when life imitates art

There’s so much I’ve been wanting to share since last week. I got through another anniversary—a big one. Last Thursday, just a week ago, I celebrated my 10th wedding anniversary. I feel like I should get a coin or chip to commemorate the milestone. I don’t mean to be glib, or gloss over it. On the contrary, it was a surreal day, especially with views like this one down the road from my house. I’m just having a bit of an off week at the moment. Pretty much every other person tells me it’s Mercury in Retrograde. I’m still not 100% clear on what that means, even though a few people have tried to explain it.

The girls and I went to see Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (did I really get that right without Googling the title?). I loved the movie, and wasn’t at all familiar with the books, though Isabella knew about them. I woke up Monday, and it seems since then my waking moments have been very Alexander-like. It started with Virginia’s backpack getting lost IN OUR HOUSE. How does that even happen? Then I left the house on a 35F day, drove 25 minutes to school only to realize Virginia didn’t wear a coat. Little insults to injury quickly piled up, and by 11:45am, I wanted to hide under my covers from fear of what else could possibly go wrong (Dear Gods: I am in no way tempting you. Really.)

Anyway, I’d been thinking of doing an apple recipe roundup since it’s ’tis the season. Mode Media, one of the ad networks I work with, gave its publishers a wide berth in choosing a theme this month—low and behold, apples were on the list! I was able to put them into a nice little slideshow for you all, and if you want more apple-centric ideas go visit Foodie.com.

I’ve got a few recipes I hope to share soon. Anyone in the mood for homemade bagels? Writing, recipe testing, and photography for the Winter Issue of Simple Scratch Cooking has been occupying much of my time, as well as a lot of volunteering at the girls’ school (I can’t say enough how much I LOVE this school). If you missed out on the print copies of Simple Scratch Cooking, I’m releasing a digital edition on 11/5, and you can pre-order it now by clicking here.

Disclosure: This slideshow has been sponsored by Mode Media. As always, the words and thoughts are my own.

Check out Favorite Apple Recipes

by Jennifer Perillo at Foodie.com

 

8 Comments

  • luisa

    if its any consolation, I screwed up two batches of mash potatoes…HOW DOES ONE DO THAT!!! p.s. I am a really good cook…HOW DID I DO IT TWICE???

  • Alicia Sokol

    Big hugs to you, Jennifer. As for screw ups…yesterday was my son’s 9th birthday. He asked for a cherry tart. Could I just follow a recipe and leave well enough alone? No. Of course not. I made a colossal, sticky mess out of his birthday dessert and no one ate more than a few bites. At least he loved the main meal and his gifts!

  • Liz

    Sometimes…at least for me…there are periods of what I call doldrums – where nothing seems to go right and I, who usually have solutions to everything – cannot seem to get anything “right”. I’ve learned to just go with it and maybe take a day off or do something not my normal routine. That works for me, but it is just me and my pets so relatively easy to do.

    Oh, luisa…I did laugh at that. Several years ago I totally wrecked my TDay turkey and ended up with meatloaf for dinner (just me, thankfully). I’m a really good cook also and I always say that the Thanksgiving meal is not a challenge. Wrecking the turkey thoroughly destroyed my cooking confidence. I had promised a pie to a neighbor – I make terrific pie! …and as I started the crust, wondered if I could do it. All went well with the pie and I got my mojo back, but it was a strange experience!

  • Susan

    what a beautiful view!!! We all have those days… sometimes they just last longer than a day. This too shall pass.

  • Flavia

    I’m not entirely sure what Mercury in Reteograde means either, except that (if there’s any truth to it) it means lots of things go wonky. I feel like Mercury has been in Reteograde for the past year and a half for me with all the stress and drama I’ve had to deal with, the worst of it being my husband getting sick multiple times. I know all too well the feeling of wanting to hide under the covers and never come out, but then we miss out on life and all the good that’s out there. So Mercury (and the drama-makers) can go kiss my grits. We just keep icing forward and bring only the good along with us. Your blog posts and IG photos and captions have been an uplifting source of inspiration for me during some tough times lately, so thank you for being so willing and courageous to share with us. Hugs from TX.