Cream Color....

Cream colored ponies and crisp apple strudels. Door bells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles. Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings. These are a few of my favorite things.....* You may not be able to have a cream colored pony, but how about a cream colored comfy chair to sit in and read? On a diet? How about apple strudel scented candles available on Etsy? Goose-down shoes from Scandia (on sale for $25.00). These items are my take on the song.  Anyone else adore goose-down items? Click here for an easy strudel recipe.

  

Brie Cheese

Quite by accident, we discovered Brie cheese. It's a soft cows' cheese named after the French province, Brie.  We don't eat the "crust" as some do, but the inside....ooooo la-la!

It's great to eat with apples which are in abundance now.  Below is a recipe for a snack that is heavenly. Oh, you can buy Brie nearly anywhere. We found two good brands at Sam's Club. Yes, Sam's. Any other Brie enthusiasts?

Preheat oven to 378 degrees F. Line a good quality baking sheet with parchment paper.

Ingredients:

• 2 Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored and cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 Tablespoon of unsalted butter
  
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/8 tsp. ground cardamom (optional)
  
• 1 round Brie cheese, 6 to 8 oz. and about 4 1/2  inches wide, slightly chilled
• 10-inch round of puff pastry dough, rolled out to 1/4-inch thickness
• 1 egg, beaten with 1 Tbs. water
• Assorted crackers for serving

Directions: Melt butter in a saute pan. Add apples and cook until apples are tender (5-7 minutes). Add the sugar and cardamom, stir to dissolve and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated, (12-15 minutes more). Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature. 

With a sharp knife, cut the cheese in half horizontally. We don't like the rind, so we take it off first. Use a sharp knife and be patient.  Place one half of the cheese in the center of the puff pastry dough, which is on a lightly floured surface. Evenly spread 1/2 cup of the cooked apples over it. Set other half of cheese on top of apple-covered half and spread 1/2 cup cooked apples over the top.

Fold the dough up over the sides of the two cheese halves topped with apples. Pleat the upper edges to fit snugly around the cheese. Pinch the dough together in the center to seal. Brush the dough with egg and water. Place on the prepared baking sheet.

Bake until the pastry is golden all over and crisp, 40 to 45 minutes. Let it rest for 5 minutes, then transfer to a platter along with a sharp knife and the crackers. Serve any remaining apples alongside the crackers. Serves 6 to 8. Photo below.      Photo and basic recipe is from Williams-Sonoma Kitchen

Chili Recipe

Chili = Autumn.
Here's a new recipe for chili. The prep time is 30 minutes. It takes 2 hours to cook.
Ingredients:
2 pounds ground beef chuck (or whatever ground beef you like)
1 pound bulk Italian sausage
2-3 (15 ounce) cans chili beans, drained
1 (15 ounce) can chili beans in spicy sauce
1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice (you can put in 2 cans if you're a big tomato fan)
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1 large yellow or white onion, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 green chile peppers, seeded and chopped
1 tablespoon real bacon bits
4 cubes beef bouillon
1/4 cup chili powder
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons Tabasco™
1 teaspoon dried basil
Salt & pepper to taste
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon white sugar (yes, white sugar)

Then you'll want to top it with:
Fritos (buy a large bag)
Shredded Cheddar ( I like sharp)
Sour Cream
And....you MUST have dill pickle slices on it. Aw, come on and at least try the dill slices!

1. In large stock pot over medium-high heat, crumble ground chuck & sausage and cook until browned. Drain.
2. Mix in chili beans, spicy chili beans, diced tomatoes and tomato paste. Add the onion, celery, bell peppers, chili peppers, bacon bits and bouillon. Season with the next ten ingredients. Stir to blend. Cover and simmer on low heat for at least 2 hours. Stir occasionally.
3. After 2 hours, taste, and adjust salt, pepper, and chili powder if necessary. The longer the chili simmers, the better. Serve or refrigerate for the next day.
4. Top with suggested "goodies."
   

 Let me know if you tried it.

Bounty

It's Friday and time to plan the Saturday visit to the local Farmers Markets!
We have Amish farmers in our area who bring beautiful, organic fruit, veggies and home-baked goods. Yum! Here's a squash recipe I hope you enjoy. This is for three acorn squashes or about 3 1/2 pounds. Preheat oven 400 degrees F.

Ingredients:
3 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup plus 1 Tbs. water
1/4 cup fresh orange juice

2 Tbs. finely chopped orange zest

1/4 cup maple syrup
(optional) 2 Tbs. chopped fresh thyme
1/4 cup chopped dried cranberries

Cut the ends off squash, then cut crosswise into 1/2 inch thick slices. Cut seeds out (can use a biscuit cutter). Place squash rings in a large bowl and season generously with sea salt & pepper. Toss with 2 Tbs. of the melted butter. Arrange the squash rings in a large ovenproof sauté pan.In a small bowl, whisk together the 1/4 cup water, orange juice and zest. Pour over the squash rings. Set the pan over medium-high heat, cover and cook until the squash rings are almost tender when pierced with a fork, about 15 minutes.
In a small bowl, whisk remaining 1 Tbs. melted butter, 1 Tbs. water, maple syrup, (opt) chopped thyme and cranberries. Pour over squash.
Bake uncovered, until squash rings are tender when pierced with a fork, 15 to 20 minutes.
Serves 8. Williams-Sonoma Kitchen.

Bravura Fall

Before the 16th century, harvest was the term usually used to refer to the season, Autumn.
As more people gradually moved from working the land to living in towns and learned to read and write, the word harvest lost its reference to the time of year.
No matter what you call it, it's beautiful in my opinion.
Okay, a little off the subject, but does anyone else watch "Man Versus Food?" He makes me SOOOOO hungry!
Here's a simple, fast, tasty Autumn sandwich recipe.

Roast Beef Sandwich with Horseradish

• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons prepared white horseradish (mix together)
• Garlic to taste if the roast beef does not have garlic
  

• 1 12-inch section French-bread baguette, halved lengthwise
• 8 ounces thinly sliced roast beef
• 2 medium tomatoes, thinly sliced
• 1 large bunch arugula or spinach leaves
• Onion - Vidalia is best - cut in rings. Tip: if you're going to heat the sandwich, go ahead and saute the onion so it will be caramelized.
• Optional favorite cheese, such as Monterey Jack, Swiss, Muenster...and heat until melted on sandwich.
  

If heating the sandwich, add the mayo blend and tomatoes just before eating. Also, toasting the bread is nice.

Whisk mayonnaise & horseradish (and opt. garlic) together in small bowl.

Construct sandwich with roast beef, optional cheese, onions and greens. Season with sea salt and pepper to taste. Heat until cheese melts (in microwave, oven or in a skillet). Add tomato and mayo blend. Cut into 4 pieces and serve.

Fried Green Tomatoes

Last year we put out a few tomato plants, but they didn't do so well.
In autumn, we plopped the disappointments into the compost pile.
This year, we decided not to bother with them because so many friends had tomatoes to give away.
Very early Spring we transplanted two rose bushes. They were "wilty," but we hoped for the best.
After being gone for nearly two weeks, we returned to find volunteer tomato plants growing over our roses! Four of them.
What in the world...?
The tomato plants we put in the compost pile sprouted new plants (because we didn't microwave the compost dirt to kill off junk). The tomato plants shaded the roses and both survived. Yay.
So late in August we had fried green tomatoes. Talk about unexpected blessings...
I use Southern Living Magazine's recipe. Yum.

Pancakes

I'm not a breakfast eater until I've been awake at least 3-4 hours.

However, these ricotta pancakes by Donna Hay could coax me to "nibble a little something" a little before then.

You'll find the recipe on her dot com along with other tasty treats.

Here's the recipe:

1 1/2 cups self-rising flour

1/2 cup super-fine sugar

4 eggs (separated)

1 1/2 cups of buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

7 ounces ricotta cheese

Whisk egg whites & set aside.

Mix flour, sugar, egg yolks, milk, extract. Gently fold in egg whites and the ricotta. Cook 2 Tablespoons of mixture on non-stick skillet on low heat 3-4 minutes or until puffed and golden. Top with maple syrup. Garnish with lemon wedges.

To make optional maple butter, mix 5-6 Tablespoons of softened butter (or margarine) with 2 Tablespoons of maple syrup.

Let me know if you make these & how they turn out!