November: From the Blog

I've talked about the blog a little bit in the past and the reasons why we do it. One of the main reasons is to record what we're cooking and eating and how we do it. I hate it when I know I've cooked something really great in the past and can't remember how I did it or where to find it. So the blog is purely selfish and we just hope you enjoy reading it or trying something new every now and then. Some of the recipes we cook have never been repeated and lots pass the test to try again. In this post I wanted to share a few recipes from the blog we cooked this month (which means we really like them!) and actually come to the blog to verify the recipe. Patrick will pull the recipe up on his phone and we'll have this in the kitchen.

Just the other day I had planned salmon cakes for supper. Patrick wanted to get a head start on the prep but couldn't find the recipe on the blog or in any of my cookbooks! So be on the lookout for that (but not anytime soon because we messed up that night). Unfortunately Mom didn't reply to her text message fast enough and we missed the ratio of wet to dry ingredients that held the salmon into a cake. Our salmon cakes turned into salmon scramble, oops! But it was delicious. And this is another reason to do the blog, to show that cooking can be fun! If you mess up just move on and learn from your mistakes. As long as the kitchen doesn't burn down and you're not hungry at the end of the night then it's a success. Without further ado, here are the tried and true yummy recipes:

There isn't a month we go without cooking Buttermilk Waffles with Fresh Strawberries. Lately I've put chopped pecans in mine and enjoyed it with Blueberry Syrup from the Shenandoah Valley.

I picked up ingredients today at the grocery store for Farfalle with Sauteed Mushrooms. We've served this when Patrick's mom visited so it's a good recipe for company or just a casual evening at home.
  [Update: When Patrick and I were home for Thanksgiving we had extra cream leftover from Pumpkin Pie so we recommended Mom try this recipe and she did!]

The other week I had a craving for Citrus Chicken. Patrick certainly didn't complain since we fixed couscous to accompany it.

This November has been unusually warm but for those few days that dipped into the 50s I was ready with Potato Soup and cornbread.

And fall wouldn't be complete without a Pumpkin Party! October slipped by without pumpkin carving or painting but I knew I couldn't miss out on my annual pumpkin party--four years in a row! As usual I fixed Quick Italian Beef & Vegetable Soup.

The 2011 Pumpkin Party pot of soup & Grilled Cheese sandwiches

What are your favorite recipes?