» fall

The first frost

I just about cried when I realized that the frost got my garden the other night. I suppose one might say that I’ve grown a little too attached to my garden. And now that I think about it, it’s not so much the garden I was missing, it was my dahlias. Fall is the best time for the dahlias—the colors get more brilliant and the blooms are plentiful. In the cool fall air, the blooms out in the garden seem to last forever, usually right up until the end of October around here.  I hoped for one more sunny afternoon in the garden with a magazine and a drink under those happy plants. It’s always just “one more,” right? But there they were, gone just a few days into October. The only flowering plant that remains untouched is nestled up beside the house, still wildly vibrant in the crisp air.

It’s not just the garden—a little planted patch of land in the backyard. It’s the stillness of digging in the cool earth on a sunny morning, pulling weeds, gathering greens and other goodness that I’ve been nurturing. I think it transports me. It’s a quiet place to think amidst the swirl of my daily activities. I miss that when I’m not in the garden.

In the middle of all of this sadness about the end of another gardening season, I’ve been thinking about all that I love about the autumnal season. After all, I do have an extensive scarf collection that’s just waiting for the cool weather. I love turning on the oven for most evening meals, roasting, braising and baking warmth and deliciousness into the cold night. Sunny afternoon walks crunching through the falling leaves. Long evenings when it is a tough choice between a hot bath or a good book and a pot of tea. Not to mention how cozy my slippers feel right now.

Not everything in my garden has been frosted yet. Oddly enough, there is still plenty of basil that made it through the chilly nights. In my experience, that is usually the first thing to go, so at the first threat of frost, I was out in the garden collecting armloads of basil to make pesto. Silly me, I should have been picking flowers. Happily the mint and the strawberries are growing steadily in the cool weather. Turns out all is not lost, I can still enjoy some delicious Moroccan mint tea and handfuls of tiny strawberries.

So when the warm weather hit this past weekend, I decided not to delay any longer on that pitcher of sangria I’d been planning on all summer. The ingredients have been seasonally adjusted to include apples and cider as crisp and refreshing as an autumn afternoon. I’m hoping there are more glorious days of fall for you to enjoy this recipe!

Hard Cider Sangria

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1 small apple, quartered and thinly sliced

1 navel orange, quartered and thinly sliced

1 1/2 cups chilled apple juice

2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice

1/4 cup brandy

1 22-oz. bottle of hard apple cider

In a pitcher, combine the sliced apples and oranges. Add the chilled apple juice, lemon juice and brandy. Allow the flavors to meld in the fridge, if time allows.

Just before serving, add the cider to the pitcher and stir to combine. Spoon some of the prepared fruit into tall glasses and fill with ice. Top with the apple cider mixture.

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Fable


What happens when you mix a farm with a table? You get a fable! hahahahah. Anywho, farm to table is a term that you hear thrown around alot these days. So when I went to the farm I decided that I would have to bring home a bunch of stuff that you are sure to see on my table in the not so distant future. The farm is an excellent place to spend a warm fall afternoon, not only are there often big hairy cows, goats and donkeys, but you can sometimes find really cool things like a real live artichoke patch!

I have been an artichoke addict for my whole life, seriously, since I was a small child I have always loved them. Ginger and I grew up in a small town where artichokes were few and far between. When they did show up in the grocery they were a very special treat. Thinking back to my childhood, the thing that strikes me as funny is that some how we never grew artichokes in our garden. We had a huge garden filled with just about anything you could think of, but for some reason, no artichokes. Crazy I know, being that all four of us love them. Anyway, you can imagine my delight when as we drove onto Westham island I spied a sign that read: Organic Artichokes, next right.

We turned right and took the farm by storm! We explored the pumpkin patch, visited the animals…

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Until we found them, the beautiful rows of flowering artichokes…

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Sun savouring

Summer has been good to me this year. But with fall finally upon us, I find myself looking for ways to squeeze ever last bit Normally, intimate inability continued for cialis generic overnight 40 weeks after-treatment was concluded. Here cialis without rx are some important components of guidance to help you out in the bedroom, because they contain chemicals, fibres and vitamins that prevent cancer of the prostate, like lycopene and phytoestrogens. They can free prescription viagra get the right path only by choosing the right kind of course from a reputed university. You can place the order for this herbal oil from the comfort female viagra canada of home or office using a credit or debit card. of summer out of the slowly cooling sun. With this little video I wanted to capture those relaxing and magical afternoons at the ocean.

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Baked eggs

At about this time of year, I can finally turn the oven on without inducing my own personal heat wave in the kitchen. In fact, a little burst of heat in the kitchen first thing in the morning is actually cozy. And it’s about this time when I start to think about what I might bake for breakfast.

Sure, when fall truly rolls around, the oven is my best friend. After a summer hiatus, most weeknight meals include a broiled or roasted vegetable of some kind. Weekends find the oven warming up the kitchen for hours at a time. This is the season where the kitchen really feels like the center of my home. It is the warm room that sends delicious wafts throughout the house, drawing everyone in. See, despite my surprise at turning the corner into September, I really do love this time of year. So while the weather is still nice, I’ll be taking my breakfast out on the patio. And this is one of the best dishes I can recommend for a perfect autumn breakfast.

The best thing about the dish is that I never make it the same way twice. There are some dishes that I rely on to clean up the fridge. This is one of those dishes. Maybe there is a little bit of cheese that needs to be enjoyed, or a teaspoon of sun-dried tomato paste left in the jar. No matter, when you are working with a ramekin, you don’t need much to do the trick. So, the variations are endless, just go with what sounds best in the moment. And don’t just think breakfast, I’m thinking a savory egg could be a welcome addition at any meal where something warm and comforting is needed.

Based on previous experience, my ramekins hold two large eggs, plus a few additions. One ramekin per person usually fits the bill, providing that there are a few extras to go along with the meal. And while I can’t quite call this a recipe, here are some ideas to get you started…

Baked Eggs

Preheat oven to 400°. Prepare ramekins by giving them a generous coating of butter. Fill with your choice of toppings. Put the ramekins on a baking sheet and place in the center of the oven. Let bake for about 12 to 14 minutes, depending on your preference for the eggs. Remove from the oven and serve immediately.

Flavor ideas (don’t overdo it, sometimes simple is better!)

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Sun-dried tomato paste

Salsa

Olives, kalamata or otherwise

Cheese

Herbs

Sprinkle of salt and pepper

Enjoy!

 

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Transitions

It seems like just yesterday that I was whining about the weather and the super slow start to summer and here I am again whining about how quickly it has come and gone. Well just about gone. And it was only a couple of days ago I woke up and realized that September was sneaking up on me and I was entirely not ready for it.

I will admit to being a girl who prefers a climate with seasons. I like them all even the cold, rain and snowy ones, for me the change of season encourages transition and transition is a good thing. Whether we know it at the time or not. Changing seasons can also be a great motivator encouraging things to get done. And we have most certainly been busy around here if that is any signifier.

With the notion of change and preparing for the fall in mind I decided to start things off with some personal change, I scheduled a hair appointment for myself and for the first time in virtually my whole life I had bangs cut and followed that up by starting a detox. For those of you who know me, a detox, or jumping on the latest health craze is pretty much par for the course. In my mind two weeks of restricted food choices is a small price to pay for feeling better in the long run. Where the challenge came in was cooking food that met the restrictions of the detox and the needs of others who prefered to remain toxic. (kidding!) I found a number of yummy recipe like Korean Beef Wraps, Lemony Chickpea Stir-fry Recipe and tacos inspired by these guys and with a few modifications these were some of the recipes that kept us both pretty happy.

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But perhaps the most exciting part of my week was the day I got mail! Ahhh mail, it is such a joy to come home from work and find a little something unexpected in your post box. The anticipation of getting upstairs and ripping the envelope open or possibly delaying the gratification by leaving the envelope unopened on the table for a few hours is just so fun. Mail might be the greatest invention ever!

With all my fall prep work under way all I have left to do is to wrap my head around the idea of having to start wearing jackets.

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All you’ll need is a pumpkin

I am a little late coming to an appreciation for pumpkins. For most of my life, the only role pumpkin played in my culinary landscape was as filling for the occasional pie. For one thing, I don’t typically like pie. And pumpkin pie did nothing to change my mind. Which means pumpkin was pretty much a non-event in my kitchen.

Things began to change when I discovered a pumpkin muffin recipe in Gourmet. It was about Thanksgiving and I was looking for recipes to feed the family. The muffins turned out to be a hit and for several years, they have been a part of our Saturday morning routine once autumn rolls around.

This year things started innocently enough out in the garden. I had a wild idea to plant a little pumpkin for my son. In order to conserve space and accomodate for his size, I picked a miniature variety. We spent the summer noting its progress in the back corner of the garden. And when fall arrived, we happily harvested 10 small pumpkins. There is something about a garden that gives me extra motivation to make sure nothing is wasted, so this year, I’ve been looking for new ways to use up our little pumpkin collection. So far we’ve had a couple of successful curries, but it was the most recent stuffed pumpkin that really stole the show.

Some time ago, I tasted the remaining bits of a very delicious roasted pumpkin, stuffed full of goodness, at a work party. The recipe had come from Ruth Reichl and left me thinking about opportunities where I might make it myself. But opportunities to actually serve a 10-pound pumpkin seem to be few and far between in my kitchen. But enter the mini pumpkins from the garden and Dorie’s gentle reminder with another stuffed pumpkin recipe in her splendid cookbook and suddenly, stuffed pumpkin looked like it could be a reality.

While a recipe might seem like a good idea, in my experience, it is all about the size of the pumpkin. Roughly, a pound of pumpkin is going to be enough for one person. And while I haven’t tested it out, I’d be willing to bet that this would work equally well with squash as well. So, here are some ideas to get you started.

To prepare the pumpkin, wash it and carefully cut out the top, much like you would if you were carving a jack o’lantern. Clean out the seeds, saving them for another tasty treat, if you feel inspired.

I stuffed my pumpkin with bits of leftover baguette, small cubes of Gruyere cheese, a shower of snipped chives from the garden, along with a little thyme and freshly ground black pepper. The magic ingredient was likely the cream. Once the filling was prepared and stuffed into the pumpkin, I began to pour it on. Mixed with a little freshly grated nutmeg and salt, the cream softens the baguette and bakes into a savory little fondue of sorts.

There are endless possibilities for other additions. Top of my list would likely be a little bacon. But I wouldn’t be shy about trying different cheeses and herbs, either. Once you’ve chosen your ingredients and filled the pumpkin, pop the pumpkin lid on and slip it into the oven. I cooked my small pumpkin on a baking sheet, covered with a little parchment paper. A bigger pumpkin may require a little more support from a baking dish as it softens. I cooked mine for about 90 minutes in a 350 oven, checking for doneness with a skewer once I got past the one hour mark. A few minutes to rest and cool, and you’ve got a perfect fall dinner.

If that’s not enough to get you excited about pumpkin, here are some other links I’m working up the courage to try:

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In the meantime, you’ll find me out crunching in the leaves and dreaming about the tasty treats roasting away in the oven…

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Kale & Cashmere

Fall came this week.

The colour of the light changed ever so slightly. A little softer maybe. And with the turn in the season I went to my closet and pulled out all the warm fuzzy cashmere I could find. Then I had a crisis.
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This weekend I learned that my friends seem to all have style icons. Where have I been! I certainly do not have a style icon nor has it ever crossed my mind. And no I’m not running around wearing a paper bag on my head, I’m aware of fashion. If you were to ask me who Kyle Maclachlan is I would said “Isn’t he the guy from that spread in Vogue with Linda Evangelista back in the 90’s?” I just have never thought about having a style icon.

So while I was pulling out all my winter sweaters and scarves I did a little style soul searching. I tried on numerous outfits. And then tried them on again and finally decided that I don’t really need a style icon after all, I just needed to make a kale salad.

Kale salad inspired by the many kale and quinoa salads on My Cooking Diary and the Tahini dressing by 101 Cookbooks

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