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Seasonal Sundays (Week 44 Halloween Week) |  |
You Texted Me Back, Thanks!
The very best words this cook/writer can hear: "I have learned so much from you."
Thank you, Lee Bee with the pretty name Leonora, so like my great-grandmother's!
B O O!
Oh the excitement! Oh the costumes! Oh the pumpkins! (And oh my, the sugar! Does anyone else's brain explode seeing the aisles of candy and sweets that taunt and tempt us between now and the new year?)
My favorite thing used to be hitting a Denny's on Halloween about 1 am, just to watch post-party groups arrive in costume for hangover cures before heading home. Hilarious ...
Now things are more sedate, just pumpkin carving with the grandkids and organizing a special "no masks" evening with the twin who finds Halloween shape-shifting shenanigans unnerving.
You? What's your Halloween like?
Halloween ideas, not many but they're fun!
You Heard It Here First! Maybe?
Many of us will switch the clocks by an hour next weekend, "falling back" to gain an hour's sleep, definitely better than "springing forward" to lose one.
That means early risers will see more sunrises and suddenly, dark will descend so much earlier, making for um, cozy, dinner times.
As regular readers know, Kitchen Parade is full of short essays, life musings and observations, some times sentimental, some times provocative. These essays don't translate so well from print to digital, even Google's most advanced search algorithms have difficulty figuring why I write about turning back our clocks and a forty-year ritual the Monday after the time change and then switch to a soup recipe.
But in my seasonal mind, one follows the other. The time changes and life is little different. It's like switching a painting from one wall to another, you suddenly see the painting differently, the light, the perspective passing, the viewpoint sitting.
And ... I like to think that these essays are part of the reason why readers come back and sign up for free email subscriptions, .
That essay about switching our clocks back? It's here, along yes, with a recipe, White Chicken Chili.
Anyone curious about those early essays, I keep a list of my favorite essays, there were a lot during Kitchen Parade's print years.
Something for Supper
Come fall, I find myself wishing we had pork in the freezer.
And sauerkraut! Shoppers tip, be sure to buy sauerkraut in glass jars or plastic packets, not cans, a world of difference. And keep your eyes peeled for small-batch sauerkrauts from local producers. At least here in the Midwest, they're easy to find and extra good!
Not Into Sauerkraut?
Haha, no problem, I've got you covered here too, albeit with fresh cabbage.
Weight Watchers, pick your sausages carefully (anything with a label, at least you know what you're getting) and this easy rustic skillet can be very Freestyle friendly.
My Wish for All of Us
- Color that delights and the eyes to really see it, up close and far away.
- Ministering Through Food, whether on the giving or receiving end
Vegetarians at the Table
This is a lovely autumn-y lasagna, no meat, no tomato, no ricotta in sight. Instead, build a creamy sauce with puréed roasted butternut squash, then intersperse roasted squash cubes. Just gorgeous.
Thanksgiving? Sure. But it works for light dinners too, it's on the ideas list for my next book club. This is the time of year when I like to keep the dinners themselves festive but light, leaving room for a knock-out dessert. Hello Pumpkin Cheesecake?!
Butternut Squash Lasagna with Butternut Bechamel & Roasted Butternut Squash
It's one of several ideas for Vegetarian Entrées for Thanksgiving.
Finally, It's Chili Season!
- White Chicken Chili, a spicy-but-not-too-spicy concoction of chicken, spices, chilies and white beans, so good on a chilly night!
- Chocolate Chili, my long-time chili recipe, full of spices and flavor and a touch of chocolate. I serve it with mashed potatoes or better still, Mashed Potatoes & Carrots, an old Iowa farmwife technique to make meat go further when feeding hungry farmhands.
- Chillin': Favorite Chili, Chowder & Cornbread Recipes, a big collection of football-friendly recipes!
Something to Savor
Testaments is the sequel to Margaret Atwood's 1985 harrowing dystopian novel The Handmaid's Tale whose Hulu production has etched the images of bound women in our minds.
I'm in my second reading (or, more accurately, listening) and recommend a review of the first book before pitching in. Testaments isn't as riveting as Handmaid's – for a frightening reason, however, that it all seems too possible, too real, almost too familiar. It digs deeper into the characters and fills in gaps left wide open in the first book. If Aunt Lydia stymied you in the first book, all shall become clear ...
Recommended!
The Testaments: The Sequel to The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Green Tomatoes, Just Before Frost
Paying it forward.
I first posted this green-tomato pie in July, when the farmers markets were full of green tomatoes. A friend gently tut-tutted, coaching me that green tomatoes are at their very best just before frost, as in now.
I checked yesterday: our garden is plum done, not a green tomato in sight. But for anyone with plants still producing, although probably not ripening, given the time of year, let me recommend this pie.
Green tomatoes with sugar? You'll swear you're eating apples.
"To Every Thing There Is a Season"
I tried to start a movement and it failed. Oops. And even my own #PieDayFridays have come to a close.
But I love projects like #PieDayFriday, whether for two weeks or two years. You learn so much, you try new things, you perfect your old favorites. I recommend it!
Are you gearing up "pie season"? That's the month of November when every food magazine will have either a turkey or a pie on the front cover, just the magazine racks, am I right? Maybe now's the moment to dig into homemade pies?
All my pie recipes, including several crusts, fruit pies, cream pies, no-bake pies and more. Dig in, looking is calorie-free!
DIY Dried Herbs
This is on today's agenda for the very last of the summer basil.
Leftover Halloween Candy?
In this house, leftover Halloween candy is as likely as leftover wine, it just doesn't happen!
But for anyone who can raid the kids' candy bags, you'll definitely want to mix up a batch of Snickers Cookies, peanut butter cookie dough wrapped around bars wrapped mini Snickers bars. Sooo good.
Early Christmas Shopping in the ... Doctor's Waiting Room?
I'm mixing my metaphors merriments here, Halloween and Christmas, but keep your eyes peeled for kids' reactions to the toys in the waiting area before doctor appointments. Both these held rapt attention for long whiles, I ordered each on the spot for two grandnephews, ages four and one.
- First 100 Animals Board Book
- Numbers Colors Shapes Board Book
- First 100 Words Board Book
- Melissa & Doug Wooden Latches Board
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My Disclosure Promise
Updated Recipes, Just This Week
Refrigerator Pickled Beets, people are crazy for these, put a big jar in the fridge soon and then, instant salad for a cople of months. No canning required!
Finnish Meatballs, one of Kitchen Parade's top recipes, maybe because I share three tips for light and tender meatballs, techniques that can be used with your own favorite meatball recipe.
Broccoli Potato Soup, a meal in itself, tons of broccoli and broth-based instead of cream-based, saving calories and making the real star the broccoli itself.
Savory Spinach Kugel made with fresh spinach, a rich side dish for the right occasion, a friend who took the casserole home loved it, saying, "I'd definitely order this at a restaurant." Super easy to make, easy to scale up for a crowd.
Estonian Apple Cake, just republished this week, so happy to see it fly to the top of the "trending recipes" list! it's a simple, rustic cake with so many fresh apples, you'll find yourself wondering if there are too many. There aren't!
Text Me Back!
I'd love to hear from you. Comment, send me a quick e-mail via recipes@kitchen-parade.com, dot-dash in Morse code, build a fire for smoke signals, whatever.
- What's up in your world?
- Are you "celebrating" Halloween? What happens to the leftover candy? Or is there leftover candy?!
- Are you gift shopping already?
- What're you reading?
- Anything else? Chime in, chat away.
Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences.
Quick Suppers are Kitchen Parade favorites and feature recipes easy on the budget, the clock, the waistline and the dishwasher. Do you have a favorite recipe that other Kitchen Parade readers might like? Just send me a quick e-mail via recipes@kitchen-parade.com. How to print a Kitchen Parade recipe. Never miss a recipe! If you like this recipe, sign up for a free e-mail subscription. If you like Kitchen Parade, you're sure to like my food blog about vegetable recipes, too, A Veggie Venture. If you make this recipe, I'd love to know your results! Just leave a comment below.
© Copyright Kitchen Parade 2019
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Thank you for taking a moment to write! I read each and every comment, for each and every recipe. If you have a specific question, it's nearly always answered quick-quick. But I also love hearing your reactions, your curiosity, even your concerns! When you've made a recipe, I especially love to know how it turned out, what variations you made, what you'll do differently the next time. ~ Alanna