I love the smell of fall in our kitchen on a cool October day. I raise the blinds, open up the windows and enjoy the windy gusts that send brightly colored leaves spiraling down from the treetops by the hundreds while the church bell a few blocks away chimes out the time with a series of lyrical gongs. I cut apples, and pumpkins, and squash, and garlic, and unwrap caramels and appreciate the mornings I have off to take advantage of the tasty fall crops. Sometimes I turn on music, and sometimes I just enjoy the silence and the sounds of nature. It’s relaxing and helps me regroup or stay grounded in the midst of a busy life.
Despite the strains of adjusting to life in an apartment again, I am grateful to still have a pretty view and a full backyard, even if we do have to share it with other families. Though I loved our backyard at the house because of it was huge, and gorgeous, and Secret Garden-esque, and very private, it was also uneven, ridden with large holes from the wildlife that set up camp there, and the grass was questionable as to whether it was going to be dirt, weeds, or simply dead that season. Here we have a large, expansive track of soft green grass bordered by a forest of healthy trees that are now breathtaking shades of yellow, orange, and red. We have a few too many dogs living here for there to be bunnies, unfortunately, but we do have a handful of very large, bushy-tailed, bold, squirrels who frequent our grass and occasionally patter right up to the back door, nut in mouth, to say hello. They’ll hop up on the top of the grill, directly outside the living room window and stare at you while you stare at them, and then they’ll take a seat on the Adirondack chair to snack on their prized nut. Gutsy, aren’t they? But I love squirrels, so I take delight in this. Today I watched one, not more than 6″ from our window, use his claws to diligently dig a small hole for his nut, bury the nut, carefully cover over it with grass and dirt, then pick up a leaf and place it on top, for good measure.
So far this season I have made pumpkin mac n’ cheese, chili, autumn apple Waldorf salad, caramel apple cider cookies, taco bowls and Philly cheese steaks (it is football season, after all!), homemade applesauce, roasted pumpkin seeds, and now a butternut squash apple cider soup infused with a roasted red pepper glaze and a touch of cream. It’s simmering on the stove. We’ll see how it turns out. Still to try on my “fall goodies” list are homemade soft pretzels with a beer cheese queso, pork chops and applesauce, butternut squash ravioli with apple cider broth, baked pumpkin oatmeal, creamy cauliflower soup, zucchini bread, turkey and white bean chili, french onion soup, pumpkin snickerdoodles, sweet potato casserole, and thai lettuce wraps.
The most challenging recipe so far has been this butternut squash apple cider soup. Good Lord. I would liken cutting a butternut squash to cutting through elephant tusks. I actually had to look up directions on how to peel, cut, and seed them because I thought “I must be doing something wrong” when my vegetable peeler simply couldn’t hack it’s way through the skin. Turns out butternut squash are just tough little buggers. Though I did learn that their seeds can be salted and roasted just like pumpkin seeds – so I’ll be eagerly trying that out tonight as well. Butternut squash, much like humans I suppose, do not like to be skinned, cut open, or gutted. I cannot say that I blame them. It sounds uncomfortable, doesn’t it? I think I’d put up a fight too.
I don’t do this every day. I typically have Monday and Wednesday mornings off to cook, clean the house, do laundry, run errands, blog, catch up on emails, work on scheduling and planning, and do educational outreach work for the dance/theatre/pedestrian movement company I work for. On Monday and Wednesday afternoons I teach musical theatre classes at an elementary school as part of their fine arts program. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I work at the theatre doing any number of ed. outreach related things, teaching, or straight-up arts administration, and on Fridays, Saturdays and some Sundays I’m still at the museum. In between all that I often have meetings for any one of the four jobs. They are all going very well and I’m thankful to simply be employed, but I really love my Monday and Wednesday mornings to catch up on life.
I’ll post photos and the recipe for the butternut squash apple cider soup if it turns out as tasty as it sounds. Happy Wednesday!
