A tiny little post and a final recipe from Bryan’s party.

The new issue of Saveur features a cover story on the food of Rome. I’ve been experiencing some pretty serious wanderlust in recent weeks and so dreaming about Rome came pretty naturally. Since I have no real hopes of a trip to Italy in the near future, I decided to try a couple of the recipes. I started with the gnocchi and the milk-braised fennel. Luckily, they were both great, relatively easy to make, and perfect for this moment where many of us are anxiously waiting the arrival of warmer days and adventure.

Today we are hosting our very first Thanksgiving in our new place. I’m not a traditionalist when it comes to this meal. Turkey never impresses me and since I am now in charge— I declared it a turkey-free Thanksgiving! Although this declaration was met with resistance (mostly from Bryan) I am confident that I will be able to convince everyone that we can still give thanks without killing a turkey (instead we will kill a cow). We’ll still have a really lovely meal, just minus the bird. I’ll tell you a little more about the feast once I have cooked it, but for now I wanted to share these delicious little cheese straws that will accompany cocktails and wine at the start of the meal.

I love this time of year. I know that it portends some seriously bad weather ahead, but for now I don’t care. I like putting on a scarf and walking around our beautiful new neighborhood amazed by the colors that a tree can produce. I am also pretty enamored with the foods available at the market right now: baskets of apples, and squash and especially concord grapes.

No time for dinner means we have to get creative with what we eat. We still want delicious food, but it needs to be ready in about 15 minutes. A while back I saw a recipe for baked feta, and although I lost the recipe- I remembered the idea. Who could forget feta?

After my success with the quick refrigerator pickles, I was eager to pickle anything I could get my hands on. I pickled some red onions, which Bryan and I enjoy on everything from salads to quesadillas. Then, I came across this recipe of Molly Wizenberg’s for pickled peppers and immediately went to my farmers market to get some mini bell peppers.

I decided to make focaccia for dinner at about 7pm on a very hot night in Chicago. Maybe not the best decision I have ever made. Three hours later we were both starving and very hot.  Luckily this focaccia was worth the wait. It is  wonderful. We ate almost all of it in one sitting and I was truly sad to see it go.

I love pickles. All forms. All vegetables. Pickled onions, turnips, cucumbers, peppers. Bring. Them. On. Until last week the only thing I pickled on a regular basis was red onions, which I love on salads and on top of tacos and other Mexican dishes. (I love this recipe for quick pickled onions) Then I found this super fast and easy recipe for spicy dill pickles and am currently on my second jar of them in less than two weeks. They are perfect.

Montreal was an amazing place to eat, but after a trip in which I ate poutine, croissants, fried pork, steak and more bacon than I care to admit, I was in need of some serious dietary improvements. I came home craving fruits, vegetables and whole grains. This is pretty much the state I am in at the end of all travels. Too much enjoyment of the local cuisine and I feel a strong desire to balance things out. The first thing I made for us was this very simple brown rice pilaf with green olives, lemon and a sprinkle of goat cheese.

The barbecue that I started writing about in my last post had a pretty amazing first and last course, both of which you need to try.