I've been using cauliflower in place of potatoes for some time now. I used it in my Yankee Pot Roast this past weekend. Never thought about soup. I've been watching an early Gordon Ramsey show called the F word. He made a cauliflower puree. I can make a soup out of that.

FALL

The holiday season, (Birthanksmas is my favorite holiday and occurs in November). Cooler temperatures, (I prefer drastically cooler, but living in the South I have learned to adjust). Wind. Cold rain. The smell of burning leaves. Football. Apples, (EVERYTHING about apples, eating them, biting them, slicing them, baking them). Cinnamon. Nutmeg. Pumpkin. Egg Nog. Fall Colors. Sweaters. Scarves.

Recipe of the Month

Two for the price of one actually.  One of my family's favorite meals:

Chianti  Braised Short Ribs

3 lbs. boneless beef short ribs

Salt and pepper to taste

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

2 cups Chianti

1 32 oz can crushed tomatoes

3 cups beef broth

2 teaspoons fresh rosemary

Pat short ribs dry and season with salt and pepper. Coat a large, nonstick pan with olive oil. Sear the short rib pieces over medium-high heat for about 2-3 minutes on each side or until brown. Transfer short ribs to a bowl. Add onions to pan and cook over medium heat for approximately 3 minutes. Once onions are translucent, add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Do not brown. Add Chianti, rosemary, beef broth and tomatoes to the pan one at a time, allowing liquid to partially evaporate before each addition ( about 2 minutes). Return short ribs to pan, including any juices that might have accumulated in the bowl. Cover and let simmer for 3 hours on low heat to complete the braising process. Remove short from pan and boil the liquid until it is reduced by half, about 10 minutes. Return short ribs to pan and heat thoroughly. Serve with potatoes or risotto and vegetables.

 Risotto

¼ cup olive oil

½ cup yellow onion, finely chopped

1 ½ cups Arborio rice

½ cup white wine

5 cups chicken or vegetable broth

2 Tablespoons butter

½ cup parmesan cheese

Salt & Pepper to taste

Fresh parsley, chopped.

Heat oil, add onions and cook 3 minutes or until onions are soft. Keep broth warm in a separate pot. Add rice to onions and stir for 2 minutes. Add white wine and let evaporate. Add the broth, about 1 cup at at ime, stirring frequently. Wait until each addition is almost completely absorbed by the rice. Continue to add broth until rice is creamy and cooked al dente. Turn off heat. Add butter and Parmesan cheese. Stir to combine with rice/risotto. Transfer to large bow. Garnish with parsley. Serve immediately.

Note; Finished risotto is creamy and rice is firm.

BEAR DOWN!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-YeeoaVHSg

More pondering

I thought I would get the fall stuff out of the attic early this morning before the heat kicked in. Guess what happens to candles stored in a Southern GA attic over the summer? Yuck!! Thankfully, they were in plastic bags. I've also decided that once the Christmas stuff comes down I need to find somewhere else to store it. There isn't going to be anyone to help me next year. Well, I have all my outside decorations on the porch. It hasn't even made a dent. Its a big porch. I'm just gonna make do with pine cones and branches from the woods behind the house.My daughter recently gave me a wooden horse stable that I had bought for my grandkids when they were younger and they don't play with any more. I'm going to paint it and decorate it for Halloween, then Thanksgiving, then Christmas. I'm going to keep it somewhere inside though. I don't think it would weather well. Pics of the outside of the house when I'm done cleaning the garden and the porch. Pics of the stable when it is finished.
When I lived in Illinois fall was my favorite time of year. I always like the change of season, no matter what. Spring is gradual, as are summer and winter, but fall.was...different, at least for me. The temperature cools, daylight doesn't last as long, things begub to change... The cool after the hot, not like spring. Spring fights winter. Summer gives way to fall. People though not ready to give up languishing, are more than ready to get back to business. Back to routine. A defined schedule. School starts. Vacations end. Time to get serious. Time for change. But still, there is that savoring of what is. It seems as if we become acutely aware of time.The days are shorter. The colors of changing leaves, The cool respite of the wind that begins to bite. The cleansing downpour of rain that when hit your skin in the summer suddenly became cold and hard. And there are celebrations. Harvests, festivals, apples.  Apple pie, apple crisp, apple cider, baked apples. Anything with cinnamon and butter.

So here I am, 64 years old and living in Southern Georgia. We get a little bit of fall. Our temperatures go down from the high 90's to low 80's. It is still a welcome change and I love the city I live in and the people, but I miss autumn. So, at the beginning of Sept. every year as people are preparing for school and work, I put out fake garlands of fall leaves, and pumpkins, and melt cinnamon scented wax. Fall is still my favorite season. It will usher in winter, with its cold and somewhat forced rest, which yields to spring, with its promise of new life, Easing into summer with its warmth and relaxation, giving way to fall, a time to regroup and know that everything has its purpose.