Turned off the a/c yesterday and DH wants to bump the heat tonite before he takes his shower....geez louise....sigh.
Suzi i always think of you and soup and homemade bread this time of year. Cant imagine why....lol.
Ive got a pot of chili on the stove and a pan of cornbread in the over. Tis my favorite time of year.

Natures prelude to winter. Steve in Baltimore County.

I've been out all afternoon and just got home and I'm going out again in an hour -if I lived in your neighborhood Suzy I'd be over at your house for supper. As it is, frozen pot pie (Amy's organic at least).

Chili sounds awfully good too, Pam.

Supper tonight is basically pot luck to what is in the cupboard and icebox. Something easy, like sliced ham and store bought barbecue bread. Will have star fruit for desert. It's midweek of a busy week so simplicity and convenience are the order of today, hump day. No matter, it goes that way sometimes. A true fall weather front came through overnight and morning and the weather is gorgeous. Drove home during the sunset. The wispy high cirrus clouds were painted prettily with changing hues of the spectrum. The bottom of the clouds, which were works of art in themselves, subtlety changed from shadow, to brilliant red, to rust red to weakly red tinged soot, as in softly dying fire embers, to finally dark outlines against a dark purple sky.

Now that it's dark, I decided to see if I have any store bought fire logs in the shed. There was one and now there is a fire in the fire pit. I will enjoy it, and the night sky now. Later, methinks I will pop Ivanhoe into the dvd and watch it. Not the older movie, but the edition from the collaboration betwixt A&E and the BBC.

It's down hill to the weekend. I won't be doing nothin' except playing on the river. May the gorgeous weather hold.

Star fruit...my newest obsession. Only to be surpassed by Honey Crisp apples......sigh.

Chicken piccata, sliced garden tomatoes with a little salt and pepper and Chardonnay.

Fall weather finally rolled around, and instead of wearing the high heeled knee-high boots I want to start wearing with my skirts, I'm forced to wear my strappiest sandals with sweaters and such... Why? Well, it has something to do with my (poor) choice to play basketball in my bare feet with my neighbors and their kids on Sunday. Long story short, the ball was going out of bounds and I lept over it and tried to backwards-kick it back in bounds to my teammate... I'm not sure what happened next, but I think I sprained my thumb and I have some fantastic bruises, and I have two giant gouges on the outside edge of my left big toe. While I was assessing the damages, Izzy came over and stomped on my bloody toe... I can't wear shoes that touch it and socks stick to it... so my feet are cold and I'm grumpy.

Although the sprained thumb thing did get me out of most of last night's dinner prep. Steve had to peel and cube the butternut squash which I roasted with onions and served with butter-fried sage leaves and cheese tortollini...

Hope you heal quickly, Jaz. That's no fun I'm sure. And, Michael, lovely word-picture of the sunset. I noticed it too as I was watering containers. Still in the mid-eighties here but I've noticed Sumac at least showing color.

Ribeye shared with DH and medley of roasted red potato, carrot, celery, garlic, onion, tomato with French Bread. josh

Today was Di and Jimmy's anniversary and we went to
a local place to eat. Jimmy had his usual Cheeseburger,
Di and Neil had Veal Marsala, I had the Chicken Romano.
It was really nice to be able to get them to stop painting
and relax for a little while.

I'm a star fruit fan too, although it's not always easy to find.

I slice it thin and use it in salad it looks great just sliced used as a topping on a salad bowl for all to see and admmire before you toss it (the salad I mean) - I've never thought of it as a dessert despite the fact it's a fruit. You lean something new every day, I'm going to try that crunching one.

Leftovers. Lentil soup, made because there was a hambone taking up too much space in the freezer. This was a 'throw together', no measurements, but it was excellent [which means it tasted like a very good soup but not like lentils]. Served with fresh-made cornbread on the side.

Temps are still in the upper 80's, which is better than the previous weeks of mid-90's but I am still anti-kitchen.

It's been so busy here. We have a house in all kinds of transition, kids back to school and DH super busy trying to re-establish himself at work. We didn't have an oven from July until just this past saturday so all meals have been stovetop, crockpot or microwave with the toaster oven for variety.:^P

Our new stove came saturday and I helped a friend butcher chickens on monday -with two coming home with me for helping out. Last night, with the new oven, a fresh roaster, and cooler weather we had a roast chicken with peas, and rosemary bread.

Today I am baking a cake for DD's 8th birthday.

I love my new stove.

Thawing some lamb stew meat with the idea of scotch broth. That is a great meal for a cold day. Rich, thick soup with lots of barley, potatoes, onions and green peas tossed in at the last. Oatmeal bread is baking to go with it.

Wood burner is going and the cat is sleeping on the floor right in front of it. She looks so contented maybe I'll join her.

Leone made jelly yesterday fronm the last of the Concord grapes, don't know why they ripened so slowly this year. The Fredonia's and Caco's and Canadice were all ripe weeks ago. If there is any smell better than grapes cooking I sure don't know what it would be.

Jaz, we really are kindred. I have what is forming to be a black-eye, my first in 40 years, this morning. I was opening the security gate to drive out this morning and it bounced off??? I don't know what, and hit me squarely on the cheek. Broke the skin and it's still swollen, after ice and much anti-inflammatory application.

What's for dinner? Since I didn't eat last night, I'm counting today's lunch. Sushi and chess pie. Well, what can I say? I'm a Pacific-rim raised gal, who lives in the south. ;)

Sunday, we'll have the pleasure of my parents-in-law and FIL's brother. DH is making shrimp and crab manicotti. I'll make bruschetta with some lovely focaccia I found. Probably have DS or DGS do up a salad. Bought some wine. Actually, we were going to do this tonight, but when we heard the family is coming, we postponed it. We love the in-laws a lot, couldn't ask for better family.

You guys are eating too well. Meanwhile, DH, who is the cook in this family is out of town & I'm relegated to rooting through the freezer looking for something to nuke. Last night it was leftover King Ranch Chicken.

Does everyone here always cook lovely, creative, season-appropriate meals? Or do people only respond to these dinner threads when they're cooking something that reads well on the screen? Where are all the admissions of cold sandwiches on indifferent bread, pizza and things forked directly out of refrigerated plastic takeout containers? Last night I made spaghetti and meatballs, my mother's recipe but with fresh basil, more garlic etc. I make it because my husband really likes it. Despite having a freezer full of garden tomatoes, I opened a jar for the sauce. I wasn't feeling ambitious, and my husband doesn't discern.

I'll be on my own for dinner tonight, so I'll probably make some cream of green tomato soup, or maybe a quick okra-based (I grew okra this year) seafood gumbo--things that only I eat.

But the evening this thread started, it was takeout mushroom egg foo young.

Sometimes a mundane meal is much improved by writing about it in a good light....

But I guess these threads are a way to encourage ourselves to remember that a good meal usually takes no more time or effort than a prepackaged store bought one.

That's what I learnt from John.

"Does everyone here always cook lovely, creative, season-appropriate meals? Or do people only respond to these dinner threads when they're cooking something that reads well on the screen? Where are all the admissions of cold sandwiches on indifferent bread, pizza and things forked directly out of refrigerated plastic takeout containers?"

You had me laughing out loud on that one. No, actually I think people are pretty honest about it. One day two weeks ago, I got back from the market bone tired and uninspired. I called my husband to the kitchen to eat and threw a box of a dozen ice cream bars on the table. LOL. He and I consumed them all. but two, at one crack and he didn't complain.

I love this particular thread and often start it when I am tired of the same old/same old and need ideas. I just wish sometimes we were all closer so I could trade left-overs. I got hungry for Pam's chili and cornbread when she mentioned it and that's going to be tonight's supper.

"... lovely, creative, season-appropriate..." Leftover lentils would have to check 'None of above'. Lentil soup has to be loved for its taste, not its looks; it requires no creativeness; and -when first made- is a ridiculous meal when it's 90° out. OTOH, it takes only a few minutes to dump all the ingredients into the slow cooker, and one can safely ignore it until it's ready to eat.

Tonight will be an adapted recipe which we call "Vietnamese Green Beans," because I can never remember how to pronounce its original Vietnamese name. In fact, I've changed the recipe so much that it is only faintly related to the original -- both using green beans in a stirfry. But it can be ready in about 20 minutes which is the same length time it takes to boil the rice; and that's really all the time I want to spend in the kitchen tonight.

Tell you the truth, except for holidays, I rarely spend more than 30 minutes making dinner. That's faster than most TV cartons. I want good taste first, nutrition second, variety third, and another meal at a later time. Not too many commercial items can meet all those goals in one box.

I was going to post to this thread, yesterday, but since I was making something I hadn't tried before, thought I'd better wait and see how it turned out. Well, it turned out O.K., I guess, and it was healthy, but DH and I thought it didn't have much taste. The recipe sounded great, "Mom's Mushroom Stuffed Green Peppers"-- partially cooked green peppers stuffed with all veggies--minced onion, celery, slivered carrots, and cabbage, bound with breadcrumbs and moistened with part of a white sauce made with sauteed mushrooms--the remainder of the sauce poured over the top of the peppers, then baked for 45 minutes and "served immediately". The sauce was seasoned with a little thyme, sage, pepper, salt and a tsp. of soy sauce. As I said, it sounded good, but frankly, it was tasteless!! Not to be made again! Guess I'll stick with my "tried and true" hamburger'rice/tomato sauce stuffing in the future.

Last night was LF's birthday and he chose, Oreo Cookie Shake followed by Triple Chocolate Meltdown cake with Ice cream. Um. Yea. BF (big fella) chose beer and hot wings. I had broccoli, brown rice and a couple of skewers of shrimp with a minimal of teriyaki sauce. It was pretty good. But the chocolate martini for dessert (and to be in the "spirt" of how LF wanted to celebrate) was better!

{{gwi:194955}}

Last night Steve had a business dinner and I decided to take the night off from cooking. One of my co-workers had given me a homemade loaf of rosemary/olive oil bread so I shredded some fresh parm onto a plate of olive oil, salt and pepper and dipped several slices. I also ate one of my slicing tomatoes and a single serving can of peaches. Steve ordered dessert to go for me and surprised me with a dark chocolate creme brulee for dessert.

I do cook from scratch nearly every single night. It's a pleasure in life, a stress reliever, and something I look forward to. It's not something I've always had (or, more accurately, taken) the time to do. I'm hoping to be a truly great cook some day and am making progress slowly but surely.

Last night we had our first frost (or at least we were supposed to have) and I decided to pick some peppers and just let the remainder of my tomatoes and eggplant succumb. Looking at {{gwi:194951}}, I think we're having chilis relleno tonight... and I'm thinking of making some kind of a roasted pepper spread, and then maybe stuffing some... I don't know. Suggestions?

For a gal who is afraid of too much heat, I sure grow a lot of peppers... but then I really pushed my boundaries this year, started incorporating more and spicier varieties in my cooking, and really enjoyed the process.

I killed a 3' x 50+' {{gwi:194953}} between to our driveway and our neighbors' retaining wall a couple weeks ago. I'm going to rip out the dead sod, put down a layer of manure, cover it with some chopped leaves (when enough of them fall) and pin landscape cloth over the whole mess so it can rot and compost over the winter, but doesn't wash away when snow melts on it.

My plan is to plant pretty veggies here... I want to make knots and stripes and stuff out of lettuces, herbs, chard, spinach, eggplants, and low-growing pretty stuff. Ornamental, decorative AND a regular part of the menu. In the back of my twisted mind, I'm thinking "Yeah, and that would give me more room in my other gardens for peppers & tomatoes!" LOL! Just what I need! More peppers and tomatoes!

First Fall like weather and I made an old favorite from college days of the dh's: Saute some chopped onions in a little butter, add some brown sugar, dump in a can of tomato soup and some hot dogs. Serve over mashed potatos. This was the gourmet version with home made tomato soup.

Ice cream sandwiches for dinner, chocolate martinis and hot dogs over mashed potatoes. Now we're talking!

It could be fish tacos, or maybe just apples and cheese, for dinner tonight.

Jut come off the river. Stopped at Witt's barbecue. Sometimes its necessary to just splurge and indulge...

Anyone up for spotting the very early slender crescent of the moon this evening?

Might have to use binoculars. Here's what it should look like..

Blech! We had "finger food" tonight. Not on purpose. I made a big pot of venison chili. Steve is usually my cheerful kitchen assistant and I had him dicing onions and several different kinds of peppers while I was peeling tomatoes... until he had a serious kitchen accident... He somehow managed to slice the pad off his left middle finger tip. Poor thing almost passed out. We both lost our appetites. I won't go into too many details, but dinner got postponed a little.

When I finally finished it up, it was quite good... all veggies from my garden and Steve's deer from last year. I like my chili very thick, very flavorful, and full of sweet corn to counteract the hotness.

But I still have the heebie jeebies from cleaning up the crime scene...

Guess we now know why Steve didn't opt to be a surgeon...

crabcakes,pumpkin soup,sea bass with a lemon vermouth sauce,wild mushrooms and lentils,rack of lamb and a blown sugar apple filled thick chocolate mousse and real whipped cream..plus many kinds of wine..white and red,and champagne. This was a fund raiser for an art museum and dinner was out of this world.The night before it was a chicken sandwich.

Marda, I'll have your leftovers--as if there would be any with that feast. I'm just having meatloaf and mashed potatoes. It suddenly chilled way down and we even turned the heat on. Meatloaf sounds just right for a cool fall evening.

mwheel ~ I used a similar recipe and found the cabbage and carrot overwhelmed the mushrooms. Try that recipe again, but use double the amount of onion, vertically sliced and pre-sauteed and with a tsp of tarragon and a Tbsp fresh minced parsley added; and add a sprinkle of both parsley and tarragon to the sauce. And I use about half the carrot called for, because I don't really like carrot cooked with cabbage.

If you find a recipe that looks like it should taste good but it's too bland, sometimes you just need to joggle it a bit.

I'm on strike from cooking...after 36 years, I've thrown in the towel for a while.

Sunday, Mr. Man marinated and grilled steak, made his wonderful French cut green beans with Italian dressing, baked potato and fresh bread.

Monday was clean out the fridge night.

Last night was Popeyes chicken...how sinful!!...with mashed taters and gravy and butter biscuits with honey.

I don't have a clue what he is thinking about for tonight but I don't really care if I don't have to think about it, get the items together, or cook it.

Wanda, who is still cleaning the kitchen but not sure how long that is going to last before the dish towel is thrown in, too.

Wqnda, I'd kill for a Popeye's chicken place here. Not the most healthy entree for dinner, but boy, oh boy, is it ever spicy & good!

Wanda ~~ how long have you been on strike? And what is it about 36 years? I counted back and sure enough, I'd been cooking for about 36 years when *I* went on strike! Unfortunately, the only part of cooking DH participates in, is eating. Sheer stubborness took me through the first month of restuarant, fast-food, frozen, and canned meals. Yech. I much prefer to eat my own cooking, but nowadays, when I'm tired of prep, planning and/or cleaning, I don't hesitate to say let's go to...

meldy,

I've been on strike about six weeks.
My husband works long, weird, never-know-when-he's-coming-home hours.
I got so tired and not knowing when he was coming in...not that I minded he has to work weird hours...that's part of his job.
It was not knowing when to have dinner ready.
Cook early, he comes in late.
Plan to cook late, he's home early.
There are only so many things that reheat well and after a time, I had had enough.
I even tried having him call me as he left his work place and I would 'finish up' as he drove home.
Well, you know what happened with that one...
Half the time he would forget to call and the other half he would be called by in for something.

Since he is doing the cooking, he is also buying the groceries.
I thought that went together well.
He knows what he needs for meal preparation, etc., what we are out of...

He called me this morning to tell me to plan on going out for breakfast in the morning.
Works for me!!

Meldy, thanks for your suggestions about jazzing up the veggie-stuffed peppers. I've printed them and will try the recipe again. (I hadn't checked this thread, all week, or wouldn't have been so slow in responding.)

Our supper tonight was brought home from my church's Fall Dinner. Turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, sauerkraut, green beans/corn, apple sauce, rolls, drink, and choice of scrumptious desserts. Not as healthy as the peppers, perhaps, but it sure tasted great! :>)

here is a recipe for chili that i make,it really hit's the spot with cornbread,or jalepeno cornbread...Prep Time: 0 hours, 15 minutes
Cook Time: 3 hours, 00 minutes
Ingredients:
2 pounds ground beef
1 29-ounce can of tomato sauce
1 29-ounce can of kidney beans
1 29-ounce can of pinto beans
1 diced green pepper
1 diced medium onion
1/2 cup diced mild green chiles
1 to 6 diced jalapeno peppers (if heat desired)
1 29-ounce can diced tomatoes or 3 chopped medium tomatoes
2 teaspoons cumin powder
3 tablespoons chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons salt
Preparation:
1. Brown the beef in skillet or microwave and drain off the fat.
2. Combine all of the ingredients in a crockpot.
3. Cook on low for 3-10 hours.
4. Leftovers can be frozen and kept for months.
5. Makes 12 servings, approximately 1 cup each.