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10/5/09

Autumn, Harvest, Cooking, Knitting & Color. Always Color

 this was a stay-at-home weekend.  saturday was gray and raining.  sunday was overcast for the most the day.  i indulged in some of my favorite pasttimes:  cooking and knitting and watching old movies.

i am enjoying the bounty of the harvest
poaching peaches
making apple butter
cooking pumpkin and squash for yummy winter soup
roasting tomatoes
making tons
(well, it seems like tons)
of stewed tomatoes
spaghetti sauce





recipes:
for poached peaches you need  4 large, firm and ripe peaches
1 cup white wine (i am not fussy, i use what is available in my kitchen)
1/2 cup of water
1/3 cup of sugar
1 whole vanilla bean
in large pot go the wine, water, sugar and vanilla bean.  mix, heat and stir to dissolve the sugar.  add the peaches that have been pitted and sliced and simmer for 10 to 12 minutes.  wonderful to eat alone.  great for breakfast with yogurt.  fabulous with ice cream.


for apple butter you need 4 pounds apples (i used large Macs)
3 cups of cider
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
peal, core and quarter the apples and add them with cider and butter to a large oven proof pot.  simmer quietly for 30 minutes then run through your food processor before returning to the pot and a pre-heated oven at 250 degrees for 7 to 8 hours.  oh yum yum yum on toast, muffins, ice cream, with yogurt, in cake recipes. and the entire house is perfumed by the fragrance.  important note:  you must give the apples a stir at least every 30 minutes and more at the end so the potential apple butter doesn't turn to .... well i guess you can imagine


for winter soup you need one squash ( i used butternut)
a pumpkin
2 cups chopped onions
3 cups chicken broth (best if home made)
cream
seasoning to taste
garnish
peel and chop the squash and pumpkin and add to large pot with onion and chicken broth to large heavy pot.  cook for several hours on a low heat.  run through the food processor for silky smooth soup and return to pot.  slowly add cream and seasoning.  i used salt, pepper, a tad bit of nutmeg.  for garnish i used home made croutons from a good bread

 what old movies?  well, Funny Girl on saturday night after a late feast of apples and onions baked with pork and cognac --- you probably know it wasn't the first time for that film; and on sunday afternoon while the apples became butter and my reynolds 'smile' yarn was becoming a purse, i watched Notting Hill but that was the first viewing

photos taken at Cape Porpoise, Maine
one of our favorite places in any season

11 comments:

AeFondKis said...

Hi Pat, the recipes are mouth watering and your photographs of Maine are gorgeous..it's one area of the world that looks so attractive..your picture under
'spaghetti sauce' is a postcard!
you are lucky to live there.
Linda

LOVE STITCHING RED said...

Yum Yum Yum - need foody pictures to drool over please!

I can just imagine all those wonderful colours and aromas

What a beautiful weekend you had!

Love
Carolyn x

Pat said...

thank you. in the past i did take photos of my cooking. don't know exactly why i didn't this time .......

t said...

Pat my mouth is watering, all this wonderful fresh cooked food, I can smell the beautiful aromas from here.

With your harvest moon, marigolds, and your playful work you have been busy.... I think that sometimes we do our best when we play, the world is far too serious dont you think...
xt

Pat said...

oh yes. and i struggle against my own serious approach to life. so playfulness is an earned experience that i cherish.
i am glad to know that you also enjoyed my fragrances (lol) and i can say all that cooking with fresh fruit and vegs with fresh herbs etc really did tempt and tease .. thank you

india flint said...

your pictures make me homesick for New England [even though I only lived there for 5 months

and thanks for the reminder about apple butter. yum.

Deb G said...

Sounds like a wonderful, wonderful weekend. Think I might have to do something like that next weekend.

Pat said...

it was great to do projects connected to the season, the weather, the day. it was relaxing. gratifying. satisfying. what could be better.

Dolores said...

Thanks for the recipes. I sent a couple of them over to my daughter and her husband. They just bought a house with lots of land and so their harvest is big this year. Her inlaws are visiting and I thought the soup would make a nice meal for all. Unfortunlately, no one here like soup except me so I have to resort to canned or boxed.

Deborah said...

makes me want to be there, too

Phyllis said...

What great fall recipes. I love days as you described. I think they restore our weathered and shattered nerves. Fall is the best time to hunker down and indulge in comfort food and good movies.

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