A time to nest....

Today I realized that Autumn and the changes it brings with it are having an effect on me. As the weather is cooler in the early morning hours and in the evening, I have begun seeking out those foods that are heartier and more comforting. And, in my new, healthier mindset, I am also looking for foods that will not make me pack on the pounds over the winter months.

Today was a good example. For dinner I baked chicken and an acorn squash. If you haven't had squash, you really should try it. There are many varieties to try.  Butternut, acorn, spaghetti squash - and I'm sure many more. A butternut squash is yellow/beige in color on the outside and a beautiful burnt orange color on the inside. Spaghetti squash is yellowish and has a stringy texture. Some people like to cook it and then pull the strings out and serve it with a nice marinara sauce. They say it is a good substitute for real spaghetti. I say they're crazy. It has neither the taste nor the texture of real spaghetti and, honestly, it's my least favorite squash. Acorn squash gets it's name because it's shaped like an acorn. It's green on the outside and pale yellow on the inside. Both the acorn and butternut are simple to prepare. Cut them in half. Remove any seeds (acorn). Salt and pepper a bit. Put face down in a small amount of water in a baking pan. Bake at 370 degrees for about a half hour or until the entire squash is fork tender. Then you just flip them over on your plate, put a dollop of butter on board and eat it! You scoop the flesh from the skin, leaving that for the compost heap. Squash has all kinds of goodies in it for your body too. While my dinner was in the oven, I started a ginormous pot of home made chicken soup. I cooked it for a couple of hours so all the veg - onion, celery, carrots, potatoes, turnips, and rutabaga would all get nice and tender and soak in the delicious broth. Then I threw in a bag of kluski noodles. If you're not Polish, you may not know what those are. Kluski are a small noodle, about an inch long, that is thicker than a regular noodle so when it cooks it plumps up more like a tiny, elongated dumpling. So good! The soup is done now and I taste tested it! YUM! When it cools I'll put it in some individual containers for the freezer so I can take to work for lunches.

I have pigs trotters in the freezer right now and a bag of soup beans on the shelf. Next week, I want to make some ham and been soup. I love this time of year. I get my pots and pans and crock pot going and the house smells amazing! And we eat good! And it feels just like home!

At last...it's Friday!

This week was long and somewhat tense but, finally, the weekend is upon us! The weather here has blown in in true Wisconsin fashion. We've had cold, rainy weather for the past two days. I was/am hoping that at some point the sun will shine this weekend. I'm dying to get out and get some pictures of the changing colors to share. At the rate it's going now, the colors will change during this wet cold spell and there will be no pictures. Alas...

One things for certain, tomorrow I am going to partake of a seasonal ritual I've participated in since I was a kiddo. That is...drum roll please...a trip to Jerry Smith's Pumpkin Farm. If you have never been to a pumpkin farm at this time of year you have no idea what I'm talking about! This is a regular farm which throughout the year grows regular crops - corn, tomatoes and whatnot - but, at Halloween, transforms itself into a Halloween wonderland of witches, goblins, ghouls and screaming banshees. They have a petting zoo and a haunted bus. Yes, a haunted BUS run by this guy.



That's Dr. Destruction. He's pretty much a local celebrity. He has a local access cable show which shows weird, scary movies. He and his "ghoulies" do up an old school bus and creep out the locals each year. He also has a band and once ran for Mayor of Kenosha. Yes, all this in full make up!

There is a country store where you can buy all kinds of goodies. You can pick out your perfect pumpkin too. But the very best thing, the holy grail of the pumpkin farm, and the reason I am still going there now that I'm all grown up is this...


That, my friends, is a turtle caramel apple. It's a HUGE Granny Smith apple, covered in caramel and premium chocolate, dipped in pecans and drizzled in even more chocolate. It's soooo worth the $7 they ask for it too. The thing is the size of a soft ball and the taste is...well, the taste is worth going back year after year!

Here's a link to Jerry Smiths.
http://www.smithpumpkinfarm.com/

An Air Of Change

There's something about this time of year that always has a profound effect on me. It is the shortening of the days, less sunshine, and the cooler temperatures that always make me turn to an introspective place inside. I start to think about life and what I want out of it. I also take more time to dream.

It could be argued that there is nothing like a bright summer day with all it's watery blues and vivid green but the colors of autumn burn deep inside me. I took time today to take a walk. I left the bustle of the office to walk along the shore of Lake Michigan. A brisk wind pushed me along. The lake was dark and churning madly covered by the umbrella of cloud filled skies. The whole scene presented itself in a blurred grey and wisps of white. As I came to the end of the harbor wall there was a tree. One lone maple standing hard against the wind. It's leaves, tossing in the wind as it held it's ground, burst against the bleak sky like the wings of a Phoenix. It was a glorious sight.

I made a point to look up as I walked back. Each tree - the maple, the oak, the willow - were all showing off their autumn finery. Waving unashamedly in the face of the on-coming storm, they seemed to say, "Look at us, Look! This is what we were made for! Not the conformist green of summer but for this - the vibrant golden-red-orange glow of our individuality!"

Everyone complains about the changing weather here. But it's a fact of life when you live in Wisconsin - it changes - and we have to change too.