The Perfect Sunday

The view from my front yard. I am so glad my neighbors have gorgeous trees.

Not only is fall my favorite season, fall Sundays rank right up there at the top of the list.

What comprises a perfect fall Sunday?

coffee with my honey
the Sunday paper, waiting for me to read it after lunch
church, complete with plenty of energy and excitement garnered by the children
an afternoon free of responsibility
a lovely walk being pushed along by autumn bursts of wind and swirling leaves
empty roads
other walkers and joggers, accompanied by their dogs
making it almost home before the rains began
soup
cool weather just begging for cozy sweaters and fires
wet kitties making footprints where ever they roam
football, compliments of the Seahawks

What makes your Sundays perfect?

Looking forward to next Sunday.

Tomato Experiment Results

The after picture of heat-dried tomatoes. Yummy, right?

The tomato experiment was a success, though I did dehydrate them a little too long.

Now, instead of sun-dried tomatoes, I have heat-dried tomatoes. Ready for soup, casseroles, meat dishes . . . you name it.

The tomato experiement before drying

Ready to go experiment some more.

Bounty of Harvest

The bounty of harvest is in full production in October. This makes me very happy.

Usually I spend hours each fall dehydrating apples, parsley, sage, and any other produce I can get my hands on. Many foodstuffs come from the generosity of family and friends. Some are purchased. But the the parsley and sage are clipped straight from the garden, as they have aggressively taken over most of one raised garden bed.

This year, I have yet to fill the little dome of delight with sliced apples. But I have made a huge crock pot of applesauce sprinkled with cinnamon. The fragrance of cooking apples and cinnamon is a signature fall scent. Ahhh.

Yesterday our family was blessed with massive produce in the form of 50 pounds of potatoes (and I mean BIG spuds - I have never seen them this large), 50 pounds of onions, and a box full of Roma tomatoes. The overabundance is amazing. I do not want any of it to go to waste.

As of last night, the dehydrator has been running non-stop. The withered forms of onions rest inside, slowly drying out and waiting for me to scoop them into a container for future meals. The neighborhood is filled with wafts of onions (we got smart and put them on the patio, as our eyes were going crazy with burning).

The potatoes - what to do with the potatoes? Mashed? Baked? Gratined? I fear that one is enough for a small army, they are that huge!

And the tomatoes - soup? Sauce? Stewed? Dehydrated? (No, that does not sound appealing at all.)

I'm off to go another round with the tear-inducing onions. Last night was French onion soup. Tonight?

Ideas would be greatly appreciated. Oh, and if you need a spud or two, a few onions, and a handful of tomatoes, drop on by.

 

Thank you, dear friends, for sharing the (food) wealth!

Putting the Beds to Sleep

putting the beds to sleep

 

 

by angie quantrell

 

 

shorter days

 

colder nights

 

water is shut-off

 

falling leaves

 

dying stalks

 

fading blooms

 

sagging fruit

 

life cycle ending

 

though a few gallantly bloom on

 

time left is not sufficient for success

 

putting the beds to sleep

 

leaves, trimmed herbs, branches

 

no cats may visit here

 

tucked in securely

 

decay, compost, turn back to dust

 

good-night, dear beds, to sleep you go

Rustic Whole Wheat Apple Galette - Fall Treat Recipe

 

Rustic Whole Wheat Apple Galette

 

I made this fall treat for my husband before leaving for a girls' weekend. We had plenty of apples and he loves whole wheat. Basically, I am not good at making pie crusts. This is as close as I get. Generally round, doesn't have to fit a pan, uneven edges are 'rustic' instead of messy, and the taste is just fine.

 

I found the yummy recipe on this blog:

 

www.thingsimadetoday.com

 

Here is the link for the recipe:

 

whole-wheat-apple-galette

 

Vicky Cassidy has a beautiful blog. Thanks for the great recipe, Vicky!

 

 

Enjoy the flavor of fall! Happy weekend.

Fall Mums in the Garden

Gorgeous fall color is the only reason I keep mums in the garden.

Otherwise, they take up quite a bit of valuable food real estate. Basically boring all summer, just green growing leaves, these beauties come into their own in September and October.

Pest free and easy to care for, I suppose they are worth the space.

Hope you are having a colorful autumn!

A Month of Thanks - November 7 - Autumn

I adore autumn! Fall is my most favorite season.

I am totally thankful for fall. November is the perfect fall month.

My neighbors do not agree, those who have giant towering deciduous trees.

But I love it. The smells, sights, sounds, weather. Walking through crunchy piles of bright colors is the best. Cool mornings, windy days, blowing leaves tickle my fancy.

Three cheers for fall!

Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.
- John Muir

Apple Season - 3 Apple Treats to Fill the House with the Fragrance of Fall

Yesterday was one beautiful and aromatic day at the Quantrell household.

Princess Khloe and I attacked pounds of apples with gusto. Delicious flavors that rolled off the tongue were the results. The swirling autumn scents of cinnamon, nutmeg, and apples all but swirled before our eyes and tickled our noses.

Autumn is here. Embrace the season.

Dehydrated apple slices

Dried Apples
Oodles of apples, cored, peeled, sliced
Lemon water

Usually, I just peel, core, slice and add my apples to the running dehydrator. This year, they browned too fast.

To combat early browning, I experimented with dropping the slices into water that had been liberally doused with lemon juice. Worked like a little apple charm. I prepped apples until I thought I had enough for one tray, letting the apples soak until I placed them in the dehydrator.

Dry until slightly soft and flexible. Store in jars or sealed bags. Yummy! We devour dried apples all winter.

Cinnamon Applesauce

Cinnamon Applesauce
apples
cinnamon

I love filling the crockpot with peeled, cored, chunked apples and cinnamon. Add a bit of water to cover the bottom of the crockpot, turn it on, cover it, and let it cook. Test it every now and them for soft apples. Add water if needed. I use a potato masher at the end to squash the apples into sauce. Eat it now and freeze some for later.

Oh, this autumn treat fills the house with such great smells! Better than any fall scented candle. Plus, you can eat the applesauce when is done cooking - warm, tasty, and fragrant.

Apple Crisp

Apple Crisp
apples
oatmeal
butter
brown sugar
whole wheat flower
cinnamon
nutmeg

Use any apple crisp recipe. But really pump up the apples! So far, in each recipe I've tried, there has been way too much topping and not enough apples. Susan Branch has a great recipe for apple crisp in her cookbook (and art book, as she does her own beautiful illustrations) Heart of the Home, Notes From a Vineyard Kitchen (Little, Brown and Company, 1986).

This time, I added apples to almost the top of the baking dish. Then I switched out white flour for whole wheat flour. The apples seemed really dry, so good for us, the apples in the crockpot were saucing away. I added several dippers of apple juice from the sauce pot. This really made the apple crisp juicy.

Delicious. No ice cream is necessary, but wouldn't that be a great addition?


How many ways can one prepare apples?
Apples, apples, oh how I do love you!
Let me count the ways . . .

Just the beginning of apple delight.

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Orange is In.

Orange, orange, orange...

Orange is the color. I can't really decide how MUCH more I like orange than red and green, but orange wins hands down. There was this one double knit pant suit my mom made me (think 70's and an orange and white hounds tooth pattern)...I think that may have been pushing it. Ok, it WAS pushing it. But I have always loved orange. I believe I felt pretty hot in that pantsuit! We also lived in Arizona. So think, sweaty, hot, double knit, bright orange and white hounds tooth pantsuit. Enough said.

Fast forward to today, and my precious little grandson shows promising signs of loving orange just like his nana! Ah, delightful boy. Papa and nana took our bundle on his first pumpkin patch visit. He absolutely LOVED the pumpkins and oranges and gourds and squash and bumps and Indian corn colors (tried to eat them, in fact). He was wearing an awesome onsie with orange and some picture. All I can remember is I love orange on him. And all I can do is look at his sweet little grin. Who knows what his shirt said?

Fall is the perfect season. Oranges, reds, yellows, pumpkins, squash, corn, and cool days with fall blue skies and approaching storms. Perfect grandbabies with adorable faces.
And orange.

Ah, Autumn...

Autumn is my favorite, most favorite time of the year! I love the cooling weather and frosty nights (ask any woman in her late 40's and she will most likely love cooling weather).

I love the ~

fall colors, oranges, reds, and yellows

mountains of pumpkins

displays of harvested gourds and squash

yellow straw bales

scarecrows

drifting leaves

pumpkin mazes

frosty breath hanging in the air

fuzzy horses with beginnings of winter coats

diamond covered yards decorated with ice

crisp apples fresh from the trees

bountiful produce, soon to disappear into freezers and pantries

shorter days

drifts of wood smoke from cozy fireplaces

warm jackets and long sleeves

pumpkin scones and pumpkin butter

Thanksgiving around the corner

Christmas a few blocks beyond Thanksgiving

family

the Lord, the gracious provider of all things wonderful

Autumn is just too beautiful for words and images.