Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Fall Afternoon

I am sitting here at my desk drinking a cup of hot tea and looking out at the beautiful cloudy sky. What a relief! Imagine, a week ago Monday it was 107 and today it's 60, yippeeee!I absolutly love fall. I love that it's dark earlier and earlier, which forces me to slow down in the evening instead of going outside to pull weeds or water my plants.I love lighting candles at dusk and playing my quiet Celtic music as I gather the ingredients for dinner.

Fall has always been my biggest inspiration when it comes to cooking. There is
something about walking into a warm home on a cold night filled with the aroma of roasting chicken or simmering soup that comforts the human spirit.

I have a wonderful memory, you know a little movie in your mind that stays with you no matter how old you are. I was in fourth grade at the time, it was late in October and I had stayed after school for my class Halloween party. The sky was dark with rain clouds and as I walked toward our house I was filled with a sense of happiness and comfort seeing the softly glowing lights shinning from the windows. We had pumpkins on the front porch and some ghostie figures in the window that my sister and I had made. I knew my mom was home waiting for me. I was excited because my sister and I were going to roast pumpkin seeds. When I opened the front door I was greeted by my mom and the wonderful smells of dinner cooking on the stove. My mother is gone now, I always think of her on days like this. I will put pumpkins on our front porch today in honor of my mother and will carry on the traditions that she started so long ago for my own children. Happy October!



We are having a dinner party on Saturday evening and I am going to make one of my favirite fall dinners. The appitzer will be a flakey pastry tart with goat cheese, fresh figs, balsamic reduction and sprinkled with Neiman Ranch bacon. Our starter will be my homemade Roasted Butternut Squash soup made with squash from my garden. The main course will be Cabernet Braised Beef Short Ribs with Gorgonzola Polenta. I will make my Roasted Sage Butter Carrots as well and for desset, my Wheat/Gluten Free Gourmet Belgium Chocolate Ding Dongs. These desserts will be in my cook book and are truly to die for. Everyone loves them even if they have no issues with wheat.

I am going in to the kitchen to start my Recipe of the Week for this Sunday, October 9th. Look for it on hometownstation.com, it will be something you will want to serve on a rainy day!
something tremedously comforting to the human spirit when you walk into a warm home filled with the aroma of roasting chicken or simmering soup on a cold fall night.

It has always been my favorite time of year. I was so greateful when the weather changed last Friday and we had rain.

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