Pasta with Creamy Butternut Leek Sauce

Nov 16, 2014

So, we basically got like two weeks of fall in Georgia before it got COOOOLLLLD! But those two weeks were really beautiful.

This tree outside my window is absolutely glorious, like flame.

And these leaves form an awesome natural stoplight.

The changing of the seasons has also meant that the grocery stores and my CSA box have been all-gourds-all-the-time. I got a couple beautiful butternut squashes and, since I finally learned how to peel and disassemble them last winter, I was actually excited to try out this recipe.

Also, sage. Because sage is always the answer.

This sauce is deceptively creamy and rich, but doesn’t have any cream or milk, or even cheese until the very end. The leeks form a super flavorful base, and the pureed butternut squash is like butter and cream and squash all in one. This was a super easy and healthy dinner.

Honey Apple Tart

Nov 10, 2013

Fall is most definitely here in Georgia. It’s been kind of teasing us for weeks—we’d have gorgeous 70-80 degree days, but then it would randomly get down to 40 at night, only to be back at 75 a few days later. Then we got a little rain and I was afraid that the leaves would all fall off the trees before turning the beautiful colors we usually get.

That would have made me so sad, because fall down here in the South is one of my favorite things. The trees turn every shade imaginable between red, orange, yellow, and green, there’s the smell of a bite in the air without it being really cold, the days are still beautiful but you can turn your fireplace on at night. And now we finally got it.

I’m trying to take as many walks as possible before it gets cold, just get outside and appreciate how beautiful things are this time of year. My mom was in town last weekend and we took two long walks on the various national recreation trails, breathing deeply and just taking our time. It’s been dark when I get to work and dark when I leave, so seeing the sun was amazing.

When my mom came, she brought down a bunch of apples from my grandma’s apple tree in Kansas. They’re really small, soft, sweet apples, perfect for recipes that don’t require long cooking or baking.

We were making an epic dinner on Sunday and decided to top it off with an apple tart. Normally we’d make a crisp or something, but that didn’t seem to do these apples justice.

I poked around on Pinterest for a while and found this apple honey tart, which was perfect in its simplicity. Since the rest of our dinner was so time-consuming, we wanted a dessert that was very easy and could be assembled quickly. The texture and flavor was amazing—it was so pretty and delicious that you’d think that it required a bunch of ingredients and time. But we the only thing that took time was slicing the apples, everything else took maybe 5-10 minutes, tops. 

Apple Cinnamon Chip Coffee Cake

Oct 20, 2013

I think fall may finally be sneaking up on us here in Georgia. We’ve had a gorgeous late summer and early fall…making up for the terrible, rainy spring and summer we had. Even in mid-October we’ve had temps in the upper 70s and even 80s. I was laying out at the pool last weekend. For real. The pool was tarped over and there was only one chair left, but I was there.

Then this week it turned gray and rainy and a little chilly.

This guy just wanted to cuddle. I don’t blame him. I’m not ready for fall weather, but I do think I’m ready for fall food. And is there a more quintessentially-fall dish than one combining apples, cinnamon, and streusel topping?? I think maybe not.

I’ll be honest—I don’t think I’ve ever tried out a traditional coffee cake recipe besides the one I grew up on (my mom’s, which is amazing, and I will post for you soon). I mean, if it ain’t broke, why fix it? So last week when it was my turn to make treats for a co-worker’s birthday, and knowing that she loves cinnamon-y things, I figured I’d whip up my mom’s coffee cake.

But then I was browsing Pinterest and found a recipe I’d pinned a long time ago for an apple cinnamon chip coffee cake. “Hmm…” I thought,”Intriguing. I have all this homemade apple butter and I stocked up on cinnamon chips. Maybe this is fate.” [I typed “fat” the first time and almost left it because that seemed apropos as well]

So I gave it a try, and loved how easy the recipe was. But I made a number of adjustments, such as using half a bag of cinnamon chips instead of a whole bag (which really seemed like overkill). The biggest change I made, though, was swapping out the basic powdered sugar glaze the recipe suggested for the sweet and slightly crunchy cinnamon-sugar streusel topping that’s more traditional for coffee cakes. And it was amazing! This cake was so moist, even a couple days after I made it (I had to make it Sunday and serve it Tuesday). The cinnamon chips in the cake were like tiny little gems of awesome studded throughout.