apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Kale barley soup with homemade bread tonight. Already made the baklava for our party tomorrow...

Pumpkin halloween cupcakes, bread and cheese stuffed pumpkin, dunno what else.

Chili! It's a family tradition that we have chili on halloween. Here's my current favorite recipe:

Ranch Hand Chili

*I say current favorite, because my favorite chili changes every few years as I try different recipes.

It's based on a Cook's Country recipe, and is made with 2" cubes of pork shoulder and kidney beans.

My weekend baking projects are pumpkin whoopie pies with a chocolate cream cheese filling and chocolate whoopie pies with a pumpkin cream cheese filling, and parkin for next Thursday (gotta make it several days in advance for the best flavor/texture)

I'll be attempting my first lasagna ever this weekend. It seems like so much work, but I feel like it'll be worth it!

Just whipped up some butternut squash (pumpkin) cannelloni for the restaurant.

Roasted and drained butternut squash combined with mascarpone and parmesan cheeses, fresh bread crumbs, eggs and seasoning rolled into fresh pasta sheets.

The pasta tubes are topped with spinach sauteed with shallots and garlic, mushrooms, a splash of balsamic and walnuts. This is topped with bechamel sauce and fresh parmesan and baked till bubbly and brown.

My son and I are planning on making black pasta for dinner tomorrow night to be served with some salmon or shrimp (so everything is black and orange-ish). I was hoping to make orange and black pasta but I can't figure out what to use to make the pasta orange that won't wash away in the water (using squid ink for the black). Any ideas?

Argh, no time to cook things with all the Halloween set-up today and tomorrow, then break-down tomorrow night and Sunday. But I am going to attempt these awesome Butterscotch Squares sometime tomorrow if I can:
http://www.slashfood.com/2008/11/17/butterscotch-squares-from-a-vintage-childrens-cookbook/

I made a feast for my vegetarian friend's Halloween Party:

--grilled jalapeno poppers
--roasted beets, carrots, brussel sprouts, yams, broccoli & cauliflower
--baked stuffed pumpkin (featured here a few days ago)
--shepherd's pie (with faux ground beef)

I'm actually going to another party, so I have given her detailed directions and a schedule....All she has to do is put it all in the oven!

Happy Halloween!

@ art, that sounds just delicious. Decadent, too.

I have a vague plan for a pork roast with quinces, but I'm not sure how I'm going to put it all together. Tonight I think we're doing a polenta bar at my friends' house! Happy Halloween everyone.

I'm not really doing anything Halloween-themed with my food this weekend. We're making elderberry syrup and rosehip syrup to keep the cold and flu away this winter. Then I'm just baking chocolate chip cookies and maybe some oatmeal bread.

Oh, I forgot, a friend is coming over for round 2 of canning lessons on Sunday, we'll probably make apple sauce and apple butter, maybe some pickles.

I'll be baking some fig, jalapeno and goat cheese biscuits!

Fig Jalapeno Biscuits

Made a most satisfying slow-cooker stew with sweet potatoes, chipotle chilis and just enough pork (lean loin) to satisfy the carnivores in the crowd. Lots of lime juice at the end. Heavenly.

Not sure what we're doing, but I'm excited for the beef heart being served at the party we're going to!

I'm recovering from tonsilitis, but I did roast a butternut squash earlier. I was thinking about putting together some squash enchiladas. I also wanted to get some bread into the oven, probably Pastor Ryan's bread from The Pioneer Women.

I'm feeling better today, so I bet I'll be in a cooking mood tomorrow. I have extra apples, maybe for some apple bread or muffins. Who knows what else?

I'm making a fun citrusy witch's brew with goblin fingers and toad warts along with a fun black and orange pasta with squid ink and red chili pasta.

More chicken soup. My family is all sick... so since I am well (fingers crossed I didn't just jinx myself) I am cooking like crazy. I made Giada's butternut squash tortellini on Friday- next time I'll make my own pasta b/c the wonton wrappers just don't cut it for tortellini.

Also made a revised version of the no-knead bread. Thinking about making a cranberry oatmeal brownie.... but alas, my sick children need my attention!

First ever calzones. I had smoked mozzarella to use up, and way, WAY more cipollini onions arrived from Fresh Direct than I realized I'd ordered! Man oh man--smoked mozz w/roasted cipollinis is really good calzone filling! (Dip in tomato sauce.)

For Halloween I took the easy way out: purchased pumpkin ravioli. I couldn't face making pasta--and filling it. I did make the browned butter to top them with. Oh so good.

@ratheartsbikes, how do you make rosehip syrup? I love rosehip tea, and I've had rosehip jelly. Loved the rhubarb syrup on this site this spring. But where do you get rosehips?

I made Homesick Texan's Potato and Hatch Chile casserole, and tonight I'm trying my hand at butternut squash! I also want to try those baked stuffed pumpkins featured earlier this week! Happy halloween everyone!

Was out on Saturday. Sunday night I attempted pot stickers, but they all fell apart when I tried to get them off the pan. Still tasted good though.

surprisingly not much. The biggest thing I managed to cook was a pumpkin/lentil/bulgur side dish with Indian flavors.

Everything else seemed to be a disaster: burned oven-baked sweet potato chips, overcooked eggs, etc.

I made traditional Mexican Pan de Muerto for Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead). It's not so much a Halloween celebration... it's more of an all souls day (Mexican Catholic Indigenous traditions) holiday.