The Month in Review - September 2013

If I were to base it on the sheer number of blog posts and Pinterest photos, I would have to conclude that fall is everybody's favorite season.  Oh, I'm sure there are some holdouts and I, myself, will give you a convincing argument for summer.  But, let's face it, fall is awesome.  Crisp air, colorful leaves, pumpkins, apples, the anticipation of the approaching holidays....it's all pretty damn amazing.

Here in New York we've been having some lovely weather with days in the low 70's and nights in the 60's.  Gorgeous but not quite cool enough for those boots, sweaters and changing leaves we all talk about.  Of the many, many (too many) tabs I usually have open on my computer, one of them is the New York State Fall Foliage Report.  These days I check it religiously to find the perfect weekend for a drive upstate to see the leaves, pick apples and gather pumpkins.  Not yet, but soon.  In the meantime, my market has plenty of sweet apples and canned pumpkin puree and the fall baking has commenced.  But, before the autumn food onslaught, let's take a quick look back at all the deliciousness we created in September.  Enjoy!

Baked Spinach Chips

Remember when kale chips were all the rage?  Well, they're so over now!  OK, maybe they're still raging.  My supermarket now sells them ready made in little 3 serving containers...for $7.00!  At those prices they'd better still be raging but they're definitely over in my kitchen.  I sort of liked them, kind of, for someone who doesn't generally like kale all that much.  Brian ate the first batch I made last year and decided they were over back then.  The net net was that, if you made them for me, I would eat them but I usually didn't bother making them for myself.

Strawberry Thyme Gin Fizz and a Giveaway!

It's my pleasure today to tell you about my friend Heidi's new line of syrups and to give you the opportunity to win a gift basket.  Heidi writes the Young Grasshopper blog and she and I are bonded in our love of cocktails.  Now she, and her catering partner, have created a line of flavored syrups, called Not So Simple Syrup, for those cocktails as well as iced teas, lemonades, cakes...the possibilities are limited only by your imagination.  They work with a local bottler, use only the finest ingredients and personally test every batch.

Fresh Thyme, a Gratin and the Parsnips of Doom

This is a parsnip and fresh thyme gratin and it was a fun alternative to traditional potatoes.  We ate it with grilled steak and a kale salad.  We ate it a few hours later than usual, however, due to an overwhelming attack of stupidity.

Apple Pie Cookies

Aren't these the cutest things?  Not my idea, although I wish they were.  These have been pinned to my to-do list for quite a few months now and I've actually seen them in at least a dozen places.  They all seem to stem back to one original source, though, which is Smitten Kitchen.  So I'll go ahead and say the inspiration came from there.

Cheesy Bacon Corn Casserole

Do you ever get in a cheesy, bacony kind of mood?  That's probably a silly question, isn't it?  So, there I was, on my own for dinner and it was getting late.  I was wrapped up in a dozen projects, papers everywhere, the remnants of cooking projects everywhere.  One of these days I should take a photo of the chaos this place goes through during the day.  But, back to the subject of dinner...

Creamy Veggie Soup

A nip in the air.  A touch of autumn crispness.  An evening of open windows instead of AC.  A small first batch of pumpkins at the market.  It's not exactly full-on autumn yet but the slight chill down instantly brought my soup desires back.  I live on the stuff when the weather cools down.

Life in the Big City - Autumn in New York

"Don't you love New York in the fall?  It makes me wanna buy school supplies.  I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address..."

Chicken Parmesan Meatballs

A couple of weeks ago, when I made meatballs stroganoff, I mentioned that I consider meatballs an easy to make dinner.  It's probably because of that reason that I like experimenting with different flavors and ideas.  So, if I can turn a stroganoff into a meatball, why not a chicken parm?

Pastry Wrapped Baked Pears with Gorgonzola

For a while now, I've had all these recipe notes scattered everywhere that called for pastry dough.  So, I finally decided to go ahead and make a larger batch of dough and keep it in the fridge to be used for a few different cooking experiments.  The truth is that I don't mind making pastry dough but I do strongly mind washing the food processor.  It's old and heavy and not machine washable and cleaning all its bits and pieces is not my favorite kitchen chore.  Large batch of dough works for me.

Baked Peanut Butter and Jelly Doughnuts

So, do you need to be convinced that a peanut butter and jelly doughnut is a good thing?  I'm pretty much a sucker for any peanut butter treat but the idea of these flavors baked into a doughnut was too much to resist.  And yes, I said baked.  No need for frying with these moist beauties.

Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake

As you know, the bundt bakers gather every month and create cakes based on whatever theme our founders, Anuradha of Baker Street and Lora of Cake Duchess, choose.  But this month is special because it's the one year anniversary of the group.  And so we were told to make a "fancy" bundt to help celebrate the occasion.  Hmm.  Fancy, huh?

Sweet Starfish Shortbread Cookies

If a thief were to break into my house and rifle through my kitchen (this is a kitchenware thief), he would find an impressive collection of cookie cutters and conclude that I baked a lot of cookies.  Then he would steal my cutters.  But if the thief then logged on to this blog (because now he needs cookie recipes), he would find that there are none.  Perhaps you all have noticed that, too.  It's not that I don't like cookies.  Who doesn't like cookies?  It's just that I never seem to have much luck making them.  So why, you may well ask, do I have all these cookie cutters?  I shall explain.

The Month in Review - August 2013

OK, before we get started, can one of you please explain to me where the summer went?  I know time flies when you're having fun but I swear this summer was shorter than others.

But, speaking of fun, August was pretty terrific.  There was a cherry challenge that resulted in a few amazing new recipes, some incredibly talented guest posters and our annual summer vacation in gorgeous Maine.  I'm sad to see summer go but we're saying goodbye in style this weekend with a final grill fest and Labor Day party.  Now let's take a look back at the tasty happenings over the past month.  Enjoy!