Favorite Fall Foods

Rumor has it that today was a beautiful warm day in Seattle. I'm not really sure because I spent less than a minute of daylight hours outside today. I'm ok with that because I'm done feeling guilty for not being outside more. Another reason I'm glad fall is here. Back on that subject, my list of the best fall foods. Do you have any to add?

*Candy Corn. I was a late adapter to the candy corn phenomenon, only starting to like it a couple years ago. I'm not sure what's not to like, though. There's nothing wrong with pure sugar.

*Pumpkin anything. I'm a huge fan of the pumpkin... Pumpkin cookies, pumpkin bread, pumpkin bagels, and pumpkin doughnuts are among my favorites. Pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin pie (which is near the bottom of my pumpkin list, but still good), pumpkin pancakes... Yum.

*Chai Tea. Nothing says fall like drinking chai somewhere inside when it's not-so-warm outside. I personally prefer Tazo (milk only, no water) to some of the sweeter chais like Oregon, but any chai will do.

*Soup. What a great food category soup is. I love how easy it is to make in a Crock Pot. I love how easy it is to heat up as leftovers. I love what a great conduit it is for eating bread.

*Apples with Caramel. Just good. And so fall.

I don't really eat/drink any of these in the summer and many of them are so seasonal I only have a 2 month window to partake. Yes, indeed, welcome back fall.

Here's that Pumpkin Bread recipe. This makes one loaf. I almost always double it:
Mix: 6 T butter, 2 eggs, 1/3 c. milk, 1 t. vanilla
In a separate bowl, combine: 1-1/2 c. flour, 1-1/3 c. sugar, 1 t. baking soda, 1/4 t. baking powder, 1/2 t. cloves, 1/2 t. ginger, 1 t. cinnamon (I add slightly less ginger & cloves and slightly more cinnamon...)

Add 1/2 the flour mix to the rest and mix. Add 1 c. canned pumpkin and mix again. Add the remaining flour mixture (don't forget this part) and mix. Add 1/2 c. walnuts (if you want to ruin the bread with walnuts) and mix.

Bake at about 350 for about 50 minutes. (This recipe is written in the back of a book because someone recited it to me in Core Group 7 years ago. I have to get the book out every year to make this bread because I've never bothered to transfer the recipe... And I don't have the temp or time written, so I make it up. It works much better when you turn the oven on.)

The Cluster that Just Was

I know, right? I don't post for three weeks and now I post twice in one evening. But, I have 44 minutes to spare, I need to stay awake, and I already had date night with TiVo this weekend. So, it's either this or read and I did that all afternoon. I can only bleach the sink one time before I get labeled OCD. Besides, what just happened needs to be chronicled for posterity.

Tomorrow morning I'm hosting the UMin staff meeting at my house. That entails basically having coffee and a few snacks for the 14 folks I work with. No problem; I love baking. Janie requested pumpkin bread, one of my specialties (and something that should have been listed in the previous post as something I love about fall. Perhaps "Fall Foods" needs its own listing. I digress.)

This evening, I go to make the bread thinking I have everything I need. I even had a can of pumpkin because I knew fall was coming. Around 9, I go to the kitchen to start the project only to find that I don't have milk, so it's off to Safeway for me. I get home, work my magic with my lovely Kitchenaid, get the batter in the 2 loaf pans, and put them in the oven. Then I start cleaning up the mess - something that gives me an odd pleasure. I get the Kitchenaid bowl filled with soapy water, measuring spoons & cups, spatulas, and anything else that needs cleaning and fits inside. While that soaks, I go to wipe the counter. Only to find a bowl with about 1/3 of the remaining flour mixture. D'oh!

I rush to get the loaves out of the oven thinking they hadn't been in there long enough for it to be too late. I found out quickly they had definitely been in there long enough to burn my fingers off (apparently 5 minutes or so is long enough to need a hot pad). YOW! I put my hands under cold water for a few seconds before rescuing the bread from the oven. How badly was I burned? Let's just say I don't have to worry about those crimes I recently committed because my fingerprints on my thumb and first two fingers of both hands has now been altered. I wish I were kidding. I cannot feel the keys as I type.

So, after a little while longer at the sink, I return to the pumpkin bread. All the batter returns to the now-clean mixing bowl and I add the remaining flour, remix, throw it back in the oven, and return to cleaning. I throw the kitchen mat in the washer since I have to wait 50 minutes for the bread anyway. The sink gets scrubbed. My hands periodically return to the cold water. I go ahead and pull out the tea and mugs for the morning. I look at the oven. Two minutes left. Sleep is near. I take a peek. They are just as I had put them in. Once again: D'OH! I.am.brilliant. Apparently in my anger at the oven for heating so quickly and burning off the pads of my fingers, I had turned it off. "That-will-show-it." Except I forgot to turn it back on. Yes, brilliant. So, this project I went into the kitchen to start at 9 that was supposed to still get me in bed by 10:30 continues even now. I tell you what, whatever comes out of that oven 21 minutes better be damn good. Now how should I spend that time?

This blog needs some fall colors.

Welcome Back

September is what you might call a busy month for me - hence the three week hiatus from blogdom. September is also the month that ushers in my favorite season. I absolutely love the fall. Let me count the ways:

*Football starts. I love the sport even though the Dawgs and Hawks have both struggled to different degrees. I also, though, love the rhythm that football brings. Baseball has a beautiful steady consistency throughout the summer. Football paces itself, bringing pace to my own life.
*The weather. Oh, how I have loved breaking out jackets, sweaters, and jeans again this month. One can only wear flip-flops for so many consecutive days. I'm ready to pack the shorts for a while. Seattle in the fall is the best. We even get respites from the gray on days like today (70s!?!). But there is something comforting about the gray, too. Of course, the shorter days also bring the beautiful leaves. Oh, the leaves.
*New beginnings. There is no reason for us to pretend the year starts mid-winter. We all know that in the rhythm of most lives, the new year starts in the fall. With school starting around the country, the idea that it's a whole new start - a second, third, or 29th chance - is in the air. My resolutions come in September, not in January.

It might get into the 80s tomorrow. I will enjoy it because I know there aren't many more of those Seattle can eke out this year. But when the gray comes back, I will be waiting and I will be excited.

It's kind of odd that in nature, spring brings new life and fall in actuality is the beginning of the slow death of so many things. Because in the life of us humans it seems there is something very life-giving about the fall. The cool air refreshes, the new beginnings invigorate. I absolutely love this season. Welcome back, fall.

Literally Speaking...

I think it's about time for me to weigh in on the Summer Olympics. I miss those darn Olympics. Because they are over, I am reduced to watching the end of a 7-2 Mariner game (or, I suppose) doing something productive.

My favorite Olympic sports to watch this year were volleyball, gymnastics, and of course swimming. My favorite Olympic sport to play this year was "Listen to the announcers misuse the word 'literally.'" I think I would have received at least the silver in that event. I have to warn you, fair reader, that this is a pet peeve of mine. "Literally" has become so overused and misused, that we're going to lose it entirely soon. We must not let it happen!

These were the heinous offenses overheard during the Olympics (even the Canadians screwed it up once; no one is immune!):

- "He is literally that good." (Referring to a baseball player who is so good, he could hit a double.) No. He just plain is that good. He's "very" good or he's "really" good, but what point were you trying to make, Mr. Announcer? "He's not just figuratively that good, people. He's literally that good." What? While we're at it, find another adjective. "Good" is boring. You're paid to describe things with words for a living.
Ahem, sorry for the tirade. It gets worse, though.

- After the Americans won a baseball game: "They literally swept the table with them."
What table? Perhaps they swept said team, in the figurative sense that we have come to use that word meaning they beat them every time they played, but they certainly did not actually break out brooms to do it. If I'm wrong and they did, why didn't they televise that?!?

- While watching diving: "She literally fell apart during the semi-finals."
Ewwwwwwww. I'm glad I didn't have to clean that up. I hope they had doctors on hand to put her back together.

Seriously, people, we can do this. Together we can unite for a better English language. (But don't look to our politicians to bring this change; the presidential candidates have been some of the most egregious offenders I've heard.) "Literally" is an important word and we need to save it. I implore you:

-Let's not use "literally" to help us exaggerate: "He is literally 10 feet tall!" No... No, he's not.
-Let's not use "literally" when there is no figurative option: "He is literally 6 feet tall" is unnecessary unless we are prone to lying and even then we should really say, "He is exactly 6 feet tall," or something to that effect.
-And for goodness' sake, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE let us not use "literally" when we mean the exact opposite: "He was so mad, he literally exploded at me." I certainly hope not.

I'm no English teacher nor am I a grammar scholar. I'm simply one woman who wants the word "literally" back for the world's children.

Favorite Photo Friday

Another week, another blogless 7 days. Alas, I have 3 hours to post a photo at least.Taken 30June08 with Canon EOS Digital Rebel in Rhodes, Greece

Not much to say - I just like this picture. I love playing with focus on foreground and background. In this case, I love the metaphor that this is to my life verse: "I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken." Setting the Lord always before us means we will see everything we do through Him...