Es otoño en Chicago. Me gusta el otoño. El clima es muy bueno y la comida es más buena. Me gusta cocinar en el otoño. Okay, that is about the extent of my ability to discuss this topic in Spanish. Also, I’m not sure how many Spanish speaking readers I have, though I hope someday to be able to write entire blogs in both English and Spanish.
Anyway, fall is here, and I am thrilled. If you’ve been following my blog since the beginning, you may have read Fall Foods where I droned on about some of my favorite fall dishes. But every year, I feel an enormous sense of excitement on that first morning when I wake up with a chill and grab that extra blanket. And this year, I can add bread baking to one of the many things I love about the fall. Yes, I was making bread before, but not at this level. And yes, I’ve been making bread pretty much all year thanks to this lovely pandemic, but the cooler temperatures of fall just scream for baking more bread. I still have so many varieties I want to try out. And I really want to give croissants another go, even if they take 2 full days to actually make following The Art of French Cooking recipe. I know, last year I said I was gonna find a less intense recipe, but those were just so damned good.
I also have a little goal this year to see if I can get my husband to like some fall vegetables. Thus far, his distaste for all things squash or sweet potato has led me to just avoid these ingredients. But I am convinced he just hasn’t had them prepared in a way that he likes. He’ll probably scoff as he edits this post, but that won’t deter me. I actually found a sweet potato recipe he admitted didn’t sound terrible. Obviously, I am not going to ply him with said ingredients and overwhelm him, but a little squash here or a sweet potato in a dish or as a side is worth a try. I’ve also been dying to try to make a version of Zuppa Toscana. Yes, it has kale, which he typically recoils at the thought of. But I think masked in a creamy potato soup with sausage, I might be able to persuade him that it is not the evil invasive species he thinks it is.
I have no idea what the holidays are going to look like this year, but Thanksgiving has always been my favorite. I love cooking all our traditional favorites and have developed some decent vegan and vegetarian dishes the last few years thanks to the girls. So, whether it ends up that I’m dropping said deliciousness on their various stoops or we get to actually have a family dinner, I am looking forward to the 2-3 days of cooking up cranberry sauce, baked beans, vegetable casseroles, pies, breads, and so much more.
There may still be a pandemic happening, politics may be just an insane mess, and the world may generally be going to hell, but in the fall, I wake up excited to put on a sweater and head to my kitchen.
Foodie's Delimma 