Hydrangeas to Dry For

Hydrangeas are a good flower to dry indoors to enjoy in arrangements all year long.  The simplest way to preserve them is by air drying.  Leave them on the shrub until they start to feel papery dry, rustling to the touch, then cut them.  Nature has really done the drying for you.  Cutting is done before the flowers turn brown or become too brittle to use and long before the first frost.  When gathering your blooms, keep in mind how you plan to use them and cut the stem length accordingly.  I like to cut the stems long and then reduce to the size needed.

Mascarpone Sage and Sundried Tomato-Stuffed Chicken Thighs

Is it just me or does it not seem like recipes calling for special  ingredients only need some of said ingredient and there is always  a leftover  that just sits in the fridge?  So was the case recently with half a tub of mascarpone cheese, unneeded, unloved. Just coming home from a vacation in foodie Asheville, NC, with no time for grocery shopping, I went looking to create an inspired meal from what I had on hand, my favorite kind of cooking!   Taking that lonely mascarpone, seasoning it with garlic, cutting fresh sage from the garden and adding sundried tomatoes from the pantry to  chicken thighs from the freezer, we had a terrific tasty dinner in about a half hour. Adding  whole wheat rotini and a side of heirloom cherry tomatoes balanced this Italian inspired meal.  It sure wasn’t Asheville, but it was pretty good!

Pumpkin, Sage and Sausage Rigatoni

Enticingly aromatic when served straight from the oven,  with a golden au-gratin top, this pumpkin, sage and sausage rigatoni is a wonderful rustic fall dinner dish.   Pumpkin is one of those super foods boosting our immunity and this casserole serves up a big dose.   The rigatoni is enveloped in  a creamy, velvety custard made from the pumpkin purée, milk, mascarpone, egg yolk and grated cheeses seasoned with fall spices.  Simple, make-ahead but oh so good!

Spiced Chocolate Maple Leaf Cookies

When I started blogging, my friend Lynne gave me a handmade cookie cutter in the shape of a maple leaf to celebrate the blog and my Canadian heritage.  I have been waiting for fall to create something with the cookie cutter.  When walking recently in the beautiful Chanticleer gardens near home, I was wishfully admiring the lotus seed pods in the pond.  I was told  the way to the seed pods was through the gardener’s sweet tooth!  So you know who got a basket of these cookies!  Fall themed cookies, perfect for a plantsman and for care packages to my college sons!

Roasted Butternut Squash Couscous Salad with Apricots and Mint

Settle into sweater weather with a scrumptious grain salad bursting with complex layers of flavor and chock full of fantastic texture. It was inspired from the master of interesting  combinations of foods,  Yotam Ottolenghi, the Israeli chef trained at Le Cordon Bleu who is the author of 3 interesting cookbooks and has one of the hottest restaurants in London bearing his name. Although it will seem like the seasonings are odd together and too numerous, trust me on this one.  Ottolenghi knows what he is doing.  Thiis delicious salad will become a favorite.  If you will serve it as a side grain, you can omit the arugula.  Variations would include changing the nuts to hazelnuts, adding pomegranate seeds or toasted sunflower seeds.

Pomegranate Molasses and Mustard Grilled Pork Tenderloin

Grilling pork tenderloin gives it a nice crusty outer layer and leaves the inside moist and succulent.  This marinade introduces great flavoring with fall accents and is transformed into a flavorful glaze by simply reducing it for a few minutes.  Add some rice and a vegetable side and it transforms into a company-worthy meal in no time at all.

Fall Window Box

Fall is my favorite season to decorate.  The rich colors in nature and the bountiful pumpkins, gourds, mums and kales available everywhere just make it so easy to bring fall’s flourishes into your home décor.  When temperatures start to dip a bit, it’s time to start entertaining outside again.  Near our patio table we have a window box that is filled with annuals all summer.  By now the flowers are spent and ready for a refresh.  A no-maintenace window box bursting with fall’s bounty is what I set out to create.    No mums, grasses or kale were used to avoid having to water or deadhead.

Garlicky Roasted Sweet Potato Rounds

When visiting my Greek best friend, Panorea,  in Toronto last fall, she made these roasted sweet potato rounds.  They were the hit of the meal.   I had never thought to slice sweet potatoes into rounds for roasting and seasoning them with garlic, hot pepper and thyme.  This dish was a revelation.  The spices in the rub make the house smell so good, your mouth will be watering by the time they are ready!  It took a Greek cook to teach this French cook how to really bring out the best in sweet potatoes!  You may never want to eat sweet potatoes any other way again.  Thanks, Penny!

Deep Dish White Asparagus and Ham Pie

In one’s life there are those meals that are memorable, a revelation really, with the power to bring you back to that moment in time.  For me, I am transported to Brussels almost 30 years ago.  I was travelling alone in Paris and had decided on a whim to explore a bit of nearby Belgium.  No agenda, no reservations.  After checking in at my hotel, I headed out to explore the city.  After wandering the city for hours I found myself lost in a quaint residential neighborhood, not far from Avenue Louise where many Embassies are located, after darkness had long fallen,  famished.

Marie-Hélène Apple Cake with Salted Caramel Drizzle

Look at all the apples in this cake!  If you are an apple lover this is the apple cake  for you.  More apple than cake, it is just bursting with fruit.  Using different varieties of apples brings in subtle layers of flavor and texture:  apples that are more tart than sweet or softer than harder give the rather simple cake some complexity. There are none of the spices more traditionally used in North American apple baking such as cinnamon and nutmeg.  The flavoring comes from rum and vanilla.