Tattooed Martha

Slow Cooker Spiced Pear Cider

The last few days I’ve had a craving for a hot mug of cider and some much needed time at home and I was lucky enough to make both happen. I had several recipes I wanted to create so to make it easy on myself I made my cider in a crock pot while I worked on everything else. I threw some fresh pears, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon sticks, and a bit of brown sugar together, covered it with water, and let the slow cooker do the rest of the work, leaving me time to go out for a nice family dinner. When we returned home the entire house was filled with this sugar and spice aroma that reminded me of Christmas and my cider was just about done.

After the straining process and getting most of the pulp out I was left with a pitcher full of crisp, perfectly spiced, and not too sweet pear cider. The pulp actually ended up being an applesauce-like consistency and tasted just as delicious so I was able to make use of that too. It’s the perfect homemade drink to sip during these bitterly cold and windy winter days. And it’s even better when spiked with a shot of rum! 😉

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Creamy Butternut Squash and Kale Tortellini Soup

My days off seem to pass by within the blink of an eye so I’ve been taking them a bit slower to savor every minute of them. Cooking is the best way that I know how to do that as it involves all of my senses. It forces you to focus, be present, and be patient. And of course I purposely made sure the recipe called for some wine so that I could enjoy the rest of the bottle mid-afternoon while getting lost in the task of chopping vegetables. What else are days off for?

What I enjoyed most is how every ingredient added another layer of flavor that made it all come together in one hearty and enticing bowl of soup. Browned butter and sauteed butternut squash provided nutty flavors followed by savory garlic and onion, and fragrant thyme and rosemary. Fresh Tuscan kale and tender cheese filled tortellini marry it all together for a creamy, fresh, and robust soup to warm up with on a cold November afternoon.

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Dark Fruit Sangria

If you’re looking for a Halloween sangria as black as your soul then you’ve come to the right place. This potent mixture calls for only the darkest fruits and spirits. Fresh blackberries, plums, grapes, dark rum, and Apothic Dark wine. This full bodied sangria is the perfect libation to enjoy while conjuring the dark forces… or just having a Halloween movie marathon at home if that’s more up your alley.

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Poison Apple Cider Martinis at Dream A Little Bigger

If you’re looking for a simple and sophisticated cocktail to serve up to guests this Halloween then you need to head over to Dream A Little Bigger! I just shared a delicious, sweet, and potent concoction of Poison Apple Cider Martinis! Get the recipe now!




Daily Life + My Southwest Road Trip

The last two weeks have brought a lot of change (good change), travel, and celebrations. I accepted a promotion at a new store, turned 29, and went on a week long 3,300 mile road trip through the southwest!

I kept my birthday low key and spent it at home with my family and boyfriend. Later we went kayaking at sunset (I’d never gone before) and enjoyed a few beers on the water. I’ll save the big celebrating for next year when I’m turning the Dirty Thirty. And why is it dirty? Can anyone explain that one?

Then last Tuesday we hit the road for our big road trip. We drove south through Missouri and Oklahoma so we could drive parts of the old Route 66 and camped overnight in Oklahoma. We were plagued by heavy rains the first few days, but managed to finally out-drive it to the southern part of New Mexico.

We camped all but one night (a Travelodge feels like The Ritz-Carlton when you’ve been camping all week). We ran around the white sand dunes in New Mexico, hiked Red Rocks State Park in Sedona, AZ, and finally got to enjoy the great wonder that is the Grand Canyon. I even fulfilled my goal of yelling, “PENIS!” as loud as I could which is what I wrote that I wanted to do at 17 years old on my original bucket list. I clearly had some great goals back in the day.. haha

It was perfect timing to take this trip before starting my new position and heading into the busy holiday retail season. We got to explore a lot in a short amount of time and managed to not get sick of one another or think homicidal thoughts after being in a truck or tent 24/7 for 6 days straight. I’ve been wanting to make this trip happen for many years and felt very fortunate that our finances, schedules, and planning all came together for a once in a lifetime trip. Although I don’t know if it will be a one time kind of thing because we’re already talking about plans to go back and see some of the places we missed the first round!

Reflecting on everything that has happened this year up until now.. I can’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude. I have a wonderful and supportive group of people around me, every day I’m a few steps closer to my goals, and my entire perspective has shifted. All of which have resulted in dealing with stress better (okay.. I still swear like a sailor and have a few glasses of wine before calming down), and I’m able to curb that negative downward spiral thinking much quicker. I’m able to appreciate the good moments while I’m in them rather than focusing on where else I could be or what else I could be doing.

Life is just really good right now. Cheers to being another year older and wiser!




Summer Garden: Before and After

Summer is officially over, but I’m still collecting tomatoes, peppers, and squash every few days from the garden. And if you couldn’t tell by all the recent recipes.. I’ve been putting it all to good use! I thought it would be fun to share some before, during, and after photos of this year’s summer garden, what I learned, and plans for next year.

My dad had gotten on the roof to clean out the gutters and had snapped this first photo while the garden was in it’s beginning stages.

A few months later he got back up there and snapped this second one to show how much change had occurred in the garden.

The squash quickly vined across the fence we put up, the tomatoes are growing wildly outside the tops of their cages, I added a second trellis for the cucumbers, and the green beans engulfed the archway. We’ve already consumed, canned, or frozen most of what we harvested which will be nice to enjoy in meals during the winter.

A few battles with pests that I encountered were the Japanese beetles and Cabbage Worms. The Japanese Beetles were all over the green beans and basil, but seemed to leave everything else alone. We used traps to attract and kill them as well as neem oil to deter them from eating the plants. The cabbage worms attacked my kale… and still are! Good old soapy water seemed to do the trick with them, but left the leaves of my kale dried out and the plants stunted in growth. I planted a ridiculous amount of marigolds bordering the tomatoes and peppers which helped repel aphids and it seemed to do the trick.

Hooking two water barrels up to the pump in the basement helped us water (for free!) during this extremely dry summer. When we weren’t able to get enough water out of the basement we utilized an old well on the property that had plenty of cool clean water for us to refill the barrels.

All in all it was exactly what I wanted.. a beautiful and functional space for me to learn new skills and sustainability, break my curse of having a black thumb, unwind after a long day, and have a safe place for the cats to explore. Next year’s garden I want to focus on more companion planting (keeping specific plants and flowers together) which seemed most effective in keeping pests away and adds more variety to the layout of the entire space.

What did you enjoy about your summer garden most? What are your plans for future gardens? Leave your thoughts and comments below!

Harvest Pumpkin Beer Cocktail at Dream A Little Bigger

Sometimes a pumpkin spice latte is just not enough to get through the day. For something a little stronger to unwind with after work, try this Harvest Pumpkin Beer Cocktail. As simple as it is strong and full of that pumpkin spice flavor we all hate to admit that we love! Head to Dream A Little Bigger for the recipe!




Autumn Butternut Squash Serrano Chili

After one last gasp from summer in the form of a 3 day heat wave in the 90’s.. we’re finally into fall with gloom, rain, and falling leaves. I don’t know about anyone else, but it makes me want to snuggle up with Punk (my 17lb cat), marathon the last season of Game of Thrones (again), and make a big pot of spicy chili. With my garden still producing a ridiculous amount of peppers each day, I’ve got the spicy part covered! I also have an abundance of butternut squash which I’ve been waiting for patiently all summer to use in this autumn-inspired chili recipe.

A hearty mix of fresh peppers, onions, tomatoes, and butternut squash are simmered with spices, a pinch of cinnamon, and some pumpkin beer to really bring out the fall flavors. A perfect blend of sweet, spicy, and savory that makes enough to feed an army of White Walkers.. if they ate chili and not humans that is.

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Spicy Cucumber Mint Greek Yogurt Dip at DALB

I’m still making tons of pickles out of all the cucumbers I harvest from my plant each week, but I whipped up a new recipe to use them in a different way. Head over to Dream A Little Bigger to get my recipe for this zesty and spicy Cucumber Mint Greek Yogurt Dip made with fresh cucumbers, mint, and serrano peppers!




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