Some food-related (mostly) things we enjoyed this past week:

We went to a local Oktoberfest last Saturday evening.  We’re glad we went since we hadn’t been before, but we probably wouldn’t go again.  Conditions were less than ideal — it was hot outside and very, very crowded — which likely contributed to us not enjoying it all that much.  And maybe we’re old (okay, fine, we are old), but standing in long lines in the heat — first to get coupons, then to get food, then to get drinks — wasn’t our cup of tea.  Let’s just say we didn’t share the enthusiasm of the guy in front of us in line, who, after procuring his coupons, declared to his buddies “Let’s get sh*t-housed.”  It wasn’t a total loss, however.  The chicken schnitzel was good and Dan got to keep his commemorative beer stein.

Aside from soup, we’ve never really cooked with lentils.  But we’ve heard how nutritious they are and want to work them into our diet more often.  Lentils are high in fiber and protein and are known to help lower cholesterol.  They’re also low in calories and have almost zero fat.  How could we not eat more of these little nutritional powerhouses?  We adapted this recipe for a lentil/rice side dish that is as delicious as it is healthy.  Seriously, Dan had seconds it was so good.  We’ll definitely make it again and will post it here soon.

Aside from Christmas, I typically don’t do much seasonal decorating around the house.  But I couldn’t resist the bag of little orange and white pumpkins I recently spotted at the grocery store.  Placing tiny gourds on tables here and there provides a cheerful touch of Fall in our home.

And speaking of Fall, honeycrisps are in season!  With just the right amount of tart and sweet, the honeycrisp is by far our favorite apple variety.  They’re not available year-round (possibly making them taste even better), so enjoy them while you can.