Rolling Hill Park

Our family really enjoys hiking around this park in Gladwyne, which has an interesting historical textile mill past. Our dog Cloe used to walk with us on the off leash trail and would navigate the hills effortlessly.

We wanted to get started on the trail before dinner and to see the beautiful sunset.

Thanksgiving Day walk

The ruins of the Mill Workers' House

One of the best things about the trail is getting to the bottom to see the creek.

Thanksgiving table ready for hungry hikers.

Shakespeare's The Tragedie of King Richard lll, Belasco Theatre

I haven't been able to stop thinking about the play, Richard lll, since attending the outstanding performance at the Belasco Theater in NYC www.shubertorganization.com/theatres/belasco this past Saturday. Mark Rylance, exemplifies Richard's dual personality gaining sympathy from the audience at times but remains clear he is the evil protagonist that will stop at nothing to achieve the crown of England. Plots are made and broken, brothers betrayed, leaders murdered, legends destroyed. Not bad for one play, and yet there isn't a moment during the play where you feel lost in the brilliant and sometimes funny dialogue which makes Shakespeare's characters so timeless. As the words at the beginning of the play declare, our bad days are over and we have in store more pleasant times. Hold on to your seats, you're in for a surprise! You can read the New York Times review here. www.nytimes.com

Where's the wheat?

Maybe its because I'm curious about gluten free diets or because of my fondness for all things called bread, I just finished reading two books, the first, Grain Brain by David Perlmutter, MD and the other, Wheat Belly by William Davis, MD. Both books object to eating wheat. Why? First of all, wheat, the kind that our ancestors ate up to the first part of the twentieth century was different in structural composition and quality from the wheat we consume today. By increasing yield and creating new strains, the wheat we consume today is a hybrid of the past, one that may beguile our digestive tract. In short, Dr Davis claims that rather than eat wheat we should be focusing our diets on vegetables, some fruit, raw nuts, dairy, eggs and grass fed meats while maintaining a low-carb diet. There is a week of wheat free diets including recipes at the end of the book. Brain Grain claims that modern wheat and carbohydrates can cause a host of brain related problems, chronic diseases, irritate the nervous system and contribute to Alzheimer's. The focus here is on the relationship between what we eat and how it contributes to our brain health. Both interesting reads no matter what position you have on food, health and diet. Although I'll still consume bread, probably not as much after reading these books.

Fall's Fennel

This is an adapted version of the fennel, cherry tomato, and crumble gratin from Ottolenghi, The Cookbook www.amazon.com

I am a true fennel fan and enjoy it best sliced super thin using a mandolin then adding a splash of lemon, olive oil, salt and pepper and mixed in with some fresh lettuces.  When we were in Florence last fall, fennel was in abundance at the markets and is a staple in Tuscan/Mediterranean cooking. The above recipe ( I changed the topping slightly) uses fennel, cream, cherry tomatoes, thyme, garlic and a crumble topping to add crunch and incredible flavor.  Find the recipe and book using the link above.

Roast potatoes and artichokes with lemon and sage from Ottolenghi's, The Cookbook

After spending some time reading through Ottolenghi's The Cookbook, I decided to try a recipe using the red potatoes that I recently purchased at the market. Although the recipe calls for new potatoes or small boiling potatoes, the red potatoes added a robust flavor that worked nicely with the other ingredients. The book and recipe can be found here www.amazon.com.

The finished product...

The sage really brings out the flavors of the vegetables and the cherry tomatoes and kalamata olives add nice color and texture to make this recipe really great.

I added a spring mix salad with lemon vinaigrette to compliment the lemony flavors of the artichokes and potatoes.

Inspiration is a cookbook away

I'm always looking for new inspiration in the kitchen and am enjoying my new library books (have been on the waiting list at the library for months for Yotom Ottolenghi's, The Cookbook www.amazon.com).

 This is one of my favorite fall dishes of golden beets with fresh kale and a peppercorn dipping sauce for extra zing. The apples are from our recent trip to Ithaca Farmers' mkt and for some whole grain crunch, Mary's Gone Crackers, are really good. Although this wasn't found in either cookbook mentioned above, just by leafing through a good cookbook the vicarious inspiration confirms that seasonal food is always a good bet and needs little fuss. I boiled the beets whole for about 40 minutes then cooled on a wire rack, peeled, and sliced adding a pinch of salt and pepper. The Kale was washed, spun dry and chopped into bite size pieces and seasoned with some freshly squeezed lemon juice.

The Broccoli-Kale Challenge and How the Right Audience Can Change the Game

The New York Times article, Broccoli's Extreme Makeover, about how to get Americans to eat more healthful foods using broccoli as the bait, is not a new dilemma but one that has been a challenge to doctors, nutritionists, slow food farmers, food companies, and parents for generations.  Why so difficult?

A quick look back to my own childhood memories of eating veggies especially broccoli are not happy ones. They were cooked too long and before the meal was underway declared the thing that would keep you from leaving the table because they were good for you. The paradigm shift for me came when I was first married and really wanted to understand how to cook vegetables so they would taste good. My introduction to all things vegetarian started with Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen. She even has a cookbook called The Enchanted Broccoli Forrest to further entice vegetables to center stage. But it really wasn't until I had children that I learned how to make vegetables taste good and earn a respectable spot at the table. Other than Moosewood Cookbook, I scoured the library for books on how to cook.  James Beard and Alice Waters taught me how to combine food groups and Barefoot Contessa’s many cook books taught me how to love vegetables by simply sautéing or roasting with olive oil and spices. But this is my revelation not one that seems to be happening all over America.

The Times article challenges an ad agency to make broccoli cool. The idea to take kale and broccoli both low on the cool factor scale and let them duke it out for top spot seems like it might work. It worked for soda so why not broccoli? But I have to think that the audience that is targeted is older, more mature, already schooled in eat your broccoli it’s good for you. But what about the kids? That's the group that is formulating their life long eating habits and at the important stage of development. Why not talk to them about broccoli and what it is they like and don't like? A few group lessons with kids and their families learning the various ways to cook and eat vegetables can break the chain of boring, to tasty and interesting. This idea is not something I just thought up but has been proven to work. When kids are a part of the family dinner planning it becomes a team effort, a collaboration between generations. The first time I made roasted brussels sprouts my family was utterly surprised by the delicious taste that replaced the old memory of mushy and insipid. I could hardly wait to try other veggies this way. A little education goes a long way when it comes to cooking vegetables and unfortunately those methods don't seem to reach the masses.

The conversation to get broccoli or any other vegetable to be consumed is to start with educating the family on nutrition and various cooking methods so that they can find what works for them. Just by saying something is cool doesn't make it so. Rather than saying, "Have you had your veggies today?" Why not say, "Have you tried roasted broccoli?" I bet you can't eat just one.

Pumpkins

Since my husband and I don't have kids at home for Halloween this year we thought that we'd forgo the annual tradition of decorating the entire house inside and out for the big day. Well not so fast- we couldn't resist carving pumpkins and two is definitely better than one, so here they are...

My husband's handiwork.

Feels Like Fall (Why Ithaca is gorges and why local food is pretty great.)

It's funny how one season can blend into another and then take the stage front and center. That's how this season seems to go...one day summer temperatures and bright sun and the next, the colors of the trees on your property are already brilliant and falling at a rapid speed. I always want the autumnal colors to stay around but it seems that they are never around long enough. We took a trip north to see my daughter who is in college in Ithaca, NY. We were surprised to see that once over the Pocono Mountains the trees had already had their moment of glorious color and were getting ready for the winter. We were happy that there were still leaves to see but the colors had subdued somewhat and were ahead of their neighbors to the south by about a week or so.

There's something about fall's night sky that can make pink so brilliant.

This is just one of many water falls that you see driving along in Ithaca, NY.  There are gorges galore with the spectacular Lake Cayuga as the main feature which surrounds Ithaca.

Lake Cayuga in the background lends to the natural beauty of Cornell's campus.

It was a cloudy day walking around Cornell which accentuated the earthy tones and beautiful architecture around campus.

Sage Hall on Cornell's campus. Built in the late 1800s it was originally a dormitory for women. It is now used for the Johnson Graduate School of Management. 

On Sunday the sun peeked out as we explored the Plantations which includes the Cascadilla and Fall Creek Gorges bordering Cornell to the the north and south.

View from the lookout at the top of the hill. You could spend hours here and still not see all the varieties of shrubs and trees. The Plantations preserves 500 acres around campus and extends its preservation to more than 3 thousand acres around Lake Cayuga.

This shrub (not identified) had the most vivid purple berries I've ever seen.

These concrete sculptures were designed by undergraduate Cornell Architecture students in the 1960s. As large and heavy as they look they somehow blend in to the arboretum seamlessly or maybe vice versa.

A trip to Ithaca wouldn't be complete without a visit to the Farmers' Market www.ithacamarket.com on Steamboat Landing.

The market is such a treasure to the people around the area they must wait with anticipation every season to see the bounty that arrives.

The first thing we did upon arrival is get a cup of hot apple cider and a cider donut.  Perfection!

I've never seen so many varieties of local honey.

Apples in abundance...from Golden Russets to Pippins and Ruby Frost and more varieties than you can imagine!

This bin caught my eye because they really looked hearty. There were some new varieties to try one being Ruby Frost which the seedling was developed at Cornell.

Pumpkins were everywhere in the market.

Love the fact that they wore witches hats in the spirit of Halloween! This is one of the most popular stands for delicious macrobiotic food. www.macromamas.com

Trying to choose a place for lunch is not an easy task here,  but who can resist a wood fired pizza?

The pizza here is beyond delicious!

This Tibetan stand was popular among the Saturday market shoppers.

The delicious aroma coming from this Cambodian food stand almost tempted me to eat a second lunch. Next time.

The dock attached to the farmers' market is a great place to eat lunch and take in the beautiful views of Lake Cayuga. 

Gorgeous fall vegetables.

Root veggies looked so vibrant and fresh. Can't wait to try some new recipes with these. Stay tuned...

No farmers' market is compete without the splendor of local flowers. I had to resist buying because I was afraid they wouldn't survive our travel home the next day.

Our day ended walking around Ithaca and having a lovely meal at the Moosewood Restaurant in Ithaca. This is a picture of their latest collective cookbook which was on display around the restaurant. My very first cookbook when I was first married was Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen. It was through countless recipes and trial and error that I learned about food combinations and how to add spice rather than too much salt to flavor food. I still use the same worn cookbook and it never fails to impress.

Penn State Arboretum and Community Garden

We took a road trip to see my father this past weekend and on our way back home we stopped to see our daughter at PSU. The weather was lovely so we spent most of our day walking around campus and visiting the beautiful H.O. Smith Botanic Gardens www.arboretum.psu.edu at the arboretum.

These tropical water lilies are part of the lotus pool in the Oasis Garden. 

Isn't this the most perfect flower? Each petal was so delicate and the color from yellow to cream was so beautiful.

The natural setting of the garden. The fall colors are starting to show.

Sunflowers

Sundial

Fall blooms

These look like hydrangea but not sure which variety.

Walking down to the Community Garden Sunday morning. Caroline spends time here with her group from Community Food Security Club.

Kale was plentiful throughout the garden, having its day in the sun.

Tomato plants were also popular throughout the garden.