SUPER SIDE DISHES

Try any of these easy side dishes for upcoming holiday events. Trying vegetables that you have never tried might get you hooked on a new taste and perk up the menu.

Roasted Parsnips and Apples

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. On a rimmed baking sheet, combine 2 pounds of parsnips. Use smaller ones as the flavor is much better. Cut them into 1/2-inch slices and 2 apples, dice large. Dot with 3 tablespoons of unsalted butter, cut into small pieces. Roast until the parsnips and apples are tender and golden, around 30 minutes. Stir about half way into baking. When tender toss with 1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest, 1 tablespoon orange juice and 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon. Season with coarse salt. Serves 4.

Creamed Swiss Chard

In a large pot, bring 2 tablespoons water to a boil over medium high heat. Gradually add 4 bunches of Swiss Chard, stems removed, leaves cut into 1-inch strips and cook until chard is just wilted, about 2-3 minutes. Transfer to a colander to drain, pressing out as much liquid as possible.

In pot, melt 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, whisking constantly, add 1/4 cup all-purpose flour and cook 1 minute. Whisking constantly, slowly add 1-1/2 cups whole milk. Cook, whisking along bottom of pot, until mixture comes to a boil and thickens, 2-3 minutes. Add chard and stir until coated. Stir in 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg and season with coarse salt and pepper. Serves 6

Broccoli and Cauliflower with Bacon Vinaigrette

Set a steamer basket in a saucepan with 2 inches simmering water. Add 1 head cauliflower, cored and cut into florets, making around 8 cups.

Cook 6 slices of bacon in large skillet until crisp, about 8 minutes, flipping once. With tongs, transfer bacon to paper towels to drain. Reduce heat to medium, add 1 shallot, diced small and cook until translucent, about 3 minutes. Carefully whisk in 1/4 cup sherry vinegar. You could substitute a rice vinegar, but may have to add a bit of honey for sweetener. Season with coarse salt and pepper. Pour this sauce over the vegetables. Crumble bacon into bits and add to vegetables, toss and serve. Serves 4.

Acorn Napkin Ring

    To make this natural napkin ring, drill tiny holes through the sides of nine or 10 acorns or more as needed to fill circle. Wire the acorns together,with craft wire,  alternating the acorns top-to-bottom so they nestle together tightly.

You can also find large single acorns as in the photo at craft or home decor stores. Try this with mini wooden pumpkins from craft stores too.

“October is crisp days and cool nights, a time to curl up around the dancing flames and sink into a good book.”

 

“You kind of took it for granted around the Yankees that there was always going to be baseball in October.”

All things on earth point home in old October; sailors to sea, travellers to walls and fences, hunters to field and hollow and the long voice of the hounds, the lover to the love he has forsaken”

 "There is no season when such pleasant and sunny spots may be lighted on , and produce so pleasant an effect on the feelings as now in October. "

 “October is the fallen leaf, but it is also a wider horizon more clearly seen. It is the distant hills once more in sight, and the enduring constellations above them once again.”

Chocolate Caramel Pecan Pie

I love chocolate and caramel together, this reminds me of pecan pie only with chocolate, a small piece is all you need for indulgence!

Ingredients:

3 cups Pecan Pieces, divided

1/4 cup Sugar

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

14 ounces (package) Caramels

2/3 cup Whipping Cream

8 squares package Semisweet Baking Chocolate

1/4 cup Powdered Sugar

1/2 teaspoon real Vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350º.

 Process 2 cups of the pecans in a food processor, until finely ground.

 Add sugar and butter to pecans, mix well.

Press the pecan mixture into a 9-inch pie plate.

 Bake until lightly browned, about 10-12 minutes. Cool the piecrust.

 Microwave the caramels and 1/3 cup whipping cream for 3 minutes on High, stirring after each minutes.

Pour the caramel whipping cream mixture into piecrust.

Chop the remaining pecans into tiny pieces and sprinkle over the pie.

 In small saucepan, over low heat, stir chocolate, remaining whipped cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla until chocolate melts and mixture is a smooth consistency.

 Spread chocolate mixture over top of pie.

Refrigerate at least 2 hours.

Pumpkin Brownies

Ingredients

    2 tbsp cream cheese, room temperature

    1/2 cup plus 1/4 cup sugar

    1/2 cup canned pumpkin

    3 large eggs, room temperature

    1 cup plus 2 Tbsp whole-wheat pastry flour (if you want to know where to purchase this contact me at [email protected], not easily found locally

    1 tsp cinnamon, divided

    6 oz bittersweet baking chocolate, chopped

    2 tbsp unsalted butter

    1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

    1 cup stout beer, room temperature

    1 tsp vanilla extract

    1/2 tsp baking powder

    1/4 tsp cayenne powder (optional)

    1/4 teaspoon salt

 Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease an 8-inch square baking pan. In a bowl, stir together cream cheese, 1/4 cup sugar, canned pumpkin, 1 egg, 2 tablespoons flour, and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon; set aside.

Place chocolate and butter in a metal bowl and heat over a pot of simmering water, stirring until completely melted. Remove the mixture from the heat and stir in 1/2 cup sugar. Mix in 2 eggs, one at a time. Gently stir in 1 cup flour, cocoa powder, beer, vanilla extract, baking powder, cayenne, salt, and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon.

Scrape half the chocolate batter into the prepared baking pan and spread evenly. Spread half the pumpkin mixture on top, then add the remaining chocolate mixture on top of that and spread evenly. Top with the remaining pumpkin mixture. Gently swirl batter with a butter knife. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let cool before slicing.

This pumpkin dip is pretty simple, consisting of pumpkin puree, cream cheese, sugar and pumpkin pie spices. This pumpkin dip kind of reminds me of a pumpkin cheesecake and as a gingersnap crust is wonderful on a pumpkin cheesecake I was immediately thinking about serving the dip with gingersnap cookies. If you want to keep it a bit healthier, sliced apples also work great.

PUMPKIN AND SPICE CAKE

This cake is healthy and moist, note the ginger is a wonderful spice to add for flavor to this cake.

For more details on where one  can purchase the wheat oats and oats and crystallized ginger that may not be found easy in your area  contact Chris at [email protected]

1 1/2 cups pumpkin (fresh or canned)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup honey

2/3 cup vegetable or canola oil

2 eggs

1 cup all-purpose flour

 1/3 cup wheat flour

 1/2 cup oats

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/3 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger

 1/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

In a mixing bowl, blend the pumpkin, sugar, honey, oil, and egg thoroughly.

 Sift together the dry ingredients (except nuts) in a separate bowl.

 Slowly add to the wet mixture, stirring constantly.

 Stir the mixture until entire contents are moistened.

 Fold in the chopped nuts, if desired.

 Pour into a greased loaf or bundt pan.

 Bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 55 minutes.

 Remove from pan. Cool slightly and serve warm with some freshly whipped cream sprinkled with cinnamon.

Pumpkin and Mushroom Pasta with Gorgonzola

(enough for 4 servings)

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon oil

1 onion (sliced)

8 ounces mushrooms (sliced)

1 clove garlic (chopped)

1 tablespoon  fresh sage (chopped)

1/2 teaspoon red chili pepper flakes (optional)

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1 pound pasta

1 cup pumpkin puree

1/4 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup gorgonzola (crumbled)

salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon butter

1 handful sage leaves

Directions:

 Heat the oil in a pan.

 Add the onions and mushrooms and slowly cook them until they are nice and caramelized, about an 20 minutes.

 Start cooking the pasta.

 Add the garlic, sage, red chili pepper flakes and nutmeg and saute until fragrant, about a minute.

 Add the pumpkin puree, cream, gorgonzola, salt and pepper and simmer to reduce for a few minutes.

Melt the butter in a pan.

Add the sage leaves and fry until Crispy.

Toss the pasta in the sauce and serve garnished with the crispy butter fried sage.

Pumpkin Lasagne

I have not tried to make a pumpkin lasagne recipe before. It has been on my list of things to try this fall. I used two recipes and liked this one, but would also add some chopped eggplant like another recipe included. Try this and see if you enjoyed it as much as I did.

I used up my Swiss chard from my garden before it froze, if you do not have chard, think about adding some sweet Italian sausage or whatever meat you like. Just be sure it is precooked or browned before adding to the recipe.

 

Pumpkin Lasagne

    2 tablespoons olive oil

    2 onions, chopped

    2 pounds Swiss chard, tough stems removed, leaves washed well and chopped

    1 teaspoon salt

    1 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper

    1 teaspoon dried sage

    1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg

    3 cups canned pumpkin puree (one 28-ounce can)

    1 1/2 cups heavy cream

    1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan

     1 cup mozzarella cheese

    1/2 cup milk

    9 no-boil lasagne noodles (about 6 ounces) ) or precook noodles from a box.

    1 tablespoon unsalted butter

    In a large nonstick frying pan, heat the oil over moderately low heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 5 minutes. Increase the heat to moderately high and add the chard, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, 1/2 teaspoon sage, and 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg. Cook, stirring, until the chard is wilted and no liquid remains in the pan, 5 to 10 minutes.

    Heat the oven to 400°. In a medium bowl, mix together 2 cups of the pumpkin, 3/4 cup cream, 1/2 cup Parmesan,  1/2 teaspoon pepper, 1/2 teaspoon sage, and 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg.

    Pour the milk into an 8-by-12-inch baking dish. Top the milk with one third of the noodles, then spread half the pumpkin mixture over the noodles. Layer half the Swiss chard over the pumpkin and top with a second layer of noodles. Repeat with another layer of pumpkin, Swiss chard, and noodles. Combine the remaining 1 cup of pumpkin and 3/4 cup of cream. Spread the mixture evenly over the top of the lasagne, sprinkle with the remaining 1 cup of Parmesan and mozzarella cheese, and dot with the butter. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake until golden, about 15 minutes more.

Pumpkin Dip

Serve this with gingersnap cookies, sliced apples or smooth on waffles and french toast for wonderful fall brunch.  You can serve in mini pumpkins as in the photo or a medium size one would work too.

Ingredients:

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese (room temperature, lightly beatened)

1 cup brown sugar

2 cups pumpkin puree

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1/4 teaspoon cloves

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions:

 Cream the cream cheese.

 Mix in the sugar followed by the spices and then the pumpkin puree.

 Cover and chill overnight in the fridge.

Making a Seaglass bracelet



This is an easy project that could be adapted to many other types of materials.

Supplies:

Sea glass pieces about the same size

bracelets with discs to glue onto

strong adhesive

Apply a dot of cement to each disk on a disk and loop form from a jewelry supply store

Adhere glass to disks and let dry overnight.

I found a great 2 part epoxy at rings-things.com,  the adhesive is not easily found locally. They also carry the bracelets with the discs

NEW LOCAL FOOD DIRECTORY

if you are looking for fresh garden produce or other locally grown food in Meeker, McLeod and Sibley counties there is a food directory that lists contacts for just those counties.  You can then call the vendor directly and purchase from their farm and gardens such as herbs, honey and fruits and much more.

You can view the entire book on line at:

http://www.extension.umn.edu/county/McLeod/news/LocallyGrownFoodDirectory2011.pdf