Wassail For Your Wednesday

Wassail is one of those family traditions that I picked up quite by accident. The first time I had it I was living in Colorado, during what was presumably a freezing, blustery December. I was never a fan of skiing, but I did enjoy finding new ways of staying cozy and warm. This delicious seasonal beverage was one of those discoveries.

It is a very simple recipe - and I wish I could credit the source. The person who made it for me first shared the recipe in the form of a very old newspaper clipping, and I copied it down into email form and sent it to myself back in 2009. Note: this recipe does require a crockpot, but I would bet that putting it on a pot on the stove on the lowest setting would do the trick, as well.

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 quarts apple cider or juice
• 1 pint cranberry juice
• 1 teaspoon aromatic bitters
• 1 cup rum
• 2 sticks cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon whole allspice
• 1 small orange -- studded with cloves

Combine sugar and juices in the pot; stir until sugar is dissolved and combined with the juice.

Rinse and/or scrub the surface of the orange well, then take your cloves and press them through the orange rind. I usually leave the orange whole - but if you'd like the juices to incorporate more, you could also slice it in half. If you'd prefer to be able to remove the loose spices at the end, you could tie them in cheesecloth to make a small pouch. Once all ingredients are combined, cover the crock pot and cook for 1 hour on high, then simmer for 4-8 hours on low.

This is a great one for company, because when you make this, your house is going to smell wonderful. It's very easy to adjust and customize - I never remember to have bitters on hand, so I rarely add them; you could also easily reduce the sugar or remove the rum. I like to splash a good deal more rum in the crockpot once it's finished cooking for some additional warmth.

There's still time to collect the ingredients to make this one for the holidays - do it. I promise you'll love it.

xo,

Kirsten

A Story and a Song

from Radiant Door

I grew up in the Pacific Northwest, and certain habits - such as pontificating on the rightness of good coffee, and cultivating collections of obscure, moody music - die hard. And so I'm gonna be pretentious for a tad second and talk about this grungy, garage rock band I kind of love. I found the Crystal Stilts by accident back in the day of MySpace band pages (is that still a thing?) and instantly fell in love. 

Because a minimalist moodscape of a song? Yes please! Carrie Brownstein thinks so, too. From their bio: Pleasingly distilled in celestial darkness, floating in a sea of color drenched dreams, and grounded in protean mythology. 

Yes. That. 

So naturally, when it came time for me to visit one of my best friends in NYC for the first time, I took into consideration that the Crystal Stilts hail from Brooklyn. I hadn't seen any news that they were touring, so I hoped that maybe they were still actively playing the home circuit. Turns out that they were, and that there would be a show during the approximate time I wanted to visit. So did I plan my trip around seeing them live? Maybe. Very possibly. Yes.

May 2010

Everything I heard in and loved about their sound was present and on point during their live set. If that wasn't enough, can we talk about that set-up? Bunched-up tulle lit up to look like fantastically low-hanging storm clouds during a stormy, magical night? WHAT PERFECT.

I shimmied, I fan girl-ed, and I desperately scanned the joint for a merch table. The opening act had T-shirts for sale - where my Stilts shirts be? My boyfriend really enjoys this band a lot, and since he wasn't able to join me in New York, he'd asked me to pick him up a shirt from the show. Look as though I might, I couldn't find anything for sale.

After the show, my friend convinced me to ask them about it, so I approached this guy right here - his name is Kyle. When I explained to him that I flew in from Texas just for this show - my boyfriend back in Texas loooooves you guys - did I mention I came from Texas?, he ducked away to consort with his bandmates. They seemed thoroughly amused by my request. Finally, Kyle approached me to let me know that they didn't have anything currently, but if I wanted to email them, they would mail me something as soon as they had it.

Kyle

Satisfied, and brimming all over with tipsy magic, my friend and I retired outside to the sidewalk so that she could smoke a cigarette, and we watched as a young couple stumbled out of the back of a limo clutching 40z in paper bags, saluting us with a smile as they headed inside. That same couple later dubbed us Ocean Eyes (my friend) and Number 11 (me) after we participated in a dance-off for a $100 prize; even later than that, they linked up arms with us and took us on a long walk to find something to eat at 4 AM in Brooklyn.

Whoever says that New Yorkers aren't friendly isn't doing it right.

I left New York the next day, but I was still intent on following through. I sent an email to the address that Kyle had provided, and heard back pretty promptly:


               ME: I came out to your show at the Glasslands on May...15th? I don't know if he remembers
               or not but I spoke with the keyboardist Kyle shortly about you guys having shirts, records, albums,
               anything! In any case, he told me to email y'all about it.

               CRYSTAL STILTS: Hey Kirsten, this is Kyle, that keyboardist, here. No merch news, but I
               promise when we do make new shirts I will let you know and send you some stuff in the mail. You
               just have to send something back from Texas. Cowboy boots? BBQ sauce?


Clearly, this is the stuff of fan girl dreams. The communication stopped at this point (though it's really too bad - I would have loved to send them all novelty sheriff's badges), but the wider conversation seemed to kind of...continue? The show and email exchange took place in 2010, and in 2011 they released a new album - called Radiant Door - featuring the track embedded at the top of this post. At first listen, it didn't quite catch my attention, but the more I listened the more stoked I was. 

See, the Stilts had almost exclusively released spacey garage rock before this point (if you'd like to know what they sounded like before, this track should give you a pretty good idea.). But in Still as the Night, we have a stiff shot of righteous twang - a dusty, epic journey by horseback across a moonlit plain, ambling toward an uncertain sunrise. Here we have Johnny Cash. Here we have a track that sounds like it belongs in every Quentin Tarantino film released in the last 20 years.

Sounds like cowboy boots and BBQ sauce to me!

I won't claim to be responsible for this shift in their sound (but hey, I DID let them know they had a Texan audience), or even to be the full inspiration (y'know, just partial) - but I do love how it fits so neatly into the narrative of that night, and of my affinity to their music. All of us have songs that are close to our hearts, and I know we all have stories about them. Tell me yours? 

still as the night

cold as the wind

a fool in love 

can never win

I can't forget 

I can't be free

until she's back 

my heart will be

still as the night

xo, 

Kirsten

Homemade Marshmallows: 3 Ways for the Holidays

There are some kitchen accomplishments that seem easy, but wind up stealing your soul, your dignity and half of your paycheck in the making. You never know it until it's too late. I often feel like these describe the majority of my endeavors. Other times you get lucky, and something really simple - like, crazy simple - winds up yielding something that impresses the pants off of folk. I tend to think that homemade marshmallows are one of those things.

For one, the ingredients are very basic, and very affordable. You don't really need any fancy kitchen equipment to make it - a glass baking dish, a saucepan and a stand mixer (or a hand mixer in a pinch) will just about cover it. It does require the patience to wait overnight for the finished product, but MARSHMALLOWS. Guys!

The recipe I chose can be found here. I like this recipe because it does not use high fructose corn syrup, and it doesn't require anything stressful like a candy thermometer. For my basic vanilla marshmallow I followed this recipe to a T, making very slight alterations for my peppermint and cinnamon holiday style mallows.

• 2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin (2 pouches)
• 8 tablespoons plus 1/2 cup cold water
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• powdered sugar for dusting

For Peppermint Marshmallows: replace vanilla with 1 teaspoon vanilla + 1 teaspoon of peppermint extract (red food coloring for decoration, optional)

For Cinnamon Marshmallows: replace vanilla with 1 teaspoon vanilla + 1 teaspoon of cinnamon extract (cinnamon for decoration, optional

Note: If you want to make peppermint marshmallows, be mindful of the extract you buy. Mint extract is not the same thing as peppermint and will yield a very different result. If mint extract is all the store has, consider adding a little green food coloring and stirring in some mini chocolate chips at the end of the process when the marshmallow creme has cooled - and voila, mint chocolate chip marshmallows!

Combine two packets of unflavored gelatin with 8 tablespoons of cold water in a small bowl, and set aside. While this sits, stir together 2 cups of sugar with a half cup of water in a medium saucepan and turn the heat to medium.

Once the sugar dissolves, add in the gelatin and water mixture and stir well to break up any lumps. Continue to cook over medium heat until mixture starts to boil. DO NOT walk away from the stove with this combination going - once it begins to boil, it may froth up and overflow if you let it go too long.

Pour into the mixing bowl you intend to use, and add in 1/4 teaspoon of salt, then add your extract (see above for extract combinations to make your desired flavor).  Stir well to combine, and let the mixture sit until it cools slightly.

Turn on the mixer, and watch the magic happen. I say that a stand mixer works best because you want to let it go for at least 10 minutes, until the volume has nearly tripled and the mixture is glossy, white and holds its shape after the mixer passes through.

Transfer to a glass casserole pan to let it set. You can really use any size of pan here, it will just vary the thickness of the marshmallow. To prevent sticking, you can either line the pan with parchment paper, or you can spray it with cooking spray then dust the pan with powdered sugar.

If you opted for the peppermint version (and really, who wouldn't), make it fun by adding some color. A few drops of red food coloring on top, and a butter knife dragged in swirls across the top of the pan, will add a gorgeous candy cane effect.

Now, the hard part. We wait. I have found letting it sit overnight best, so that the gelatin has time to firm up. Cover and let sit at room temperature.

In the morning, thoroughly dust a cutting board with powdered sugar (it's sort of like sticky bread dough, guys). Use a rubber spatula to loosen the edges and the bottom of the solid marshmallow block. Don't worry if it sticks a little - it should be very springy and resilient at this point. Once it's loosened, ease it out of the pan onto the cutting board. 

Cut into strips, then into squares. You can either do large squares or small, depending on what you'd like to use them for. I like to make a combination of both.

Next, you want to gently roll each marshmallow in powdered sugar. This will seal up those sticky edges, and will keep them from sticking together when you store them. For my cinnamon marshmallows, I added a few shakes of cinnamon to the powdered sugar, and lightly shook a little over the top of my finished mallows.

And there you have it! Easy, breezy (and inexpensive) vanilla, peppermint and cinnamon marshmallows.

Now you can make some ridiculously awesome hot chocolate for yourself, to congratulate yourself for your hand work. Then you can get a packet of hot cocoa mix, purchase a sweet thrifted mug or one of these dirt cheap IKEA mugs, and package them up with some of your homemade mallows for a ridiculously adorable and inexpensive homemade gift for someone you love.

Or, if it's more your style, why not make a gourmet s'mores package? Peppermint marshmallows, some quality chocolate and some graham crackers are impossible to resist. Toast some marshmallows over a backyard fire, your indoor fireplace, or make a festive version of these s'mores bars.

Really, the possibilities are endless. This marshmallow recipe is really a blank canvas. What variations can you think of?

Now go forth and make boozy hot chocolate for your adult holiday party!


xo,

Kirsten

What I'm Reading: The Paradox of Choice

"Filtering out extraneous information is one of the basic functions of human consciousness. If everything available to our senses demanded our attention at all times, we wouldn't be able to get through the day. Much of human progress has involved reducing the time and energy, as well as the number of processes we have to engage in and think about, for each of us to obtain the necessities of life . . . Increasingly, the trend moves back toward time-consuming foraging behavior, as each of us is forced to sift for ourselves through more and more options in almost every aspect of life." 

The Paradox of Choice

Barry Schwartz

2004, Harper Perennial 

I have a tough time making decisions, and I am not the only one. According to author and professor Barry Schwartz, there is a lot of evidence to suggest that having access to a greater number of choices - as opposed to fewer - might actually cost us our well-being. 

But it all depends on the kind of person you are.

You might decide that there can be only one best option out of them all, and in order to test out this theory, you decide to check them all out thoroughly. The process is long, but in the end, you have picked what you think is probably the best. But was it really? Now you're wondering about all of the alternatives you rejected.How might they have turned out? If this is you, you're probably a maximizer. 

Alternately, maybe you do have high standards, but you also chill out a bit when it comes to that final selection. Does it meet your standards? Check. Fantastic! Let's move on. If this is you, you're probably a satisficer. 

Of these two, can you guess which is probably going to be the happier person?

Let's take this example and apply it to education. 

Before I went, I had always wanted to go to college. I figured that so long as I could get there, it would - and it absolutely must - change my life.  I got there, and suddenly the choices I had to make went from minuscule - either get there, or don't - to exponential. I changed my major twice, then changed my minor three times, and then I dropped the minor altogether and turned it into a second major.

But when I descended the university steps for the last time, I did so more with a sense of bewilderment than I did of closure. I had done well in my classes, earned the regard of my professors, and had some impressive things said about me on paper. I don't know what I had expected, but I surely didn't expect the brutally casual way in which the tall brick buildings merely slunk out of my life, without so much as a good-bye. 

It felt a lot like nothing happened. 

Even if my achievements were noteworthy on an objective scale, on the subjective front it felt a lot like being dumped. I told myself again and again I did the best that I could - and still find myself looking back occasionally, wondering where we went wrong. 

The Bottom Line: It's a complicated formula that Schwartz proposes to simplify. Since maximizing is correlated with depression, anxiety and regret, he suggests being mindful of the decision-making process itself. In order to be happier people, he encourages us to pick and choose our decision-making battles.

Verdict: What I found most compelling about this book ends up being falling flat before long. Perhaps I am purposely obfuscating the point, but it seems to me as though the solution Schwartz proposes is part of the problem. Frustrating much? 

Buy or Borrow: I checked it out from the library, and had a hard time finishing it. I returned it, and immediately wished I hadn't. But then I wound up buying a copy, remembered why I had a hard time with it, and now think I will likely return it (hahahahahahahahahahahaha). 

Categories: Non-fiction, Consumerism, Psychology, Self-help, Decision-making

A Cup of Comfort

from 101 cookbooks: green curry broth

It's that time of year when things start to speed up a little. The grass is always a little greener from the other side of the calendar, and there is always just enough time between holidays for me to convince myself that this time of year is inherently comforting. 

Needless to say, the reality is a little different, and I always find myself a little more stressed than I want to be. 

Which is also a really roundabout way of saying that I'm sorry for leaving you all (and this space) alone for so long. Every time I sat down to compose something, there was always something else banging down the door of my brain. Birthdays, holidays, and then the inevitable wave of sickness that is still ebbing in our household all demanded I hand over the keys for a period of time.

from cookie + kate: west african peanut soup

Once I've gone through my annual ritual of confronting the holiday cheer myth, it leaves me in a place where I have to make a choice. I can either surrender to the stress, or I can make my own comfort.

Which sounds easier than it is.

While I am not at all grateful that my honey has been suffering from a recurring fever that seems to crop up again every time we think he has it beat, I am grateful that my immune system seems to be working the way it's supposed to. Instead of a full-blown version of the flu taken to the max (which is what usually happens - I tend to catch the sick and take it up a notch), I seem to only have come down with a low grade cold. Just enough to make going to work a nuisance, and not quite enough to debilitate me entirely. 

What it has done is forced me to come to a reckoning. When you're trying to recover, the body has neither care nor concern for non-vital functions, so for now, the stress is out. What's in? 

from prevention rd: roasted tomato soup

Soup is in. If you haven't noticed.

Embarrassingly enough, lately cooking has been the last thing I want to do. Which is a little baffling, because I love to cook. Now is the time of year for firing up the stove to heat your home and fill it up with delicious smells.

So to ease myself back into the kitchen, it seems like starting with soup is going to be the right fit. It's a one-pot kind of deal, there's minimal prep work, and a single pot of soup can go a long way. Plus, I can't stop thinking about soup. I am walking about in a living, breathing soup fantasy.

So right now, I am busying and distracting myself from the sick by compiling a list of recipes to try. The list is greater than you see here - I created a pinterest board for my recipes of interest, and I've been scouring old emails and gifted cookbooks for new ones to try out.

Let's talk soup!

xo!


PS - like the new digs? I do! Thanks to the amazing Nicole of writeslikeagirlblog.com, I have a gorgio new space. Yes, gorgio. I made up a word for it, and it means all things gorgeous and fly and stylish all at once. Go check her out!