It's Time

The Autumnal Shift has occurred.
It comes late here in Southern Indiana but when it does it's unmistakeable.
I find myself shuffling leaves when out walking Dixie.
The song of the locust is waning and the bird's songs are less frequent.

And I start making soup......

In my later years, I must have accumulated enough recipes that coming up with new ones, seems to be no problem. Have I possibly lived long enough to have mixed everything up together that I now know instinctively what works and what doesn't?

Recently, Eldest Son and Lovely Wife joined us for supper and I wanted it to be special.
The dinner won considerable kudos especially from me! Only I know how really surprised we all should have been that it all came out as well as it did!
And I want to share my new favorite recipes.....

(This first recipe, the soup course, was not my own invention...Wish it was...it was awesome!:D It is courtesy of a Dannon Yogurt ad in a Sunday supplement...)

Creamy Sweet Potato Soup
1 3/4 cup Dannon all natural plain yogurt
2 TBSP. canola oil
1 large sweet onion, sliced
2 tsp ground cumin
3 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed (ED NOTE: I parboiled the potatoes to make prep work easier; just slip off jackets and cube as required without all the hard work!)
1 1/2 Qt. chicken broth
2 TBSP chopped parsley or cilantro
1/4 cup toasted pumpkin seeds

1. In a soup pot heat oil. Add onions and cumin and saute 3-4 minutes. Add potatoes and chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer soup 20-25 minutes.
2. Puree soup with 1 1/2 cups of yogurt and parsley or cilantro. Serve each portion of soup with a dollop of remaining yogurt and a sprinkle of pumpkin seeds.

Makes 12 servings

Mustard Crusted Pork Loin

3 lb pork loin
4 cloves of garlic (peeled)
2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 Dijon mustard
2 cups seasoned salad croutons
Canola spray
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
1. Use a roasting pan with a rack. Spray the rack with the canola spray. Place the pork on the rack and make four deep slits with a sharp paring knife, evenly spaced. Place the peeled garlic in the deep slits.
2. Sprinkle the pork with the salt and pepper and pour the oil and vinegar over it all.3. Place pork, uncovered, in the oven for 15 minutes
4. Remove the pork and reduce oven temp to 350
5. Spread the mustard over the pork evenly, covering it well...
6. Crush the croutons (place them in a bag and roll over with a rolling pin) and sprinkle over the pork evenly
7. Place in the 350 degree oven for 2 hours or until a meat thermometer reads 180 degrees. do not overcook....

Mixed Baked Squash

Mix a variety of squash (I used patty pan, summer, zucchini, some unknown reddish orange squash I bought from the Amish at the Farmer's Market)

Cut open the squash that need it and remove seeds.

Place the sliced/cubed/quartered squash in a pyrex casserole.

Place butter pats on random squash pieces.
Sprinkle cinnamon and brown sugar.
Chop 1/2 cup of pecans and sprinkle. Can also add raisins or other dried fruit. Live dangerously.

Place in a 350 degree oven for 30 min or until squash is tender...

Burn some vanilla candles and decorate with gourds that grew in your garden because you threw some out last year and the seeds just planted themselves.

Enjoy the new season, okay?

Off to the sewing room....

The Italian Job

Growing up, two of my really good friends were second generation Italian American. I got very used to the wonderful sauces and lovely Italian influenced gardens of their homes. I got used to being affectionately called a 'mick' whenever I went to their house. If I had to endure the gentle teasing to be able to taste their cuisine, then so be it.

Naturally, I have an affinity for Italian food. Anytime, anywhere.

So it seemed natural that when the 2G's Mama arrived today with over ten pounds of tomatoes from their garden, that I would plan on having homemade spaghetti sauce for supper! The 2G's mama is very half Italian with a half of Irish but when I look at her, I see the dominant Italian coming out. I see it in Grant as well....

Several years ago, the 2G's mama asked me if I had a pizzelles press. Of course I did! If it is unusual in the kitchen, I have it....I have four spring form pans, a crepe maker, an odd assortment of layer cake pans and many molds. That's another part of Mama's Collection...All things old, odd and cool. It turns out the pizzelle maker was purchased from a garage sale from a now mutual friend of ours, Michele. How odd is that? I knew that Grant would love digging into the process and it was a great deal of flurry that he drug his chair into the kitchen to help Nana make cookies. He helps his mama a lot in the kitchen, so he knew his tablespoons from his teaspoons and was enamored with my red handled flour sifter. He looked dubiously at the finished product but obediently took a bite of the luscious concoction.

I have no idea how many pizzelles we actually made since Grant and I kept up with the maker pretty good. I would take the rough edges off so he could have a pristine cookie; amazing how rugged those cookies became! Oh what fun it all was!

Whatever your ethnic inclination, you must find a pizzelle iron and indulge yourself...

Here's the recipe we used....

(from allrecipes online by Marianne Jungels)

Pizzelles III

3 eggs

3/4 cup white sugar

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 tbls vanilla extract

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

2 tsps baking powder

in a large bowl, beat eggs and sugar until thick. Stir in the melted butter and vanilla. Sift together the flour and baking powder, and blend into the batter until smooth.

Heat the pizzelle iron, and brush with oil. Drop about one tablespoon of batter onto each circle on the iron. You may need to experiment with the amount of batter and baking time depending on the iron. Bake for 20-45 seconds or until steam is no longer coming out of the iron. Carefully remove cookies from the iron. Cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

For chocolate pizzelles, add 1/4 cup cocoa sifted together with flour and aking powder, 1/4 cup more sugar and 1/4 tsp more baking powder. You might need more oil on the iron for the chocolate variety.

Tomorrow, the recipe for Fresh Tomato Spaghetti Sauce!