first day of fall

Happy first day of fall! While summer is my favorite season, I do admit that fall can be beautiful. 

Fall gets a little depressing for me though because my oldest son, Philip passed away on September 25th (2009). My dad, grandpa and mother-in-law also all passed away in the fall. I also hate seeing all the flowers dying and perennials withering, packing away all the summer yard decor and covering up the patio furniture...all reminders that the dreaded winter is right around the corner. (Ignore the bag of potting soil, plant pots and gardening gloves lying on the porch. I repotted several houseplants today.)

But back to the good stuff: Brian bought wood and stained it, and built a raised bed in back of the house for an herb garden. I had herbs back there in the ground for years, including mint, which I was always having to prune and dig out. The little area served us well during the past years, but with the french drains being put in the ground a few months ago (you can see one of the drains behind Brian), the area was looking scraggly. And I was sick of taming the mint. So Brian dug out all the herbs except for what I wanted to save ~ chives and red veined sorrel. I'll plant other herbs next spring.

Some color still abounds around the yard. Black-eyed Susan in the butterfly garden is drying up, but still lovely.

Plenty of color on the north side of the house with hosta blooms, coleus and impatiens.

I picked the last of our tomatoes today ~ even the green ones ~ and roasted them until they were saucy. Added to my pot of chili for dinner.

Another snapshot of my day: Clementine is my loyal companion. She follows me all over the house. I was making dinner, so she had to supervise, of course.

Even though it was warm and sunny today, I was craving chili. I don't use a recipe. This is my own creation. I taste and add things as I go along, though I do use some basics: half ground turkey, half ground beef (organic, grass-fed), onions, red and orange bell pepper, poblano pepper, garlic, a can of black beans, tomato sauce, dark beer, a little chicken broth, seasonings (chili powder, cumin, Mexican oregano, salt, pepper, chipotle red pepper), a tablespoon of cocoa powder. I doubled my usual recipe so that I could bring a container to a friend whose Significant Other just got home from the hospital.

Whatever you choose to do this weekend to celebrate the Autumn Equinox, I hope it brings you joy.

PS ~ still having trouble with my blog header. Designed a simple graphic through a website (can't even remember which one now), but I can't get it to center. That's what I get for using a freebie site, I suppose. I'm still not wanting to pay for a photo editing site since I will rarely use it, but I might have to bite the bullet.

early september slice of life

September is a beautiful month weather-wise, here in northeast Illinois. The coneflowers and Black-eyed Susan in my butterfly garden are still prolific, which makes my summer heart happy. Beautiful wildflowers dot the roadside. The evening Golden hour casts amazing light on the trees. Sunsets at the neighborhood lake are stunning.

I harvested the last of our rhubarb, cut it into chunks, and put it in the freezer to use later in baked goods. The last of the cherry tomatoes were gathered; plus, I picked up more at the local farm stand. I then slow-roasted the tomatoes with olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper until soft and caramelized. Those were packed into freezer bags to use all fall and winter in soups and chili. 

My cousin and her daughter (I call her my Little Nugget) were in town on Labor Day weekend from Tacoma, Washington. I've always dreamed about having a ladies generational family photo taken, as we have every decade through the 80's represented, except for a teen. I finally got my wish! The only decade missing in our family photo is someone in their 20's. I have two nieces in their 20's, but neither were at this gathering. Sooo...we have in the front, my Little Nugget portraying the childhood years, then from left to right...my second cousin representing 30, my cousin from Tacoma revealing 40, another cousin symbolizing 50, me defining 60, my aunt presenting 70, and my mom reflecting 80. 

More Labor Day weekend family fun...spent the day in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin with my Tacoma sweeties. The area is rather touristy and filled with shops, but we didn't go into a single one. We played on a playground, had lunch, played in the water, and had ice cream.  Everywhere we walked, my Little Nugget held my hand. And wanted us to run ahead of everyone so we'd be first to get to our destination. By the time we took a boat ride around the lake, my Little Nugget was passed out. In the evening when we got back to my house, she spent her time building a playhouse for Clementine. Isn't that precious? It's been so long since I've had a little one in my house, or had a child's hand in mine, or got to stroke the silky hair of a sweet child...I ate it all up. 

Have a beautiful week!

💖

august simple pleasures

Oh, how I love summer. It's just not long enough here in Illinois. Sun-filled days that light up my home; making tomato galette from farm fresh tomatoes (though the small ones are San Marzanos that we're growing); being grateful for kind neighbors who bring me peaches from their peach trees; dining alfresco at socially distanced restaurant tables; birds cooing at us from high wires while we take our evening walks around the neighborhood; spying a hot air balloon in the sky while riding in the car, wondering how carefree the people in the balloon must feel; visiting the hens, roosters and turkeys at a local farm; ending a beautiful summer day by walking down to the lake and watching the sun set.

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I have to throw in here that I hate the new Blogger format! It's different every time I write a post and unfortunately, more frustrating each time, too. Why did they have to change what was working just fine and why is it not user friendly?!

catching up ~ phil's anniversary date, fall stuff, a chili recipe

Hi friends, I know it's been awhile since I posted. The 10 year anniversary of Phil's passing was September 25th and I just haven't felt like posting anything. Maybe because ten years is considered a milestone in measuring time, this year hit me particularly hard. My beautiful boy had just turned 14 years old in this photo. We were celebrating his birthday at TGI Fridays. I love his sweet, shy smile in this photo.

I don't do much decorating for the different seasons anymore. Just little touches here and there. This is as far as I've gotten with fall decor on my front porch. I found these interesting pumpkins at Trader Joe's. I liked them better than the traditional pumpkins.

I still have hints of summer on the front porch - the hanging fern and pot of summer flowers are still going strong, despite temps dipping into the 40's at night. 

We've had way too much rain here in northeast Illinois though. It's one reason why the color change is late here this year. My poor arborvitae trees in the back yard have had standing water under them for a couple of weeks now. Neighbors around us in lower-lying areas have standing water in their front yards, and even worse, there's a couple of houses down the street that are surrounded by water because of the creek than runs behind their houses. 

Inside my home, small touches of fall decor in the living room...

The heavier throw came out...

Fall pillows on the couch...

Fabric pumpkins and fairy lights...

A few fall items grace the china cabinet in the kitchen...

Lots of cooking has been going on in the kitchen, too. I've been buying the last of the tomatoes at the local farm stand and roasting them in the oven on low with fresh thyme sprigs from my herb garden and olive oil, then putting the roasted, cooled tomatoes in freezer bags and sticking them in the freezer. That way I can use fresh, roasted tomatoes all fall and winter in soups, stews, spaghetti sauce and chili.

Speaking of chili, I made my first pot last week. Tim came over for dinner and the three of us devoured big bowls of this chili on an appropriately chilly evening, accompanied with beer bread. Brian and Tim said this was the best chili I've ever made. Maybe it was because it was the first pot of chili of the season, but who am I to argue. Recipe below. The great thing about making things like chili is that it's so adaptable. You can change up the peppers for whatever kind you like. Same with the beans and the spices. 

MELANIE'S BEST CHILI

3 T butter or olive oil

1 onion, diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 cubanelle pepper, diced

1 poblano pepper, diced

1 lb organic, grass-fed ground beef

1 lb organic ground pork

1 clove minced garlic

1 can diced tomatoes*

1 small can tomato sauce*

1 can black beans (do not drain!)

Vegetable broth, as needed for thinning

Couple of dashes of Worcestershire sauce

3 T chili powder

2 tsp cumin

Pinch red pepper flakes

1 T cocoa powder

Salt and pepper, to taste

In a Dutch oven, melt the butter or heat the olive oil over medium heat, then add the onion and peppers. Saute until just tender. Add the ground beef, pork and garlic. Cook until meat is browned. Drain fat. Add the diced tomatoes and tomato sauce. *How much you use of each is a personal preference. I prefer my chili to have less chunks of tomatoes and more sauce, but you might like the texture of diced tomatoes better. I ended up using more tomato sauce than the diced tomatoes. Add the black beans (or you can use kidney beans ~ or even a can of each; again, it's a personal preference...just remember, don't drain the beans!) Start to add vegetable broth to thin as the chili is simmering. Then add the seasonings, tasting and adjusting as you want. Pop the lid on the pot and let simmer on low for an hour. Your house will smell sooo good!

Happy October. 🍂

seasons changing

Last week, it was cool enough where I was thinking fall foods ~ chili, soup, squash. Have you ever had delicata squash? It looks like this:

It's simple to prepare, and so delicious. Brian and I ate this entire pan in one sitting. Scrub the squash, then poke holes all over it with a fork, put in the microwave on high for two minutes to soften up enough to slice, then let it cool down. Slice into rings and place on a baking sheet. Some of the rings will have some pulp and seeds, but they're easy to scrape out with a spoon. In a small bowl, combine extra-virgin olive oil, salt, pepper & fresh chopped rosemary. Use a pastry brush to brush the infused oil on top of the squash rings. Bake at 400 degrees F. for about 20 minutes, or until tender. Eat! Yes, you can eat the skin, too. This squash is high in fiber and iron, vitamins A and C, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and a host of other vitamins.

I know my time with fresh tomatoes is limited, so I've been running up to the local farm stand a couple of times a week and buying a ton of tomatoes. I cut them up and roast them with extra-virgin olive oil, salt and pepper, let them cool down, and then put them in food storage bags. Easy-peasy and will be so wonderful to have fresh tomatoes in my homemade soups, stew, chili, and spaghetti sauce this winter.

Now we're back to warm weather. It's been 80+ the past few days and will climb to 91 by Friday. That's how the weather goes here when seasons are changing. The color change has started and driving down the roads I've noticed the landscaping seems to be bathed in a soft golden glow. We desperately need rain though ~ it's so dry. My yard is littered with crunchy leaves.

Sunsets have been anywhere from gentle and soft...

to strong and fiery.

 I know fall doesn't truly start for a couple more days and I hate pushing seasons (except for winter 😛), but I brought the fall stuff out a few days ago and started playing around with decor. Just going for a transitioning look; nothing Autumn Overkill. This is just the emptying of the storage box to see what I had. I didn't use much and even donated some of it.

"By all these lovely tokens September days are here, with summer's best of weather and autumn's best of cheer." ~ Helen Hunt Jackson