"Let's do fall things!" is often heard in my house as the days get chillier. Gone are the days of lounging away at the beach and returning to grill an al fresco dinner. Rather the fireplace is getting more use and the oven is back to work producing comforting dishes to stave off the coming colder weather. 
 
As a born and bred New Englander leaf peeping and apple picking are in my blood. I love biting into a fresh juicy apple while strolling the orchards looking for the best picks. Then I get home and reality sets in. What does one do with 10 pounds of apples? 
 
I have plans for ciders and tarts and pies, but the first thing I always make is Ina Garten's Apple Tatin Cake. It's my husband's (hey first time writing that since I got married!) favorite and it's so easy yet so elegant. It has a completely distinct flavor, lemony and delicate with hints of apple, which is a nice reprieve from heavier pie flavors. I know you'll love it too! So if you've got some apples to use up, read on!  ​

This past Saturday marked the official start of fall, and while Starbucks has had their infamous PSL in stores since August, it's only just gotten to feel like fall in New England. Now I know their are a range of opinions about pumpkin spiced lattes, I know the "pumpkin spice" market has been over saturated and that it is causing a backlash against it. I also know very few PSL's have actual pumpkin. You know what? I'm okay with it, I still love them. SO if like me you don't mind being a little basic and enjoy a cuppa fall, here are three ways to enjoy a pumpkin spice latte this season!

I'm an Inaphile. I think you know that if you've been around here long enough. I absolutely love her cookbooks and her calm approach to home entertaining. I appreciate that she is honest about the fact that she had no formal training and learned to cook from Julia Child's cookbook. I in turn learned to cook from Ina. I also enjoy that she regularly shares cookbooks that she enjoys. A few years ago she made a list of her go-to cookbooks. You can bet I wrote that down and have been tracking them down ever since.
 
While I could just order them on Amazon, I actually love finding cookbooks in used book stores. I enjoy reading notes that people have made in them and seeing the dog-eared pages of favorite recipes.
 
I was at a used book store one day when I came across Sarah Leah Chase's Cold Weather Cooking. I recognized it as an Ina rec and purchased it. Outside of the Barefoot Canon it is now my favorite cookbook. Here's my review...

I'll be the first to admit that I don't care about wedding invitations, or honestly invitations in general. I know that they are technically the introduction to a party or event and set the tone, but they just aren't something I've put a lot of thought into. I apologize but if you've sent me an invitation in the last five years, I can't tell you what it looked like. 

So I surprised even myself  when I came across laser cut invitations and decided I wanted to have them for my wedding. Something about them just fit in well with our '20's theme and they were fun and different. 

However when I started researching I realized the cheapest price for one laser cut invitation that I could find was $4. That didn't even include all of the inserts. That's about 3x my budget. So in true Grace and Maura style, I decided that I could do it for less. Of course I had no idea how, but I knew there was a way. So here it is, my version, for under $1.50! 

I think the best part of being an adult is that you can eat ice cream whenever you want. Actually I take that back, wine is the best part of being an adult. However ice cream any time of day is a close second.
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For this week's Sunday coffee I'm sharing a favorite after dinner drink. Wait, I know what you're thinking...it's Sunday coffee... what's up with the after dinner drink? Well, this drink is a classic cocktail that uses coffee, however I think you could indulge any time of day. A classic affogato is incredibly simple to make yet elegant and indulgent. I've also got a few twists to make it ah-maz-ing. Coffee AND ice cream? Could it get any better?
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I daylight as a history teacher and so far there hasn't been much overlap between that and my blog. Today's Sunday Coffee Series however presented an opportunity to have a bit of a history nerd moment. You'll see what I mean in a bit.
 
New Orleans is on my bucket list and of course as a coffee lover, Cafe du Monde is going to be a must-do stop. This past February we were visiting friends in NYC who had recently returned from a trip there. We were treated to Chicory Coffee that they had brought back, and it was fantastic! It had never occurred to me that you could actually buy it outside of New Orelans....but you can! Let's take this Sunday Coffee to New Orleans, shall we?

I may or may not have told you this, but I'm getting married! I mentioned it on this blog's social media, but I'm not sure if I've actually written it on here. It is not an exaggeration to say we've been dating for quite some time. Actually remember the scene in the first SATC movie when Charlotte screams and makes the big "They've been dating for 10 years!" speech?  It hasn't quite been 10 years, but it's pretty close, and that was the reaction of a lot of people we knew. 
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Anyway, why am I telling you this? Well as the wedding is getting closer I find myself in need of some clothing for all of those "events" associated with the wedding. Since I am getting married when I'm solidly in my 30's, I really wanted to find sophisticated clothing that was still fun. I'll be doing a few of these posts but today I'm rounding up four potential outfits, two from Vici, and two from Amazon (spoiler, my favorite is less than $35).

This is actually a "reblog" if you will. I get a lot of questions about our RV Remodel. I decided to use Tuesdays to do a new series, "Tiny Tuesdays" where I will go over different parts of the RV and talk about how we remodeled them and give sources. I thought I would start off with a space that I blogged about over a year ago. I have a lot of new readers here, so rather than have you dig through the "archives" I've undearthed the post for you!  So here it is:

If you have spent any time looking into RV bedroom remodels, you know that there's not much you can with them. They kind of are what they are. There's not a lot of space to change up the layout, so you have to use decor and design to make a tiny room feel spacious and functional. When we bought Tippy: The Tiny Beach House, everything was brown. Yucky, ugly brown. I set out to change that. ​

For this week's Monday Meals, I thought I would tackle something a little bit different. If you follow me on Instagram (@graceandmaura) you saw that I picked up a new Amazon Meal Kit on a whim while grocery shopping. I didn't know what to expect. I had never tried a "meal kit" before. As promised, here is my review, more information about the meal kits and ultimately if I would order again.

There is nothing more luxurious to me than a cup of coffee on a Sunday morning. Usually I use my Nespresso or my French Press. Saturdays though are usually spent cleaning, and they call for a more utilitarian cup of coffee. I need that thing to get me going and I need several refills. On those mornings I make a traditional pot of coffee with my drip coffee maker. I also do this if I'm having a large group of people over. Obviously you can buy a more expensive and high quality bean, but what if it's last minute and you're brewing a pot. How can you jazz it up a little and get some of that slow Sunday coffee indulgence? I have a few quick tricks to take your Folgers or Maxwell House up a level. If you have some tricks to add, please let me know in the comments. I'm always looking to try new things! ​