The weather has finally turned cold, and although there’s still a lot of leaves on the trees, it’s definitely the tail end of it. Coats and boots are starting to be taken out of closets in the morning and we eat a lot of soup.
All the winter prep other than Eli finishing his project of covering the windows with insulating plastic – hopefully for the last time – is done. The chimney is cleaned, the firewood delivered, the furnace burners checked, the septic system is pumped. We’re pretty much ready for the winter months, or as ready as we can be.
In early November we took a 24 hour journey out to see my sister in upstate NY and came home with our annual haul of winter vegetables, as well as a large bag of books, borrowed reading material for the coming months of being inside.
Another Thanksgiving is complete, and I am grateful this year for so much. For my home, my family, my friends and my work. For the local food on my table, and the bounty that is our lives.
Right after Thanksgiving my husband and I scooted off to Newport RI for a night – we don’t get away much, but this was just perfect.
Last weekend I started using up our gorgeous haul of veggies.
Because I like to make one big breakfast each weekend, I made some pancakes, and there was a few leftover for a breakfast for someone this week. To that I added bacon and cut up strawberries. Once those were done I got the roasted vegetables started. We had already had some veggies in the fridge from our winter CSA share, so into an oiled baking pan went:
1 large turnip
1 very large sweet potato
1 also large beet
2 leeks
2 onions
6 cloves of garlic
2 parsnips
A handful of baby carrots
I peeled all the veggies and cut them into 1″(ish) chunks. I soaked the leeks in cold water after cutting them up so that any dirt would leach out. Then I tossed them in with salt, pepper, garlic powder, more olive oil, and about 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar. I baked them for 3 hours at 350, and then once dinner went into the oven I lowered that to 325 degrees. After about 5 hours they were done, creamy and caramelized. They cook down significantly, so I also made a salad.
Then I took on a new recipe, a slightly modified version of this Cider Braised Pot Roast. In the interest of pretty and slightly fall-celebratory, I put it in my Staub Pumpkin Cocette. Years ago when I got divorced I had to buy a bunch of things – think bedding, mattresses, silverware, etc – with not a lot of extra cash and very little time. I bought a ton from Overstock.com, and with the Overstock rewards dollars they gave me, I splurged on 2 things – the gorgeous pumpkin shaped dutch oven, and some really pretty, deeply discounted pumpkin dishware.
Turns out the dishes were cheap because they chipped easily, and only a few survive today, but the Cocette I’ve babied. I love this thing. I mean, I really love all things pumpkin shaped, but this was a splurge when I probably should have bought other things with the rewards dollars – but I’ve never regretted it. Good cooking tools are worth it, as long as you use them.
And the pot roast and potatoes were knock your socks off good. We’ll definitely be adding that recipe to the rotation.
I thawed some chicken thighs and breasts to use in Crockpot chicken and dumplings. Honestly I wasn’t impressed with any of the recipes online, so Monday morning after a quick run, I made up my own.
I put 4 chicken thighs and 2 breasts in the bottom of the crockpot, added a little homemade cream of chicken soup, carrots, onions, and a couple pinches of garlic powder, parsley, thyme, tarragon and some a couple of handfuls of frozen peas. I added some salt, and that…was about it for the next 6 hours. Then I added a bit of half and half to make it more creamy.
Then I made these dumplings, which were pretty good. I’m all about the cozy food right now.
I also stuffed spaghetti squash.
This week we’ll get our Christmas Tree, and share cooking as we get back to work from our 4-day weekend, and start getting ready for the holidays in earnest – we decorate every inch that we can of Sithean, and I love all the merry.
Tonight the kids will be home from their grandparents, and we’ll make a simple dinner of spaghetti and meatballs with a double batch of homemade sauce. I don’t have fresh herbs on hand, so I’ll substitute with dried. We bought a raspberry pie from a local farm, and that’s our surprise treat for dessert. And as a side I’ll make this Honey Mustard Kale Salad that’s one of my favorites.
Monday: Eli will make us his famous enchiladas and I’ll make mango salsa and hopefully the avocados will be ripe enough for guacamole.
Tuesday: Chicken Leg Quarters Circa 1975 (baked with rice that was first sauteed in butter with onion and garlic and a quart of chicken broth) with roasted veggies again, and bread. I’ll get up super early to prep everything so that at the end of the work day all we have to do is sit down to eat. Maybe a cucumber salad since we have some dill to use up.
Wednesday: Beef taco skillet and broccoli from the freezer. Both the kids have activities on Wednesday afternoons, so it’s extra busy.
Thursday: Eli will cook using up whatever proteins we need to eat.
Friday: Oven pizza and tree decorating! And I’m going to try this Balsamic Parmesan Brussels Sprouts recipe as a test run for Christmas.
Saturday: we have a dinner out in Boston at one of our favorite restaurants with the kids and their dad. Because Eli has to have a procedure in early December, we’re front-loading our holiday activities.
Sunday: I’ll start making Christmas cookies, and I’ll make some Parmesan Crusted Chicken, a french onion soup, and fresh bread.
Monday: We have some crab and lobster ravioli in the freezer from a sale last month, so I’ll make that, we’ll bread some fish and put a nice lemon caper sauce on top. That with a salad will be just right.
And that will do it. Lunches will be leftovers or sandwiches, and we’ll use up the oranges and apples we have to eat. I hope you have a warm and delicious week.
Little House on the Fairy Hill 