a few recipes, a few rants

as much as i was complaining about fall (look here), it actually has been pretty great so far. the leaves are slowly starting to color and the air is so crisp.  i went for a run this morning and it felt so peaceful. so fall is really starting to grow on me again (to clarify i have always loved fall but i am not ready for that winter stuff, we had an awful one here in minnesota last year... and i am not ready for it to show up again, stay away winter!!!)

 another nice thing about fall is that our weeks are not as chaotic as they were in the summer. our weeks and weekends have been more laid back, more relaxing, and that is exactly what this soon to be graduated graduate student needs. on saturdays, i have been sneaking off to do early market runs on saturday mornings to gather my produce for the week (and let's be honest, get some pastries for chad and i to nibble on through out the slow saturday morning). and that fall crisp air, it gets me every time.

this year i have frequented the market much more then i have in past years. my garden did not do so hot this year (i blame the move) and i have had a pesty tomato thief who seems to always just take the ripe tomatoes. i don't know if this is a human, or an animal, but either way, i am not happy with this thief and i would really love to eat my favorite food out of the garden!!!!

anyway- change of seasons means change of food. something that always makes me excited. bring on the squash! carrots! potatoes! yummmmm.

i slowly have started to transfer some of our herbs from the garden indoor. i am slightly nervous about this, but am hoping that at least the basil makes it through the winter. i get so much inspiration with the herbs hanging around the kitchen. i just pick and place in whatever i am cooking! i feel french ;) i have also started drying them indoors. trying to capitalize on whatever i have left from my garden.

a couple yummy recipes that i have whipped up lately:

apple-basil eggs(scrambled)

2 eggs
dash of milk
dash of salt
your favorite cheese, grated (i chose gouda)
apples diced
handful of fresh herbs

scramble eggs as one normally would but add in the basil, apple, cheese.
results are life changing. a different but delicious taste.

kirsebom chili has made an appearance again...


spaghetti squash with home made marinara (from giada)

1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil
2 small onions, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves , chopped
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of  freshly ground pepper
2 (32-oz) cans crushed tomatoes (due to it being tomato season i chopped up my own tomatoes and then crushed them myself. results were a success!)
2 dried bay leaves
1 spaghetti squash

1. in  a large pot heat oil over medium high flame, add onions and garlic and saute until onions are translucent (10 minutes)
2. add celery, carrots, and salt and pepper. saute until the vegetables are soft (10 minutes) then add in tomatoes and bay leaves and simmer uncovered over low heat until the sauce thickens (1 hour)
3. remove bay leaves and season sauce with salt and pepper

somewhere in this time frame, maybe after everything has been added, preheat the oven to 350. cut squash in half and remove seeds. bake for 1 hour (but varies based on the size of the squash). let the squash cool, then scrape out the "noodles" with a fork. serve with sauce served on top.

i always freeze/store the leftovers of the sauce, you never know when you will want a piece of toast with yummy sauce and a fried egg, or what you want actual spaghetti. i also usually add some type of meat to the sauce. we are still on a sausage kick in these parts, so i added cooked italian sausage to the sauce, highly recommend.



oven roasted tomatoes

however many tomatoes you would like to have slow roasted, i did about 4 tomatoes, sliced thinly. it does work great to do cherry tomatoes though
whole cloves of garlic unpeeled
olive oil
dried herbs, i used herbs de Providence
dash of sugar
salt and pepper

1. preheat oven to 225
2. place tomatoes in a deep baking dish lined with parchment paper. add the cloves of garlic, mixing it up where you put them.
3. drizzle with olive oil, add herbs, a dash of sugar, salt and pepper.
4. bake for 2.5-3 hours, depending on your tomatoes/oven. when they look curled and shriveled, take them out.

serve on top of anything yummy or delicious. i snacked on some, put some on a roast beef sandwich.. added it to a pasta salad... the options are endless!

teal dish c/o corningware

*****

i have kept up with my posting on honee bee eats, describing all of the random and delicious (not to mention easy!) things to eat, so check it out! 

what have you been eating lately? any fall food i should be eating?

striking against fall

i've been on strike against fall this year.

this may sound like an oxymoron.

everyone loves fall.

don't you love the newness, the freshness.

and i do. i really do. but, i am not looking forward to that thing that comes after fall. so i am refusing to accept it. well, i was. but, after a conversation with a friend, i realized that it is inevitable. fall is here. and it is a great thing. and few things can be worse then last winter. this year winter will be great and manageable. so with that, my attitude has changed. now i am going to pull my summer loving self together and dive fully into fall! today i went down to our storage unit and brought up my sweaters. and they do feel so nice and cozy. i found my favorite, warm and worn scarf- and spent the afternoon reading outside in the fall breeze. i even got so excited that i baked some pumpkin oatmeal and sipped on espresso. then went back and grabbled my favorite blanket because it was getting a wee bit chilly.

fall, you do feel good... after all, we are getting closer to christmas time ;)



pants// paige boots// nordstrom jacket// nordstrom shirt// madewell scarf// target (2 years old) glasses/ firmoo lipstick// relvon purse// coach

good reads

only a few more weeks of interning, and silly papers. this means that in a few  short weeks I get to read more, and not just journal articles, hooray! my reading list has getting larger by the week. though I haven’t really had the time to be reading... I have still have found a little bit of time. that little bit of time is what keeps me sane. my books come along with me everywhere i go- the grocery store, to work,  the car, that way if i ever have a spare minute, i can pick up my little book and make some reading time.  some may say this is embarrassing (chad), but I am a proud book lover and I will read any chance I get! 

over the years my reading choices have slowly changed from fiction, to non-fiction, and these non-fiction titles primarily are all about food and travel, the two things that I think about constantly! and all I want to read about! so- this has lead to some great reading (if you had to ask me) that needs to be shared.  

2014 favorite foodie reads

An Everlasting Meal by Tamar Alder

How to Cook a Wolf by MFK Fisher (and all of her books, they are great food memoirs!) 

Provence, 1970 by Luke Barr

As Always, Julia by Joan Readerson (this one was fun, my friend Ally and I both read it and be now say that we are the next Avis and Julia ;) )
Cooking for Mr Latteby Amanda Hesser
French Women of All Seasons by Mireillo Guiliano

what have your favorite books been latley? i am always looking for a new read (and i don't always just read non-fiction/food/travel books ;) )

we're going on an adventure!

have you ever heard of that little kid song, "we're going on an adventure... to see what we can find..."

well that is how i am feeling because chad and i are going on a cross country adventure, road trip style!we have been wanting to do some type of trip for a while now. something that we have never done. so when chad recently purchased a topper for his truck, we decided that we would turn it into an adventure! we are going to be road tripping from minnesota to colorado, utah, arizona, new mexico, oklahoma, and then up to kansas city. hello beautiful mountains! the grand canyon!amazing hiking spots!

we will be camping in the back of his truck/topper for the entire ride. i am so excited for our little trip, and we are starting to figure out the logistics now.

anyone have any recommendations or must see stops along the way? i would LOVE your recommendations. also, anyone gone on an extended road trip? tips?

if you would like to follow along on our adventure we will be tweeting/instagraming with the hashtag #HomeInTheRange (we are driving around in Chad's Ford Ranger, aka our home for 12 days!)

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