Today on weekend meanderings, inspiration for setting a fall table, another batch of delicious apple cinnamon scones, two highly anticipated fall television series, and an Emily in Paris inspired cocktail.
Happy Saturday, friends!
It’s time for the weekend post with Kim and Elizabeth. Our weekly roundup of inspirations and goings on.
This week flew by and I barely remember what happened. Oh wait, I do remember something, our temperature dropped into the 50’s overnight. Burrr. Looks like it’s warming up for the weekend, but if this very welcome cooling trend continues I might have to run out for mums and pumpkins.
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I bought a little kitchen lamp … and adore it. Yes, that’s a pumpkin on the kitchen counter. And, yes, I said no pumpkins until October, but this one’s not real so it doesn’t count.
Speaking of pumpkins, the pumpkin mugs I bought last year are on close out sale. I haven’t used them this year. Yet. But, very soon.
Let’s get started …
Fall Table Runner
This week I watched Brooke Giannetti create the most wonderful fall table top on her Instagram. I’d like to do something similar and it’s my inspiration for our fall and Thanksgiving table. I recently ordered this forest green striped linen table runner and I think it’s perfect for fall. My current woven cotton runner will work beautifully too. I’ll experiment with both.
Fall table inspiration ~
Cinnamon Apple Scones, Take Two
The Make Mine A Spritzer Test Kitchen is back in session on a continuing quest to find the very best Cinnamon Apple Scones. And this week’s contestant is in it to win it.
The recipe, from the National Trust Book of Scones, is a little confusing because it uses metric measurements and I had to convert them. I think I did okay because the scones turned out great. Also, the recipe calls for self-rising flour which I didn’t have so I used all-purpose flour and tried to figure out the correct amount of baking powder and salt needed to compensate.
Let me caution you that my maybe-not-scientifically-accurate conversions are reflected in this recipe … but the scones came out beautifully for me. Also, I used the ingredients I had on hand and noted that in the margins. Since I was on a roll, I took the further initiative of adding a melted butter and cinnamon sugar topping. Yum!
Apple Cinnamon Scones
Ingredients
- 4 cups All-Purpose Flour
- 10 Tbsp Butter, cubed and very cold I used salted butter
- 1/2 cup Sugar
- 3 Tbsp Baking Powder
- 2 tsp Cinnamon
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 large Apple, peeled and diced I used a Gala apple
- 1 large Egg, beaten And another for egg wash glaze
- 3/4 cup Milk I used 2% milk
Cinnamon Sugar Topping
- 1/4 cup Sugar
- 1 Tbsp Cinnamon
- Pinch of salt
- 1/4 cup Butter, melted I used salted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400° , and line a baking sheet with parchment
- Sift flour, baking powder, sugar, cinnamon and salt and into large mixing bowl
- Add butter and using pastry cutter, fork, and/or fingers combine until mixture is crumbly
- Add beaten egg and milk and form into sticky dough
- Fold in diced apple
- Turn out onto floured surface, knead a few times and form into ball. Pat out into circle, then roll to 1-1/4" thick
- Using round biscuit cutter, cut out scones and place on baking tray
- Brush tops of scones with beaten egg and bake for 10-12 minutes or until risen and golden brown
- While scones are in over, melt 1/4 cup butter over low heat and combine sugar, cinnamon and pinch of salt for topping.
- Let scones cool for a few minutes then brush tops with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, using a small strainer is helpful
A few tools I find useful for scone (and biscuit) baking ~
Fall TV
Television viewing habits have changed – dramatically – due to streaming – but fall is still the time of year when new shows and new seasons of favorite shows make their debuts. This year feels a little bit old school with many potentially great shows on the horizon. I want to mention a couple of the newbies – coming this week – that have very back-in-the-day sort of feels and I can’t wait to watch.
Matlock
After a 27-year long hiatus, my beloved Sunday night routine is about to resume … this Sunday. At the risk of sounding like a grumpy old lady, I never fully recovered from Murder, She Wrote going off the air back in 1997. I know … 1997. Before you get all excited thinking Murder, She Wrote is combing back … calm down. I’m talking about Matlock. Matlock is being revamped with the title role played by Kathy Bates and I’m so here for it.
The original Matlock, starring Andy Griffith, had a parallel run to Murder, She Wrote, starring the legendary Angela Lansbury, and I consider both shows the height of comfort TV. Just what the doctor ordered to combat the Sunday scares. In an interview with the New York Times, Kathy Bates says this will be her ‘last dance’ (gift link to article) and I hope it’s one that lasts at least as long as the original show.
Note ~ Do you know there’s a Murder, She Wrote fiction series? The first book, Gin and Daggers, debuted in 1989 and in 1994 a series was born with at least one published every year since. All the books are delightful, cozy mysteries. Next up in the series, A Killer Christmas coming in October, and Snowy With a Chance of Murder coming in March 2025, and both are available for pre-order. Yes, I’ve pre-ordered. Here’s a list of all 60 Jessica Fletcher mysteries in order.
Doctor Odyssey
Let’s move from comfort viewing to guilty pleasure viewing. This is almost too good to be true, The Love Boat meets Greys Anatomy meets Miami Vice. I’m talking about Doctor Odyssey on ABC September 26. The show takes place on a luxury cruise ship and Don Johnson is the ship’s captain. Is Don Johnson the new Captain Stubing?! My how things change. Anyway, Joshua Jackson (no idea) plays the main character, Dr. Max Bank, and he and the ship’s medical team contend with medical mayhem at sea.
Emily Lillet Royale
Speaking of fall television, the second half of Emily in Paris (season four) dropped last week. I haven’t watched it yet so don’t tell me anything. What I do know is the show inspired an fun collaboration … Emily in Paris x Lillet. Say hello to the Emily Lillet Royale.
Lillet debuted two limited release bottles … blanc and rose … and they’re in stores now. I found out about it when my favorite grocery store, Diablo Foods, shared a photo of the blanc bottle on their Instagram story. Of course I dropped everything and got myself over there to grab one before they were gone.
The Emily Lillet Royale is simple to make and absolutely delicious. The recipe is printed on the back of the bottle, and on Lillets website. But I’ll tell you how I made it. First of all the recipe won’t fill my stemmed wine glasses … I doubled it to fill the glass and make them pretty. And, no I didn’t drink it all. Although Jim finished his. You can see my video here.
Emily Lillet Royale (one drink)
- 1 ounce Lillet Blanc
- 2 ounces Champagne (if you don’t want to open regular bottle, look for mini Moets)
- 1/2 ounce Kern’s Peach Nectar
- Strawberry slices and mint sprigs for garnish
Fill a glass with ice, add first three ingredients and stir. Garnish with strawberries and mint.
To get heart shaped strawberry slices, core the berry and slice it in half from the top. Is that obvious?
A few cocktail essentials ~
Sante!
Denim Shirt Dress | Suede Slides
Current Fall Favorites ~
Odds & Socks: Blogger Friend Edition ~
My week feels pretty ho hum compared some of my blogger friends who are all over the country and world living their best lives. Are you following Mary Ann (Classic Casual Home) in France and England? Annie’s (Most Lovely Things) traveling in France too and when she and Mary Ann met up, I’m not going to lie … I was envious. Speaking of envy, Cindy Hattersley and Jennifer Connolly (A Well Styled Life) were at the LTK Conference this week in Dallas. Being invited to LTKCON is a BIG deal. It’s been fun tagging along via Instagram and I can’t wait to read more about their amazing adventures on their blogs.
And that’s what I have for you this week. Let’s see what’s inspiring Kim and Elizabeth.
In case you missed last weekend’s post, you can catch up here.
Wishing you a wonderful weekend!
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