Just a moment...

After a summer of free and easy schedules, fall has taken me somewhat by surprise.

I'm grateful to have so much to do, and for the many opportunities that have come my way lately (if more of them paid, that would be an extra perk, but...), but I haven't been sleeping much. I have, of course, been my usual serial cooking and baking self, but I noticed that I've mostly been posting about dishes made for cooking clubs, and ignoring everything else. The CSA is still filling our refrigerator with produce, a lot of which I juiced in my new juicer (acquired at a swap!) last night for dinner.

I risked my life on our fire escape to gather our one tiny local crop--crabapples--for jam. In the end, I made about two ounces of a stiff pate de fruits that could have used more sugar. It has a kind of unpleasant aftertaste, but a beautiful color, and after our roof garden crisped entirely, it was something to have anything to harvest. But those crabapples won't edge out the Macouns from Outlook Farm that Liana smuggled down to me this week. I might save the 'jelly' as a pectin additive for other jams.

Speaking of Liana, it looks like she's moving in for a little while. She's already charmed Lily at the bakery and all the juice guys down the street. As she said herself, she will change the profile of groceries bought in the house (she likes my cooking, but mostly exists on smoothies). We've never lived together as adults, so I'm excited to see what changes this will bring, and even more excited that she's moving to New York, where I never expected to see her.

I've also taken on a new professional baking commitment, which is kicking my ass (more about this as it develops), but doesn't seem to have stopped me baking at home.

Don't scream, but I'm joining one last cooking group, based on Dorie Greenspan's new book, Around My French Table. The group posts on Fridays, but since there is no posting requirement, I may not be posting every Friday, in order to spare you all a bit. I'll be making the monthly recipes, and maybe posting when I think one is particularly noteworthy, and doing the occasional roundup.

In case you thought (or feared, Mom), that all I'm doing is cooking, no such thing. I'm finishing up my MLS at Pratt with one final (and excellent) class, interning for the Brooklyn Public Library's Weekend Stories early literacy program, interning at the Transit Museum Archive, and still leading ghost tours around the East and West Villages (and, shortly, tours up on the Upper West Side as well). If anyone's in town for Halloween, let me know.

Add to that some freelance writing and archiving, and some research for Polybe's upcoming production, and don't be too surprised if posting occasionally falls off. I'll be back. And I'll bring pizza, once I get over being scared of breaking my oven again. And for your viewing pleasure, here it is: The Pizza that Killed My Oven. It has tomatoes, mozzarella, asiago, basil, mushrooms, and proscuitto.

Drool now.