In walks you, tamer of delicious Thanksgiving vegetable delights. Carrying a platter of beautifully roasted butternut and delicata squash, topped with savory barley and farro, pomegranate and toasted pepitas, topped with warm maple cinnamon drizzle. As soon as you reach the table, the compliments start flowing, even conservative Aunt Janice pipes up!
Thanksgiving Vegetarian Wild Rice Dressing with Roasted Hazelnuts
My least favorite Thanksgiving dishes seem to be the items that no one would ever dream of replacing. Every Thanksgiving, I see the sponge like, wood colored stuffing along side the worm-like green bean casserole. I usually pass up both of those options, and not just to make room for pumpkin pie. Now that I am in charge of Thanksgiving, I look forward to more than just rolls and pumpkin pie! One of the highlights of our holiday meals is definitely my Wild Rice dressing. It has been a mainstay on our table for about five years now, and was one of the first, more creative vegetable dishes I made when we started cutting meat out of our diets.
November Book Report
Thanksgiving is next week, which means many of us will be spending time in a car or airplane, or maybe on the couch enjoying some free time. That means you will have time to read a good book!! This collection of books is quite eclectic, there is one for everyone! There are some light, quick reads, a good sci-fi story, some great first time fiction authors, and a couple of much anticipated books on many 'best of' 2015 lists. I saved a couple of my favorites from this month so I can do a best of 2015 list, and will post something before Christmas so you all have a book to read other than borrowing Aunt Edna's romance novel titled Three Nights of Sin.
Romaine Dream Boats with Toasted Pepitas
I've been roasting squash and sweet potatoes almost daily trying to perfect recipes for Thanksgiving sides, and after eating squash all day I wanted something opposite of roasted root vegetables.I turned around and looked at the groceries waiting to be put away. A head of romaine, some raw pepitas, and a bag of unsweetened cocoa. Romaine! Romaine is crunchy and crispy! So are pepitas! And then, Romaine Dream Boats with Toasted Pepitas were born.
This recipe is so easy to make, its not even funny. You don't even need utensils!! With the Holiday season quickly approaching, this is a great quick and healthy option! It is also really easy to make it look fancy...
Butternut Squash Spread and Toasted Nuts and Seed Sprinkles on Toast
The deep reds, oranges, and golden yellows of the leaves signal the start of the Holiday season and summon the urge to be seek coziness and warm comfort foods, while visions of Thanksgiving dinners and Christmas parties dance in our heads.The time has come, and this year I greet the Holiday season with fresh determination to present our loved ones with flavorful, vegetable based dishes. As I've said before, squash is to Fall as tomatoes are to Summer. Which means I try to fit squash into everything we are eating, from stews, soups, chilis, pastas, salads, you name it.
Autumn Vegetable Salad
I love squash. Squash squash squash. Squash is the tomato of Fall. Don't you think??? Squash is also one of the main ingredients in a dish I recently had at Spoon and Stable. The Autumn Vegetable Salad. Which I haven't stopped thinking about since.
Pictures this: spelt berries, roasted squash, sliced figs, sprinkled with pecans, all on top of a buttermilk ranch drizzle. A pleasant conglomeration of textures and tastes.
Spoon and Stable
A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of dining at Spoon and Stable in Minneapolis. On all accounts, it was a fantastic experience. To start, the decor is absolutely beautiful. The skylights and large windows add to the lovely bright atmosphere. It is warm and cozy, a perfect mix of modern industrial meets farmhouse. Fitting, since the space was formally a stable. The colors consist of natural pallatte of whites and creams, dark woods, and interesting textures.
Enough with the BEAUTIFUL BREATHTAKING design of Spoon & Stable. Lets move on to the equally wonderful food and beverages.
October Book Report
October is going by outrageously fast! I haven't finished a book since August or July, so it was definitely time for a couple of good reads! Here's what I've tackled so far this month: The Rosie Project, The Husband's Secret, and Station 11. I loved them all for different reasons!
Girls on the Run - Beauty and Breakthroughs
On Monday we talked about beauty. Not beauty in the way your brain will automatically define it. We're talking real beauty. Inner beauty. Things like positive attitude, funny, self-disciplined, honest, creative, helpful. I asked the girls a bonus question. How does inner beauty relate to friends and friendship? Read on for my favorite answers....
Plus - we were shorthanded today. I have two girls on my team who seem to require the direct supervision of at least one person at all times. I pulled the two girls aside while we walked down to our meeting place. I told them I was going to need their full attention and cooperation today. I also told them that it was my job as a Coach to make sure they had the best 5K experience ever, so I needed them to really focus during our run so they could be well prepared (aka: no climbing the fence, no finding giant branches to 'herd' people with, no 30 minute bathroom breaks, etc.). Find out how that went....
Homemade Ricotta Gnocchi with Microgreens
This is the easiest, most delicious way to make homemade pasta. Trust me. I've tried many recipes and most of them call for fancy pasta driers/tools or use a sack of flour. Or, in most cases, have left me with gummy, bloated, wormlike strings and dinner at 10:00 pm.
I had 3 issues to solve. The recipe needed to consider the following things:
- Easy ingredient list
- No frills preparation
- Successful cooking method