holiday party

Well, it's been a while. To anyone who still checks the blog or to new visitors, I have some good news. I will be updating more frequently. However, the blog will be taking a different direction. Since I am at school and baking/styling is really pretty difficult, I will be doing more of an east coast/west coast food and travel blog that shows some delicious places to hit up if you're on either side of the country. Whether you're just looking for the best cup of coffee or some pictures of tasty looking cupcakes, then this is the blog for you. There might be the occasional natalie-baked item up here with a recipe, so keep on the lookout for that also.

Here are some pictures from my holiday party when i was back home in seattle. it was a really great time with family and friends. i made vanilla-cinnamon apple and cranberry-apple galettes with whipped cream. i also went a little crazy with the decorating, much of which was inspired by the creative geniuses over at Kinfolk Magazine. Seriously, check them out. Hope everyone had a great holiday season and is getting to all their new years resolutions―psych! Resolutions are dumb: always push yourselves to be your best, y'all.

Apple Cranberry Galettes
-makes about 4 8-inch Galettes -
Dough ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) chilled unsalted butter + 2 tablespoons
2 tablespoons (or more) ice water
1 egg
1/2 tablespoon heavy cream
sanding sugar

Filling Ingredients
4 large granny smith apples
2/3 cup fresh cranberries
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ginger
note: for vanilla-cinnamon, use 1 teaspoon cinnamon and 1 scraped vanilla bean.

Procedure
Mix flour, sugar, and salt in food processor.
Add 12 tablespoons of butter; pulse until coarse meal forms. Add 2 tablespoons ice water; pulse until moist clumps form, adding more water by teaspoonfuls if dry. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk and wrap in plastic. Chill 2 hours.
While you're chilling the dough, you might want to prepare the filling (procedure below).
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Roll out dough on a floured work surface 1/2" thick. Cut into 8" diameter circles and place on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.
Place about 1/3 of a cup of the filling in the center of the circle and fold up edges of the dough in one direction. Place a 1/2 tablespoon of butter on the filling.
Beat the egg in a small bowl and add cream. Using a pastry brush, paint the sides of the galette with an eggwash and sprinkle with sanding sugar. Place on the parchment-lined sheet pan and bake for 15 minutes depending on your oven.

Filling Procedure:
Peel and cut apples into very thin slices, about 1/4" thick, then set aside.
In a large saucepan, turn on medium heat and melt butter. While the butter is melting, combine lemon juice, sugar, and spices in a small bowl. Pour into the saucepan.
Cook the cranberries in the pan first, without the apples. Wait until they start to make "popping" sounds, then remove from the pan, leaving the juice in the pan.
Cook apples just until they are easily sliced with a little pressure from a wooden spoon. Remove from heat and toss the cranberries in. Stir the fruits in with the sauce until everything is nice and covered.