Fall Fun in the Kitchen

The leaves have begun to sport their autumn colors.

Mornings now are quite chilly.  The furnace hasn't been turned on yet, although it won't be long I'm sure.  

One morning this week I sat out on the patio hoping to see a hummingbird visit the freshly filled feeder.  

Never saw a one :(

It seems like only a week ago there were many.

I'll be keeping an eye out, but I fear they have begun their migration.

On that note, have you seen the David Attenborough documentary on hummingbirds?  Fascinating!

If that is of interest to you, check it out here.

Our next door neighbors just let us know that they are putting their house up for sale.  I will really hate to see them go as they have been such wonderful neighbors.  We moved in within weeks of each other and have enjoyed getting to know them.  Anyhow, she asked if I might be interested in her Kitchen Aid mixer.  I have been on the fence for many years about purchasing one.  Two things stopped me...

1).  I wasn't sure I would use it enough to warrant the price.

2).  (Don't laugh). I could never decide on a color and I was afraid I would wish I had gone with a different choice.

Through the years it just seemed easier to avoid that decision altogether.  Ha!  

So, now that I don't bake nearly as much as I once did, this beautiful mixer falls into my kitchen.

I know for a fact I would not have picked this brown color even though it is a pretty choice.

When I saw it I instantly thought it needed to be decorated for the fall season.  I tucked into a corner and nestled a couple of autumn themed garlands around it.

Once that was done, it was time to test it out.

Fall always puts me in the mood for Soft Ginger Cookies.

Having never used a stand mixer, I consulted the manual and got busy.

Soon the kitchen was filled with the sweet scent of cinnamon, ginger and cloves.  Yum!

I fixed up a plate to take to our neighborhood Mexican Train night.

A small way to share the generosity of this gift.

With the holiday season approaching, I expect to be getting a lot of use out of it.  Tell me, do you use a stand mixer?  If so, what are your favorite things to make with it.  I'm thinking it could really come in handy for mashed potatoes.

The recipe I use.

Wishing a very Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian readers.

I imagine your kitchens will be seeing a lot of action in the coming days.

When Life Gives You Lemons ...

Late last fall when it was time to bring my Meyer Lemon inside for the winter, there were two lovely lemons waiting to be picked.  Not a huge harvest, yet very exciting as I have been trying to grow them for years with limited success.

I put them into the fridge waiting for just the right recipe to use them in.  While two lemons from the grocery wouldn't be all that exciting, these were like a prized treasure to me :).  

Anyhow, the fall and winter holidays came and went.  The lemons were still in the fridge.  Clearly something needed to be done before they were no longer edible.

Yesterday I decided to quit waiting for the perfect recipe to present itself and just think of something with lemon in it that sounded appealing.  Something with blueberries came to mind.

I consulted my Cooking Light cookbook and decided on lemon blueberry muffins.

The lemon glaze was the "icing on the cake muffin".  It added such a sweet/tart fresh lemon flavor.

One lemon and it's zest were used.  One remains in the fridge.

Amazingly, they were still very fresh and full of juice.

I suppose that has to do with being homegrown rather than traveling great distances to reach the grocery store.

All ready for the weekend.

If you were here I'd offer you one.

Since that's not the case, I can offer the recipe here.

With our recent stretch of warm weather, the lemon tree has been enjoying the patio.  The five lemons that were growing last fall are still there along with many flower buds.  Exciting!!

I think I better start collecting the lemon recipes now.

Do you have any to recommend?

Hope your weekend is enjoyable.

Fun Fall Projects Courtesy of the Local Thrift Shop

One summer day I was strolling through the thrift shop and came across this lovely loaf pan.  My thoughts turned to autumn and how nice it would be to make a loaf of pumpkin bread that not only tasted good, but looked pretty too.

I know the Nordic Ware brand makes some beautiful baking pans.

Having never used one before, it seemed like a good opportunity to try it out.  The pan looked as if it had never been used and the price was only a few dollars.  An internet search tells me that they go for much more than that at places like Williams Sonoma.

Once home I hopped on the Nordic Ware website and printed off this recipe for a Spiced Pumpkin Loaf.  I tucked the pan and the recipe in the cupboard and waited patiently for autumn's arrival.

Today was the day to pull it out of that cupboard and spend a little time in the kitchen baking.

There you have it.

One pretty and tasty Spiced Pumpkin Loaf.

Brett & I shared a slice to see how it turned out.

He claimed we needed a few more slices just to be sure we liked it.

;D

Before we got carried away and ate the entire loaf, I put it under cover for safekeeping.

That domed cake stand was another recent thrift find.

I decided I wanted one and the next time I was thrifting, there it was.  Just waiting for me.  

The dome part is very heavy.  Perhaps that is so we think twice about how hard we want to work before going back for another piece?

Another recent thrift store find was this silicone squirrel and acorn
mold.  When I saw it a little light bulb went off.

A little more time in the kitchen to make some little fall soaps.

I had some simple soap making supplies from another time I made soap.  It was just enough to do these.  Since they are white, I added some grated nutmeg to give them little flecks of brown and to add a subtle fall fragrance.

A Very Happy Thanksgiving To My Canadian Friends.

🍂

                                                                         

From the Herb Garden to the Autumn Kitchen

Happy Fall Y'all

As the heat and humidity of a southern summer has loosened it's grip, we welcome cooler temperatures and sweet, fresh air making it's way into the house through open windows.

That cooler air seems to give me a burst of energy that was in shorter supply over the summer.

Last week I used one of those bursts of energy to empty out my herbs and spice drawer.  The drawer got wiped out and each jar was gone through to see what needed to be replaced or tossed out.  Once that was done I organized it in a more logical fashion.  It felt good to have that accomplished in time for all of the cooking and baking that will be taking place in the coming months.

For the first time, I decided to dry chives from my herb garden.

After washing and drying them, I snipped them up and set them in shallow bowls on the kitchen counter.  In a few days they were dry and ready to make a tasty addition to scrambled eggs, potatoes, soups or just about anything that could use a hint of mild onion flavoring.

I recently learned about drying herbs in a paper bag.

With this method I washed and dried the herbs and then put them into a paper bag leaving plenty of breathing room around them.

From there they went into a dark closet.  Every few days I would give the bag a couple shakes.  In a week or two they were dried beautifully.  No oven or dehydrator required.

I successfully dried oregano, parsley and lemon balm using that method.  The next thing I will be doing is mint.  Sometimes the mint seems like a nuisance as it is taking over and growing rampant.  But then something makes me remember how delicious it is.  In this case, it was the other evening after having a rather late and heavy meal for dinner.  I prepared a cup of mint tea and enjoyed it on the patio.  Darkness had set in, the autumn air so refreshing, solar lights adding color to the darkness and the nocturnal animals heard, but not seen.  We rarely sit outside in the dark.  This turned out to be an enjoyable after dinner ritual, particularly now that the patio is screened and the mosquitoes left Brett alone.  The tea was better than an after dinner mint and seemed to work wonders in helping to settle that heavy meal.

My dried herbs have also been making their way into new uses.

Sprinkles.

Something I learned about from this book:

Combinations of herbs and spices that can be mixed together and sprinkled onto our food to add beneficial health benefits.  

I have learned so much from this book.

It has made me want to appreciate and use the herbs I grow to the fullest.  I have also become familiar with herbs and spices that I had never heard of.  Her knowledge and presentation (like the thoughts above) really resonate with me.  A fairly simple way to work at keeping myself and my family healthy.

The Week That Was

 

Last week was a good one containing many pleasant moments along the way.  The community we live in now is considered an active 55+ community.  There is an emphasis on staying active and engaged as we navigate the senior years.  Just about any activity you can imagine is available.  It would be easy to find things to do all day, every day if you chose.  On the other hand, if you don't care to participate, that is fine too.

Periodically over the summer they have held outdoor concerts.  The bands are typically tribute bands playing music recognizable to our age group.  Last week it was the Liverpool Legends.  I had to chuckle at how concert going has changed since my younger days.  For this one our neighbor across the street drove us in their golf cart.  A line of fellow concert goers followed behind us as we made our way to the venue.  There was still singing along and dancing, although not quite as wild as our younger days ;).  The weather was beautiful.  The band took us from the earliest days through the highlights of their career with several outfit changes along the way.

This is my Cardinal Climber Vine (aka:  hummingbird vine).  

I planted it from seed in the early summer.  I have watched it grow and grow and grow.  When we returned from vacation it had started growing across the patio and attached itself to every nearby shrub it could find.  It seemed to be growing like Jack's beanstalk without a bloom in sight.  I had to give it a haircut and have given it weekly trims since.  It seems to grow a foot overnight :D.

Last week I finally started to see some blooms.

Just in time to help nourish those sweet little hummingbirds before they begin their migration in a month or so.

My sugar water feeder is in amongst all those vines.  I enjoy watching the birds take a few sips of the flowers before darting into the feeder for a few more sips.

Friday was an afternoon of boating.  At 90 degrees it was hot unless you were in the water or the boat was moving.  Mid-afternoon we heard a crack of thunder and the wind picked up.  It felt delightful, but it is always a concern to be on a boat with a thunderstorm threatening.  Brett put the pedal to the metal and raced us across the lake to a less threatening spot.  We watched as the skies went from blue to dark and cloudy with rays of sun peeking through here and there.  We hung out close enough to the marina to make a mad dash, if necessary.  In time, the rain threat passed and the cooler temperatures were much appreciated.

Soon boating season will be over for another year.

Last night we were invited to a neighbor's house for an end of summer/50th anniversary celebration.  We have fallen into a comfortable routine with this group of everyone bringing a dish to share.  My plan was to bring a Caprese Salad.  While it was a casual backyard gathering, I felt I should elevate my serving utensil from the everyday one I always bring to these events.  A 50 year anniversary seemed to call for something a bit nicer.  Rummaging through my kitchen drawers I came upon this very tarnished silver pie server.  Fairly obvious that it hasn't been used in ages.

Since I did have a jar of silver polish, I decided to see if it could be shined or if it was too far gone.

After several rounds with the TarnX, it was transformed.

After seeing how pretty it looks all shined up I had to wonder why I let it get to that horrible state.  Silver really is beautiful when it shines.  

I never seem to remember to take a photo until I'm rushing out the door as was the case last night.  That salad made with red, yellow and orange heirloom tomatoes with a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic glaze and a sprinkling of chopped basil was simple to make.  It disappeared fast too.  It seemed fitting for an end of the summer salad as before we know it the tomatoes and basil will also be done for the year.

This week there's only one thing on the calendar, which is okay with me.  My personality enjoys being busy/social, but requires time to regroup for awhile.  How about you?  Do you prefer a busy social calendar or not so much?

🌞

Chit Chat

Since returning home from vacation we have enjoyed some downright delightful summer days.  Lower temperatures accompanied by low humidity is almost unheard of for August in these parts.  Consequently, we have been enjoying being outdoors every chance we get.  The hummingbirds have been providing great entertainment.  The solar hummingbird lights pictured above were a gift from our Florida kids.  They bring a touch of magic to the evenings as the lights change colors.

Since returning from vacation we've also been busy.  Very busy.

One of the things keeping me busy was putting together a little ladies night get-together for some neighbors.  I had so much fun getting ready for it and thought it might make good blog fodder.  Since I only took one photo of the dessert plate, there went that idea.

The days leading up to the event became a bit hectic when the refrigerator decided to "go on the fritz".  Luckily we have an older fridge in the garage so everything got crammed in there.

The repairman has assessed several problems that will cost $900 to fix.  I guess I will be dating myself to say that I am a bit shocked at this for a refrigerator that is only 4 years old.  To further date myself I will tell the story of the fridge we left behind in our Michigan house.  It was over 40 years old at the time and still plugging along with no issues.  True the ice box was smaller than our microwave and had to be defrosted, but it did the job without ever requiring repairs.

I guess in our current times I am just glad the parts are available and the repairman will be back tomorrow to do the job.

While in Florida, Amber familiarized me with the air fryer.

I have been curious about them, but unsure if we would use it enough to make it worthwhile.  Brett became intrigued and ordered one.  Last night we gave it a trial run.  Happy to say that we successfully made roasted potatoes and Garlic & Herb Chicken Skewers.  These were recipes from the book that came with it.  Both turned out well and tasted delicious.  I've noted a few other recipes that I plan to try soon.  If you use an air fryer, I'd be curious to know what you like to make in it.  Now that it's just the two of us most nights, I can see how this could be better than heating the oven for certain things.  The clean up was simple too which is nice.

This is shaping up to be another busy week around here.

Wednesday will be a concert of the Liverpool Legends (Beatles tribute band), boating on Friday and then a neighbor's 50th anniversary gathering on Sunday.  All happy things as the summer season begins to wane.

Hope your week is a good one.

                                                                     

Zucchini Cookies and a Mini Baking Marathon

~ recipe courtesy of Simply in Season cookbook ~

Zucchini is not growing in my garden, nor are neighbors leaving bags of it on my porch because they are overrun with it.  I did, however, have two in the fridge that were getting a bit past their prime.  Having recently stumbled upon a recipe for zucchini cookies, I decided to give them a try.

Since I had twice the amount of grated zucchini I needed, some will go into the freezer for future baking.

As long as I had the oven on I settled in for an afternoon of baking.

The granola jar is filled again.  My granola recipe also came from the Simply in Season cookbook.  Our local peaches have been so sweet and delicious.  Tomorrow's breakfast will be Greek yogurt topped with fresh peaches and granola.  Brett is off to the produce stand to pick up another bag.  Last weeks are nearly gone.  We are doing our best to savor the peach season while it lasts.  Come to think of it, we've been savoring the tomato season too.  What a wonderful time of year this is when the local produce stands are bursting with tempting fruits and vegetables.

While the cookies and granola were taking turns in the oven, I got a loaf of English muffin bread going in the bread machine.  It will be another nice breakfast choice this week toasted with butter.  Or, maybe we'll work some of those tomatoes into a BLT and toast up a few slices to use as sandwich bread.

Have you ever had zucchini cookies?

This was a first for us.  I added walnuts and chocolate chips instead of raisins.  They have a soft, pillowy texture with a nice moistness to them.  Quite different from the chocolate chip cookies I normally make, but still very good.

How is your weekend going?  Are you up to anything fun?

Hope so :).

Treat Night

With only two of us in the house, I find I don't bake cookies nearly as often as I once did.  Consequently, when I do bake them it seems like a lot more work than it once was.  Which is probably a good thing as we both have trouble with willpower when it comes to freshly baked cookies.

The other day Brett mentioned that he could really go for a chocolate chip cookie.  Sounded like a good idea to me so, I got to work in the kitchen.

When I was in elementary school, my mom deemed Friday night as treat night.  She would bake a special treat to signal the start to the weekend.  I think back then we would share it while watching tv together as a family.  While baking my cookies, I thought back to that little tradition.  A simple idea that soon became a much anticipated event.  

At this age I'm not sure it would be a good idea to make treat night a weekly event, but once in a while it might be rather nice.

All those years ago the tv shows I looked forward to the most were That Girl and Bewitched.  Now we're binge watching our way through Grantchester and enjoying it immensely.

It's a beautiful morning here today.  I plan to spend as much time outdoors as possible.  Next week we are heading into the 90s with a couple of days predicted at 97.  Ugh!  Way too hot.  I won't think of it today.  Instead I'll enjoy the fresh, cooler air knowing at the end of the day treat night awaits.

Are you looking forward to anything as the weekend draws near?

                                                                  

Apples and Amaryllis in Autumn

Always a delight when the colors of autumn arrive in our backyard wetlands.

One afternoon this week I glanced out the window and noticed golden leaves softly falling as the sunlight filtered through.  I just stood there and watched for awhile.  It was so pretty and peaceful.  A bit like being in an autumn snow globe where the snowflakes had been replaced with beautiful leaves.

Our week has been such a nice one with temperatures warm enough to allow for open windows during the day.

It was also ideal weather for being in the garden.

Deep purple pansies and a tulip mix called "Spring Delight" gives me hope for a beautiful courtyard display next spring.

A pot of violas to cheer up the back patio.

Love those sweet little faces.

Now that we are into November and our mild days are numbered, my thoughts turn to indoor gardening.

The Meyer Lemon, Christmas Cactus and Norfolk Pine have all been re-located to the inside of the house.

I couldn't pass up the amaryllis display at the local garden center.

This one came home with me.

It had a plump bud on it when I removed it from the box.

Almost looks like it was waiting to fly out of there.

It will most likely bloom long before Christmas.

This weather has put me in the mood to bake.

So, when the neighbor ladies scheduled a girl's night, I volunteered to bring a dessert.  I wanted something that tasted and smelled like fall.  I found a recipe on line for apple squares.  The recipe made an 8 x 8 square.  I wondered if that would be big enough.  I know ladies can be dainty eaters when it comes to dessert, but I also wanted to have enough for everybody.  I considered just doubling the recipe.

Having never made it I would have been disappointed if this didn't work out.  Overthink much?  Welcome to my world :).

  

Around this time I happened to be visiting a blog.  Someone who I know is an excellent cook and baker.  While there I poked around in her recipes and came upon this.  The ingredients were almost identical to the original apple square recipe, although there were a lot more apples (yay) and best of all . . . 9x13 pan.  Perfect.  Plenty for the girls and extras to take home to the husbands.  Win Win!

Thank you to Lorrie for coming to the rescue.  Even though she doesn't know she did.  Just one of the many ways we connect in wonderful blog land.

I can tell you that the recipe was a huge hit!

I've already had one request for the recipe.

This afternoon the clouds have moved in and rain is on the way.

I've been turning my amaryllis regularly to encourage a straight stem.

It appears to be working.  

I think it has doubled it's height in a week.

I'm kind of glad I don't have to wait until Christmas to see that bud turn into a blossom.

I'm thinking I may need to visit the garden center again for another one or maybe two.  This is the easiest gardening ever and the reward is amazing.