Oh Fall

It's been a while. I am pretty bad at updating, i have been super busy with work and grad school apps, and family things...

However, since Macy's is already decked out for the holidays (as is every other store...wasn't halloween LAST WEEK?!!) I have decided to test a few recipes I would like to use this year.

Last night we (ok my boyfriend) cooked a small chicken. We saved the bones and whatnot for soup, which I just finished making. This time was much better than the last. I would like to try and make some great bread to go along with it, but we'll see. He is going to make chili tomorrow, but with turkey! I am trying to stop eating so much meat, before we were together I rarely ate red meat, and now it's a staple of my diet. Tonight he fell asleep very early and I made a huge salad of mixed greens, added cucumber and red peppers, chick peas, pomegranates seeds and a few pine nuts. I also had a turkey sandwich with sprouts and instead of mayo I smushed up an overripe avocado. One thing I miss about NJ and well, everywhere else, is the produce. For some reason the supermarkets in this area have awful produce. It is either overripe, underripe or goes bad in 2 days. Over the summer we have a great farmers market and farm stands, but come October, good luck. I have always loved pomegranates (even before they were martinis) and bought one at Whole Foods in NJ last weekend. It was EXCELLENT. Probably the best I've ever had. But I got one up here the other day after work and it was not ripe and was very very tart, and was more expensive, which I don't understand because Whole Foods is so "upscale" (well it is! I can't afford to shop there regularly, or ever!).

First, I made anise toast, much like biscotti. Simple, quick and delicious. Variations to the recipe, but I used 2 eggs, 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 tsp of anise extract and a "sprinkle" of anise seeds. I found anise extract for under $2 at the Christmas Tree shops a few months back, and bought anise seeds at the grocery store this week, but they ran close to $8! I am trying to track down my grandmother's recipe for anise cookies...when I was small she used to make them for us, but I'm not sure exactly how they were made.

I also am making cinnamon raisin bread. I am not very good with the yeast though. My first batch came out pretty good, but as I type, I have a covered bowl of dough on the counter that refuses to rise. I do want to try another bread, but it's going to be much sweeter. I found a recipe in the Black Dog cookbook for Maple Apple bread and it looks awesome, but it calls for pastry flour. I couldn't find that ANYWHERE up here, and I was about to order it online, but checked Whole Foods last time I was home and then had it! Sadly, the same could not be said for the Israeli couscous I have been searching for. I had this great dish at a local tappas restaurant with scallops (which I normally hate) and Israeli couscous with some sort of wonderful sauce? that contained bacon, but not in an overpowering way..if anyone has any idea how to make this, please tell me!!!

My grandmother recently passed away, and left behind quite a legacy. Namely, her holiday cheer...and cookies. Notorious for making delicious cookies, these cookies were mentioned three times during her funeral service. Morbid, perhaps. Delicious, most definitely. Though I can't replicate these, I am going to try this year. I asked my mom to send me some recipes...but there is not a shot I could ever make cream cheese spritz cookies as well as her.

More to come very very soon!