Signs of Fall

We're celebrating Thanksgiving in Phoenix this year.  It doesn't really feel like turkey time when you're in the desert with cacti and tumbleweeds everywhere and the sounds of rattlesnakes and the theme to "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" in the air.  Of course, November in Northern California feels a lot different than New England--about 30 degrees Fahrenheit different!  But even with weather still in the low 60's as Thanksgiving approaches, they do have an Autumn here, complete with colorful leaves (which I now have to rake!), brisk mornings and a few other things we've experienced in the past few days I'd like to share with you.

Roaring Fires ...

This is a picture of our new living room and a real wood fire we had burning in our fireplace a few nights ago.  We've had a couple Duraflame logs burning in there before, but this was honest to goodness split firewood (from the store).  Something we've had the great fortune to learn about our house is that if you run the vent hood over the stove or the microwave while a fire is burning, it actually creates a suction that draws smoke into the house (i.e., not good).  Our place still smells like a campfire from that happening during the fire in this photo.

Fresh-baked Pies ...

Some of you know that Elisa and I have had some new adventures in cooking, inspired by our joining a produce CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) and by the tiny orchard of various fruit trees in our backyard (pear, apple, apricot, loquat).  Well, here's a photo of a pie that I made--from scratch!  My first ever pie from scratch.  Well, Elisa ended up making the dough, after my attempt was a disaster.  But I rolled it out, made the filling, assembled and baked it.  We used a few apples from our first CSA box along with a few from our tree out back.  I don't know if you can tell by this picture, but it was soooo good.  I say "was" because we managed to polish it off in just three days!  I have had a piece every night Sun-Weds, but Elisa seems to prefer hers for breakfast.

Root Vegetables ...

Oh yeah, and what would this post be without a mention of our cute little Butterball?  It's Micah's first Thanksgiving and he's been having some culinary adventures of his own.  We've been letting him try mashed-up and puréed versions of "big people food," including bread, bananas, peas, refried beans (the magical fruit!), squash (from the CSA!), and, as this video shows ... sweet potatoes!!  Happy Thanksgiving, and enjoy ...