Monday Musings

Been musing in my head about some Fall things, both things I am doing and Fall things I just love.

I saw pumpkins stacked like this on another blog and just had to have it for myself for my front porch. I had just been by lots of pumpkin patches, not stopping because I was done with decorating and didn't need any more pumpkins (I thought!). I decided if I saw some funky pumpkins by chance, cheap enough (pumpkins are high priced in these parts!) I would get them.

There in my local Walmart was a table full of these pumpkins. They were labeled gourds, grown from seeds from around the world. They were $2.98 each. I grabbed them, choosing the ones that would easily stack in my cart to be sure they wouldn't fall over on my porch!

After I recently painted my kitchen stools  over, I got the bug to start re-painting the whole kitchen, badly needing a fresh coat of white. I chose Martin Senour's Swiss Coffee. After 15 years, the white oil based paint on my cupboards had chipped and yellowed. I don't like the knobs anymore either!

Now I like chippy, old white paint as much as the next vintage junkie, but there is just something about a fresh coat of white paint in the kitchen!!

This is a view of the island, stool and cupboards that are done. I have a long way to go!

It started out a cold, rainy Monday morning and I had to go out first thing. Layers were in order.

My son had off from school for Columbus Day and our plan was to go to our favorite Cider Mill/Farm Market, Schutts Cider Mill, about a half hour away.

By the time we were ready to go, the sun came out and it warmed up to 70 degrees! Driving with the windows down we passed by small roadside stands with pumpkins, Indian corn and gourds along the way.

My first stop was to search through the pumpkins in front of the store for fallen off stems, a tip I got from a tutorial on making velvet pumpkins. I fell in love when I first saw the stuffed beauties and with a real stem, they are so pretty to decorate with. I am going to try and follow that tutorial and make one!

Schutts has the best cider and donuts, both made on the premises. Their cider is clear and so fresh tasting. It is worth the drive and the price!

I was excited to get home and put my apples in my vintage orchard basket....

On the way home we stopped to drop off some cider and donuts to my daughter Jena and my granddaugher Chloe and newborn grandson, JC.

He is always sleeping! It's hard work growing so much! He is a big boy..... weighing 9 pounds 11 ounces at birth. At one month he is 11 pounds and wearing a 6 month outfit. Look at that red hair!!

It stands straight up like that no matter what you do!

My husband and I celebrate our wedding day every month on the 13th with a little gift for each other. This is what I got...M & M's white chocolate candy corn candies. They have a distinct white chocolate taste with a hint of candy corn flavor. My husband knows me well.

I know him well too. This is what I gave him...chocolate espresso bread for his breakfast every morning at work. He grew up on espresso and you know what they say about the way to a man's heart......!

Are you having a nice Fall?

AnnMarie xoxo

I am linking up to these great blog parties:

Treasure Box Tuesday
You're Gonna Love It Tuesday
The Scoop
Wake Up Wednesday Linky Party
What's It Wednesday
Share Your Cup Thursday
Home and Garden Thursday
Treasure Hunt Thursday
Freedom Fridays with All My Bloggy Friends

You Can't Beet This Salad for Healthy Eating!

I love beets!

My love for them began when I was pregnant for my son 14 1/2 years ago. I actually craved them. I would buy them and boil them for the hours they took to cook, salivating just waiting for them to be done!

Then Dr. Oz came on the scene with his healthy eating tips and shared a salad that was made with beets and goat cheese. Well, I never made that because of the goat cheese. Then I went to a funky cafe in a funky part of the city near me and had almost that exact salad.

That is when I fell in love with goat cheese!

So when my husband gave me Lidia's Favorite Recipes cookbook recently I was thrilled that she had a beet salad recipe in there. I had to try it this time, knowing though that I was probably going to eat it all alone.......my husband and son wouldn't even think of trying it! So, I invited my girlfriend Bonnie over for lunch, making sure she liked the ingredients, and I made it. Her husband wouldn't ever try it either! It was delish! Definitely a girls luncheon kind of salad.

Since then I have made it a few times just for myself with a few changes here and there. It makes about 4 meals, so I was eating it for every meal till it was gone! When Bonnie came over I replaced the sliced apple with sliced cucumber because she can't have apples. I used only the red beets, which are so sweet, but they tend to throw a lot of their color on to everything. I also added swiss chard to the greens. When I made it for myself I added chopped walnuts which gave it just enough crunch!



This is the full recipe in one of those large pasta dishes!

Roasted Beet and Beet Greens Salad with Apples and Goat Cheese

 

 

Serves 6

 

10 to 12 small yellow and red beets with greens and stems attached (about 3 pounds)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/3 cup balsamic vinegar

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 medium tart, crisp apple

4 oz. aged goat cheese
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

 

Slice the greens off of the beet bulb, leaving a tiny bit of stem on the top of beets, then scrub the beets clean and poke them with a fork. Put in a shallow baking dish with 1/2" water on the bottom. Roast the beets till tender all the way through, about an hour. Replenish water as needed. Test with a knife. Cool completely.

Rinse the beet greens well trimming off the tough parts of the stems and cut the softer stem pieces from the leaves. Bring a large pan of water to a boil and drop in the stems. Cook for about 10 minutes, then add the greens. Cook all for 20 minutes more. Drain and sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt and let them cool. I found that there weren't a lot of greens on one of the bunches of beets I had so I bought swiss chard, cooked it, and added it to the mix.

Peel the cooled beets removing the tip, the stem base and all the skin. Cut in wedges and put in a large bowl. Cut the stems and greens and add to the beets.

Whisk together the oil and vinegar with the remaining 1/4 tsp. of salt and some pepper. Drizzle the dressing over the beets and toss. Core and slice the apple and add to the salad, topping it all off with crumbled goat cheese and walnuts.

Mmmm....want some?



 

AnnMarie :)