Fall is Really Here!

This morning we woke up to no electricity and the first freeze of the season. After a couple of hours the electricity was restored, the house began to warm back up while the frost melted in the sunshine. But what a beautiful day! I may have to adjourn to my deck this afternoon with my cat.

This is the view I have from my library where I sit at my computer. Everywhere we look we see trees.

We got to meet our daughter's boyfriend last evening, so I made steaks, mashed Yukon Gold potatoes, sauteed crimini mushrooms and Green and Gold salad for dinner. He seemed to enjoy dinner. I know I did.

Perhaps the best part was that I grilled an extra sirloin steak and saved it for my lunch today. I then thinly sliced it across the grain and briefly heated them in the microwave. Meanwhile, I put mayonnaise on a whole wheat bun, added sliced onion and a slice of swiss cheese. I simply adore steak sandwiches. Hot or cold, they are just delicious.



GREEN AND GOLD SALAD

This is a favorite recipe for our family. My daughter likes her peas uncooked anyway, and with the additional ingredients, she is in heaven. Frozen peas have been blanched during the processing, so there is no problem with not cooking them first. Oddly, people either love this recipe or hate it. This salad does not hold up well to storage, so the dressing needs to be added to the other ingredients just before serving. I often omit the mustard and salt, resulting in a slightly sweeter salad.

1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen green peas
1/2 c. shredded natural cheddar cheese
2 tbs. chopped onion
3 tbs. mayonnaise or salad dressing
1 tsp. prepared mustard, opt.
1/4 tsp. salt
crisp salad greens, opt.
fresh mint, finely chopped, opt.

Rinse peas with small amount of running cold water to separate the peas and to remove ice crystals; drain. Mix all ingredients except salad greens. Serve salad on greens.

Makes 4 or 5 servings. Marilyn’s note: don’t mix rest of ingredients with peas and cheese until just before serving.

Green and Gold Salad

Remember my newly found treasure? I cleaned the copper with half a lemon dipped in tablesalt per a wise person's advice and voila! No scrubbing necessary. I am already dreaming of sauces to be made in this beautiful pot.

It's even prettier cleaned up.