Cooking my day away.

Time for food and fall!

Cooking has always been one of my favorite activities. The dishes, however, not so much. Today my little one and I have the day off, just the two of us and what does that mean? I get to cook something so we are making some home made sauce from the tomatoes from my mothers garden.

My garden didn't do so well, I was very excited to see my green beans taking over the garden and thought, wow, I finally got something to do well out here. Come to find out morning glories had somehow found their way into the garden boxes and choked out everything but the cauliflower. After much cursing and a slight tantrum I ripped them all out and got the beds ready for next year.

As an act of sympathy my Mom shared her abundant garden supply and hooked me up with all kinds of fresh goodies. So off I went, tomatoes, peppers, onions and garlic all in my favorite green pot, (we all have a favorite pot) and cooking away on the stove.

Next will be those wonderful fresh cucumbers. They look a little funky but taste just fine. Those will be jarred with some vinegar and brine to make some lovely garlic pickles. I'm not sure when the change happened in me. Perhaps it was just having my daughter and getting married made me a little more domestic but it is kind of nice.

Well I'm off to do some meal planning, it honestly saves hours of, 

"What do you want for dinner?" 

"I dunno, what do you want?"

"I dunno."

etc etc etc

Makes grocery shopping much easier when you already know what your going to be making. There are less of those mid week store runs or getting halfway through a recipe and realizing your missing something vital. I'm seriously digging this whole mommy thing. Anyhoo off I go. To spend a whole weekend with my loves!

Make your whole house smell like fall.

That time of year again. Once we get sick of humid summer here comes the crisp breeze of fall. Leaf peepers clogging up our highways, beautiful colors, pulling out the boots and jackets, lets not forget the oh so wonderful scarves. Still, when the windows are closed up tight at night against the cold you can lose that fresh smell of seasons changing. I personally am I huge fan of that apple smell of fall. It brings up memories of holidays, family, the familiar smells of cooking and the ever present smell of fall scented candles.

If your anything like me, I always like that smell in my house. So after a little Pintresting, (yes I'm addicted) I found some lovely ways of getting the whole house to have that aroma of food and family. Right now apples are cheap and in season and most people are picking them up anyway to whip up some apple crisp or a flaky pie. So when you find some with a bruise or worm holes, don't throw them away. Make a simmering potpourri.

Simply put, cook up the scent on your own.
You will need:
Water
A Small pot
An apple or two
An orange or two
Dash of vanilla extract
(opt.) pinch of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg.. really anything that makes your house smell yummy when your baking. Your amounts don't need to be specific, it really all depends on how much you like certain spices.
For instance, I go a little heavier with cinnamon and vanilla and lighter on nutmeg and cloves.

 Really anything you like the smell of  can be made this way.
Place some water in the pot and drop in all the ingredients. Throw them on the stove and let simmer for a little while. You can turn it off when the scent reaches what your looking for and always turn it back on later.

It's the simplest of recipes and packs quite a punch.

Ah how I love fall. I'm sure there will be many more fall posts as the cool air rolls into the northeast.

Enjoy!