Back to dirt and food

For some reason in the fall I really get back into gardening and cooking. Not that I stop in summer, but it gets so hot in Florida in July and August that I tend to have less interest in spending time in the garden or over the stove. But then come fall, I’m buried in cookbooks, cooking magazines, and my garden.

Today I began revamping the front of the house, fully bent on giving roomie’s house some serious “curb appeal” (I’ll post before & after pics soon). Hopefully roomie won’t mind what I do! I’m practicing for when I can finally get my hands on my own house, lol.

For food…I recently made a wonderful lemon risotto, finally including dry white wine, and it came out deliciously. I have also twice recently made my mother’s “chili mac” recipe, although I update it in that I use natural, low-fat beef and whole wheat pasta. A simple yet incredibly delicious fall dish.

What am I dying to make? A simple coq au vin recipe I found…a burgundy stew (made with a bottle of burgundy only, *no* water!)…and a real Provincial daube. My next star ingredient to experiment with is truffle oil. While I doubt real truffles will fit into my budget any time soon, truffle oil can, and I’ve got a couple of recipes on my list of must-try-soon: Smashed Sweet Potatoes with Truffles and Bourbon (will try soon, and depending on results, might make this a Thanksgiving regular), and Risotto with Chives and Truffle Oil, which my big chive plant out back is just dying to jump in to.

If anyone has any hints or suggestions for buying and using truffles/truffle oil, please pass it on. :-)