From The Good Life

Labor Day weekend Tim and I went to the Minnesota State Fair. "The Great Minnesota Get Together" is one of the largest state fair's in the country. Attendance at this year's state fair was 1,776,211, just shy of last year's record attendance of 1,790,497. Not a record, but a huge crowd, 210,000 people attended the day Tim and I were there.

We experienced all of the traditional fair fun! Livestock, produce, art, machinery and last but certainly not least food. Everything you can think of on a stick. There was a booth that advertised nothing on a stick. The booth promoting their vegetable tray didn't have much of a crowd.

Bacon on a stick! And a really large tree for background!

A corn picture of Minnie and Paul!

The largest pumpkin, just over 1000 pounds!

The CROWD!

The Fair Princesses out of butter!

Aren't they cute?

What else in Minnesota...Hot Dish on Stick with Mushroom Soup dipping sauce!

Cookies & Cream Cupcakes - Martha Stewart Cupcake Club

It's been months since the last time I participated in the Martha Stewart Cupcake Club. I love cupcakes but sometimes there's just too many sweets in the house.

This month's recipe isn't a traditional cupcake. It's a cheesecake in cupcake form. These were easy to put together and delicious. Also, there's so many possibilities for this recipe, different cookies or candy bars. I have a delicious butterfinger cheesecake recipe that could be easily adapted to "cupcake" form.



Thanks to the talented Nina of Nina's Cupcakes for choosing this month's recipe. You can find the links to the other MSC bakers here.

Cheese Tasting 101

Tim gave me a cheese board for my birthday this year. Having grown up eating ColbyJack and Gouda, I want to learn more about cheeses. I decided to check out the cheese selection at Whole Foods. Don't you just love that store? The cheese monger was so helpful. I knew I wanted a soft, hard and goat cheese. A lot of articles say to include a blue cheese but I knew most of my guests didn't like blue cheese. After some discussion and several suggestions, we settled on Appenzeller for the soft, Parrano for the hard and Humbolt Fog as the Goat Cheese.

What should you serve with your cheese? In addition to the baquette, we had grapes, nuts and if you chose a drizzle of honey. What else do you need to know? Be sure to take the cheese out of the refrigerator an hour or two prior to serving to allow it to come to room temperature.

Which cheeses would we would like? Would there be some we didn't like at all? Which one would be the star?

Each of the cheeses had their own unique flavor. My favorite was the Humbolt Fog. I love that it looks like a beautiful piece of layer cake. The flavor is tart, yet mild. The texture is beautifully creamy. I think the rest of the group was partial to the Parrano. The parrano had a buttery texture and a nutty flavor. It reminded us all of gouda. I guess it was our comfort zone cheese. The Appenzeller was our "stinky" cheese. The aroma comes from the washing of the rind.

This was such a fun and interesting experience. I can't wait to do another cheese tasting!

I am linking this to Tuesday's at the Table and Tasty Tuesday's.

Carmelized Onion, Sage and Cheddar Muffins - SMS

Don't you just love those days where you have a ton of things you want to accomplish and then...something happens!! That was my day today. Last night before I went to bed, I started the upgrade on my IPhone. Yep, you guessed it. When I picked up my IPhone this morning everything was gone! After a fairly major meltdown, we called Apple. While on the phone with Apple, my IPhone began restoring. As it turns out, it had timed out while updating and didn't finish the process. A couple of stressful hours later, I was able to start my baking.

Today's SMS recipe is actually Pear, Blue Cheese and Walnut Muffins. You can find the recipe over at Andrea's Nummy Kitchen. One of the other versions for these savory muffins is Carmelized Onion, Sage and Cheddar. I must have passed on these when the SMS group made these a year or so ago. As it so happens, I planted a sage plant this year and have been searching for recipes using the beautiful sage.

Quite a few of the bakers commented these muffins were dry and suggested substituting sour cream for the cream and milk, to increase their moistness. As I combined the wet and dry ingredients, my batter was so dry I had trouble getting it to combine. I quickly grabbed some cream and added about 1/4 cup. I think next time I make these, I might just add some sour cream to the milk and cream. Concerned these weren't going to be any good, I tried one pretty much right out of the oven. These are delicious, I love the hint of sage along with the onions. Savory muffins are such a nice change!



Thanks Andrea for hosting this week. You can find all of the other SMS baker's muffin creations here!

911 - Let Us Never Forget!

Seems hard to believe it's been nine years since 911. Everyone remembers where they were that day. I just remember how surreal it all seemed. Let us never forget those who lost their lives that day, the loved ones left behind and the police and firefighters whose lives are changed forever!

I am linking this post to Pink Saturday.

Pasta With Butternut Squash & Walnuts

What vegetables do you think of when you think Fall? After months of summer squash, I am ready for their winter counterparts. I'd never cooked much with winter squash until last year. Now I am a big fan. Butternut Squash is so versatile. Besides roasting or preparing a soup, you can make Butternut Squash Risotto and Butternut Squash, Sweet Potato and Pomegrante Soup.

I bought my first winter squash at the Farmer's Market a couple of weeks ago. One of the things I love about these veggies is how long they keep. They are a bit challenging to cut. I've discovered if you microwave them for about 60 seconds, it softens the skin just slightly and they're much easier to cut. Did you know the skin of butternut squash irrates some people's hands? I didn't until I read this recipe. Apparently it can cause a burning or itching sensation. As I was cutting the squash for this recipe, I felt like my hand was starting to burn. I am sure it was all in my head but I dawned the gloves, just in case.

I planted a sage plant for the first time this year but I haven't used much sage. I know I want to to make a pasta with Sage Brown Butter Sauce. Other than that all I can think of is dressing. Do you have a recipe using sage that you love?

As this was roasting in the oven, the house was filled with the most wonderful aromas of garlic, onion and sage. I was tempted to eat the squash right out of the oven instead of saving it for this recipe. The recipe called for pine nuts. Is it just me or have pine nuts gotten even more expensive lately? Walnuts seemed like a perfect substitution. I loved this pasta! It's unique because you pan fry the all of the ingredients together. The butternut squash creates a rich creamy sauce without the addition of any cream.



Pasta Pan-Fried with Butternut Squash, Fried Sage, and Walnuts
Adapted from Serious Eats
feeds 4

1 medium butternut squash
1 small sweet onion, peeled and diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup fresh sage leaves
1 pound farfalle pasta
3/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
4 ounces high quality Parmesan, shredded or shaved (about a cup total)

Heat the oven to 375°. Cut the butternut squash in half and scoop out the strings and seeds the middle cavity. Flip the squash halves upside down and peel them. (Note: The raw squash rind can irritate your hands. If they start to itch or tingle, wear gloves.) Cut the squash into 1-inch cubes. Toss with the onion, garlic, a drizzle of olive oil and salt and pepper. Mince about half of the fresh sage leaves and also toss with the squash.

Spread the squash mixture in a thin layer on a large baking sheet and roast for about 40 minutes or until the squash is soft.

Heat salted pasta water to boiling and cook the farfalle until al dente. Drain and set aside. As the squash finishes roasting, heat about two tablespoons of olive oil in a large high-sided sauté pan. The oil is ready when it pops and sputters. (Don't let it start smoking.) Drop in the rest of the sage leaves and fry for about a minute, or until they begin to just shrivel up.

Remove with a slotted spoon and salt lightly. Crush with the back of a spoon.

Add half the pasta to the pan, along with half the roasted squash mixture. Crumble in half the sage. Cook, stirring frequently, for five minutes or until the pasta is heated through and getting crispy on some of the edges. Add the pine nuts and cook for another minute. Stir in half the cheese and serve.

(Repeat the last step with the rest of the ingredients. We split it into two because none of our pans are big enough to accommodate the entire recipe. It's very important that you not crowd the pan too much - you want the pasta to really pan-fry, not just steam up.)

I am linking this to Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum . This is my entry for this week's Presto Pasta Nights.

From The Good Life

A couple of weeks ago, Tim and I went on a weekend camping trip to Prairie Rose State Park about an hour east of Omaha. Of course all of my friends and family had a good chuckle over the fact that I was going camping. Actually, I love to camp...cooking over a campfire, waking up to the sounds of the birds and stargazing. On Saturday to beat the afternoon heat, we took a road trip to the Danish Countryside Winery in Elk Horn, Iowa. No special camping recipes to share this week, just a few pictures of the beautiful scenery.