My Midwest Life September 27

Hello! Well as I write this about the last week of summer the trees have all of a sudden changed color and the temperature is cooler along with cloudy skies and the smell of fall is in the air.  But the past week was like we knew we had the last bit of summer to get in.  Even the foods I ate are the last of the summer.  

For lunch yesterday I made this corn quinoa chowder from Hummusapien. I made it in the Instant Pot and subbed black beans for pinto - since that is what I had. It makes a lot so I probably have lunch for at least 3 days next week.  This is always a plus. I served my summer feast with the last of my garden tomatoes, mozzarella and  basil.  Of course I served it with  glass of Prophecy  rosé.  It was lovely. 

Breakfast this week used up the last of my ratatouille.  Also an only make in the summer with local veggies. And I finally got back to making smoothies.  This one was a kale and peach smoothie from Kelly Leveque's second book. 

The highlight of last weekend was a walk around the Sturgeon Bay land trust canal walk. These are miniature "trees" in the wooded area.  They look like baby trees.

Of course I love the lake.  The is the opening to the Sturgeon Bay canal from Lake Michigan. 

On the beach, my happy place! 

Looking into the canal and the Coast Gard Station.

More beach of course. 

Got to the farmers' market too and picked up ginger yesterday.  I've never seen it for sale so of course I bought it.  

I hope you have a great week.

And as always with love from the Midwest,

Beth 

 

My Midwest Life September 18

 Hello there! It's been a while since I've done my random pictures of what's going on lately.  I've been busy with virtual school, and sometimes I just don't want to do anything more with a computer.   However I've still been able to have some fun, get outside and make some good meals.  My husband went to the farmers' market for me Saturday and came back with 40lbs of tomatoes, and some other things as you can see!  Needless to say we spent the weekend canning tomatoes.  

I've been having cereal lately for breakfast, just something different.  I love the Ezekiel Brand almond cereal. There is no extra sugar and it has some protein. Today I added extra peanut butter, apples and flax seed.  I served it with almond/coconut milk.  Yummy and easy!

The sunrise the other day on my run. 

Last weeks dinner of filet mignon topped  with a quail egg, wild rice, foraged mushrooms and roasted cauliflower.  I felt this was bringing the summer and the fall together.

Book club was on a rainy Saturday morning. We sat in a garage, with Bloody Marys, which her daughters help decorate; it was so cute. 

Another end of summer dinner: artic char with the last of the herbs to make pesto, buttered tomatoes and chanterelle risotto. 

My mother-in-law gave me flowers.

They inspired a painting of course. It's nice to be creative.

Looking to the golf course in Door County during cocktail hour. 

I hope you are staying well and are enjoying some of life's little things.

As always with love from the Midwest,

Beth 

52 for 52 Week 31

 Hello!  As you may know if you've looked at some of my past posts Chris and I have been doing a lot of mushroom foraging.  A new mushroom we picked was mycelium, our's was either lion's mane or a coal tooth.  Don't worry we had them checked out by a delightful woman, Sharon, who runs Door Karma Farms in Sister Bay Door County.  I've had lion's mane that I purchased at the farmer's market before so it is not a new mushroom.  However what was new was the preparation.  Super simple and and made a nice sautéed side for a simple protein.   I've included 2 pictures of the mushroom, both whole and cut up.

Sautéed Lion's Mane

In a skillet with that is big enough for your mushrooms add a good quantity of unsalted butter.  Please use unsalted.

Sauté the mushrooms until they start to wilt and add either Worcestershire sauce  or soy sauce.  1-2 tsp is really plenty and continue to sauté until done.  

That is it, super easy!

Bon Appétit!

And as always with love from the Midwest,

Beth 

My Midwest Life September 3

 Hello!  It's been along time since I posted a Midwest Life post.  A lot has been going on, yet at the same time its all been surrounding the start of school.  For the moment my (and my son's as well) school is virtual.  Perhaps in the future we will be a hybrid school. This whole summer I've been doing quite a bit of work, but this last week we've had in-service and the actual start of school.  I thought I'd include the picture of my classroom without students.  It's really a different place; yet I am blessed that I get to go to work. 

Of course other things have been going on like a trip to Door County, food preservation and of course cooking, eating and drinking wine.    I'm making sundried (ok dehydrated) tomatoes.  I packed them in oil.  I'll try them this weekend so hopefully they're delish. 

I'm also trying sauerkraut again using the Ball pickling and fermenting lids.  So far so good no weird stuff growing in the kraut.  It is just not tangy enough yet, so I need to wait. 

We also made 10 pints of tomato sauce. Yup I had to get 2 pots out to start with. 

My CSA box dropped of local beans, black, red and pinto (I think). 

I finally caught a humming bird at the feeder.  I just think they are so cool, no reason why. 

Painted some more. 

Sunrise on a run.  The picture doesn't do it justice. 

A new foraged mushroom, lion's mane, or something within that family. 

I hope you've had a great couple of weeks and a fantastic Labor Day weekend!

And as always with love from the Midwest,

Beth