LISTENING TO: Ravel
COOKING THROUGH: Le Cordon Bleu at Home (Le Cordon Bleu School of Cooking), this week's assignment is Pets de Nonnes (Choux Pastry Fritters with Apricot Sauce) on pages 130-131; Baking: From My Home to Yours (Dorie Greenspan), this week's recipe is Chocolate-Crunched Caramel Tart on pages 355-357; The Bread Baker's Apprentice (Peter Reinhart), this week's recipe is Cranberry Walnut Celebration Bread on page 154-156; The Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking (Marcella Hazan), this week's recipe is Braised Finocchio with Butter and Parmiagiano Reggiano on pages 503-504; Mastering the Art of French Cooking (Julia Child), something from the menu Le Central is serving in honor of Julia Child; The Food You Crave by Ellie Krieger, this week's recipe is New York Breakfast, page 25. You can cook/bake along, too!
FAV NEW FIND: A faster route through Noblesville during rush hour every day.
FAV THING TODAY: Chip, the little ground squirrel, is back for his annual fall feasting with my tomato plants on the deck...he loves to hop up on the railing and help himself to tomatoes. It is such fun to see him from the kitchen window as he goes about his little routine of selecting the tiny cherry tomato, hauling it up to his favorite spot and ripping into it. He eats several at a time several times a day.
GOING TO: Get the yard ready for winter. Pool is going to be closed on Monday, flower beds need to be cleared and fall flowers trimmed, etc. Deciding which herbs to try to winter-over. More fall cleaning. Just a nice weekend around the house with not too much going on and plenty of time to watch college football.
PRAYING FOR: My friend Cathy's sister who is undergoing serious medical problems after giving birth to her son this past month, please join me.