Not a whole lot of exciting stuff going on here lately.

I’ve kind of been in a bad habit of slacking off a lot. Not out of laziness, but rather because my mind is so consumed with thoughts of moving that I feel somewhat frantic even though I’m not. This constant busy feeling has kept me from tackling other projects because I feel like I don’t have time for them, but I absolutely do!

I’ve started slowly packing, trying to get a little done without forcing us into living out of half-packed boxes for this last month that we’re here.

I did manage to use up a few of those beautiful tomatoes we were given in a delicious tomato vegetable soup. It was so bright and flavorful with those perfectly juicy tomatoes in it.

And this past weekend Jeff and I snuck out for a little date at a new restaurant in Decatur called No. 246. It’s an Italian-inspired menu focusing on pastas, pizza, and lots of small plates for sharing.

Highlights of the meal were the toasts with 3 spreads: cannelini bean, pork rillettes, and lemon ricotta with pickled mushrooms…

Then, a tasty charcuterie pairing of coppa ham and a semi-soft cheese called Moses Sleeping, paired with a plum jam.

And a spicy garganelle pasta with braised rabbit and broccoli rabe.

We also had delicious cocktails and a chocolate tart with sea salt and olive oil.

I almost never order chocolate desserts. I do like chocolate, but I don’t swoon over it like so many women do. I always prefer creamy desserts or warm fruit crisps, but something was telling me to go for the chocolate tart and I’m glad I did. It was so rich and the fruity olive oil really did add something wonderful to it.

All in all though, we were not in love with No. 246. It was much too expensive for the quantity of food we received and though this may sound like a weird complaint, the acoustics in there were terrible! It was so uncomfortably loud that Jeff and I could barely speak to each other and had to yell our orders to our waiter. Not exactly the kind of atmosphere I like to eat in. Also, the bread was painful to eat. It was so crunchy and hard, like eating shards of broken glass. And as you can see above, we had a lot of it to crunch through.  Anyway, I’m glad we tried it.

Now, back to packing!

August 30, 2011 Alayna Discussion 6 comments

As promised, I present to you the recipe for these amazing little apple butter oat bars I made in my frazzled cooking bender yesterday.

It sounds like I’m not the only one around here that is craving the flavors of fall already. I’m desperately longing for pumpkin butter, warm applesauce, baked apples, kabocha squash, hot cider, and all the other delicious foods we only get to eat around the winter holidays.

I made these same bars last week in another cooking frenzy but with strawberry jam and almonds instead. They were definitely yummy, but I’m just so over all the bouncy summer berries and very ready to break into the firmer fall fruits. Biting into one of these made me feel like I was wearing a fuzzy sweater and snowed in on the couch with a big warm blanket and a cup of hot tea.

Apple butter oat bars

This quick and simple dessert or snack is not too sweet and features the warm flavors of cinnamon and apples.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 55 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes

Yield: 16 bars

Ingredients

• 1 stick of butter (room temp.)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup chickpea flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 3/4 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup apple butter

Cooking Directions

1. Cream together butter and sugars in a mixer.
2. Add egg and mix to combine.
3. Whisk together flours, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt in a separate mixing bowl.
4. Add dry mix to wet in three parts, mixing gently between each addition.
5. Fold in oats by hand and divide mixture into two equal parts
6. Press half the dough into a buttered and floured 9x9 baking pan and top with the apple butter.
7. Pinch off small pieces of the remaining dough and dot all over the top making sure to get all the way around the edges.
8. Bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes.
9. Let cool in pan, turn out onto a cutting surface, and cut into bars.

These aren’t too heavy on the butter and sugar either. It wouldn’t be naughty for you to pop one or two for breakfast, with a rich cup of coffee or herbal tea. Just enough sweetness for a morning pastry.

I intended on sending half of these to work with Jeff to keep me from eating all of them, but I don’t think I can part with them!

What foods do you most closely associate with fall?

August 25, 2011 Alayna Discussion, Recipes 19 comments

Life is returning to normal around here. We signed the papers to rent the new house, so it’s really happening now. I can finally start thinking about how we want to arrange the furniture and how our lifestyle will change without winding myself up for nothing.

For the past two days I’ve been furiously cleaning and staging our apartment for showings. We were supposed to have one yesterday but it never materialized. I really want to get this place rented quickly so that we don’t have people continuously coming over to see it for the next month and a half. It’s a pain to have to keep the apartment spotless every day and crate the cats when someone comes to see it.

I’ve been enjoying some delicious food lately. Donut peaches are one of my favorite fruits but I can rarely ever find them. I had them for breakfast one morning with strawberry goat’s milk yogurt, which I’m now addicted to!

Last night’s dinner was fantastic too. Turkey and apple sausages with mashed sweet potatoes and kale sauteed in the sausage juices with caramelized onions.

I like to mix butter and almond milk into my sweet potatoes to make them creamy. You’d think the almond milk would be weird, but it picks up on the sweet flavor of the potatoes nicely.

The kale is easy too. I just sauteed half an onion along with the sausages and when they were caramelized I added the kale right on top and let it wilt down. A few drops of water pulls the brown bits off the bottom of the pan to coat the kale leaves.

I cook a lot when I’m frazzled, and I certainly have been with all the packing and cleaning I’ve been doing.

This past weekend we visited Jeff’s family and were gifted these gorgeous homegrown tomatoes from his grandfather. (Hey Papa!) Aren’t they beautiful?

I used some of them to make an outstanding vegetable soup that I’ll share with you tomorrow or the next day. Seriously, these tomatoes are so good that I’ve been convinced to start growing some of our own when we move. They are so sweet and the texture is much less watery, more firm and supple.

And here’s another frazzled cooking foray…

Those are apple butter oat bars, yum! I made these same bars just last week with sliced almonds rather than oats and strawberry jam rather than apple butter. I’ll definitely share the recipe because they are killer!

Can you tell I’m ready for fall to start? I’ve been making soups left and right and I’m definitely craving fall flavors like baked apple and pumpkin.

What do you do when you’re frazzled? Ever had a homegrown tomato?

August 24, 2011 Alayna Discussion 4 comments