fall cookin'

Here are some good eats we've enjoyed this season and thought to be worth sharing:

1. My mom used to make this cider during the holidays; it tastes like Christmas and home to me.  We had some with this GF pumpkin bread (there were some gluten free-ers in da house) while we carved spooky pumpkins and enjoyed this lovely fall season.

2. The main dish for Sunday dinner last week was honey-lime chicken enchiladas.  It was suggested by one attendee that these taste Cafe Rio-like.  I'm not here to confirm or deny, but anything worthy of that comparison is at least worthy of trying. That should be a good enough hint.

3. A tangy beef stew recipe adapted from here.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds bottom round, well trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 c olive oil 
• 2 onions, diced
• 1 6-ounce can tomato paste
• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• 6-8 large potatoes, diced
• 1lb carrots (either baby, or cut)
• 2 cups beef broth (or any broth, really)
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 package frozen peas, thawed

Directions

1.  Coat the beef in the flour. Heat a few tablespoons of the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the meat, a few pieces at a time, adding more oil as necessary. Transfer to a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker.
2. Add the onions to the skillet and cook over medium heat until tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and coat the onions; transfer to the cooker.
3. Pour the wine into the skillet and scrape up any browned bits; add to the cooker. Stir in the potatoes, carrots, broth, salt, thyme, and bay leaf.
4. Cover and cook on low heat for 7 1/2 hours, or on high for 5 hours. Add the peas and heat through.

4. And lastly, my new favorite tradition: dinner in a pumpkin.  I used wild rice, ground turkey instead of beef, omitted the ham, added a few more bell peppers, and instead of one large pumpkin we used four sugar pumpkins so everyone had their own.  I don't know if this is the best recipe, but it was so fun and there are lots of recipes out there to combine or alter.  Let it be heard, pumpkin season is not over!