gobble gobble

hard to believe thanksgiving day was just one week ago.
(and christmas will be here before we know it...crikey.)

i have to show off the awesome apple pie i had made for thanksgiving dessert:

i can't help but toot my own horn whenever i bake something from scratch
that ends up tasting as good as it looks (or vice-versa)
because it certainly doesn't happen very often! :)

i used this recipe from william sonoma for the pie dough and filling,
and i highly recommend it! the only alterations i made were
1) adding more water to the dough,
2) increasing the amount of cinnamon & nutmeg in the filling, and
3) making a lattice top crust instead of using decorative pie crust cutters.

c'est très délicieux!

the triple shimmy

from my recipe booklet collection:

 jell-o

quick and easy jell-o wonder dishes -
entrees, relishes, salads, desserts, 1930

 royal gelatin

royal desserts and salads, 1935

 knox gelatine

glorious sugar frosted candies - fancy but easy-to-make pies - 

15 prize-winning gel-cookery recipes, n.d. (circa 1950s)

autumn apples and acorn squash

happy october.
. . .

my mind may still be in july (oh, summer, why'd you have to leave?) but my appetite is definitely in the present season. to me, the tastes of autumn are the most comforting: mulled apple cider, piping hot chicken pot pies, roasted parsnips and fennel, warm pumpkin bread with cream cheese,  baked apples with rolled oats, cinnamon, & brown sugar...mmm...i could make this list go on for days. :)

. . .

for dinner last monday i tried a stuffed acorn squash recipe from the the apple lover's cookbook by amy traverso. my intention was to use the remaining apples from the previous week's apple picking excursion as well as incorporate a seasonal vegetable to the meal.

the filling consisted of sauteed apples & onions, walnuts, and crispy pancetta. (i added to the recipe by mixing in some wild rice.) just before serving, the stuffed squash halves were topped with gorgonzola cheese & panko breadcrumbs and placed under the broiler for a few minutes.

the outcome was delicious! the sweet and savory flavors in this dish were quite delectable. i was a happy eater. :)

i say to-may-to, you say to-mah-to

meiji chocolat de tomato 

i came across this product at hmart and was immediately intrigued by the concept of tomato flavored chocolate. i tried it today and it's really yummy.

in fact, this would pair well with bacon chocolate. double yummy!

i'd draw the line at lettuce chocolate though... ;)

potatoes, onions, and leeks, oh my!

seeing images of queen elizabeth's recent diamond jubilee triggered a memory of another english royal event that was televised many years ago. i recall that i was eight years old at the time, and i was watching a program with my dad that featured people dressed as giant vegetables running around in a courtyard. (yes, i did say giant vegetables, and no, it wasn't a fever-induced hallucination.) i vaguely remember my dad explaining to me that it was a game or a contest of some kind, and that it was being performed for the benefit of the queen. i was quite entertained by the spectacle of adults running around in onion and leek costumes.

because i don't know the exact details or circumstances of the event, i googled the following, hoping to find information and video footage of the program:

people dressed as giant vegetables, queen, 80's

this search yielded exactly what i was looking for:

the grand knockout tournament

according to wikipedia, the grand knockout tournament was a charity event conceived and organized by prince edward. this event (which was not endorsed by the queen, by the way) consisted of four teams competing in games to raise money for charity. each team's captain was a member of the british royal family, and celebrities were invited to partake in the activities.

needless to say, i had a blast watching the video clips on youtube.

veggies on the loose!	leeks gone wild
come any closer and i'll make you cry	the captured veggies get thrown into the pot (or should i say into the "stock"ade? haha...)

dinner with the uglydolls

chicken drumsticks! let's dig in!

 

chomp, chomp, chomp!