Thanksgiving

Well, it was a snowy start to Thanksgiving week in Michigan.

But then that all melted and I got down to the business of cooking for family.

It was pretty much the usual things one makes. The (beloved?) green bean bake. Our sweet potatoes and apples. My best-ever gravy. My favorite, the cranberries. 

Plus, this pumpkin cheesecake. 

I was happy to be near the very lovely English Gardens, where I got this poinsettia (a pink more unusual than the photo shows) and two amaryllis, which I planted for my parents.

Fairy Doors, Whatnot

Well, one fairy door, anyway. Newly blue. And a gnome lurking outside.

Other than that, this post is mostly bread.

Here's a nice mushroom soup. Looks creamy and is but that's from puréed mushrooms, not cream. Nice.

I've made these "free form enchiladas" a few times and they're delicious. Too bad they don't photograph all that well. 

And this chocolate loaf was a tad dry... but still rich... and photogenic, with strawberries.

So, yes, lots to report.

A Sunday chicken

For my parents. Along with the butter top bread, etc. A mini-Thanksgiving...

The next night: mac & cheese. I do like real food.

One of my many walks while in Michigan took me past a park from childhood: Bookmobile Park, so called, of course, because that's where the bookmobile stopped. Loved that. And I was so happy to see this new addition: a Little Free Library. The only improvement I can think of: a doll library. Borrow a doll. Share a doll. Leave some doll clothing for a doll in need.

So that was last week. This Sunday's bread is wheat & buttermilk to go, soon, with some pumpkin soup.

The dough had a tremendous rise. The only improvement to the recipe might be a touch of honey. Nonetheless, this is good and will be even better with soup and as sandwich bread.

Rather special

Brother Juniper's Bread Book, a gift from my friend Rachel, said: a special bread. True enough. Wild rice and onion. Even the dough seemed to know what it was about.

And then with grilled polenta, asparagus, spinach, mushrooms, dates, feta...

Sunday round-up

It seems people like to say "round-up" on Sundays, so here's a Sunday round-up.

First, some nature. Goldenrod...

... and Beautyberry. Great name.

Today's bread: oat bran. A lovely dough. Some just are.

While that was rising, I made a quick lunch of old favorites: asparagus, peas, feta, basil.

Later, the bread emerged... a beautiful loaf.

And for dinner, baked rigatoni and zucchini. 

And that's the round-up!

"Autumnal" is a good word

A teensy bit early, but... who cares.

First, warm kale and white bean salad on a quick fry bread (Jacques Pepin recipe). The bread could be better, and will be, next time.

So that was yesterday. Today: buttertop bread and pasta with butternut squash sauce. More things to make again and again.

A good evening

For dinner: mac & cheese: delicious, almost always. Especially in this case. Super good NY Times recipe. Low-fat? No. That would be ridiculous.

Served with sautéed kale (and dates).

And earlier: Chinese lantern: one of my most favorites, which I saw on a walk.

It's autumn for now

Cool, with some rain this weekend. I like it. Summer will be back tomorrow, which is also fine, but, for now: new autumn dishes, an autumn soup, bread, etc.

First the dishes. Very exciting.

Those are from Williams-Sonoma, as is the recipe for this farro-white bean soup.

My new favorite thing, which seems autumnal, is polenta. The already cooked kind that slices right off and can be grilled or sautéed or whatever. Just so comforting.

Finally, today I made another loaf of the cracked wheat bread. KAF recipe.

Figs!

Figs always deserve an exclamation point, I think. Here they are, grilled, with spinach, avocado, feta, tomatoes, slivered almonds.

A troublesome kitten

Miss Loy decided that a rising loaf of bread was the perfect place to nap; after all, the bread was in her chair in the sun. Everyone knows Miss Loy likes the sun.

Luckily, the loaf was only dented and, once rescued, continued to rise.

Cracked wheat. Very good.

Meeting and greeting

Hard to believe it's that time of year again, but, alas. In any case, I was happy to host the MFA meet-&-greet this past weekend. Here are some pics of the food.

I made four salads.

Quinoa with edamame, corn, chick peas, dried cherries & pepitas.

Wild rice, cantaloupe, blueberries, spinach, toasted almonds & feta. My favorite.

Mixed greens with sautéed asparagus, toasted pecans, blue cheese. My vinaigrette.

Watermelon, tomato, feta salad. An old stand-by.

I also made two quick breads: beer bread and cherry-walnut bread. The latter is a Cherry Republic recipe.

And for dessert, two kinds of cookies: NY Times chocolate chip (the best...) and chocolate-pumpkin seed cookies (also very good).

Whew! That was fun.