Sunday in the Kitchen

If I had a food blog, I’d call it, Sunday in the Kitchen.

Basil Pesto 

September mornings. The air is cool and brisk with an earthy scent, producing a chill that extends from dawn. Fall is clipping at my heels as I dress for the cool assault with my sweatshirts and leggings. I haven’t needed them all summer.

Cheesy Cauliflower Soup

By noon summer returns, laughing at my haste to keep warm. Oliver deems an, “I told you it was warm out today.” He groans. He’ll then chastise me with an accurate provocation, “I’m losing my patience.”

And then softening his blow with, “Mama? What’s patience?”

Olive Tapenade with Leslie Stowe crackers

Alas, the evening brings with it cooler temps, and after the sun sets, we shut the doors and windows, securing ourselves from the onset of the months to come. We warm up inside with long sleeves, hot showers and dinner in the oven. We relax with fall scented candles and a hot cup of coffee.

Nespresso Coffee

Once I can actually accept that summer is ending, I can enjoy this time of year. I love fall. Halloween. Thanksgiving. Christmas. It’s the first quarter of the year I dread, with nothing warm and comforting to look forward to. But the last months of the year are the sweetest, most comforting.

Pear Juice

I christened the beginning of the last quarter by spending my entire day in the kitchen with only a brief occasional respite on the living room couch to chill in front of the Packer game. A few years back I had asked my X for a TV in the kitchen. The game was on while I spent time wielding a spatula, but there’s a definite need to plop on a couch in between takes.

Garbanzos y Pimientos with a burger atop

The end result of my time in the kitchen was highly productive. You’ve seen a glimpse of what I made, a tiny peek into future blog posts. It was a yummy day for us, Oliver eating a good part of what I’d created, albeit timid with the tapenade and the pesto. That’s OK tho. Everything I made was organic, healthy and the produce was fresh from the farm. Stay tuned for the recipe details.

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UPDATE: To answer @Cheryl, starting from the top the pear bowl is antique from my mother; the pesto and toast are on Terre de Provence purchased in the south of France; the soup cup from a home store in Door County and sit upon a plate I bought in the south of France as well; the tapenade is in an African wooden bowl and the crackers on an Italian pottery plate purchased at TJ Maxx; the coffee cup is from Target, the saucer and spoon are from Nespresso and the chocolate praline is from Switzerland; the juice glass is from France; the stew is in a Pottery Barn bowl.