Apples to Apples

*In honor of Rosh Hashana, the Jewish new year, I decided to try out a new dessert recipe from Susie Fishbein's Kosher by Design series.  The cover photo from the original "Kosher by Design" cook book, the "sunken apples and honey tart," seemed like the perfect choice for a new project!

The recipe calls for the following:

1/3 cup honey
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 8-10 wedges
3/4 cup sugar
6 tablespoons margarine, softened
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind, only yellow not white pith
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

First, I prepared my apples.  Using a nifty grater I received from my parents after a trip to the Topsfield Fair and a combination hand peeler/corer, I was able to get my apples ready for cooking:

Next, I heated the oven to 350 degrees.  Then, I coated by 9-in springform pan with some non-dairy margarine.  After, I combined the honey and lemon juice in a large nonstick skillet and brought it to a simmer over medium heat.  I added the apples and cooked them about 12 minutes, turning them over every few minutes to coat them:

After removing the just-soft apples from heat and setting them aside, I combined the 3/4 cup sugar, margarine, brown sugar, and vanilla in a mixing bowl.  Using my KitchenAid standing mixer, I beat the ingredients on medium until well blended, about 1 minute:

I then beat in the two eggs, followed by beating in the grated lemon rind.  The result was an unattractive and somewhat runny mixture:

In a separate bowl, I combined the flour, baking powder, and salt.  I whisked them together and then gradually added the flour mixture to the batter, beating on low until blended.  The result was a deliciously thick batter:

After pouring the batter into my 9-in pan, I removed the apples from the skillet (discarding the liquid) and arranged the apples in a concentric spoke-like design* on top of the batter:

*you should start arranging the innermost apples first, then adding apples around the edges.

Last, I combined 1 tablespoon sugar with the cinnamon and evenly sprinkled the topping on the tart before popping the tart in the oven:

I let the tart bake for about an hour and when it came out, I was pretty gosh-darn pleased with myself!  The tart didn't look exactly like the book cover, but I think it came out pretty close and beautiful nonetheless.

  Here is some eye candy from my experiment in Rosh Hashana baking:

L'shana tova u'metuka!

A happy and sweet new year to all!

From the Marfinkes, with Love

One of my proudest wedding creations began with our digital save-the-date.  Since Mr. Marfinkle and I spent our first two years in a long-distance relationship, I decided to design our STD (using Aviary) as a postcard featuring postcards from the places which were important in our lives:

Aren't we adorable?

Since I had so much fun designing the STD, I decided to create place cards for our wedding with the same theme.  Instead of a regular escort card, Mr. Marfinkle and I chose to give each guest a postcard featuring a location to which we have traveled.  Each postcard included a message from the Marfinkles and was hand "addressed" to the guest's table.  We had originally hoped to display our cards in an antique revolving  postcard rack, but instead decided to display the cards on a clothesline in front of the mailboxes at our wedding venue:

We gave each party at the table a different postcard so that people could compare and strike up conversation about why they believed they were given a particular location.  (We managed to pick a specific postcard for each guest.)  Nobody at the wedding was able to view the entire collection of postcards, so here it is for public display:

How I made the postcards:

1. In Aviary, I created a 1200 x 800 template in which I could substitute background, texts, etc.  I then used Google image to find large-size background images from each location to create the backdrop of each postcard, changed the greeting on each card, and added accessories to reflect each location.

2. I had originally planned to print the cards at Staples or Kinkos, but I found that the printing charges would be astronomical.  Instead, I downloaded each postcards as a jpg and printed them off at a CVS photo kiosk.  The result was a glossy, high-resolution 4 x 6" photograph which only cost about $0.10 apiece.

3. Since I needed to create the actual written side of the postcard, I designed another 1200 x 800 template in Aviary.  Using a font which resembles handwriting, I created a design which included empty lines for addressing the postcards.

Here's where this gets creative!

4. In order to create the backing, I ordered a set of Avery 4 x 6" shipping labels.  Using our home printer, I printed the template (downloaded as a jpg) onto each shipping label.  Next, I applied a shipping label to each photo/postcard.  (Note: most of the shipping labels had to be trimmed down to exactly fit the 4 x 6" photo.)

5. Last, I hand addressed each postcard to our guests so that each postcard was unique and personalized.


In addition to creating our save-the-date and place cards, I also designed our thank you notes.  We are still working on sending them all out, but here is a sample of the card:

Thanks for the presents!

The thank you note is an image of the Mr. Marfinkle and I at home in our apartment with our wedding booty.  (Yes, that is exactly what our couch looks like.)  Unfortunately, our beloved dog Tilly (pictured both here and in our save-the-date) passed away a week before the wedding and well after I printed our thank you notes; however, her adorable legacy lives on in these cards.

Our DIY Wedding

On July 3rd, Mr. Marfinkle and I were married at Chester's at Bell Tower Square in Lawrence, MA.  As part of our wedding preparation, we decided that we would really like a wedding which reflected our personalities and interests.  As such, we decided to personally design and create several of the components of our wedding ceremony and reception.  Here are just a few of our favorite items

Made by Marfinkle:

Our wedding program.  I used Aviary's online creative suite to design the program and had the materials printed at Staples.  Since our wedding theme included trees, I used a stock image I found online to create the front of the program.

We designed our wedding in collaboration with our cake bakers at Danish Pastry House in Medford, MA.  We chose a lemon-raspberry cake with a buttercream frosting and it tasted amazing.  In addition to carving our initials into the cake (in homage to our wedding invitation), our cake designer was able to create a faux birch design around the cake by burning strips of marzipan into a wood grain pattern.  These were finished with wrapped twine, fresh hydrangea (my bouquet flowers), and natural stems.  The whole cake was then topped with a wooden nest and two heart-shaped stones, purchased for approximately $7 at Michael's.

 I baked the challah for our wedding using my favorite challah recipe from allrecipes.com.  In the Jewish tradition, baking this special bread becomes part of a woman's duties once she enters into marriage.  Although I don't care for the gender roles in traditional Judaism, I thought it would be nice to bake this challah to share with Mr. Marfinkle on our big day.

Our centerpieces were complimented by handmade table numbers.  I created these double-sided number tents with the following materials:

- dark gray card stock

- several sheets of scrapbook paper featuring an antique postcard pattern

- gluesticks

- a large wood-grain print rubber stamp block

- black plum-colored acrylic paint and a paintbrush

After layering the scrapbook paper on top of the card stock, I stamped each side with the wood-grain stamp block and then hand painted table numbers in a plum color so that they would really pop.  The result was a rustic-looking homemade set of table numbers which cost about $30.

After falling in love with a $125 sash for my wedding gown, I unsuccessfully tried to find a similar sash online.  Rather than giving and buying the sash, however, I decided to save myself the money and make my own.  

Materials:

- an assortment of translucent, transparent, and pearl-tinted seed and rocaille beads

- fabric glue

- 1.5" wide ivory ribbon

Gluing the beads on in smaller sections, I was able to create my sash for less than $30!  I was lucky that my seamstress was able to attach the sash, however, since it turned out incredibly stiff due to the glue.

For our wedding favors, we chose plantable seeded paper.  When planted, the favors actually sprout into a variety of wildflowers.  We customized our favors at www.ecofriendlyfavors.com.

All photos courtesy of Boro: Creative Visions.