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

Ina Garten has a new cookbook called “Foolproof:  Recipes You can Trust.”  We have most of the Barefoot Contessa’s books and use them all the time.  As soon as we got this one, I picked a recipe for our weekly menu — Oreccheitte with Broccoli Rabe & Sausage.  Not only was it delicious (it is one of Dan’s new favorite pastas), but it was also pretty easy to make and, true to Ina’s word, foolproof.

Our garden has exploded with peppers.  We picked a bunch (all different varieties), made up a batch of our pickling recipe and canned 4 pints of pickled peppers.  We may never need to buy jar peppers again.

Although the temps are still in the 80s, fall is in the air.  We don’t get a lot of fall foliage around here, and when we do it lasts for about 5 minutes, but we enjoy the pretty colors while they’re here.

Our sister-in-law introduced us to the brilliance that is roasted kale chips in a salad (thanks Cary!)  All you do is trim the kale leaves off the stems, then drizzle the leaves with olive oil, sprinkle on some salt and roast them on a cookie sheet in the oven at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.  When the kale is crispy, crumble it up and sprinkle it on your salad.  The kale adds great salty and bitter (but in a good way) flavor and nice crunchy texture to an otherwise boring garden salad.  And bonus — kale is a superfood!  We may never have salad without kale chips again.

No matter who you voted for, the presidential election is an excellent reminder of how fortunate we are as a nation to have the freedom and privilege to exercise our right to choose our leaders.  Democracy can sometimes be taken for granted, and aggressive partisan politics can be exhausting, but on Election Day we could not be more proud to be Americans.

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

We spent a long weekend (made even longer by Hurricane Sandy) in the Boston area visiting Dan’s older brother, our sister-in-law and our niece and nephew.  We could not have asked for better weather while we were there, except of course for the wind and rain when the storm blew through on Monday.  The only storm-related effects we encountered were a couple of cancelled flights, school closing for a day and a few hours without electricity — all of which added up to bonus time with family and great appreciation for how fortunate we are to have all that we do.  We know others along Sandy’s path were not nearly so lucky and our hearts (and a donation) go out to them.  We always cherish visits with family, but this one in particular seemed extra special — many thanks to our hosts (including the littlest ones) for a wonderful trip with lots of fond memories made.

One of the many highlights of our trip was a visit to a local farm to pick apples and get pumpkins.  It was a beautiful day (check out our nephew — wearing shorts!) and a really fun experience.  I had never been apple-picking before (around these parts, “apple-picking” means selecting them out of the bins in the grocery store) and am still shocked by how much better an apple plucked right off the tree tastes than the ones purchased in the store.

For Dan, every trip to the East Coast requires at least one meal involving lobster.  Although it was soft shell (meaning it had recently molted) which typically means less meat, it was plenty big and delicious and he thoroughly enjoyed every succulent bite.

We hope everyone had a safe and fun Halloween — especially anyone affected by Hurricane Sandy:  hopefully you were able to escape the devastation for at least a little while and enjoy something spooky, sweet or otherwise festive for the holiday.  We made a big pot of beef & barley soup (complete with homemade beef stock — post coming soon!), put a scary movie on TV (The Shining) and delighted in handing out candy to lots of cleverly-costumed kids.

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

My parents were in town last weekend, specifically to visit the Chihuly exhibit at the Dallas Arboretum, now that the weather is cooler.  And to watch football — my mom is a die-hard Tennessee Titans fan (her allegiance goes all the way back to the days when they were the Houston Oilers — Luv Ya Blue!), but she only gets to watch them when their games are on network TV.  In order to follow his beloved Steelers, Dan has the NFL package on Direct TV, which allows us to view any (and all) NFL games every week.  So at least once a season, we try to plan a football weekend with my parents — all football, all Sunday loooong.  (Lest I sound bitter, we love visits from my parents and they are welcome here any time.  Love you guys!)  Anywho, back to Chihuly.  We packed a picnic lunch of cheeses, salami, crackers and “Le Sandwich” (our interpretation of the sandwich Dan ate every single day in Paris last Christmas — a baguette with good butter and proscuitto.  It’s a lot more amazing than it sounds) and headed off to the Arboretum.  After about 25 minutes of waiting in a line of cars later, plus a drive to the off-site extra parking, plus a wait in line to get on the shuttle, we had arrived.  A gorgeous day, plus the Arboretum’s seasonal Pumpkin Village, plus one of the final weekends of the Chihuly exhibit — equals a very crowded Arboretum.  But we found a perfect out-of-the-way spot for our picnic and thoroughly enjoyed our day, crowds and all.  Good news — the Chihuly exhibit has been extended through December 31, so go if you can — it’s well worth the trip!

For our lunch on football Sunday, we thawed some of our leftover pulled pork and made fantastic nachos — chips, plus bean dip, plus pulled pork, plus cheddar cheese melted in the oven, plus garnishes of tomatoes, lettuce and homemade pickled jalapenos — equals the best football food ever.  And bonus points for all the favorite teams (Titans, Steelers and Texans) all winning their games that day!

We have a new shortcut for thin-crust pizza on a weeknight — lavash flatbread.  It comes in white or whole wheat and is a crazy-easy way to make a quick “pizza.”  All you have to do is brush both sides of the lavash with a little olive oil, heat it in the oven (at 425 degrees) for about 3 minutes to get it crispy, then top with whatever you like (we did tomato sauce, mozzarella and basil for a margherita pizza) and put it back in the oven for another 6-8 minutes until the cheese melts.  The only easier and almost-as-fast way to get pizza in your pie-hole would be to have someone else call a pizza place and order it to be delivered to your door.  Bonus points — the lavash freezes well and thaws in about 10 minutes.  Which is awesome if you happen to over-crisp your first 2 pieces  by accidentally leaving them in the oven too long.  Not that I would know.

We are heading to the Boston area to visit our niece and nephew today and could not be more excited!  We love those kids so much and take our roles as Aunt and Uncle very seriously.  So much so that we had to check out a couple of local Halloween stores looking for ghoulish (but still age-appropriate!) treats to bring to the kiddos for the upcoming holiday.  Their parents will be happy to know that we did NOT purchase the tiny plastic pumpkin scream machine, but only because we are going to be there and the kids love to wake us up in the morning. . . On a related note, a small package is on its way to our other beloved nephew in New York. . .