Autumnal memories

The weather is just beginning to change and in the early morning air there is a hint of fall. I love this time of year. When I leave for work in the morning, I close my eyes and take a deep breath of cool, desert air and I am taken back to my childhood and the rituals we performed each autumn.  I grew up in New England. Although my home was outside of Boston, I called New England home because frankly, it was small enough to go just about anywhere in a few hours. Nothing like the west where you can drive for two days and still be in the same state!

For me, the autumnal excursion to the apple orchard was the best activity of the season. In the orchard, apple trees were neatly planted in rows, each row a different species. My favorites were Cortlands (similar to a macintosh). As you picked, you also took advantage of tasting them to make sure, of course, that they were at their perfect ripeness. Loaded with bags of yummy apples, we’d return home to make pies, apple sauce and baked apples with cinnamon and raisins. Here’s how we’d make stove top ‘baked’ apples:

4 macintosh apples, cored

4 tbls sugar (white or brown sugar)

2 tbls raisins

¼ tsp cinnamon

1 cup water (you can use apple juice or white wine instead of the water for more flavor)

Place the cored apples in a sauce pan with a lid. Mix the sugar, raisins and cinnamon. Spoon the mixture into the center of the apple where the core has been removed. Add the liquid and cover with the lid. Bring the liquid to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until apples are tender. Make sure you check the pan periodically to make sure the liquid has not completely evaporated. If it’s getting low, add a bit more water to ensure there is a ½ inch of liquid around the bottom of the apples.

 These can be served warm with a bit of loosely whipped cream or even better, vanilla ice cream (yum!).

What to do with all those peaches

I live in the desert and folks that don't live here would probably not believe that it has been a bumper crop year for peaches. My dear friend, Su, has three ancient trees, with scraggly limbs, falling over with the beautiful fruit. Two weeks ago friends Jan, Annette and I went to Su's and picked about a bushel of peaches. There were so many baskets filled to the brim, we barely had room for ourselves in the car. Here are some pics of our time at Su's farm. I made peach jam from half the peaches and froze the remainder to be used later for peach pie or cobbler and smoothies. I made sure to sprinkle them with a bit of Fruit Fresh (citric acid) so they don't turn brown. Sometime in December I'll take those peaches out, make a luscious pie and day dream about warmer weather.

it began in the kitchen

Hi, I'm Gioia (pronounced joy-yah - it's Italian for joy) and I love to cook. For as long as I can remember, I've cooked. My earliest memories in the kitchen were helping my paternal grandmother make pasta - tortellini, tagliatelle, ravioli, whatever! She was patient with me as my fingers struggled with folding and squishing the ends to seal the little packages of goodness. We'd have them in a delicious chicken broth, with grated parmesan cheese and a dash of red wine (yep, we put wine in our soup)...YUM!

Since those days, I've expanded my culinary abilities. I attended cooking school in Paris (that was a blast) and spent 10 years working as a chef. Now I teach others how to cook, and am always developing new recipes for my students. My husband and I are vegans, so I've got lots of recipes that don't include meat or animal products as well.

I am happiest in my kitchen or anyone else's for that matter. It's where I'm most comfortable and find myself drawn to. When I'm stressed, I cook, when I'm happy, I cook, when I'm sad, I cook. And then of course, I eat!

I hope you'll come back to read my blog where I'll share recipes and some culinary musings.