‘Fall Fest 2010’ Articles at Sweetnicks

Fall Fest 2010: Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Warm Cider Vinaigrette

October 26, 2010 · Narrative

When I saw that this week’s Fall Fest theme was Mad Stash, with an interpretation towards “what do you want to eat a lot of before it’s gone for the season…,” I knew exactly what I was going to write about. The salad we had for dinner on Sunday night. Company for dinner, every Sunday, and this past weekend, I was brave and rolled out four new recipes. All four were good. This salad one with the dressing? Stellar. Absolutely positively stellar. And the ingredient I will miss when it’s out of season? Butternut squash. Another important ingredient in the salad. There were five kids at the table. Every single one of them ate this salad. Even those that claimed to not like butternut squash the week before. Nobody pushed it aside. Everyone went back for more. It was that good. Between the deliciously roasted squash … to the sharp bite of the Gorgonzola … to the peppery taste from the arugula … to the sweetness of the dressing. It all collided together into one magical chorus of Fall.

Make this. Make it often. It’s like taking the very best flavors and memories of Fall and putting it on a plate. And outside of the roasting of the squash, it takes five minutes to prepare. You can handle that, right?

Need more Mad Stash inspiration? Check out what my fellow Fall Festers are serving up tonight (some links might not be live until tomorrow am):

Alison at Food2: Break Out the Stash

Nicole at Pinch My Salt: Spiced Pear Butter

Kirsten at Food Network: Roasting Pumpkin Seeds

Liz at Healthy Eats: Mad Squash Stash

Michelle at Cooking Channel: Save Em’ While You Can

Caroline at the Wright Recipes: Brandied Apple Butter

Alana at Eating From the Ground Up: Chest Freezers and Why They’re Fabulous

Caron at San Diego Foodstuff: Single Woman’s Refrigerator Sauce (link coming soon)

Todd and Diane: Persimmons (link coming soon)

Project 365
October 26, 2010, Photo #191, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, and 197

Aren’t those adorable? Madeline’s footprints are the second from the left.

Her school had their Halloween party today and I left my camera with them so they could capture what I was missing.

They played Pin the Nose on the Pumpkin.

They decorated milk jugs and after some targeted hits on a pinata, they used the milk jugs to scoop up the candy that fell.

The little boy on the right is Chaze, and he’s in Madeline’s class. Every morning I drop her off, I sit down with her for a few minutes and as soon as I put my keys down, he makes a beeline for them and always presses the button I say not to. You know, the one that automatically starts my car. And when I leave to go to work, he runs up and fends off Madeline to give me kisses and hugs, clinging to my legs. Yesterday he accidentally called me Mommy. It’s very cute. When I pick her up, he races towards me, trying to sneak out with her. Because I’m certain I wouldn’t notice an extra little body following me. He is hugging his brother, and Chaze’s other brother (Spiderman’s twin) is in the back right in the blue Thomas costume. They’re all very sweet and looked at all the pictures I had on my camera, to approve each one.

As I was leaving her school today, I noticed yesterday’s theme. Love it!

Madeline’s teacher is on the right side dressed as Mary Poppins. Chaze is the skeleton on the right side in the front. Too cute. Very boy heavy classes this year! And, of course, my little cutie in the center. I have heavily bribed her to wear the wig for more than 30 seconds come Sunday. We’ll see how successful that ends up being.

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Fall Fest 2010: Roasted Acorn Squash with Brown Sugar

October 12, 2010 · Narrative

When it comes to food that I ate growing up, I remember very little of what my Mom made us for dinner. It’s not that she didn’t cook. She did. All the time. I was just waaay less interested in food as compared to my interest level now. Oh, that and my memory pretty much sucks.

Some of my favorite stand-out dishes from my childhood include an amazing creamy risotto type dish with salmon (and for years, that remained the only way I would eat salmon), a recipe for Spaghetti Arrlechino that she learned at the hands of an Italian chef when we lived in Italy (which I had to swear not to share here), baked apples and roasted acorn squash. She used to make the acorn squash with brown sugar and butter, and it was to die for. Surprisingly, though, as much as I loved it, I’ve never actually made it myself. Nor any other acorn squash recipe, for that matter.

Until tonight.

When I saw that this week’s ingredient for Fall Fest 2010 included winter squash, I was initially bummed that I wrote about the butternut squash last night, because that would have been perfect for tonight. But then I remembered the two acorn squash sitting on my counter. Bought at Sunday’s farmers’ market, they were simply begging to be used. Tonight was finally the night.

I honestly don’t know why I waited to so long to make this. The hardest part of the recipe? Slicing the darn acorn squash in half. Once you get through that beast, you scoop out the insides and baste it with a mixture of brown sugar, butter and real maple syrup. Pop it in the oven for an hour and that sweet Fall goodness is yours for the taking. If you were lucky enough to have a babysitter go to Vermont this summer and bring you back real maple syrup, the good stuff, this is the recipe to whip it out for. The finished product is slightly sweet, slightly sticky and oh so very good.

Need more winter squash recipe inspiration? Check out what my fellow Fall Festers are cooking up this week in the links below (some might not be live until tomorrow):

Gilded Fork: Butternut Squash Bisque with Nutmeg Crème Fraîche
Caroline at the Wright Recipes: Roasted Pumpkin and Winter Squash with Labneh and Skhug
Alana at Eating From the Ground Up: Fall Vegetable Chicken Pot Pie
Alison at Food2: Pumpkin Donuts
Toby at Healthy Eats: Pumpkin 5 Ways (Including Seed-Studded Pumpkin Bread)
Kirsten at Food Network: Best Pumpkin Recipes
Caron at San Diego Foodstuff: Clay Pot Winter Squash

Project 365
October 12, 2010, Photo #177

I ran in to Osh Kosh last week to buy the kids some pants. Apparently they have both grown like weeds since last year and nothing fits them for this season. While I was in line paying, Madeline was sitting on the floor behind me, and facing away from me. That’s never a good sign. I asked her what she was doing and she turned even further away so that I couldn’t see her hands. Upon closer inspection, she had pried open a little plastic heart box and was busy shoving the five rings on her little fingers. For $3.40, I avoided her meltdown and we negotiated that she would wear one ring at a time. She had a tough time deciding between wearing the butterfly ring or the cupcake one. These are the hard decisions of a two and a half year old….

Fall Fest 2010: Bleu Cheese and Walnut Salad with Maple Dressing

October 5, 2010 · Narrative

When I saw that this week’s Fall Fest topic was calling for Fall Salads, I knew exactly the recipe to contribute. This Bleu Cheese and Walnut Salad with Maple Dressing has been in our Fall rotation (and really, all the other seasons too), for a few years, and the first time I heard about it was when someone on the Cooking Light Bulletin Boards dubbed it “heaven on a plate.” He was not too far off! I mentioned it to a friend of mine today and was promptly met by a chorus of “ewwws,” along with a very polite no thank you. He doesn’t know what he’s missing.

The maple flavor definitely screams Fall, and with the addition of crumbled bleu cheese and some candied walnuts, it’s a wonderful salad that you can throw together in minutes, and I bet you have the dressing ingredients right in your cupboard now. With dressing recipes like these, you can just skip that bottled salad dressing aisle in your local grocery store. It’s pretty enough to use when you’re entertaining company, and simple enough that you can have it on a crazy sports-scheduled weeknight when time is short.

This Honey-Cinnamon Vinaigrette recipe from last week would be another wonderful Fall salad alternative. Need more Fall Salad flavor options? Go on and take a look at what my fellow Fall Festers are serving up tonight (more to come tomorrow):

Gilded Fork: Red & White Salad with Candied Pecans, Figs & Chevre
Margaret at A Way to Garden: Why Beets Make the Salad
Caroline at the Wright Recipes: Salt-Roasted Beet and Potato Salad
Michelle at Cooking Channel: 5 Fab Fall Salads
Liz at Healthy Eats: 5 Favorite Fall Salads
Alison at Food2: Fall Salads, Deconstructed
Alana at Eating From the Ground Up: Kale Salad
Todd and Diane at White on Rice Couple: Arugula, Bacon and Fig Salad
Caron at San Diego Foodstuff: Wheat Berry Salad with Apples and Pomegranate Seeds
Nicole at Pinch My Salt: Spinach Pomegranate Salad with Apples and Walnuts
Paige at The Sister Project: Chopped Salad That’s Also an Hors D’Ouevre

Project 365
October 5, 2010, Photo #173

With six kids crowded around the dining room table tonight, I just may need to lug the leaf and extra chairs up from the basement. The salad? Kid-approved. Even by the littlest at the head of the table.

A year ago today… the end of Gourmet magazine.
Two years ago today … glittered skulls and a menu plan (those were the days!).
Three years ago today … an OMG recipe from The Neighbor Husband.
Four years ago today … comfort food at its best.
Five years ago today …a picture of Nick and The Girlfriend at our first dinner together, and a bittersweet memory.

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Fall Fest 2010: Spinach Egg Breakfast Cups

September 21, 2010 · Narrative

And just like that, in the mere blink of an eye, we are done with Summer. It seems only fitting that our weekly Summerfest extravaganza ends today, the last official day of summer. When I saw this week’s special ingredient was spinach, I was psyched. Spinach and I are likethis. Very unlike my fickle affair with stone fruit, spinach and I get together on a regular basis.

How about a nutritious breakfast that you can make in about two minutes? That is another thing that is totally up my alley, because with getting all three of us ready and out the door every morning, my breakfast is usually something that takes low priority. Don’t get me wrong, I have breakfast every day, but it’s usually super simple, low fuss type stuff (oatmeal, fresh fruit, yogurt, egg white omelet). Then the idea for these breakfast cups came along. A perfect little cup of goodness to break up the monotony of my usual breakfast suspects.

As for the recipe? It’s barely a recipe at all. Assemble two ingredients, layer it and microwave. Top with cheese and salsa. Eat. Details below, but it really is that simple, and that’s just the way my day needs to start. As uncomplicated as possible.

Now to see what the rest of my Fellow Fall Festers are doing with my favorite green leafy vegetable… (a few of the links will go live tomorrow, so don’t despair if they appear dead at first click)

Caron at San Diego Foodstuff: Mixed Mushroom Ragout with Herb-Polenta Cake
Gilded Fork: Spicy Artichoke Spinach Dip, and a Dossier on Spinach
Nicole at Pinch My Salt: Spinach and Sausage Soup
Caroline at the Wright Recipes: Spinach Rotolo, a rolled ricotta and pasta extravaganza
Alison at Food2: Spinach Artichoke Dip
Michelle at Cooking Channel: Paneer With Spinach
Kirsten at FN Dish: Everyday Spinach Dishes with Giada
Liz at Healthy Eats: Mini Spinach-Mushroom Quiche
Food Network UK: Eggs florentine, brunch of champions
Simmer ‘Till Done: Spanakopita Scones
Margaret at A Way to Garden: Why I plant spinach late, and other tasty tidbits
Todd and Diane at White on Rice Couple: Tuna and Spinach Bruschetta

Project 365
September 21, 2010, Photo #167

Growing up, we spent many family summers in Cape May and it (and the whole rest of the Jersey Shore) is still one of my favorite get-away spots. During our vacations, my sister and I would make a daily sojourn to the arcade, armed with quarters and our eyes firmly fixed on Skee Ball and other arcade treasures.

At the end of our vacation, we would pool our prize tickets together and trade them in for a less than memorable toy or two that we couldn’t live without. A visit to the arcade was never complete without a stop in the photo booth. I loved those, and still do. Years later, on many a bar crawl in Hoboken, my friends and I continued the tradition by squeezing into the photo booths after a night of drinking. All those photo strips continue to be some of my favorite pictures to this day, although I won’t embarrass anyone by showing them here.

As you can see, it’s a tradition I’m continuing with my kids. Of course, getting us all looking at the camera at the same time, and in the same frame, remains a challenge, but that’s where half the fun lies, isn’t it?…

Summerfest 2010: Summer Panzanella

August 31, 2010 · Narrative

Summer just isn’t the same without a few rounds of Panzanella, an Italian bread salad, hitting our dinner table. It is one of my favorite go-to recipes during the hot summer months, and it’s such a perfect way celebrate the flavors we enjoy most this time of year … big juicy red tomatoes, crisp cucumbers, fresh basil. It does everything but scream summer.

The Panzanella version that I usually go for is this Tyler Florence one from his Eat This Book cookbook, and it was especially perfect for tonight’s Summerfest 2010 round-up since this week’s magical ingredient is the pepper. Roasted red peppers are a unique (and delicious) addition to this salad, and it seems only fitting that we include this dish in our last full week of summer vacation. You know, for those of us that actually are on summer vacation (yes, I’m talking to you, Nick!).

For more pepper inspiration, do check in on what my fellow Summerfesters are serving up. And oh, in the meantime, good news! Because of the popularity of the Summerfest weekly round-up, there will be a Fall version getting underway on September 22nd (full details here).

Alison at Food2: Making Hot Pepper-Infused Vodka

Michelle at Cooking Channel: A Peck of Perfect Pepper Recipes

Nicole at Pinch My Salt: Pickled Serrano Peppers

Kirsten at the FN Dish: Chiles Rellenos and More Stuffed Peppers

Liz at Healthy Eats: 10 Ways To Eat Sweet Peppers

Margaret at A Way to Garden: Oven-roasted peppers, and freezing how-to

Caroline at The Wright Recipes: Homemade Harissa & Sweet and Spicy Peperonata

The Gilded Fork: Dossier and recipes on peppers spicy and sweet

Paige at The Sister Project: Grilled Tomatillo Salsa with Jalapenos

Caron at San Diego Foodstuff: Consuelo’s Hot Chile Sauce and Hatch Chiles

Alana at Eating from the Ground Up: Homemade hot sauce, and why gloves are a good idea

Food Network, UK: It’s Chili Weather