A Day At Home

   I had thought of golfing today but woke up to overcast skies and wet underfoot, so decided not to chance it. It drizzled on and off all morning and is still threatening a heavier downpour this evening. The temperature is still mild for mid October, 17C.

   I managed to keep busy - got a loaf in the bread machine first thing, finally vacuumed the family room (the carpet looks so much better, I had been thinking it needed cleaning but I may put that off for a while) and took my bike down to the drug store for a prescription refill in between rain showers.

    When I got back I made a huge pot of Winter Minestrone soup from Giada's cookbook. I used Swiss chard and parsley from the garden, beans and lots of vegetables but had no pancetta, a key ingredient in her recipe. It didn't seem to affect the taste - it was quite yummy. The secret ingredient was a rind of parmesan cheese which definitely rounded out the flavour. I had it for lunch with a toasted tomato and cheese croissant.

    Tonight I am braising a shoulder lamb chop in tomatoes left over from preparing the soup. I will also add the rest of the beans - that's the problem in cooking for one, everything comes in too large containers. So I have to organize meals around using everything up. I will also add some mushrooms later and have it with the rest of the quinoa I cooked earlier this week. Still have some of the almond apple cake to finish too!
  

Thanksgiving

   Lunch at Judy and Dave's today. All in attendance including Lucy the dog. Natalie is seriously attached to her and can't wait to dog-sit her sometime soon.

   First was roasted pumpkin soup, very delicious. Then came the turkey with stuffing, pumpkin risotto, two kinds of potatoes (roasted and cheesy), brussell sprouts with bacon, goat cheese salad, cranberry sauce and gravy. By the time I had sampled a little of everything I was seriously stuffed! And there was more, pumpkin pie and Judy's speciality, pumpkin cheesecake, with whipped cream optional. I managed to hold off on only having a small slice of cheesecake and no pie but it was hard.

    While we ate we went around the table sharing what we were thankful for. After we had  digested all the great food we took Lucy for a walk around the block, all except James who was on his bike and about half a mile ahead of us. Luckily Uncle Steve was up to the challenge of corralling him in, so he never quite got out of sight.

   Came home for a nap, after getting restocked with Girl Guide cookies - no more food for me today!

Table set ready for the meal.

 

Plates loaded and ready to eat.

 

Dishing out dessert - the cheesecake was the best ever (in my humble opinion.).

Ho-Hum Days

     I'm trying to think back to my last entry - it's been a busy week. No golf this week but managed tennis on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. We had a little party on Friday at Bellbury as it was Magda's 80th birthday and Jasmine had brought in treats and a cake. It was lots of fun and some good tennis but next week is our last week before the nets come down. However, we should be playing at Bridlewood for a few more weeks, weather permitting. I am keeping gloves in my tennis bag just in case!

    I went to a movie on Tuesday afternoon - "My Old Lady" - it was quite good (Kevin Kline and Maggie Smith) but I got home too late to attend the Don Mills TC annual meeting. Oh, well, there's always next year!

   Just a day of chores today - laundry and shopping in the morning and a bit of gardening in the afternoon. I really need a rainy day to get caught up on the indoor chores. The carpets need vacuuming and it's time to get out the Windex for the glass tables, They are pretty disgusting!

    Salmon and quinoa for dinner tonight. I picked the last of the basil and mint today so will make a pesto to put on the salmon. Also found some Swiss Chard to have on the side. I will cook it like spinach. The next garden chore is to get some garlic in the ground before it freezes and some compost on the roses. It's supposed to get down to zero tonight but hopefully they will survive a little frost.

   

I have brought some of my planters indoors and have been rewarded with this beautiful bloom - probably the last of the year.

Some Domesticity

    Just made a batch of "Mediterranean Chutney". It has tomatoes, eggplant, garlic and zucchini as well as other spices and vegetables and is quite zingy. The day started out sunny but clouded over quite early and became very windy.

   This morning I attended a workshop on Parkinson's disease. It was sponsored by RTO and I signed up for it to find out if there were some indicators to follow so as to avoid the disease. Other than keeping active and eating sensibly, there was nothing else one can do to avoid it. It's almost purely genetic. However, treats were provided so the morning was not entirely wasted.

    I bought some winter hardy plants for my front porch planter on the way home, and got them installed before lunch. Now that the chutney is cooling in its jars I am going to make some cabbage rolls using the last of the Swiss Chard from the garden. The tomatoes and garlic in the chutney were also from the garden making it a cheap condiment. There are still lots of tomatoes on the vines and one lonely red pepper. I am just going out to pick some parsley for the cabbage rolls. My garden has given me lots of produce this year.

The last of the summer's bounty - lots of tomatoes, a red pepper, a tiny eggplant , and some Swiss Chard.

Fall colours on my front porch.