For the past few weeks, we’ve developed a Sunday tradition of pumpkin beer imbibed in bed sometime between 10 am and 3 pm. This past Sunday broke our streak, as I couldn’t find any pumpkin beer at the Fairway but was intrigued by “The Saint” by Crispin, a hard apple cider. “Artisanal” and “natural” with Belgian Trappist yeasts (ooooooh) and organic maple syrup (aaahhhh), I was prepared to be impressed.

After his first sip, my boyfriend made a face that let me know I’d be finishing his glass. I swished mine around in my mouth for a few seconds before pinpointing exactly what it reminded me of: watered-down glasses of daycare apple juice, thin and sweet and cloudy yellow. Seeing as I’m still head over heels about everything that reminds me of back-to-school season, this cider was like a comforting reminder that it is October, on an eighty-five degree day in New York when I wished I was wearing wool tights instead of cutoff overalls. Fans of darker ciders with a stronger spice flavor and more carbonation should probably stick to Woodchuck, or whatever you drink, but I had no qualms happily finishing all 22 ounces of this. If only it had been in a juice box with a bendy straw.

I don’t understand the conception that French toast is difficult to make. As someone who struggles to achieve perfect pancakes and doesn’t own a wafflemaker, French toast is my standard special-occasion breakfast to impress. Even - or perhaps especially - on occasions when a slightly hungover me is the only one that needs impressing.

Also, HAPPY OCTOBER! Did you know that it’s my favorite month?! And it’s my birthday month, so this was basically a pre-pre-birthday breakfast. I had it with a tall glass of milk rather than with the namesake beverage, but I’m sure if your threshold for pumpkin is as high as mine it’d be delish that way too.

Pumpkin spice French toast:

• 3 slices challah, a day or two old
• 1 large egg
• 1 apple
• 1/2 cup milk
• honey, cinnamon, and nutmeg
• 1 tbsp + 1 tsp butter
• optional toppings: ice cream, whipped cream, more honey, and/or maple syrup

1. Dice the apple finely and add it to a saucepan with a teaspoon of butter, a squirt of honey, and cinnamon & nutmeg to taste. Cover pan with a lid and cook, stirring every so often, for 5-10 minutes, until apples are softened to your liking.
2. In the meantime, beat together the egg, milk, more honey, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Dredge challah slices in the mixture for about a minute.
3. Heat 1 tbsp butter in a frying pan. Place french toast slices in the pan and cook until browned on the outside, about 2-3 minutes per side. Some people put their French toast in the oven for a few minutes after this part. I don’t because A) My oven is broken, B) I’m not ultra-paranoid about raw eggs because I buy good-quality organic ones and have a very strong stomach and C) I love love love when French toast is all moist and custardy on the inside. It’s your call.
4. Plate French toast, add cooked apples, and top with whipped cream or ice cream - I used Trader Joe’s pumpkin ice cream, which we (okay, pretty much just I) have gone through a quart of this week.

So, whatever, I am like an eighth Jewish and sometimes my Jewisher friends like to tease me about it. Then I have to prove myself by doing things like eating chopped liver by the pound. I am only bummed that because my oven is broken, I had to buy Zabar’s challah and couldn’t make honey cake from scratch, but I’ll atone for it on Yom Kippur.

Apples & honey, for a sweet new year.

An ENTIRE FISH, because I’m hardcore. This apparently has to do with Rosh Hashanah literally translating to the ‘head of the year’, and also something about being ‘the head and not the tail’ - leaders rather than followers (the shiksa blog claims this appears in Deuteronomy. I grew up going to Unitarian church where we were busy making bird feeders out of pinecones and not learning this stuff, but I can tell you that an entire tilapia can be purchased at Pioneer for three dollars, that it’s a very impressive presentation, and that with a little olive oil, salt and lemon, it tastes pretty darn good.)

Fish heads, fish heads, roly poly fish heads.

KASHA VARNISHKES! I love kasha varnishkes. Kasha varnishkes from the 2nd Avenue Deli got me hooked, but this was the first time I’d tried making them from scratch. They are fairly impossible to screw up, containing four main ingredients - buckwheat groats, onions, farfalle (which my boyfriend pronounces “farfle”) and olive oil or schmaltz. I knew they’d be better with schmaltz, but I couldn’t figure out where to buy it - anywhere legit enough to sell me some was closed today - so I did them with olive oil and The New York Times recipe. My Polish great-great-grandmother Loewenstein would’ve been proud.

Challah from Zabar’s. The round kind, braided into a circle, represents the cycle of the year. The way this particular loaf tasted reminded me how excited I am for Christmas panettone. We had it with Trader Joe’s honeybear honey and kosher cabernet. 

Apples & pomegranate - new fruit.

Yesterday my boyfriend and I went to his grandma’s house down the shore where he grew up, which turns out to be not terribly far from the places down the shore where I spent a lot of time during summers as a kid (the Maps app on my iPad had me playing a well-illustrated version of the “What exit?” game in the backseat). We ate Vic’s pizza with extra garlic, sausage and peppers. We ate linguine with anchovies and chicken marsala and ziti marinara and good bread. So this morning, I woke up full of carbs and salt and grease but craving something for dessert. 

I’m not a big yogurt fan - on the whole, it strikes me as too goopy and/or watery and/or tart and/or boring - but I’ve recently come serendipitously across a yogurt I adore. Zabar’s has a special on these adorable mini-cups of a full-fat, fruity French yogurt that is ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS (and, as Google would have it, I’m not the only one who thinks so). The size of the cups implies a responsible portion control, but this morning I’ve had three of them. Strawberry is the best, with apricot trailing close behind. I’ve also discovered a new favorite in the combination of Zabar’s rye bread spread with Crunch Time peanut butter and a little honey. Yum.

A guest blog post via text from my friend Dan, in lieu of the fact that the best thing I ate today was a bowl of Kellogg’s Crunchy Nut cereal and Deep River Mesquite BBQ potato chips in almond milk.

“I just had watermelon gazpacho and it was the best thing I ever tasted. Like eating summer. It’s from my country club, Alpine Country Club, consistently the best food I’ve ever had. Thomas Keller cooked us dinner a few months ago. Brilliant executive chef who’s very involved.”

Thanks for keeping it classy, Dan. In other news, I think opening it up to some guest posts isn’t a bad idea, as my job has some huge projects launching mid-July that are keeping my blogging hours to a minimum. Send over a note if you’d like to contribute.