 The last of our Fall lettuce has been consumed by us and our neighbors and our raised beds are now bare except for the garlic which we will harvest next year. The harvest season this year was acceptable even as I lament over our tomatoes that never fully recovered from the hail in the spring and the rains of the summer.
We had successes with our eggplants, butternut squash, onions, garlic, cucumbers, lettuce, and mixed peppers. The herbs, especially our basil, were exceptional this year. We even enjoyed blueberries and raspberries which was a pleasant surprise considering we just planted them. We could not survive on the output of @carondeletgarden, but it was lovely to pick fresh produce from the garden to enhance my meals in the kitchen. As the season turns to a time of rest, I know Big Guy and I will start dreaming of our garden next year. Until then, rest well @carondeletgarden.
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 You can tell we have babies in our life when I bought a Christmas cookie kit from @kingarthurbaking. I think the last time I frosted a Christmas cookie was when I was a kid. I decided to bake the cookies and mix the icing ahead of time so we could easily take everything over to @abrandt1026. It was so much fun, and chaotic, as we put everything on the table and got to work mixing colors into the icing. Little Miss Phoebe was our quality control operator with Bonny Doon taking care of maintenance of most things that hit the floor. I played Christmas music as we all laughed passing around the various tubes of icing to create our cookie masterpieces. Alex and I decided that Big Guy, who really did not want to decorate cookies, was the best decorator of us all. He has hidden talents, and this was an apparent secret superpower that was unleashed in the spirit of the holiday.  As I grow older, I have come to appreciate that holidays can last more than one day. Big Guy really hit that lesson home with me over fifteen years ago when he started celebrating the month of my birthday. It was a fun way to celebrate another trip around the sun, but certainly made the mundane things I needed fun as Big Guy would wrap each item in a box leading up to my big present. Think socks and a kitchen utensil. It was this thought that turned our weekly dinner with @abrandt1026 into an early Thanksgiving meal since we would not see her this year on Thanksgiving. We pulled out our favorite @inagarten recipes and got to work. We made a turkey roulade with mashed potatoes and green beans with a side of cranberry conserve. I love this meal because you do not have to deal with an entire turkey, just the breast. The other bonus is you wrap the breast around the stuffing, so the meat remains moist. It is a lovely meal, and if you are lucky to have leftovers, it becomes the perfect turkey casserole!   I read recently that I am a dying breed of humans who still love to own and cook from an actual cookbook. I admit I do get inspiration from online sources, but my favorite way to spend a day is to look through my cookbooks, pick out a recipe, stop by a specialty shop for ingredients, then come home and spend the rest of day cooking a fabulous meal. I was thinking about a warm and comforting fall dish and immediately knew to pull my Irish Pub Cookbook written by the renowned Margaret M. Johnson. You cannot get more meal satisfaction than tucking into a Shepherd’s Pie. While I substitute ground sirloin for lamb, the beef “stew” of meat and vegetables topped by a layer of whipped potatoes is food for the soul. It is also “Phoebe” certified as my great niece ate it like a champion!   I realize it may seem laughable to the youngsters in the crowd, but I grew up in an age when McDonald’s were not on every corner. It was a special treat to drive two towns over to get our Big Mac’s which were usually cold by the time we got home. Good thing my dad and I always bought extra French fries for the trip!
It is in this context that I can remember the excitement in town when we got our own bagel shop. I remember walking in and seeing the rotating racks that put the magic in those bagels. We thought we died and went to heaven! The best memory of this shop was the day they decided to make pizza bagels. It was simple fare, but gooey cheese and sauce on a bagel was often an after-school treat. I am glad I still smile when I pick up a couple of bagels and recreate this childhood delight!  I came into my marriage feeling confident I could make a hamburger and potatoes dish. It was one of the few meals my parents taught me as I came in handy to slice up the potatoes.
The irony is my parents never allowed me to use a sharp knife, so I became very adept at using a steak knife for slicing and dicing vegetables. You can imagine my need to adapt quickly when Big Guy and I received an actual knife set as a wedding present. Unfortunately, my confidence became shattered when I managed to slice open my finger making this meal early in our marriage. The drama was high as I cried, and bled, requiring a trip to have my finger stitched up at the hospital. I am glad Big Guy did not give up on me in the kitchen and instead made sure I received knife technique lessons. I am still not great at it, but at least I still have ten fingers! Well, one broken finger after the over door slammed on my finger, but that is a story for another day!  As the leaves turn to their golden fall colors, I am finding myself seeking out my favorite comfort foods. My parents loved a variety of dips, so I guess it is why I count pretzels and dip in my top ten list of snack food!
The recipe for the dip is simple and can serve the household whether it is just to watch a movie or a college football game. Four ingredients and you are ready. I mix sixteen ounces of sour cream, a package of @hidden.valley, bacon bits, and cheddar cheese. I usually make it in the morning to enjoy the same evening. It is delicious and very satisfying on a cold fall evening.  Big Guy and I were talking about “lighter” desserts and remembered with pleasure eating sorbet at a friend’s house. She informed us it was the perfect way to get a “little sweet” without the heaviness at the end of a large meal. She was so right, and her advice has stayed with us. I found it easy to pick up sorbet at the grocery store, but with my @cuisinart ice cream maker, I noted the addition of sorbet recipes. Wait, I can make my own sorbet? I had already been pulling raspberries from my ever-producing vines @carondeletgarden, so I knew my first attempt had to be raspberry sorbet. The ingredient list is extremely basic in it consists of raspberries, sugar, water, and a pinch of salt. Once you have heated up these ingredients, I pureed the mix and then poured it through a sieve to capture the seeds. I placed the mixture into the refrigerator to chill over night and then placed it into my ice cream maker. The perfect sorbet ready to enjoy with family at the end of dinner!
 I do understand I live in the Midwest, but I get so much inspiration from @southernlivingmag. I seldom look through an issue without getting ideas from the recipe pages to try in @carondeletkitchen. I recently made apple butter from the fall issue when I noticed a doughnut recipe on the next page using apple butter. As my sweet niece, @abrandt1026, was about to have a birthday, I knew I had to make them as a surprise. The recipe was simple, and the ingredients were all in my pantry. The recipe noted to make the dough the day before to give it time to chill and rest. The only surprise for me was turning out the dough the next day and the copious amount of flour needed to keep the dough from sticking to my counter. I instantly worried the doughnuts would lose their flavor due to the flour. I did not need to worry as the doughnuts were perfect and packed with the apple flavor from the apple butter. The salted caramel glaze was so good I admit it may have found another use on top of ice cream. Happy faces all around!
 Big Guy surprised me with a dinner request. I knew he bought a jar of “Freddie Lee’s Spicy Ghetto Sauce” from @freddieleesgourmetsauce at the Best of Missouri market, but the aroma of cooking apples got him in the mood for pulled pork sandwiches. I admit this meal is outside my wheelhouse, so fortunately Big Guy offered to cook it after finding guidance from a recipe from @nytimescooking. We stopped off @legrandsmarket to buy the pork butt with additional suggestions of rubs and sauces coming from the butcher. The simplicity of the meal is throwing the pork butt in a slow cooker for sixteen hours with the spicy ghetto sauce and a can of Barq’s Root Beer. The pork was tender and delicious smothered with @legrandsmarket BBQ sauce on a toasted bun. Big Guy served it with the perfect side of @oldviennallc honey BBQ chips. Yum! |
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December 2024
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