Apples, Pumpkins, Carrots and Cats!

We are in full fall mode here in Minnesota. The trees are turning, the nights are colder and as I take my daily walk along the trail the leaves are crunching beneath my feet. It's time to clean out the garden; cut the last of the mint, parsley and oregano for drying, cut down the barren tomato stalks, pull out the last of the carrots and update my gardening journal - it's been a great year.

We're getting ready for our annual Halloween Party; getting the decorations  out of the Halloween closet - and yes I do understand that I am most likely the only person in MN or the planet that has a Halloween closet - gotta love that. We made apple butter and prepped apples for pies last night and we're working on our costumes - I can't wait - I'm finally going to be a ….. well you'll just have to wait for photos to see but I'm so excited!

We spent the weekend with my Dad in Fargo and had a lovely side trip to visit my niece Katie at the U of M Morris on Sunday so my first cooking opportunity was Sunday evening. I've had my eye on making a Imam Bayildi the original recipe is here.

I made a couple changes (of course). I had one eggplant and two zucchini that needed to be used so I did a little substitution. I did two layers of eggplant and one layer of zucchini - no complaints from the peanut gallery and we finished the leftovers tonight.

Before we went to visit my Dad I harvested the carrots. I've been saving them for a velvety carrot ginger soup recipe that I found on Pinterest but since the bag was overflowing I decided to roast a batch with olive oil, agave and Himalayan sea salt for dinner tonight. We combined them with some sauteed zucchini and onions and whipped up a salad to round out a lovely dinner.

For those of you who are regularly reading my blog, in my last post I was pondering soaked oats - I can tell you without a doubt it's become a favorite breakfast food of mine. I've been soaking 2/3rd of a cup of rolled oats (not instant) in 1 cup of almond/coconut milk overnight. In the morning I add 1 Tbsp of agave (today I added 1T of apple butter), a pinch of fresh coconut, raisins and either pumpkin or sunflower seeds it's fast becoming a favorite. It's a little sweet, high fiber and gets me through the morning - give it a try I think you'll like it.

If you've been counting, our squash harvest is up to 15 - we've given some away and eaten a few but it looks like we'll be enjoying the fruits of our labor well into December.

I'm looking for Halloween food recipes, if you have any favorites please send them my way.

Ciao!