Friday, August 26, 2011

Looking towards Fall


This week I was very honored to get to bring a meal to a new friend.  She has a new baby girl at home, as well as three dear little boys and I'm sure, a hungry husband!


I started by making beef, barley and vegetable soup.  I had a rump roast in the freezer which I cooked with some beef broth and an onion in the slow cooker.  When the meat was falling off the bone, I let it all cool.  I took the fat and gristle off, and cut the meat into bite size pieces.  In the mean time, I cooked the barley - I used plain barley so it took about an hour to cook.  When the barley was done I combined the broth, meat chunks, half a can of tomato paste, and a 16 ounce package of mixed frozen vegetables.  Once it had simmered a bit I adjusted the seasoning.

I also made a loaf of oatmeal-whole wheat-honey bread.  It was a new,  no-knead recipe.  I wasn't thrilled with the results - it was more dense and dry than I expected.  But I did tweak the recipe, so perhaps that's to be expected. 


For dessert, I made pumpkin-spice bars with caramel frosting.  I seriously debated making maple frosting but let me tell you - caramel was a really good choice.  Those bars were absolutely delicious.  It was a good thing they all got given away or put away - I could have eaten all 48 without blinking.


Before I went, I happened to be rummaging through some boxes in my sewing room and found this little wool soaker.  It's made from a wool sweater I found at a thrift store.  I made it for my son but it didn't fit him.  I compared to a small cover I had handy and it was just the right size.  

As I was getting everything together, I was reflecting on the food choices and realized that my whole menu seemed very fall-themed.  We've had a few "cooler" (aka, in the upper 80s) days and it's made me think wistfully of crisp fall days.  I know they'll be here soon!

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