Pumpkin and Spice

One of the sad things about living in a tropical clime is that my favorite season, autumn, is really more of an idea than a reality. Sure, you go shopping right now and there are cute sweaters, cozy looking flannels, corduroy pants and chunky boots... but it's still flip-flop and tank top weather. The leaves (on the palm trees) never change color, the air is never brisk and crisp, and I'm not entirely sure pumpkins can even grow in Florida. While it is finally starting to cool down (just the other day I stepped outside and thought "Oooh! It's nice and cool out!"-- it was 85. No lie.) it's still not really cozy comfort food weather. However, something inside me starts craving fall foods this time of year, regardless of the weather.

Recently, I was really craving cabbage rolls. I'm really fond of cabbage rolls- whether meat or veggie filled, I love the savory filling, the sweet and tangy tomato sauce and the soft cabbage. What I am not fond of is rolling up cabbage rolls. There are some foods I'm willing to fuss around with, but I'd rather not spend that much time making little pockets of cabbage. And, since I don't have a Polish grandma to tell me I'm not doing things right, I decided this time around to make myself a cabbage casserole.

While I occasionally enjoy an omelet when eating out at breakfast places (eggs benedict or biscuits and gravy are really my breakfast weaknesses), I'll admit, I kinda have a bias against them. I'm not sure if its because I've had my share of disappointing omelets (*ahem* more on that in a bit...), or because I hate making them, or because I tend to think of them as bachelor food... Did I lose you on those last two? Allow me to elaborate.

I'll do the last one first- When we were dating (and probably before we were dating, I just didn't know about it then) Kyle's "bachelor food" of choice was the omelete. A little unusual, as the stereotypical single-guy foods of choice are frozen dinners, pizza and beer, but if you think about it, an omelete is an ideal meal for one. It's cheap, fast to make, easy to vary by adding different fillings, and it's easy to make a single serving.

 I wanna come clean about something- I don't like eggplants. When I say I don't like them, I mean I really hate them. I don't even like eggplant parmesan, and it's breaded, deep fried and covered in cheese and tomato sauce! I'd probably eat a sneaker if you fried it and covered it in sauce and cheese- but not an eggplant. I don't like the little seeds, I don't like the wet, spongy texture, I don't like the bitter flavor. Bleh.

I feel a little bad about my distaste for eggplants- I really hate to be a picky eater, and I'll taste dishes with eggplants in them, but I just have a hard time getting over my hang-up. One eggplant-centric dish I like (minus the eggplant, of course) is ratatouille. Ratatouille is a thick, hearty, French stew, made with lots and lots of veggies, most notably, eggplant. It's also fantastically inexpensive to make, as it tended to be, as the characters in the Disney/Pixar film Ratatouille point out, "peasant food". (And, as Linguine points out, it also sounds a lot like "Rat-patootie".) There's no meat, no cream, no butter, no exotic ingredients- just simple veggies, stewed and savory.

I don't often order it at restaurants, but I've made it at home before, with a little tweak- I substitute meaty portabella mushrooms for the eggplant. I know this makes it a less-than traditional version, but if I'm making it for myself, I see no reason to use an ingredient I don't care for.

Sunday was Kyle's birthday, and after spending Saturday evening out with friends and Sunday afternoon with family, we were ready for a quiet, relaxing Sunday evening together. Since Sunday's grocery store day, we decided to just pick something up to make a quick, easy dinner- and homemade pizza seemed like just the ticket!

(Yum! You can see my pizza in the foreground and Kyle's in the background. That's my Diet Coke. I know it's bad for me... And check out the sweet Iron Man napkins! Those were leftover from birthday cake earlier in the day.)

My final installment of culinary experimentation comes courtesy the "Quick Fixin' Dinners" chapter of "Velveeta: Recipes for People Who Eat Food". I think the chapter intro says more than I ever could:

"These recipes are designed for quick and easy preparation. And to reflect that, we decided to name these recipes 'Quick Fixin' Dinners'. Notice how we dropped the 'g' on the word 'fixing' to show how quickly these dinners can be made. By dropping the letter 'g', we have created a visual cue, so the reader will be convinced that these really are quick recipes and that they should try them for that reason alone."