Fair Haven

My friend Claire and I took a day off of school, and drove up to her summer house in Fair Haven, New York. 

I think getting away from the city keeps me sane. I love where I live, but sometimes I feel suffocated and claustrophobic. I just had a three day weekend, but a second one was fine by me. 

We ate some great food. 

           Beef Chili

	4 lb lean (at least 80%) ground beef
	8 medium onions, chopped (4 cups)
	4 cans (28 oz each) organic diced tomatoes, undrained
	3 cans (19 oz each) red kidney beans, drained, liquid reserved
	1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
	3 tablespoons chili powder
	2 tablespoons sugar
	1 tablespoon salt 1. In 8-quart Dutch oven or stockpot, cook beef and onions over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until beef is thoroughly cooked and onions are tender; drain. 2. Stir in tomatoes, bean liquid, tomato sauce, chili powder, sugar and salt, breaking up tomatoes. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer uncovered 1 1/4 hours. 3. Stir in beans. Simmer uncovered about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until desired consistency. Cornbread from a box is the best kind of cornbread. More apples, and apple pie! Before After A lot of board and card games were played (not by me, I watched because I have this strange aversion to board games).  There was a mini black-out for a few hours because it was so windy. We didn't have any candles, so we used birthday candles.  Great weekend. Thanks, Summer Hill :)

                                                            

Apple Picking

Over the long weekend, my family and I went apple picking in Germantown/ Redhook, New York. We have done this with family friends for the past couple of years, and each time has been a success. 

Nothing says fall like pumpkins and gourds! 

We had some great apple cider doughnuts!

More apples...

After gathering as many apples as we could, we headed up to another friend's  house to spread joy and cheer through apple crumble and chicken pot pie. Alright! 

I'm sorry to say that I did not make the chicken pot pie, nor do I know how to make it. It was delicious though!

The apple crumble however, is possibly the easiest dessert one can make with apples.

 Fill a dutch oven with as many sliced apples as you can. 

Squeeze some lemon juice over it. 

Mix 2 1/2 cups of oats (optional), 1 1/2 cups of granulated sugar,  1 cup of all purpose flour, a dash of cinnamon, and 2 sticks of unsalted butter in a mixing bowl.

  Crumble over the top of apples and bake at 375 for about 45 minutes. I highly recommend serving it with vanilla ice cream. 

Then we all made a fire and roasted marshmallows. It was a great weekend. :)

Finally Fall

Well, I think it's safe to say it's officially fall. It's getting chilly, people are apple picking, and I am eating stew.

On the stove, sear the beef with a little flour and olive oil for a few minutes, and then it goes in the crock pot along with onions, celery, chicken/beef stock, and a few cups of red wine. The potatoes go in after about four hours. This meal is easy, and you can throw in whatever you want. Also, it can cook all day, ours did for about 10 hours. The key is really the wine and a little hot sauce to give it some tang. 

My family and I sat by the fire and curled up on a chilly night with this steaming beef stew, and we talked about all the exciting fall events coming up. A dish like beef stew is so classic, and to me, describes the feeling of fall; exciting, cozy, and most of all, happy. Fall is one of my favorite seasons, and I couldn't have asked for a better start of fall dinner. 

Along with some crusty bread, this is the perfect fall meal.  

Surprising Weekday Breakfast

Usually it's cereal or toast. But last week, I woke up to the wonderful smells of homemade belgian waffles.

Having a good day depends on my morning, so having these waffles didn't make me dread going to school, or even walking there in the rain. Also, the fresh strawberries go really well with maple syrup. 

I'm sorry to say this isn't some fabulous recipe that has been in the family for decades; it's on the back of the Aunt Jemima pancake mix box.