Sunday, November 1, 2009

This is Fall Bliss

Fall is such a cozy time of year and in my opinion, is the one season that has so many flavors and foods associated with it. Crisp apples, spiced cider, warm hearty soups, cinnamon, nutmeg and all things pumpkin. In my world, this is all happy food. A few weeks ago, my dear friends Sara and Laura joined me in my kitchen where we brainstormed and created what we considered to embrace some of the most cherished flavors of fall. It was a cold and rainy Saturday and we could not think of anything more delightful than some time well spent- good food and time with each other.


I am what I would consider a "weekly" grocery shopper as my roommate and I always take our grocery trips on Sunday and pretty much stock up for the week, but there is something I love about going to the store to pick up only the items needed to make one meal. We picked up some pork chops (a rare bite!), fresh apples, mixed baby greens and a bottle of wine with an adorable label- Cupcake! As soon as we got home, we popped in Sara's perfect fall playlist (think Michael Buble, Norah Jones, Nat King Cole...) and got to work!



Earlier in the week, my mom had taught me how to prepare and roast a pork chop in the oven and I was so surprised at how easy it was!
  • Lightly sprinkle each side of the chop with salt & pepper
  • Dip each side in egg
  • Cover in bread crumbs
  • Drizzle a pan with a bit of olive oil
  • Brown each side for 2-3 minutes
  • Nestle all pork chops in a baking dish and bake for 15-20 minutes on 350 degrees

To go with the pork, Laura cut up some stunning red and green apples and sauteed them in butter, cinnamon and brown sugar. What cooked up with nothing short of heavenly and my kitchen smelled like a blissful fall memory in the making! Our fresh salad was nothing more than mixed baby greens, sliced grape tomatoes and some dried cranberries sprinkled with feta and all tousled together with a homemade balsamic vinegarette. To top off the meal, we picked out a bottle of wine that we could not pass up for the label alone- it was called "Cupcake"! Our dinner was literally smiling at us from our plates (if that is even possible)- it was THAT good. The only thing missing was our precious Mary Katherine, the last 1/4 of our "quartet", who was out of town for a wedding.

Nights like this just make me smile.

1 comment:

  1. playoff baseball, fall eats, wine, perfect playlist and clackers...what could be better?!

    ReplyDelete