Spring...Summer... AUTUMN!

Hmm. I just realized how odd the word Autumn looks. Well... That aside, autumn is my favorite season. In the South, I loved spring because it brought the dead world back to life, and the blooms were amazing and the weather was even better, but in New England, it's autumn that has stolen my heart.

New England autumn is absolutely stunning. With so many deciduous trees, and lots of rain, the colors in the fall are absolutely magical. From late September to October and slightly into November, the leaves catch fire in yellows and oranges and reds. But it's not even the trees that get me so excited. New England comes together as a community in the fall. There are pumpkin festivals and hot Yankee soups in fresh bread bowls and tours of cemeteries in Salem and best of all, there are apples. Autumn is apple harvest in New England, and I absolutely adore the U-Pick apple orchards all over the state. Every year since I've moved up here, Aj and I go to the orchards at least once or twice. We're learning the different types of apples. What's best for pies, baked apples, caramel apples, eating, storing through the winter.... It's a past time that a lot of people up here take for granted, but being from the outside I can see the pure magic of it. I can't wait to do all of these things with my children some day.



The trees haven't really started to change just yet, and the apple orchards will operate until late October, but I am already in the autumn mood. I can't help but think of hot spiced cider and caramel apples and pies. Yum! Here is a recipe that I think is good for fall nights. The original recipe called for ricotta cheese, but I substituted marscapone in a pinch. It's good either way.

Spaghetti with Sweet Potatoes and Marscapone

• 12 Oz. Spaghetti (about 3/4 box)
• 2 Tbsp. Olive oil
• 2 Small sweet potatoes, cubed into 1/2 inch pieces
• Sea/Kosher salt & cracked black pepper
• 2 Shallots, sliced thin
• 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary
• 1/4 Cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/3 Cup marscapone or 1-2 dollops per plate

1. Cook the pasta according to the directions on the box. I like to cook mine a few minutes longer because I think Al Dente is Italian for "gross."
   
2. Reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water before you drain the pasta.
3. Meanwhile in a large nonstick skillet, heat the oil over medium heat and add the potatoes, pepper and salt (to taste) and cook, covered, stirring every few minutes for 10 minutes.
4. Add the shallots and rosemary and cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are tender about 3-5 minutes longer.
5. Toss the drained pasta with the potato mixture, Parmesan, and the reserved cooking water. Top with a dollop of marscapone.
   

A story, a beginning, and a recipe

If you had asked me when I was twelve where on the map New Hampshire was I am not sure I'd be able to tell you if it was even an American state. So how did I end up here? How did a little Memphis, Tennessee girl end up going from a state that gets one inch of snow annually to a state where you're lucky if you get only two feet in a year? It's all because of the internet. No, no... I didn't google "coldest places to live in the USA" - I just fell in love. On the internet.

I met my husband when I was thirteen. Obviously he wasn't my husband now. In fact I thought he was a freaking weirdo because, being fourteen, he thought it was "wicked" cool to use jive talk from the sixties. Cool Cat. Well somehow we ended up talking...and talking...and talking... for years. Four years to be exact. We talked from ages thirteen to seventeen. Then we decided to meet. It was the summer before I was headed to college in Missouri. Well the second he was off the plane it was decided - it was love and we knew it.

I finished college, and not having any particular ties to any specific part of the US (I had been moved from house to house - never staying in the same place more than 2 years - and eventually moved from Tennessee to Mississippi.) I packed up my 1999 Ford Taurus in 2008 with all the belongings I could possibly cram, and two dogs, and a boyfriend, and we drove from Missouri to New Hampshire - Damn that's a long drive.

We were married shortly after, and just celebrated our two year anniversary, and that is how I ended up here. With no real plans to leave. The truth of the matter is that I have a job I love, and I live somewhere I feel safe, and I am just a stone's throw from the culture of Boston or the ocean or the moose of Maine and Canada. It's a great place. Cold, but great.

We now rent a house that's in the family, and it's still flaunting its mid 20th century Youngstown Teppan range and oven. The double-oven was partly out of commission until today when it was repaired, so I am starting this blog in honor of that (and because I love to cook - but this is more romantic). I'm ecstatic to have my in-oven rotisserie back in operation, and even though only two of the four of the eyes on my rangetop work and they have one heat (hot, and hot) - I can't explain how glad I was that we didn't have to have it replaced. There is something beyond romantic about my retro house. We've settled into its retro-ness. We've made it ours.

Here is a recipe I made just yesterday. I was trying desperately to find something that would recreate the delicious Thai Butternut Squash soup I had at the Salem,MA New England Soup Factory. I lucked upon this recipe from Allotment 2 Kitchen that had a good base soup that I ran with. I had never had a butternut squash until I attended my first Yankee Thanksgiving with my husband's parents, so to me it's the most New England vegetable in existence and quite appropriate for a first blog post.

Thai Butternut Squash Soup

Ingredients:

• 400 ml (1.7 cups) light coconut milk
• 4 tsp. Thai red curry paste
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 pint (2 cups) vegetable stock
• Zest of half a lime
• 1 medium/large butternut squash (about 4 cups cubed)
• 1 tbsp olive oil

1. Roast the butternut squash in a tablespoon of olive oil at 400°F for 30 to 40 minutes, or until tender. Be careful not to let the squash over brown or burn.
2. Either mash or puree the squash. I think pureeing at this stage will provide a better texture for the finished soup.
3. In a large 6 to 8 cup pot, whisk together all the ingredients until smooth.
4. Bring to a simmer and continue to simmer gently on medium heat for 15 minutes (you can imagine how much fun simmering something is on a stovetop that only functions on the high heat setting).
5. Taste for spice and consistency. Add more red curry paste or lime zest to taste. If the consistency is not smooth at this point, pureeing will provide a smooth, whipped consistency that is very creamy. If your squash was overly large (They grow huge up here!), consider adding some heavy cream or more coconut milk.

Serves 5

Nutrition: Calories 150, Carbs 23g, Fat 6g, Protein 1g