{Trying to} Welcome Fall!

(apples from the Farmers Market)

I am a summer girl all the way. I love the sun, the heat, the long days, all of it. I'm from Arizona, what can I say? BUT, I'm trying to be better about embracing the here, and now. And here and now, I live in a place that has all four seasons, and cooler weather. I've been enjoying fresh apples from the farmers market and we took our customary drive up Payson Canyon to see the fall leaves, and I took NO pictures! I know, how could I? I'll refer you to this song for explanation:

O, love that song. (Sorry the video's a little shaky, but the audio quality is pretty good.)

Anyway, another fall activity I look forward to is making delicious butternut squash soup. And this year is extra special since I grew my own butternut squash! (remember how it took over my back yard? Suffice it to say, the takeover is even more complete these days!) I have a fantastic recipe my mom created that I love (and will definitely be making soon), but yesterday I decided to make up a recipe of my own. I'm not gonna lie, I'm really impressed with myself. It turned out amazing, and you're going to want to try it. So here it is:

Roasted Butternut Squash Bisque

1/2 a large butternut squash, peeled and cubed
1 small shallot, minced
1 small clove garlic, minced
3-4 cups chicken broth
aprox. 2 tsp. rubbed sage
salt and pepper to taste
oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, toss squash cubes with sage, salt, pepper, and oil to coat. Spread out cubes on a cookie sheet. Roast squash until tender, about 25-30 minutes.

In a large dutch oven, saute shallot and garlic until soft. Add roasted squash and chicken broth. Puree with an immersion blender until smooth. Add more or less broth depending on your desired thickness. You'll notice from the picture that I like mine thick. My husband says it reminds him of baby food, but baby food is not nearly this delicious. If you prefer something thinner, you can add more broth or evaporated milk, regular milk, whatever you like.

That's it! So simple, and so delicious. The only thing this soup was missing was a nice crusty roll to enjoy with it. Let me know if you try it!

Thank You Martha

So I was reading this months Martha Stewart Sunday night and saw an ad for this:

I don't think I've ever seen lemon ice cream before. Lemon sorbet or sherbet, yes. Ice cream, no. I'm a bit of a lemon fiend, and really, who doesn't love anything Haagen-Dazs? So Monday night at the grocery store, I decided to pick some up and try it.

Oh, it's good.

Even my husband (who is not a lemon fiend, and thinks I have a some-what unnatural affinity for lemons) really liked it. I'm excited to have a little more after dinner tonight. You should probably try it. That's all. :)

1, 2, 3

1. Last call for Haiti Donations through my shop. Thanks to everyone who supported the effort. It feels so nice to help, even if it's just a little.

2. So you know how Ina always says to get the "really good" ingredients, and that the mozzarella from the grocery store is just rubber? Well, in an effort to live up to Ina (not all of us live in the Hampton's where there are cheese stores), I made my own mozzarella cheese, you know, from milk and stuff. Okay, so really, Brian did a lot of it. But it was pretty exciting! I am a horrible food photographer, but suffice it to say, it turned out really well. And what did I make with this homemade cheese? Pizza. I know I was supposed to make, like, a caprese salad or something elegant, but we're just pizza people. I will say that everything on the pizza (crust, sauce, cheese) was homemade, except for the pepperonis. And really, who wants to know how that is made? Anyway, it was a fun activity, and if you want to try it, click here for the directions I used. And a special thanks to Mom, who informed me that rennet can be found at the grocery store in the Jello section.

3. Back by popular demand, here are some pictures of my exceptionally cute baby:

Back in April I had a sister's weekend in Vancouver. Lots of talking, shopping, and eating delicious food. We had lunch one day at a place called Pizzacato, and Nancy and I split a pizza called the "Al Grecco" with red onions, lamb sausage, feta, garlic, marinated tomatoes, and Tzatziki sauce on the side. It was divine. I very much wished I had gotten a whole one all to myself. It gave Nancy the idea that we should make Gyro style burgers sometime. Well, that hasn't actually been tried yet, but I just came across this recipe on tastespotting. Now we really need to try it!

Mmm...

As if you haven't had enough delicious food to eat lately, but this recipe looks delicious. I just might have to try it. As a general rule, I don't usually like coconut, but I usually like coconut shrimp. It sounds like excellent New Years Eve finger-food. Yum.

*Update, I made them tonight and they were so tasty! Especially the dipping sauce.

Brrrr, It's Cold In Here!*

It's about that time of year where I drink hot chocolate about once a day. You think I'm exaggerating, but I had it twice yesterday. Now, we all know that the best hot chocolate to be had is at the gas station. What, you didn't know? Well, it's true. And what makes it so delicious are all those delightfully flavored coffee creamers. You didn't know that part either? Don't worry, my rock-star husband was also not aware. And if you're making your hot chocolate at home, but wishing it was as delicious as the stuff at 7-11, fret no more! You can get the coffee creamers at Wal-Mart (or probably any other mart for that matter). They even have boxes of the little single servings like at the gas station. My favorite flavors are french vanilla and hazelnut. I recommend you use two per mug, but that is of course based on my mugs. You might need more than that if your mugs are bigger than mine. Now go have some! You can thank me later.

*Name that movie reference for extra cool points.

Tasty!

Yeah! Tastespotting is back! It's been down for a couple weeks for reasons that remain mysterious, but it's back now and that's all that matters.

Beautiful

This cake is gorgeous, so I had to share. As an added bonus, it's grapefruit flavor. Yum.

Found via tastespotting.

Long Weekend

Don't you love long weekends? I got to go shopping with Stacey on Saturday. Picked up one of these for the front room.

I also made two of these for my mother-in-law's birthday, and with raspberry, blueberry, strawberry and lemon topping choices. Delicious.

Look What Popped Up in my Backyard!

I think it's a tiny little Morel mushroom. No, I didn't eat it. You can never be too safe with mushrooms. Ugly little bugger, too.

Spotting Something Tasty

Tastespotting has drawn me in way more than the Food Network ever did, and that's saying a lot. Just ask Brian. I pretty much can't process him talking to me when I'm watching food network. "I'm sorry babe, I wasn't listening. Tyler's making his ultimate homemade chocolate pudding." And on tastespotting there's a gazillion new recipes every day. Here's a tasty sounding recipe I found the other day. Goodness knows I love me some good chicken wings. And who doesn't love mango and lime. Well, Brian doesn't love mango, but he likes it. He just thinks it has a funny aftertaste. I used to think that too, but then I got over it, because it's pretty delicious anyway. I'll let you know if I try this one out.

{Sweet} Little Bunny

In case any of you were interested in picking me up a pricey Easter present, I want this one.

On an unrelated note, I used some of my left over pomodoro sauce last night in some homemade calzones. I just used some of that pizza dough in the pop open containers and filled them with sauce, and what ever toppings you like. It was tasty and easy, so give it a try!

V-Day Recap

I hope you all had a lovely Valentine's Day! I've got a pretty sweet Valentine. He brought me some beautiful roses, and some of these (he knows I love them). Nice, huh?

Then we went to the museum exhibit to enjoy beautiful Victorian artwork. I did, however, forget to dress up like a Victorian Woman. I'll have to do that next time. Steve and Emily came over after for delicious Chocolate Cheesecake. Oh, it's as tasty as it sounds. And surprizingly simple. This is the first cheesecake I learned how to make, and it's probably my favorite. You should try it, so here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
16 oz (two packages) cream cheese, softened or room temperature
1 can sweetened condensed milk
4 eggs
24 oz. Semi-Sweet chocolate, melted (I told you it was good!)

In a large bowl beat cream cheese until smooth using a hand beater or stand mixer. Add sweetened condensed milk and beat until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, beating until smooth. Gradually add melted chocolate while mixing. Once mixture is smooth and homogonous pour into springform pan. Surround pan with foil and cook in a water bath at 300 degrees for 65 minutes. When 65 minutes is up, turn off oven completely and open oven door, allowing the cake to cool in the oven (this will prevent the top of the cake from cracking). I like it best if the cake has been refridgerated for several hours before serving. Brian likes it best with whipped cream on top. I sometimes cook it with a crust made of chocolate graham crackers and butter, but that is optional.

Lunch Time

I'm about half and hour away from lunch and Elise's recipe is making me hungry! Potato Skins, anyone?

Also, this idea is awesome/hilarious.

I'm gonna have to make a BLT just so I can try that!

Okay, now I need to stop looking at food.

Make Sure it's Really Good...

This post may sound a little like an Austin style rant, but as a caveat, I would like to say that I enjoy Ina Garten. She seems like a very nice lady, and the food she makes generally sounds appealing, otherwise I'd stop watching her show. That being said, she has some eccentricities that crack me up. Today she was making Asian Marinated Salmon, and the marinade had three ingredients. I kid you not, as she was adding each ingredient she said the words "really good".

"Start out with three tablespoons of really good Dijon mustard. Add one tablespoon of really good soy sauce, and as you whisk those together, gradually add one cup of really good olive oil."

The mustard and the oil I could maybe justify, but really good soy sauce? Is there such a thing as really bad soy sauce? Does the distinction need to be made?

I've also decided that they must have some really interesting hardware stores in the Hampton's, because she manages to buy everything under the sun at the hardware store. Today she was using a food mill, talking about how it was one of her favorite kitchen tools, and she said "And the best part is, you can just pick them up at the hardware store." Really? I'm pretty sure they don't carry food mill's at Home Depot or Lowe's.

The other day I was watching an episode where she was making something with mozzarella in it, and she said "And make sure it's really good mozzarella, not that rubber stuff you buy at the grocery store". Huh? Where else am I supposed to buy mozzarella? Probably the hardware store.

C is for Cookie

I really like this recipe/idea from Elise. These might make good neighbor gifts. Yes, it's true. I haven't made neighbor gifts yet. I'm seriously behind this year. I haven't even sent out my Christmas cards yet! It'll happen, you just might get it a little after Christmas. I thought I'd help extend the celebration and festivities for you this year.

An Experiment Gone Terribly Right

In my "About Me" at the bottom of the page, I mention that I like to make food, but I don't think I've ever posted about food yet! Silly me. Fortunately, I have a patient husband who lets me experiment and orders pizza when an experiment turns out not-so-good. On Saturday I had an experiment that turned out oh-so-right, so I thought I'd share. For some reason, I had never tried cooking pork before. All the other delicious parts of the pig, (ham, bacon, sausage) yes, but not pork, so I decided to give it a try. I bought a couple pieces of pork tenderloin (which always makes me think of this commercial, "You can't tell us what to do, Lord Chicken Breast!") and had a go. It turned out so tasty that it was all eaten before I could take any pictures. You'll just have to make it yourself to see what it looks like.



Apple Glazed Pork Loin



Ingredients:

2 Tbsp oil

1 apple, peeled and cut into bite-sized dice (I used a Macintosh)

1 sweet onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 tsp nutmeg

2 pieces pork loin

salt and pepper to taste



Combine oil, apple, onion, garlic, and nutmeg in frying pan over medium heat. Saute until apple pieces are soft enough to mash with spoon. Salt and pepper both sides of of the meat and move the saute to the sides of the pan. Place pork in pan so meat has direct contact with the pan, covering top side of meat with the saute. Cook about 10 minutes on that side, then move the saute to the side of the pan again, and turn the meat over, putting the saute back on top. Cook another 10 minutes, or until meat is cooked all the way through. Both sides should have nice carmelization. I suppose you could, but we didn't eat the saute, it was just to flavor the meat, and boy did it! Very tasty and a nice change from the usual. Let me know if you try it!

TasteSpotting

So, maybe this site isn't new to any of you, but Joy posted about TasteSpotting on her site, and I'm surfing away! Mouthwatering pictures of delicious sounding food from all over the globe. If you know me, you know why this particular one jumped out to me.

I've never made a souffle, but I might be tempted to try it when it's made in a grapefruit rind! Who knew such things could be accomplished? And this pumpkin gnocchi sounds fun too!

I've made gnocchi several times (it's not as hard as you might think!), but I've never thought to add to the dough like that. Oh, the possibilities! And since it's right about brunch time, this Quiche is sounding particularly tasty.