Lentils with Saffron Yogurt

Lentils are nice in the fall. They cook quickly and are so adaptable. You can make soups, stews, mock meat loaf, salads and so on. They take to different spices and vegetables and come out delicious. I find I don't make them enough. And every time I make a batch, I'm surprised by how wonderful they are. This is a very easy, short ingredient list recipe. Add more water to make it more of a soup and add different toppings to make it your own. It is adapted from a recipe at 101 Cookbooks.

Blackberry, Nectarine, Plum Shrub

Another way to use up end of summer fruit.  Make a shrub! These delightful syrups work well with soda water, or in mixed drinks or in a salad dressing or .... They are vinegar based, so you will taste the vinegar, but it is so much more than just flavored vinegar. Give it a try. It'll put hair on your chest, oops, did I write that out loud? I adapted a recipe from The Kitchn.

Peach Basil Jam

It's the end of summer. Time to use up the last of the peaches and, wait for it, basil. Yes basil. Surprisingly, peaches and basil taste delicious together. I love to get jams put up for the winter. Nothing better than a nice English muffin, pot of tea and some homemade jam to help chase the winter blues away. As with all my jams, it is not a sealed jam and needs to be refrigerated or frozen. 

Plum Torte

This was really good. And very pretty. You can tell we liked it by how much is gone in the photo! It fed us for 2 days. Shared some with my neighbor who also really liked it. Give it a try with plums or experiment with other fruits. Adapted from a David Lebovitz's adaptation of a recipe from Marion Burros.

Halushki

This week I went back to my Ukrainian roots. My Dad was Ukrainian and this is one of the meals my Mom would make for him. Mom was not Ukrainian but she was always happy to make food my Dad liked. Halushki is one of those dishes that many countries in that part of Europe make, just had slightly different names. I've updated it just a tad by using olive oil instead of bacon fat. My Mom, of course, made it with bacon. This recipe is from a cookbook I got back in the 60's. It is called the Book of Golden Recipes and was compiled by St. Anne's Ukrainian Byzantine in Youngstown, Ohio.