Fall Fun
Last weekend I was in Greenville, South Carolina to celebrate the recent retirement of a good friend. He and his wife have built a second home down there and will now float back and forth between here and there. It was great to press pause for a few days and hang out with friends. My back held up well while playing golf — an encouraging sign for the future. Seeing the home my friend has built, and getting a sense of what his life will look like in this new phase was really cool. It’s quite an accomplishment: Work hard, save, plan…and then the day finally arrives. My vision of retirement looks different than his, but his version is beautiful.
Today will be my first real day of fall leaf collection. This will likely continue until Thanksgiving. A weekly ritual of tidying up the yard (and more importantly, the gutters) as the trees shed their canopies. This will take an increasing amount of time each week, until it finally peters out and we enter the holidays.
I’ve already started thinking through the Thanksgiving menu. It will just be the nuclear family gathering this year, so I’ll roast a turkey breast. I'll brine it using Thomas Keller's recipe, roast the breast, then roast the rest of the bird and pick the meat for a pot pie. The bones will go into stock for soup and gravy. I’m using Thanksgiving prep as an excuse to indulge my sweet tooth — I need to try out a range of dessert recipes to ensure that I land on just the right one for the family meal. We always keep the Thanksgiving menu traditional, but the recipes often change from year to year (unlike New Year’s Day menu, which is carved in stone, never to be altered).
I had the pleasure of dining at The Seasoned Farmhouse, in Clintonville, last night with a couple dozen good friends. They offer cooking classes and private dinners. The meal was absolutely wonderful - I highly recommend this operation to anyone with a whiff of interest.
It’s a little hard to believe it is October 4th. This year feels like it has played out especially fast, which is a good sign for the most part. It’s been a year of high focus and engagement, with each week planned and executed pretty darn well. I’ve accomplished a lot, and had a lot of fun. There’s lots to be thankful for this fall.
Sunday Supper
I made this Chicken and Pesto Rice With Peas this week. It would have been a fantastic One Dish Wonder at Maamos Kitchen, back in the day.
Kofta and Potatoes Baked in Tahini Sauce
Creamy Lentil Sun-dried Tomato Soup
Thanksgiving Dessert Recipes (for testing)
Sunday Music
Larkin Poe at Nashville’s Sound Emporium
Natalie Merchant Live Acoustic Session
Melissa Aldana w/ Gonzalo Rubalcaba at the NPR Tiny Desk
Enjoy!
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Have a great week ahead! You can do anything you set your mind to. Let me know how I can help.
Peace & Love,