It's been getting down into the 40s at night here lately, and the chill in the air is making me crave hearty, hot meals. Now that turning the oven on means getting the chill out of the house, I'm feeling inspired to bake for the first time in months as well. Last night I stayed up late baking a kale and parmesan quiche and a curried pumpkin soup, and made a new favorite in our house: fresh cut french fries with malt vinegar. I'm trying to justify it by saying that putting on a few extra pounds will help insulate us during the winter ahead, which I have a feeling will be a very bitter cold one.
I'm throwing a Halloween themed potluck bonfire party for my sister's birthday tomorrow night. To me, a party is made firstly by the people who attend, and secondly by the food. The weather is forecasted as clear and cool, and this means the menu is calling for vegetarian chili and cornbread. I'm going to whip up some cupcakes in these very cool Halloween-y cupcake papers by Martha Stewart http://www.fancyflours.com/site/7100-MS-GB-1.html , and serve an alcoholic punch out of a hollowed out pumpkin. I'm going to try a punch that calls for 1 part cider, 1 part rum, and 2 parts ginger ale... hopefully it turns out to be tasty. Honeybunch will be whipping up a batch of his beloved taco dip, and I'll bake some challah to serve warm with fresh butter.
In other food news, we've pretty much settled on the menu for our wedding. We plan to serve either mushroom or pumpkin soup, freshly baked bread, cheese ravioli with garlic spinach and tomatoes or butternut squash sauce, green salad, roasted root veggies and brussel sprouts, and a variety of cheeses. My mom is baking our pumpkin cupcakes with cinnamon buttercream frosting, as well as some delightful little sweet things like baklava bites and blackberry sage cookies. We'll be serving a variety of our homemade wines and beers, as well as hot apple cider and tea and coffee. The rest of the planning is coming along nicely, and I'm happily surprised at how smoothly it's all going.
Other than party planning, my life goes on much the same... work is stressful but rewarding, the festival season is finally over and the camping gear put away for the year, the chickens are popping out eggs and the cats are doing things they're not supposed to.
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