food stuffs

First off, the weekend was nice... the rides to and from Pittsburgh went super fast and easy. The time there was nice too. The wedding was fine (okay, not super psyched about it: it was cold, and the whole thing was outdoors from beginning to end with no tent or heaters or even that many lights... but it was fine) and seeing his family was very nice. A few pics:




Not to sound disrespectful?/rude?/inconsiderate?/selfish? (don't know the right word here), but I think my favorite part of the whole weekend was went we got back on Sunday... dropped Willy off at home and headed out to one of our favorite restaurants (the Pearl) for dinner. Just the two of us. What can I say, it was really nice. Anywho...


NOW! Can we talk about food (sorry, but that's what I really want to talk about)? Because it's fall, it's beautiful out and now that there is a chill in the air, and it's no longer 80+ degrees out I feel like I can actually use my kitchen again. You know, for cooking. In the oven.

Fabulous!

I love food. And I especially love foods that I cook in the fall because they are hardy and delicious and rich. Oh course, all that means fattening too... but pishaw, they are still wonderful.

Here are some of the items on my fall menu:

• Beef Stew
• Egg bake/quiche thing (with bacon, cheese, and bread)
• Risotto
• Baked Mac & Cheese (the kind with the bread crumbs on top, oh yes)
• Baked Potato soup (with cheese and bacon)
• Shepards Pie
• Leek and Potato Tart
• Corn and Cheese Chowder
• Cheddar Broccoli Soup
• French Onion Soup
• Chicken Cordon Bleu

Um, are you noticing a trend here? Something having to do with cheese, and occationally bacon, and oh the creaminess?! And damn do I love stew/soup/chowder... it's such a perfect food for filling you up and warming your bones. If you want any recipes, I'm happy to share... if you have any recipes that are great, send them my way!!

And to drink:

• Warm apple wine (this stuff, absolutely fabu! and apparently 10% off)
• Hot chocolate with peppermint & baileys
• Apple cider

And of course, no meal is complete without a yummy dessert:

• Apple Crumble Pie
• Baked Apples
• Pumpkin Bread

Are you drooling now? Because if you aren't.... You are not human.
Not. Human.


Oh, and two current food news bits:
- First off... I love almonds! I never knew this... in fact until just recently I didn't like almonds at all. But I retried them again a few weeks ago and now I LOVE them, can't get enough of them. They are great, and thank god they are healthy because I've been eating them a lot.
- Secondly, Dragon Fruit... a discovery of mine from China. That was the only place I ever ate it and I could only find it in the states somewhere that I would need to ship it to myself. Not going to happen. (I know I've talked about this before, but can't find where... hmm...) Well, last week, I found some!! Di Bruno Brothers... the amazing cheese, etc shop here in Philly (and elsewhere) had some. Damn, I haven't been that excited in a while. I had to get one... and here are some pictures.

It wasn't the best dragonfruit I ever had (I didn't know how to pick one until I checked online AFTER I had already bought this one... you want a thinner, shinier rind)... but it was great just to have one!

Okay, well I need to get back to work. And yes, I really did just devote a whole post just to food. Man I love this time of year.



ps. So I just got the email telling me its time to sign up for the Breast Cancer 3-day. I've been planning for a while now to do the walk next year, but now that it is time to sign up... suddenly I'm... well, scared! What if I can't do it?
So dumb, and I'm going to sign up... but I didn't think it would be this intimidating!!