Seasonal Sundays (Week 39) Cooking with Apples

I hope you're hungry because today the temptation is apples, all on the savory side, apps and sides and salads and suppers. I hope you'll find one or two destined as "keepers" in your own recipe repertoire.

~ Skip Straight to the Good Stuff ~

~ PIN This ~

Welcome to Seasonal Sundays ...

Hey, all. Thank you for following Kitchen Parade, for checking in on these Sunday recipe collections. It means the world to be welcomed into your InBox and RSS readers and most of all, your kitchens. So thank you, thank you. And if you like this week's recipes, perhaps you'll share this newsletter with a friend or social circle? If you forward this message, others may subscribe for free right here. Thank you!

For a month now, I've told my husband we not allowed to blink because if we do, we'll wake up and it'll be Christmas.

So what if I were to tell you that Thanksgiving is in ... just two weeks!

And it is — if you're Canadian — and it could be — if you'll join me in celebrating Thanksgiving.

And here's some good news, Canadian Thanksgiving may "officially" fall on Monday, October 9th this year but Canadians are super-relaxed about which day of the long weekend to designate as the big day.

But! More good news! Canadian Thanksgiving is the same weekend as the October long weekend many in the U.S. get to take off. So there's that, too!

Let's do this, shall we?!

PS Next week, I think I'll feature fall side dishes that can work for a casual Thanksgiving AND for weeknight meals. Y'know. Just in case ...

13 Reasons for Americans to Celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving ...

• You're Canadian! or have Canadian family you miss like crazy!
you just love Thanksgiving, just one isn't enough!
• Isn't it just so civilized, an October Thanksgiving? Instead of cramming Thanksgiving and Christmas together in a few weeks, this lets both holidays really breathe.
• You like to experiment with new food traditions but your family prefers the old Thanksgiving standbys.
• You'd like to do a test run on something special, rolls or pie or maybe dry-brining a whole turkey. Or hey, how about that World's Best Green Bean Casserole some, um, blogger, is always blathering about?
• You're a planner: the best way to make sure to have enough turkey stock on hand for gravy in November is to cook a turkey (or maybe a breast in a slow cooker) in November and freeze the stock.
• Your friends are so social, they already have November Friendsgiving plans.
• A much better chance of pretty weather for an outside Thanksgiving!
• You just can't wait until November!
• You have so much gratitude, one Thanksgiving just isn't enough.
• Thanksgiving is at (your mom's, your aunt's, your cousin's, etc) and you really do like doing your own thing.
• You'll be out of town for Thanksgiving itself but still want to celebrate with local family.
• Your kids are going to their in-laws this year on Thanksgiving itself.
• You really want to decorate for Christmas before Thanksgiving (so do! and go out on Thanksgiving itself).

• THE BIG IDEA This Year, Let's Celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving So many reasons for Americans, too, to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving in October.
• RECIPES & MORE Thanksgiving Menus, Recipes & More
• ESPECIALLY FOR VEGETABLE LOVERS Thanksgiving Vegetable Recipes

May I Suggest ... a Link or Two?

Let me just presume that if you're reading this, well, you're both a cook and a recipe collector. Don't the two kinda go together? And that means you tuck aside interesting recipes all over the place and then, dang, where is that chicken recipe that looked so good anyway? Here's an idea. Start a folder on your phone, call it "Kitchen Parade" or "Alanna" or whatever makes best sense to you. Then save the recipes you're most interested in right there in one place. Easy Peasy.

• Start here?
• apples
• apple cider

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SEASONAL INSPIRATION: Tis Apple Season!

• THE RECIPE Pumpkin-Cream Cheese Fruit Dip Barely sweet, a healthy makeover. (PIN This)
• ANOTHER TAKE Homemade Pub Cheese Cheddar + beer + horseradish = casual bar food at home. (PIN This)

• THE RECIPE Mulled Apple Cider Fruit and spices turn supermarket apple cider into something special and irresistible. (PIN This)
• ANOTHER TAKE Sugar-Free Chai Tea Just good ginger, good spices, good tea and good milk.

• THE RECIPE Naturally Sweetened Apple Butter Apple Butter as it should be, naturally sweet with just a touch of butter.
• ANOTHER TAKE Homemade Applesauce Just apples, no added sugar! (PIN This)

• THE RECIPE Easy Coleslaw with Blue Cheese & Apple From a bag, a bottle and an apple.
• ANOTHER TAKE Apple Juice Slaw Naturally sweetened with apple juice.

• THE RECIPE Healthy Waldorf Salad My makeover recipe for Waldorf Salad, reducing calories and Weight Watchers points by more than 80%.
• ANOTHER TAKE Celery & Apple Salad A celebration of celery and celery leaves.

• THE RECIPE Chicken Cider Stew Another Quick Supper, one skillet perfect for fall. (PIN This)
• ANOTHER TAKE Chicken with Creamy Cider Gravy Another Quick Supper, moist chicken in a mahogany sauce. (PIN This)

• THE RECIPE Thick Chops with Sauerkraut & Apples A Quick Supper, moist chops in apple-chunky sauerkraut.
• ANOTHER TAKE Breakfast Casserole with Sausage, Apples & Caramelized Onions A make-ahead breakfast casserole, layers of sausage, apple and caramelized onion.

• THE APPLES COLLECTION All My Apple Recipes
• APPLE CIDER, TOO apple cider How to use those big jugs of cider we can't resist ...

What's New?!

Wondering about a recipe from the last while? Check Recent Recipes from Kitchen Parade and Recent Vegetable Recipes from A Veggie Venture.

• TEN THINGS I Love About Our New Kitchen What we did, why we did it, what we love, what we've changed. Now updated after ten years! (PIN This)

Looking Ahead ...

• September 24th - 25th - Yom Kippur
• October 1st - Alanna's Unofficial First Day of Fall
• October 9th - Canadian Thanksgiving
• October 9th - Columbus Day (but really, shouldn't we be doing something else with this day???)
• October 31st - Halloween
• November 1st & 2nd - Days of the Dead (All Saints)
• November 4th - 5th - "Fall Backward" Time Change (an extra hour! nice!)
• November 11th - Veteran's Day
• November 23rd (early! nice!) - American Thanksgiving
• December 1st - Alanna's Unofficial First day of Winter
• December 21st - Winter Solstice (Official First Day of Winter)

Looking Back ...

• Burger Season (Week 38) (PIN This)
• Fall Is for Vegetarians (Week 37) (PIN This)
• Lazy Weekend Breakfasts (Week 36) (PIN This)
• Summer's Not Over Yet (Week 35) (PIN This)
• Memorable Summer Sides (Week 30) (PIN This)
• Zucchini Season! (Week 29) (PIN This)
• Melon Season! (Week 28) (PIN This)
• Summer Potluck Favorites (Week 27) (PIN This)
• Summer Ice Cream (Week 26) (PIN This)
• Summer Sandwiches (Week 25) (PIN This)

Déjà Vu

Something useful ... or thoughtful ... or interesting ... or fun ... from Seasonal Sundays in 2019, this same week.

Signs That Fall Is Upon Us Here in the Mississippi River Valley

• Planting the first mums, this year bright orange and bronze
• Switching from lemons to apples in a bowl on the counter
• The invitation to an annual fall party in the country (yay for hayrides in open meadows, no human lights in sight; once one of the twin grandsons started counting the stars but "gave up at a million")
• A flurry at the hummingbird feeders
• At dawn, the first calls of Canada geese in flight
• Already mourning fresh tomato sandwiches
• Stocking up on canned pumpkin
• Finding the season's first black walnuts at ... get this ... Sam's Club
• Hankering for morning oatmeal again, especially Creamy Oatmeal
• Thinking about celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving the first full weekend in October

A Quick Peek Into a Real-Life Kitchen

Just so you know, everything's not all pretty pictures around here, in the background is a pile of dirty dishes. And just like many (all?) of us, come five o'clock, I too draw a blank about what to make for supper, despite so many recipes I so dearly love. Here's a quick peek from the last week, not including the ratatouille, simple lentil salad with seasonal vegetables and green chile sauce (salsa verde) on repeat this time of year.

• THIS WEEK So good! It's been way too long since this scent filled the kitchen! We loved it for breakfast the first day but after that, my husband drizzled a little cream over top and called it dessert.
• THE RECIPE Easy Baked Oatmeal with Apples & Walnuts Healthy oats gussied up with warm fruit and nuts.

• THIS WEEK The good news, I loved the addition of a few apple slices. The not-as-good news, that curly kale some-buddy brought home instead of the requested lacinato kale takes foooooor-evah to cook. I did like the leftovers cold, chopped into salads.
• THE RECIPE Jubilee Greens How to sauté leafy greens like spinach, chard, kale & more. (PIN This)

• THIS WEEK I'm not sure where to even buy lamb anymore but no worries, a pretty beef chuck roast worked great here. I need to rename this recipe because that "sweet tomato jam" isn't a "jam" at all, a late-summer wonderful late-summer of onion and tomatoes with cinnamon, saffron and honey. Yeah. GOOD.
• THE RECIPE Lamb Stew with Sweet Tomato Jam A Moroccan-style lamb stew.

• THIS WEEK I chopped the eggplant and tomato really small, cooked it to a soft, almost-hash base, then slipped some pieces of cod on top and let it all simmer for 15 minutes. "The fish is great but the vegetables are wonderful" reported my usually compliment-shy husband.
• THE RECIPE Caponata – Sicilian Eggplant A versatile side dish, vegetable salad, veggie spread and more.

Just Updated!

• THE RECIPE Calico Beans aka "Alanna's Famous Cowboy Beans" A hearty baked-bean dish, meaty enough for supper, but more often served as a side at potlucks. (PIN This)
• ANOTHER TAKE Greek Baked Beans (Gigantes Plaki) Cooked until creamy in the oven. (PIN This)

Something to Read

PICK ONE Good Night, Irene (affiliate link) by Luis Alberto Urrea may well be the most powerful and compelling book about women in combat in World War II and you know, there's so many of those.

Amazon has named Good Night, Irene as one of its Top Twenty Best Books so far in 2023. I've never seen this list before so was struck to find so many of my own recommendations there too, including: Hello Beautiful (affiliate link) by Ann Napolitano: All the Sinners Bleed (affiliate link) by S.A. Crosby; Small Mercies (affiliate link) by Dennis LeHane of Mystic River fame; plus another I'm having trouble getting into but am plugging away.

• NO TIME TO READ? MAYBE YOU DO! How I Read 4X More This Year Than Last What I gave up, how I read so much, what I read.

Don't Be a Stranger ...

I'd love to hear from you. Comment, send me a quick e-mail (my current address is in the FAQs), dot-dash in Morse code, build a fire for smoke signals, launch a message in a bottle, send a Christmas letter, get the dog to yip, toss me a note wrapped in a rubberband, write a message in the sky, scratch a note in the sand, listen to a seashell, tuck a question into a plastic Easter egg, whatever.

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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, you'll find my current address in the FAQs. 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. When you make my recipes, I'd love to know your results! Just leave a comment below or better still, on the specific recipe's page.

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