year and I had to remind her (and myself) that we were only supposed to be doing this for 2 weeks! A month max! You didn't waste this year, it was stolen and anything you DID achieve is a miracle!
hey babe I really appreciate you taking birth control even if it fucks you up, it just feels really good on my penis to not wear a condom for the 15 minutes of sex we have twice a week
If you walk down the street and you're mad that people are living in tents, please direct your anger and effort towards creating a housing system that doesn't allow people to end up homeless because they lost a job, had medical debt, or faced a rent hike they couldn't afford.
i wonder if my cat ever looks at me while i’m sleeping and thinks “ok that is the cutest way i have ever seen someone sleeping in my life” or is it one sided
Some things that I’m looking forward to doing this month: reading Lindy West’s new book, decorating my parent’s house for the Christmas season, and SNOW.
It was around this time last year that I visited The Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze in Hudson Valley in Croton-On-Hudson. It’s only about an hour away from New York City on Metro-North and it’s definitely worth the trek if you have any kind of love for all things October.
Once inside, you take a walking tour around the property that displays more than 7,000 illuminated jack o’ lanterns, all designed and hand-carved. There’s also a color-changing star show in the Pumpkin Planetarium, amongst other things that beautifully showcase the pumpkins. The whole thing is beautifully done and while the background music can get repetitive, it’s a really fun night out.
The whole experience takes between 60-90 minutes, and even when it’s sold out you don’t feel very rushed to move quickly. Definitely buy tickets in advance though since sell outs are common. Adult admission is $22 and kids are $16.
We all fall into two categories of people - those who seasonally decorate and those who do not. Guess which one I fall into.
My parent's windowsill
I love walking into a home and being able to feel what time of year it is. There's something that makes me so happy about someone putting that much effort into their daily surroundings. Here are a few that I made and put up when I was visiting my parent's house recently.
I know these are little subtle, but that doesn't make them any less lovely, in my opinion. And if you think I'm a snob about the kinds of decorations that people put up, you'd be dead wrong. I find the most gaudy of decorations just as pleasurable to see as the more demure ones. I'm really just a fan of people celebrating any kind of holiday or season. And when you're ready to move on to the next season, you can always store them in your handy holiday decorations box.
Of course this pumpkin-punch-bowl idea comes from Martha Stewart. OF COURSE IT DOES. She's better than us all - when it comes to parties and when it comes to living.
I'm sorry but this seems like an adorable event. It happens in Central Park every year and it's pretty self-explanatory: you go to Central Park with a carved pumpkin and you set him afloat. You can find more details here.
Who the hell came up with this idea? I want to squeeze him/her quite hard.
I've been going to this farm for twenty years and I doubt I'll ever stop.
Tianna & Layla
In recent years, they've added on a lot of things so there's an admission of $14 per person on weekends and $7 per person on weekdays, which isn't that crazy considering the farm's closed most of the colder months.
Yes, there are goats, too.
And there's an area where you can build your own scarecrow. And I don't know what kind of hay they use here, but I built one with my dad about fifteen years ago, so let's just say that it definitely holds up over time.
Layla, after going to the face painting area.
But the main reason to go here? These pumpkin donuts.
Pumpkin donut, dammit.
Even thought 100% of the people who I let have a bite of this said, "This doesn't taste like pumpkin" - I still maintain that it DOES. Also, it's one of the best donuts I've had. Maybe 'cause they make it at the farm? Maybe all the sugar on it? I don't know, I'm not a scientist. EAT THIS DONUT! They're seventy-five bloody cents, so I recommend getting a dozen.
This is the only place to be come October. Take your family!
