If I had to choose a favorite month of the year, it would be October. Not only because it is my birthday month (that has become less popular as the years roll on), but because it marks a major shift in the weather. And thus, the types of food I cook.
Spring sneaks up on me, there is no sudden change. It’s a slow transition. Somehow autumn is different. The first winter rains usually happen in late October, the trees start to change color, and the mornings are crisp. It seems to happen overnight. I want to re-decorate my house in oranges, reds, and yellows. Early October is hot, sometimes the warmest of the year in an area with Indian summer. And then, it’s not. It’s sudden.
What’s new in my kitchen this month?
There are some new cookbooks, two of them (The River Cafe Cook Book and What Katie Ate) are for the on-line cookbook club, The Cookbook Guru. Please join us if you love and collect cookbooks as I do. It’s wonderful to be challenged to try new dishes and spices. Don’t you think that cooking can become boring very easily?
In my kitchen I have chocolate.
And more chocolate! The shopping list said ketchup and chocolate, a request from my family, and permission to go wild!
On a healthy note I have started to use my Spiralizer, it replaced pasta on a recent evening with a simple marinara sauce.
Spiralized Zucchini
In my kitchen I have a new spicy marinade and sauce.
Nothing unpronounceable in the ingredient list. So far I’ve used it as a marinade for salmon and a quick sauce in a stir fry. Both were good.
In my kitchen I have a bottle of Saba. Are you wondering what it is? I’ve found it similar to a good aged balsamic vinegar. Saba is a syrup made from freshly squeezed grape juice, also known as must. Grape must contains many of the sugars naturally present in the grape, and when it is slowly cooked into a syrup, it develops into a very rich, concentrated foodstuff that can be used in a wide assortment of ways. Saba is most closely associated with Abruzzese cuisine in Italy, although it is used in other regions of Italy as well, and it is a popular offering at Mediterranean-inspired restaurants overseas.
And lastly, in my kitchen I have apples. These are golden delicious and they were very sweet. I picked them up from a road side stand in the middle of an apple orchard. The trees were old and gnarly but beautiful.
What is new in your kitchen? This post is part of a regular monthly blogging event “In My Kitchen” hosted by Celia from Fig Jam and Lime Cordial. Click on the link to get a glimpse of what is happening in kitchens around the globe.