Some Fall Fare

Before it was put out for sale, look what I found in the back of the store -

I knew nothing of this wine or Claymore Wines, but based on the name alone, I HAD to have it. Late Friday, it was put on the shelves and low and behold, in Saturday's Globe & Mail wine writer Beppi Crosariol gave it a smashing review. (The price is wrong though. It was $2 less than what he quoted). I almost don't want to open it. But, I'm going to save it for one wintery day when it's snowing outside and I'm home all cozy. I'm going to open the bottle, pour a decent sized glass and put on the album. If only I still had a turntable, I'd whip out the vinyl just for nostalgia's sake. But, I'll have to content myself with a CD. Oh, it's going to be an enjoyable experience that I look forward to. One must have goals in their life and work to fulfill those goals. I think this one will be attainable.

Ah, the humble apple. My very favorite fruit. On average, I eat an apple a day. Sometimes 2. I have a frustrating time between late June and September because it's really hard to find a decent apple. Once mid-September hits though, fresh Ontario apples are everywhere. We quite often will go apple picking, but haven't made it out yet this year. There are so many varieties to choose from, with so many different flavours. The health benefits are an added bonus. If you have access to LCBO's Food & Drink magazine, the latest issue (Autumn 2008 - with salad and pear on the cover) has an interesting article about apples.

Of course, apples can be made into cider or hard cider. There are many different brands on the market. Most are imported from England, but I've had one from Belgium and Grower's is from BC. A great alternative to beer, cider is refreshing and unlike it's non-alcoholic version, it's not very sweet. When out at the pub, I'll usually get this. Try it, you'll like it!

Barb at work has a garden at home and she grew some low acid tomatoes as a bit of an experiment this year. She had loads of them, so she brought a box in for anyone who wanted to take some. I grabbed half a dozen and used them to make salsa. The tomatoes are orange and they gave a bit of a spin on traditional red salsa.

This is so easy to make. The time consuming part is the chopping, but a few tomatoes, onion, green pepper, jalepenos, lime juice, cilantro and some salt & pepper later....

SALSA!

One of Jim's customers is a farmer and his internet was down and he was in a panic because this is busy time for them. Jim went out the same day that the gentleman called and as a thank you, sent him home with some fresh veggies! Included in that were potatoes & a big head of cabbage. I had some Tofurky Kielbasa hanging around in the fridge, so I made Urban Vegan's recipe for A 30-minute Vegan Polish Meal.

Man, was this ever delicious! Even Jim, who is not that keen on cabbage, ate his whole plate. This is a great one pot dish and there were enough leftovers for lunches.

I added mustard seeds like her Babci did and I think next time, I might even throw in a bit more. I did the ginger carrots that Dynise supplied with this recipe and what a yummy way to do carrots!

I had baby carrots so I used those and they worked great. I nuked them a bit at first to give them a head start and they ended up perfectly done. The almond slivers were a perfect add-in. Served with little potatoes, this was a delicious, filling dinner. Cabbage is one of those odd foods that's hard to pair with wine, but I had the sausages which are a little peppery and the spiced glaze of the carrots so I picked this -

This riesling we picked up at Vineland Estates Winery about 2 or 3 years ago. The grapes are picked from 30 year old vines and this wine was superb. It went very well with our dinner. (Just a hint....if stuck for a wine to serve, riesling is the one of the best food friendly whites)

Jim & I've have never been a big fans of squash, but tastes change and we decided to give it another try. Since there are fresh, local squashes galore now, what a perfect opportunity. Earlier in the year, I was watching Food Network's show Licence To Grill and Rob Rainford was doing a vegetarian show. He smoked acorn squash on the grill with apple chips. Well, I didn't go to all that trouble, I just did them in the oven. After all, it was the glaze & filling that intrigued me.

Looks really good doesn't it? The squash was brushed with a margarine, maple syrup & cinnamon mix and the filling is dried cranberries & almonds.

The squash was very smooth and creamy and although not horribly bad, it's still not a favorite for either of us. We ate out the fruit and nuts and left most of the squash uneaten. If you like squash, I imagine you'd love this. If you're interested, you'll find the recipe for this here.

Have an enjoyable weekend. I'm gearing up for Monday night. We're going to see this guy - without the Muppets of course.