There's a new kid in town, and by kid in town, I mean almost 12 week old maniac puppy in my house. I posted on instagram yesterday that he was 10 weeks old, but when we actually sat down with a calendar this morning we realized he was 12 weeks, not even close to 10.

We have been in a weird time vacuum this summer- busy and traveling at first, and now trying to settle back into a new routine and trying to teach this puppy to sleep in his new home and be a good citizen. NYC is a loud smelly place and our sweet pup is learning to love it more and more everyday, even if it is overwhelming - a 20 minute hang on the stoop is stimulating enough to send him straight to a 2 hour nap. Me too pup, me too. This city is tiring.

Some friends of ours, I've mentioned a couple of times, decamped Brooklyn for the Pacific Northwest and moved to a house with a hearty rhubarb plant, alongside an Italian plum, and hazelnut tree. Pete joked that their new yard makes it's own trailmix, a very Northwestern ideal.

Apparently that plum tree is an excellent producer of the most beautiful deep-blue purple plums with orangey centers, and our generous pal sent me a box full that I sadly haven't had much time to play with because of aforementioned pup that requires hourly monitoring...But yesterday I said enough is enough - I need to bake something with these plums! As I sliced them open I smiled at the perfectly contrasting colors and was so happy to be hanging in the kitchen with a peacefully snoozing pup in the other room.

It was a bit slap-dash as all of my pies are these days. I use my new fave easiest pie crust ever, but swapped in 1/2 rye flour for the all purpose, and employed my general prefered fruit pie formula - adjusted it a bit to suit the fruit.

Italian Plum Pie

makes one, 9-inch pie

Plum pie is my very favorite summer-to-fall transitional treat. Italian plums are so perfectly suited to cooking and baking that I can't resist them at the market everytime I go. They pair well with both bright citrusy flavors and deeper toastier ones like whole grain flours and warm spices like cinnamon. In a moment of Four and Twenty Blackbirds inspiration, I shook a bottle of cardamom bitters into the filling which ended up being a totally delicious move, which I highly recommend if you happen to keep a bottle in your bar. If not, a bit of ground cardamom is great too.

2 1/2 times Easiest Pie Crust Ever, split into two discs (sub 1/2 of the all purpose flour for rye)

2 lbs (900g) Italian plums

1/2 cup (100g) light brown sugar

seeds of 1/2 vanilla bean or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup (30g) flour

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

5 shakes/dashes cardamom bitters or 1/2 teaspoon cardamom

pinch salt

Preheat the oven to 400º F and place a rack in the bottom of the oven. In a large bowl combine the sugar and vanilla bean seeds. Use your fingers to rub the and seeds into the sugar until well combined and fragrant. Stir in the flour, cinnamon, and salt.

Pit and cut the plums into quarters. Add them to the bowl but don't stir quite yet.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out one piece of the dough into a roughly 12-inch circle about 1/8-inch thick and place it into a 9-inch pie pan. Place in the fridge while you prepare the rest of the pie. Roll out the other piece of dough into a roughly 12-inch circle, about 1/8-inch thick.

Add the bitters to the filling, then gently stir the filling ingredients together. Fill the pie shell, press gently to compact the fruit, and top with the second crust.

Trim the edges so they are even, then crimp them together. Alternately, cut the second crust into 1 1/2 to 2-inch strips and weave a lattice top.

Slide the whole pie into the fridge or freezer for about 15 minutes or until the crust is very firm. When you are ready to bake, carefully and gently brush the top of the pie with a beaten egg and sprinkle with a healthy dose of coarse sugar.

Put the pie on a baking sheet to catch any drips and bake for 45-55 minutes or until the crust is deep golden brown and the juices bubble. Cool before slicing.

Copenhagen has been on my travel list for a long time so I was unbelievably thrilled when the Copenhagen Cooking & Food Festival and Visit Copenhagen invited me, Michelle, and Adrianna to eat our way through their beautiful Scandinavian city. It was a quick trip, just four days, but we packed in so much tasty food, perfectly poured coffees, and Scandi design shopping adventures.

Let's recap! The first night was kind of a blur as we all tried to adjust our jetlagged bodies to our new temporary timezone, but we powered through and had such a lovely dinner at Spontan/Brus - a beautiful restaurant and brewery combo - with wine and beer pairings to go along with. The most memorable dishes of the night were the first - a perfectly, incredibly sweet scallop brushed with yuzu and served with tomato consomme and the most beautiful pile of cress sprouts and borage which was paired with the crispiest-tastiest Reisling I have had in recent memory - and the last - the creamiest little scoop of geranium ice cream with caramelized white chocolate and seriously luscious crushed raspberries over the top. They also served bread made with malt from their beer brewing process - and a mound of perfectly soft butter. I love when restaurants serve their butter at the correct temperature, a small detail that not everyone gets right.

Can we take a moment to appreciate these insanely beautiful raspberries we spotted at the farmer's market outside of Torvehallerne, an indoor food market a lot like NYC's Chelsea Market. I went crazy photographing all of the beautiful fruit - surprise, surprise....check out my instagram for more of that biz.

Above: Smørrebrød tasting in the Meatpacking District of Copenhagen. Yes to rye bread topped with delicious pickled things, and lots of schnapps too! We got to vote for our favorite!

Coffee and croissants - and the interior - at Mirabelle were A+, but the coffees we had from Copenhagen Coffee Lab were low-key my fave. Coffee beans are one of my favorite souvenirs when I travel, and I'm so glad I brought some beans home with me. They are dope. Thanks to Ashlae for the rec!!

My favorite meal may have been the most relaxed. We gathered with a group of lovely folks in the back garden of Skagerak to eat a meal cooked by chef Mikkel Karstad. It was a family affair - his wife and two eldest kids helped cook and serve and the littlest ones occupied themselves by cooking bread on a stick over the fire pit. Mikkel served the most delicious vegetable-heavy meal, but my favorite dish was the roasted cauliflower with a creamy almost buttermilk-style dressing, cress oil, radishes, little cress sprouts, and toasted buckwheat groats.

We also got a mini Danish lesson from one of our hosts and learned how to properly pronounce "hygge" along with many other key phrases, which was very counterintuitive to our American ears and mouths...I usually consider myself to be pretty good with languages and accents, but I was really struggling with Danish! Thankfully, everyone very graciously spoke perfect English with us :)

We rode on a solar-powered Go Boat to grab lunch one day, something I highly recommend if you ever find yourself in Copenhagen. Anyone can rent/drive one, and it was such a fun way to see the city!

My favorite afternoon was our last, which we spent in Norrebro. We cruised around on Go Bikes (Copenhagen's bike share program) and ate the most delicious lunch of tartar (with nasturtium leaves!) and perfect little vegetable dishes at Manfreds accompanied by some seriously funky and delicious natural wines. It was the kind of place that I would totally make my local if I lived close by.

Then we made our way down the street to sample caramel fresh off of the cooling table, and just pressed bits of warm black licorice at Karamelleriet. Man, I love that salty black licorice - it is a seriously under appreciated flavor. The afternoon was topped off by a coffee from Copenhagen Coffee Collective and a few bites of pastries and surprisingly delicious apple juice with buckthorn from Meyers Bageri, which happens to have an outpost right down the street from me in Brooklyn!

Check out Adrianna and Michelle's posts to see more of our adventures!

Thank you so much to Copenhagen Cooking and Visit Copenhagen for hosting us and covering our airfare, hotel, and meals while we were visiting! I can't wait to come back.