Tuesday, October 26, 2021

October Daily 26: Close to Home

 


Along the road I drive frequently, this line of trees has caught my eye more than once. When the sun shines, they glow like gold. Even when it's cloudy, their brightness attracts the eye. 


This morning I walked to the spot with my camera, hoping for some of that elusive sunshine, but it was gone by the time I arrived. Still, those gold and russet leaves charmed me. A senior living residence is just behind them, and I think how lovely it would be to look out and see this bit of autumn loveliness. 


Fall blooming cyclamen add a splash of cool pink to the tawny shades so predominant just now. 


On Saturday I mixed up a batch of sourdough bread and sort of forgot about it in the refrigerator. I baked it yesterday and it didn't seem to suffer at all for its two days of lounging in the fridge. We enjoyed still slightly warm slices with soup for supper.


Before my walk this morning I mixed up a batch of old fashioned Oatmeal Date cookies and left them to chill. When I returned I cut them, baked them, made the date filling, and put them together. They are my Dad's favourite cookie. Not a fancy bit of baking, but satisfying and delicious. 


I enjoyed one with a cup of tea. The sunshine flirted with the clouds and then disappeared. The wind rose and swirls of leaves rushed along the road. 

For dinner tonight I made a beef stew and the fragrance filled the kitchen with the savoury goodness of beef, onions, carrots, mushrooms, red wine, and herbs. I add a bay leaf, thyme, rosemary, and a twist of orange peel. Just before serving I'll add some frozen green peas and let them heat through. Served over rice or potatoes, with bread, it's a good meal for an October night. 

What do you add to beef stew?


15 comments:

  1. Your food makes me hungry! I put lots of carrots, and potatoes in my stew and it is seasoned with Worcester sauce, garlic, and all spice. We love to eat it with french bread. Those trees are lovely. With our rain and wind alot of our leaves are down. Enjoy your week! Kit

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is THE most mouth-watering post. After being outside in the crisp autumn air and seeing the fall color, I come into your house and smell bread right out of the oven, cookies and tea -- and as if that was not enough, the aroma of beef stew is going to my head. If it weren't bedtime I'd need to start cooking immediately. <3

    ReplyDelete
  3. i cook «  Carbonade Flamande » it comes from the north of France and north Europe. It’s beef with onions, brown sugar, cooked in beer, with gingerbread and mustard, spices… it is a very good winter dish.
    I love your breads and cookies, I know how to make oatmeal cookies, but what is inside the date filling?
    Will you put it on your recipe blog?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Your date cookies look so apetizing.
    I always add a bay leaf to a stew and a splash of red wine.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Just bought the ingredients for a beef stew this morning. Mine comes with lots of onions, mushrooms and is slowly cooked in beer. Served of course with lashings of mashed potatoes. Those trees are beautiful. The colour is beginning to come now. Another week or so and autumn will be at its best. Let’s hope the wind doesn’t blow away the leaves before then. B x

    ReplyDelete
  6. My beef stew sounds very much like yours, but I add potatoes to it and just serve with crusty bread. Those tress are beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh! A twist of orange peel! How interesting in beef stew! I'm going to have to try it!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Have you shared your oatmeal/date cookie recipe before? They look delicious, and I'd love to have it!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Yes, those gold leaves, glow, even on a rainy day. I love this effect.

    Shadows mutter,
    mist replies;
    darkness purrs
    as midnight sighs.
    ~Rusty Fischer
    🎃👻🎃👻🎃👻🎃👻🎃👻🎃👻🎃

    ReplyDelete
  10. Lorrie - when I see trees like that, I am grateful to the people who had the forethought to plant them. We are in the UK right now, and yesterday we walked past some beech trees that must be 300 years old. They line an estate driveway, and you know that the ancestors of the current estate owner (read: his servants) planted wee sprigs, and could only imagine the size they would attain. My hubby puts Worcestshire Sauce and smoked paprika (but no bay leaves) in his beef stew!!!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Your cooking and baking makes me hungry. I love a good stew and also oatmeal date cookies. Which reminds me, I need to get busy and make a batch of old-fashioned jam-jams.

    ReplyDelete
  12. The bread looks so tasty, and those cookies are like ones I used to make and have sort of forgotten about. Thanks for the reminder.
    In my post today I was asking what people were making/baking and you've answered that quite nicely.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Those cookies look delicious! I can see why they are a favorite. Your beef stew is more loaded than mine. Yum.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Standing under glowing golden maple trees is magical. A row of them is divine.
    Oh my those Oatmeal date cookies look so good they could be an entire dinner.
    My recipe is very bland, garlic powder, black pepper flour dusting, brown a bit, and add the regular vegetables and water or broth.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for your comment. I read and value each one, cherishing the connections we can make although far apart. Usually, I visit your blog in return, although if you ask a question I try to contact you directly.

Life These Days

  I only listen to the radio while driving. Occasionally I'll sit in the driveway for a few moments to finish a segment. Last Saturday I...