9/22/08

Fall is Here! (and WINNER!)

I walked to the garden and what did I see?

I walked to the garden last night, in my bright red Crocs, and what did I see?


Not only our Marigolds still in bloom (top photo), but I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw one Big, Bright, Gigantic, Orange Pumpkin right in the middle of our messy tomato plants.


I saw it a couple of weeks ago, but it wasn’t this large. I spotted a few other pumpkins, and I asked my husband if he had planted them. Then I remembered that our friend, Jeannie, gave us the starts – so what a fun surprise!

In a few weeks we will be able to harvest the pumpkins and enjoy them on our front porch as decorations, and then I’d like to make pumpkin soup. I have never made pumpkin soup (squash, yes! carrot, yes!) so I’ll probably Google my way through the internet to find a recipe that fits with the ingredients that I have on hand.

So what does our table look like when we’re not “entertaining” other friends or families?


Pretty plain and simple. The kids get the plates (standard white, William Sonoma – some chippedfrom the kids doing the dishes!), silverware, and glasses. I grab any leftover summer napkins. We all pitch in and pour the water, light the candles, and get the food on the table.

Last night we barbequed our favorite salmon and toasted yummy sourdough bread.

Veggies (this time we added tofu & cilantro with fresh-squeezed lime)


Fresh green beans (precooked in micro with Costco’s pesto and bacon bits, then flash-cooked on the BBQ)


And remember those beautiful green figs that our neighbor brought us, a few posts back? Well last we were blessed, as Elli brought over an incredible appetizer using the figs from her tree – a Sweetened Fig Focaccia Bread with Prosciutto on top. Amazing in flavor! (Sorry, I do not have the recipe, but isn’t it beautiful?!)


The days are getting shorter and the nights cooler, so as we grabbed our warm jackets and long pants, we snuggled together outside over this delicious meal – just our family of five!

I love nights like this.

And as my walks to the garden are fewer and fewer … that’s okay.

Because I know that Fall is here
.

Speaking of Fall, many of you mentioned with my last post (over 150 comments!) that Fall was your favorite time to entertain! I, too, love Fall for many reasons.

Here’s a big CHEER to the WINNER of my Harry & David GIVEAWAY! Will you help me in congratulating Sandy Toes?!

19 comments:

Shell in your Pocket said...

Wow...I won! I can't believe it! I am so excited...you really made my day!!!

-Sandy Toes

Betsy Brock said...

Congrats, Sandy Toes!

And how fun finding that big pumpkin in your garden!

Jerri Lynn @ Southern Sassyness said...

Congrats, Sandy Toes! What a fabulous giveaway!

Looks like you will have a nice time picking your pumpkins! How fun!

Enid said...

Congrat Sandy toes.... I love your meal last night, Happy first Fall day!

Jen said...

Congrats to Sandy Toes. Your meal looks great.

Kirstin said...

Congratulations Sandy Toes..enjoy and think of all of us!

Sandy, your dinner looked yummy!

Anonymous said...

Congrats, Sandy Toes!

All of the pictures look especially nice this time!!!! You have a knack for photography as well!!!!

Last night's meal has me craving salmon!!!!!!

Thank you for being so hospitable to visitors to your blog!!!!

Dawn
striblin@yahoo.com

Sandi @the WhistleStop Cafe said...

That table looks wonderful. A 'sit down' family meal is what to many are missing.
That lucky sandy toes~

Buzzings of a Queen Bee! said...

That pumpkin...wow. I can't believe that grew in your garden. Can't wait to see it all carved up for Halloween! :)
Carrie

Kristen Andrews said...

yum, yum and I heart pumpkins

Tammy said...

Congrats to Sandy Toes!

And love those vibrant fall colors in the flowers, pumpkin...and in, um, your crocs! LOL

Blessings!
~Tammy

Chris @ Come to the Table said...

I will wait to see what you come up with in the pumpkin soup department.

grace said...

fig foccacia bread? why can't i have neighbors like that!!

~j~ said...

what a fun hidden treasure in your garden! I love that.
Happy Fall to all, but I am still and always will be a summer girl :)
xo
j

Elizabeth said...

I love this post. I see you are still eating al fresco. This in-between weather is fun. Garden is still producing but cooler days and nights.

Have a great day!
Elizabeth

Anonymous said...

congrats to Sandy Toes

imagine finding a pumpkin as big as that?!

love the simple table and i hadn't thought of pre-cooking and then flashing on the bbq for the beans, we are just coming into warm weather so I will try that

btw I had my bbq on the weekend, I did get stressed but it was another step in my journey to being hospitable, thanks to you, but boy you know what I did find it tough stepping out of my comfort zone, I'm hoping it'll get easier...

Sarah

lazy susie said...

Your pumpkin reminds me of our watermelon...

The children, who were very little, were hiking on our land with their father when they discovered a full-grown watermelon by a pond. They were sooooooo excited! We remembered back to a day where we had a picnic by that pond and seeds were spit all over in a contest.

The children found the watermelon roots going down into the pond for water. That was cool.

The only prob was that it didn't taste good at all. Oh, well. It was still an exciting find that none of them will forget.

God bless!

Sue McGettigan said...

My tip for the pumpkin soup is to use an Australian recipe, we LOVE our pumpkin soup. Roast your pumpkin (you'll be glad you did), saute some onions and carrots with garlic, add the roasted pumpkin, some curry powder/garam masala, a tin of recipe diced tomatoes (or fresh ones) and some stock to cover; when it's cooked turn off the heat, add a little cream and stir through, then blend it (if you have a blending attachment for your mixer to put right in the pot so much the better) - leave a few lumps and bumps to show it was really fresh veggies you started with! Season with salt and pepper to taste - delicious with fresh warm bread - mmm.

Carey said...

Im interested...what is flash cooked on the bbq...that you did to the green beans...they looks really good.