Autumn Bundts

There's a little bakery cafe in the High Desert of Southern California that is called Bodacious Bundts that makes the best cinnamon rolls. Though I've never ordered a bundt cake there, I'm sure they would be delicious. In fact I'm going to this bakery cafe this weekend for a meetup group with bloggers.
Have you ever decorated a bundt cake for Halloween? Check out these ideas:

Source: Uploaded by user via JaNae on Pinterest

Source: scrapbooklady.typepad.com via Mindy on Pinterest

Source: cookingwithsugar.com via Andrea on Pinterest

Source: thecakeblog.com via Krista on Pinterest

Source: lollyjaneboutique.blogspot.com via Holly on Pinterest

Source: monstermama-monstermama.blogspot.com via Sweet Taboo on Pinterest

Source: myrecipes.com via Jenny on Pinterest

Speaking of bundt cakes, I love to bake them and other delicious desserts during the autumn and holiday seasons. One of the cakes I've favored through the years are a bundt cake my grandmother would make with baby food applesauce. It was delicious and moist with such a good flavor. But as you might can tell by the extra huge slice of cake photo added above, my most favorite cake is the one that was my mother's specialty when I was growing up - German Chocolate cake. 
Don't those delicious looking bundt cakes make your taste buds almost taste those cakes? Mmmm...I would love to have a big bite of that German Chocolate cake right now.
I'm linking to:

• This Chick Cooks

Garden Squash and Fresh Brussels Sprouts

This afternoon I saw a couple of very small yellow crookneck squash veggies in my garden. I sliced them and pan fried them with a few Brussels sprouts in butter. The recipe is a basic "little of this" and a "little of that" but tasted buttery delicious on this National Greasy Food Day. You can't beat this kind of healthy greasy food dish.

Sizzling Buttery Vegetables

Tasty and Fresh

• 2 little yellow crookneck squash
• 4-5 Brussels Sprouts, halved
• salt
• pepper
• onion powder
• sugar (to taste)
• paprika
• butter

It's a little ironic that yesterday was National Food Day to promote healthy eating, and today is National Greasy Food Day. I guess one healthy food day is all some people might can stand, so eating greasy fried chicken or fried potatoes might sound really good after a day of veggies and fruit. It's not that yesterday's emphasis on vegetables and fruit made me want to eat healthy today. I just happen to like squash and Brussels Sprouts, the little cabbage-like vegetables that can taste awfully bitter if you don't prepare them just right. Now "just right" to this southern girl is like you see it in the recipe above, especially that last ingredient - real butter. Add a slice of toast with it, and you've got a tasty dinner like I had this evening.
Until next recipe...HAPPY EATING!
I'm linking to Wow Us Wednesdays and Polka Dots on Parade.

A McRib Sandwich Memory on Food Day

Today is Food Day, a day focused on "real food...meals built around vegetables, fruits, and whole grains...delicious and satisfying." Have you ever tried the famous McDonald's McRib sandwich that will be sold at all the chain's locations through November 14? It's meat, but it's delicious and satisfying. According to McDonald's nutrition information, this is what you're consuming when you eat one of these delicious sandwiches:

• 500 calories
• 26 grams fat
• 44 grams carbs
• 22 grams protein
• 980 mg sodium

Source: None via Stacy on Pinterest

Let me tell you about my most memorable experience with this tasty sandwich. My husband and I had just returned from a trip to Israel. On our way home from the airport, we stopped at a McDonald's. We wanted breakfast but it had just ended, and we could only order lunch. We both ordered the McRib sandwich. While we were eating, a man walked in with his young daughter to order their meals. When they learned that breakfast was over, the man said loudly, "Let's go, Sherry, we can't eat breakfast here." Until this day my husband and I have laughed about that incident. I'm sure that it was terribly disappointing to the man that he could not have his breakfast. I felt sorry for the young girl having to be humiliated by her father in front of the very-crowded McDonald's that day.

Part of Food Day's goal is wanting "fewer people at drive-throughs and bigger crowds at farmers markets." Though I love fresh vegetables and fruits and going to farmers markets, I think discouraging people from going to drive-throughs will not be such an easy task. Our society lives in too big of a rush, and drive throughs accommodate our fast pace of living. If you're curious like I was about where Food Day originated, it was created by Center for Science in the Public Interest.

Sweet and Spicy Salsa Recipe

We're into the crock-pot season now, and I've been seeing some mighty good crock-pot recipes out in the blogland. Maybe you've been following this week's recipes at Kitchen Hospitality. If so you know about my crock-pot stewed tomato recipe. The stewed tomatoes were from my kitchen garden where the tomato vines are growing wild and huge. Most of the tomatoes have gone into homemade salsa recipes I make. The newest salsa recipe is a result of the stewed tomatoes. I had never made stewed tomatoes but have used canned stewed tomatoes in plenty of recipes. I cooked the tomatoes in the crock pot and let them set a couple of days in the fridge then made the salsa. This sweet and spicy salsa is delicious.
Enjoy my recipe:

Sweet and Spicy Salsa

Fresh Stewed Tomatoes (enough to fill a blender)

1 Jalapeno Pepper

1 Serrano Pepper

1 Red Chili Pepper

Red Chili Spice (to taste; look for the spices in small clear plastic bags)

Fresh Cilantro

Salt (to taste)

Garlic Powder or Fresh Garlic (to taste)

Onion Powder (to taste)

Chop peppers with cilantro in the blender. 

Mix in the Fresh Stewed Tomatoes. 

Ready to serve with chips or on burritos.

See those yellow specks in the salsa? It's not corn. It's yellow summer crookneck squash from the garden.
I'm linking up to

• Simply Link Party. 
• Tasty Tuesday 
• Tea Rose Home Link Party

Cinnamon Rolls

Treat yourself to a melt-in-your-mouth cinnamon roll for a delightful Panera Bread dessert. I walked into a Panera Bread with my husband and observed the desserts, but my eye was fixed on one set up on a high pedestal. A huge cinnamon roll. Ignoring my yearning for the sweets, I moved forward and placed our soup and sandwich order. We set our laptops in a cozy corner with a table and enjoyed our hot and tasty meal then got to work online. After awhile my husband amazed me when he asked, "Would you like a cinnamon roll?"
Of course, I had to answer, "Yes!"
I love cinnamon rolls. When I was a teen growing up in Texas, my family and I used to frequent a little family restaurant that had buttery cinnamon rolls. Just thinking about it makes me almost taste it. Another cozy feeling I like is to curl up in a comfy sofa or chair with a book, cup of coffee - and a hot, buttery cinnamon roll.
Imagine these tasty ones for autumn:
PUMPKIN CINNAMON ROLLS

Source: theblissfullycontentlife.blogspot.com via Melissa on Pinterest

CINNABON  CINNAMON ROLLS

Source: the-girl-who-ate-everything.com via Tracy on Pinterest

MAPLE CINNAMON ROLLS

Source: jamiecooksitup.blogspot.com via Carmen on Pinterest

Garden Stewed Tomatoes

Tomatoes from my kitchen garden have been plenteous, and I had to decide what to do with the ones still in the fridge. I decided to make stewed tomatoes in the crockpot so the tomatoes wouldn't spoil. Now I'll use the stewed tomatoes to make a spicy salsa. Here is the recipe for the stewed tomatoes:

Garden Tomatoes (enough to fill at least half of a crockpot)
1/2 cup sugar
Salt
Pepper
Onion powder
Garlic Powder
Garden Yellow Crookneck Squash (optional)

Slice the tomatoes and mix in the crockpot with the seasonings. I happened to have a squash from the garden and added it to the other ingredients. You can add any of your garden vegetables and cook with the tomatoes. Cook in crockpot 3-5 hours (I cooked my on high for that long.) Cool. Use for any tomato recipes.

When the tomatoes and squash were cooking, the aroma reminded me of stewed tomatoes and okra that my mother and grandmother used to cook. Another idea I had was to make tomato soup from the stewed tomatoes. Any other ideas on stewed tomato recipes? But what I'm going to do with this particular batch of stewed tomatoes is make my spicy salsa. The salsa should taste spicy and sweet!

The stewed tomatoes came from this batch of tomatoes!

I'm linking up to:

• Fresh From The Farm Recipe Swap 1

Garden Vegetable Goulash

Make goulash using your garden vegetables like yellow squash and tomatoes with hamburger. Like spicy? Try this recipe:

• Garden Tomatoes (5-6, more or less)
• Yellow Summer Squash, quartered and sliced
• Jalapeno Peppers (1)
• Red Chili Pepper (1)
• Green Onions, chopped
• Dried red chili pepper spice (comes in a bag)
• Garlic Powder
• Salt (to taste)

My kitchen tomato garden has been producing an enormous amount of tomatoes. Some are big round ones - I think those are the Better Boy tomatoes that I planted. The ones that really took off in abundance are the Roma tomatoes. They are the funniest looking Romas I've ever seen. Some of them curve on the end, making them look deformed. No matter. They are tasty and perfect for goulash and salsa. The recipe listed above was made yesterday. It can be served with crackers or tortillas as a delicious meal. This week's Garden Vegetable Goulash was especially tasty because it included fresh garden tomatoes and yellow summer squash, the longest squash that has come from my square foot garden yet.

To top it off I made salsa with the garden tomatoes. Then I mixed a little of the salsa into the remainder of Velveeta cheese I had on hand. If you like cheese dip, do try this one. It is delicious and spicy, and it's hard to stop once you delve in.
Angie's Homemade Salsa
Garden Tomatoes (enough to fill approx. 3/4 of a blender)
Jalapenos (2)
Red Chili Pepper (1)
Red Spicy Chili Seasoning, measured to taste (in a bag)
Cilantro (to taste)
Garlic Powder
Green Onions (1/2 of a batch)
Chop peppers in blender first. Add tomatoes, onions, and spices and mix. Serve with Garden Vegetable Goulash or mix with Velveeta cheese as a dip.

I'm linking to:

• It's a Blog Party

Autumn Squash

Yellow summer squash tastes good in any season. My mother often planted a garden and always made sure she had plenty of yellow summer squash. Her favorite way to cook them was to slice them thin and pan fry them according to these ingredients:

• Yellow summer squash
• Butter (to taste)
• Onions (sweet yellow), chopped fine
• 1-2 T sugar
• Salt and pepper (to taste)
• Wash the squash well, and slice thin.

Put all ingredients into pan. Barely cover with water and boil until vegetables are soft. Serve while hot, or place in freezer containers and put in the freezer for a later time.

My squash garden

Close up photo of my squash garden

My second HUGE squash from the garden the first week of October!

The one that grew quickly!

There is a story that goes with the one that grew quickly. I have a square foot garden, and we have had to water it constantly through the heat of summer. The first squash was good but not very big. I had been noticing that the squash looked so scrawny. My husband added a netting over the garden, and it seems like within only a couple of days the squash took off on a growing spurt. Water and sun are good for a garden, but the desert heat can wipe out a garden if you don't have adequate covering, at least in the case of my squash garden.