ft. The Good Place & Cinnamon Apple Quick Bread

October 9, 2020 by Sydney Grant

Happy Friday, everyone! Croctober is in full swing, so you better start carving those pumpkins and brainstorming what you’re going to dress up as to sit on the couch Halloween night. I’m personally trying to decide between the fly on Mike Pence’s head and “Postal Babe.” Speaking of voting, Jane Fonda wants to remind you to do so. Find out where you can vote early, here.

However you’re planning on spending your weekend, enjoy these quarantivities! And as always, please add your own activities to the list!

Quarant-streams

‘The Good Place’

Watch this if you miss when everyone was obsessed with fro-yo:

What happens when we die? In the case of The Good Place, Eleanor Shellstrop (Kristen Bell) finds out that the afterlife is filled with frozen yogurt and, to her dismay, clown portraits. Well, at least the Good Place is. There is also a Bad Place, which is apparently home to basically every artist, the entirety of the Portland Trailblazers, and a very handsome devil (literally) named Trevor (Adam Scott).

The only problem? After a life spent reading far too many celebrity tabloids and being an all-around terrible person, Eleanor actually isn’t supposed to be in the Good Place at all. Desperate to keep her secret from Michael, the architect of her heavenly neighborhood, and to avoid being sent to the Bad Place, Eleanor enlists the help of her soul mate Chidi and do-gooder-neighbors-turned-friends to try and turn her into a better person. Can people really change? Give this show a go this weekend to find out. Hey, @Michael, how many books do you have to read to make up for six months-worth of trash reality TV? Is there a COVID-clause?? Asking for a friend…

Stream it via Netflix.

‘The Haunting of Bly Manor’

Watch this if you don’t like sleeping:

Just a few weeks ago, I suggested you watch the terrifyingly chilling horror series The Haunting of Hill House, to prepare for the follow-up set to drop in October. Well, hopefully, you ordered that night light because The Haunting of Bly House has officially hit Netflix today. The second installment in the series has many of the same elements as its predecessor, (Creepy old house? Check. Grief-stricken characters? Check. Based loosely off a book you vaguely remember being forced to read in high school? Also check.) but make no mistake — Bly House is an entirely different type of ghost story.

Whereas Hill House’s goal seemed to be simply scaring the living s*%t out of you, Bly is more concerned with plot payoff than jump scares. But don’t worry, there’s still more than enough spook factor to satiate your inner adrenaline junkie (it focuses on an American au pair named Dani hired to care for two recently orphaned children, whose, might I add, last caretaker literally DIED.) Oh, and I almost forgot, the uncle of the children who hired Dani also refuses to visit the house and there’s a faceless ghost who wanders the halls nightly. Umm, Dani, heard of red flags much? Do you also date men who post photos of themselves holding up fish on their dating profiles??

Stream it via Netflix.

Quarant-reads

‘The Midnight Library’ by Matt Haig

Read this if you believe you could have been a rock star if you’d just stuck with those guitar lessons your parents forced you to take in middle school:

Who isn’t guilty of fantasizing about the occasional “what-ifs” every once in a while? In The Midnight Library, Nora Seed lives a life of “what ifs.” Until, one night after her cat dies, she decides to end it. She overdoses on antidepressants, and then she wakes up. Not in a hospital, but in the Midnight Library.

As in all libraries, there is a librarian, who informs Nora that every book contains a different version of her life. For every decision she’d ever made, the other millions of alternate ones are contained within the shelves of this odd purgatory, and just by picking up a book and reading it, she can live out that alternate reality for as long as she chooses. But when you get the chance to redo your life, do you take it? Hmm, is there a reality where 2020 doesn’t exist in there? Because if so, count me in!

Purchase now via Amazon.

Quarant-eats

Honeycrisp Apple & Kale Salad via Half Baked Harvest

Make this to do something with the surplus of apples you now have from going apple picking (everyone on your Instagram was doing it!!):

Cinnamon Apple Quick Bread w/ Apple Cider Glaze via NYT Cooking

And this because you still have some leftover…:

Photo: Romulo Yanes for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Vivian Lui

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE CAKE:

Unsalted butter, for greasing the pan
2 cups/255 grams all-purpose flour, plus more for the pan
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Pinch of ground cloves
½ cup/120 milliliters vegetable oil
½ cup/120 milliliters unsweetened applesauce
½ cup/100 grams granulated sugar
½ cup/110 grams packed dark brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 large Granny Smith apple, unpeeled and shredded (about 1 cup)

FOR THE GLAZE:

1 cup/240 milliliters apple cider
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
½ cup/60 grams confectioners’ sugar
Pinch of kosher salt

PREPARATION

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour an 8 1/2-inch-by-4 1/2-inch loaf pan. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg and cloves. In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, applesauce, sugars, eggs and apple.
Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined. Transfer to the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 50 to 60 minutes.
Transfer to a rack to cool slightly, then remove the cake from the pan and let it cool completely.
When the cake has cooled, prepare the glaze: Bring the apple cider to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Continue to cook the cider until it has reduced to 1/3 cup, about 10 minutes. Add the butter, confectioners’ sugar and salt. Reduce the heat to maintain a simmer and continue to cook the mixture, whisking often, until it has become syrupy and thickened slightly, about 4 minutes. Set aside to cool until it thickens slightly.
Drizzle the glaze over the cake, and serve.

Honey Crisp Apple Spritz via Betches/Tik Tok

And this because, seriously, why did you go apple picking when you could just get apples from the store???:

Since this recipe is from TikTok, we don’t have the exact measurements for each ingredient. Just use the “it’s 2020” excuse, pour with a heavy hand, and you’ll be set.

Ingredients

Apple cider
Your fave vodka
Your fave Prosecco
Cinnamon and brown sugar
Caramel
Cinnamon stick (for garnish)
Honey crisp apple (for garnish)

How TF To Make It

Dip the rim of your glass in melted caramel, then cinnamon and brown sugar.
Fill your glass about half way with ice.
Add vodka. (Like we said, this recipe is a free-for-all with measurements, so eyeball it until you’re satisfied, or until your glass is about 1/4 full).
Add apple cider until it’s about 3/4 full.
Stir with a cinnamon stick.
Add a couple splashes of Prosecco.
Garnish with a cinnamon stick and a slice of honey crisp apple.
Enjoy!