weekly scenes: adventures in new hope

Last weekend my friends and I went on an adventure. Word on the street was that a cute town called New Hope lay just 45 minutes outside of the city. We were all in the mood for some discovery, and so we decided to make a day of it. We spent Sunday exploring this little village, hopping around and soaking it up like the storm that we are

The town is set on lake, with two main streets packed with shops that include everything from vintage, to artisan goods and new age necessities. There's a lot to check out, and a great hippie vibe running through the culture there. Cool dudes with long hair walked the streets, and shop owners have pets who've made homes in their spaces. We found an adorable little spot for brunch as well. It had a greenhouse dining room and peacock chairs everywhere. It's amazing how fun it was to get outside of the city-scape and explore this little town for a day.

My recommendations for New Hope:

1. For something random stop into Suzie's Hot Shoppe! They have walls of hot sauce and you can try every single one. I picked up an ultra hot Jamaican bottle called Lottie's that I can't get enough of. I suggest trying the Pure Death as well. It was a close second!

2. Check out Night Bird to get your vintage fix. They had the most amazing assortment of vintage jackets I've ever seen. I picked up an old army number that has barely left my body.

3. Right across the street from the vintage shop is the restaurant where we ate called Karla's. I'd say that the ambiance beats out the food, but it's definitely an adorable little spot to stop and eat. The prices are very reasonable as well.

wanted: a new iphone case

Well, another piece has broken off of my iphone case. I think it's time to officially start thinking about getting a new one. There are so many cool cases out there which makes this a fun, but also intimidating endeavor. I'm digging the simplicty of black and white; however, some color is always cheerful and uplifting. How will I ever choose the right one? Which one should I get?!?

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Find each of these cases here

apricot and purple potato samosas with honey yogurt sauce

What's more fun than purple potatoes? Now really. Its like the natural equivalent to green ketchup: one of your favorite childhood foods in a fun color. They're plenty full of carotenoids which will help eliminate free radicals in your body, essentially detoxing the cells and keeping them pure. They're also crazy fun to cook with for the only reason being that they are so much fun to look at. 

So when I went home to cook my mom dinner, I threw these guys in there. I muddied them up with some fantastic Indian spices. Then I threw in some game changing apricots and walnuts, and rolled them in fillo dough.  To flash fry these little table footballs, I opted for healthy sesame oil, a favorite of Ayurvedic practitioners and ancient cultures of the west. To top them off, I paired the samosas with a  sweet yogurt dipping sauce, the easiest thing you'll ever make.Yum. Sweet, nutty, aromatic  and full of soft potato texture, these guys were a huge hit.

Samosa Ingredients (makes a dozen):

3 Purple potatoes, peeled, boiled, and mashed lightly with a fork

3/4 Cup Chopped Turkish Apricots

1/2 Cup Chopped Walnuts

2 Tsp Indian Curry Powder

1/2 Tsp Tumeric

1 Tsp Cinnamon

1 Tsp Salt

1 Pkg Fillo Dough Sheets 

*be sure to remove dough from the freezer and place it on the counter at least an hour before you plan to use

Yogurt Sauce Ingredients:

1/2 Cup Greek Yogurt

1 Tbsp Honey

1/2 Tsp Marsala Seasoning

Directions:

1. Mix together all samosa ingredients except for the fillo dough. Make sure that your potatoes still have a little bit of chunk to them, and then let everything sit until room temperature.

2. Mix together dipping sauce ingredients, and let it chill in the fridge while you finish making the samosas. 

3. Unrolling your fillo dough and using a big knife, cut the end of your sheet into a 3"-4" strip.

4. Take a heaping tablespoon of your mixture, and form it into a little triangle. Place the triangle on the bottom left-hand corner of your fillo dough strip. Continue to roll it up like a table football.

5. Once you've rolled it up, do it once more so that the samosa has two layers of dough.

6. Once you've rolled all of your samosas, pour about a 1/2" of sesame oil into your frying pan, and let it get hot. 

7. Fry samosa's 1-2 minutes on each side, until lightly browned

8. Serve with sauce