The New Messy Kitchen

Well, one of these days I should be almost ready to post some musings about new dishes and old favorites as cooked in my new kitchen (no photo available...too messy!)  I'm still unpacking, and in the process, I'm completely missing the month of September!  I have so many apple desserts to try! So much squash to cook! So much cabbage to do something cabbage-y with.

But alas.  As it turns out, I'm not the kind of person who can organize a new space in a reasonable amount of time and continue life as I know it.  It's not that I'm starving here, or indulging in the less-than-healthy convenience of all the fast food places to which I now live close enough to walk (but not far enough away to walk off enough of those calories.) It's just that I've been throwing together meals with dishes I don't have to think about very much, like vegetable stir fry featuring broccoli, bok choy and nice, sweet carrots from the CSA; Creamy Cabbage and Potato Soup; and homemade pizza.

I really miss my messy adventures and it's beginning to show. After reading this recipe for pumpkin pancakes at Baking Bites, I dreamed that I got the chance to make them, but, sadly, not to eat them.  I think my subconscious mind is telling me it's time to get back into the kitchen, and I have a long list of planned posts to get to from both my cookshelf, and my stash of recipe clippings (wherever that is!), soon.

I want to tell you about a super-easy apple cake that I discovered last year and maybe the recipe for a caramel apple cake that I recently got from my grandmother. (Grandma's recipes are usually solid choices.)  I want to put together a butternut squash soup recipe to share. (Although you don't need me for that.  Just a few taps on that Google machine in front of you should get you approximately 40 million hits for winter squash soups with just about any flavors from Italian to Southwestern to curry.)  I want to bake with pears, and maybe figs and definitely pumpkin.  There are braises, stews and soups to make, living room tailgating snacks to try, and all kinds of things to roast.

But, if all those plans go to heck, there's still a lot to celebrate.  Eventually the new kitchen will be in some kind of order and fall is here with its change in weather, colors and foods.  Even if some complicated or showy dish or dessert never gets made, I'm sure I'll have some minor victory to tell you about (I already fixed the sink). And there's still the comforts of Mulled Apple Cider and Hot Cocoa to snuggle up with, now that the rainy days are colder.

One year ago: Broccoli Cheese Casserole with Mustard Rye Croutons 

Two years ago: Cabbage Slaw with Spicy Peanut Dressing and Caramel Dip for Apples