Fall

I love every season.  As much as I adore the summertime, I have off from school and get to travel, I am always ready for fall.  The food, the foliage, everything pumpkin, the scarves.  I love to curl up and watch "Hocus Pocus" or "When Harry Met Sally".  All of these things seem appropriate when fall finally arrives.

Lately I have been cooking up a storm, all of my fall favorites.  A friend brought me some beautiful fish and I have been trying to think of the perfect recipe. Rather than grilling the fish, I wanted to make something a little more hearty.  Here is what I did:

Recipe:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Generously cover the fish with olive oil, salt/pepper  Once the cast-iron skillet is hot, place the fish, skin side up, in the pan.  Sear for two minutes and flip the fish.  Once the fish has been flipped, top with a slap of butter.  Place pan in the oven and roast for 5-7 minutes.  Top with lemon juice and cover with aluminum foil once out of oven.  I had made a fire roasted tomato sauce, which made the perfect base for the fish.  Root vegetables as the side and voila, the perfect fall meal.

Earlier this week I had my friend Mandy over.  I was making a big pot of my all time favorite soup.  

Sweet and Spicy Peanut Soup

I baked Paula Deen's Blondie Butterscotch Brownies for my advisory students. 

Last night, for Halloween, I finally tried out this recipe. Butternut Squash Pizza.  This pizza has an olive oil base, red onion, sage, roasted butternut squash, goat cheese, and arugula.  It was delicious.  Paired with a great bottle of red and I had the perfect meal for a Halloween night. I chose not to do a gluten free crust, because I love bread and if you don't have to go that route, why would you?

Tip for homemade pizza- go by your favorite pizzeria and buy their dough.  

I carved a, little too happy, jack-o-lantern.

The Pecan Cottage @ Halloween.

Finally, my favorite kid from last night, Mr. President.