Happy Halloween!!

Colorado

We had our first family road trip in September (a little late on the post). Spent a long weekend at Rocky Mountain National Park. Had a great time hiking and exploring. Don't think Aaron and I realized how out of shape we were. Danny got his first cold, but still had a lots of fun.

Bear Lake (I think?)

Fall is elk mating season

Alberta Falls

Danny loved being in the backpack, he got mad when we took him out of it.

Cooking up a storm

Megan and I have been trying to make more of an effort to eat healthier over the past couple of months, which means we've been cooking a lot more. We've been trying some new things and eating some of our old favorites as well. Unfortunately, the pictures don't really do justice to the food. For some reason food is hard to shoot. Anyway, here's what we've been up to in the kitchen:

Cannelini dip, arancini, marinated butternut squash, olives and assorted cheeses. Mmmm...lots of antipasti.

Potato and peas with cumin (our first attempt at Indian cuisine). This ended up pretty well, though it was missing something that you normally get from eating at an Indian restaurant.

This can was the start of a big batch of basic tomato sauce. It was the first time I'd cooked with San Marzano tomatoes, but I had heard a lot about how they're the best Roma tomatoes. After tasting the sauce I'd have to agree. Just a little onion, olive oil, thyme, and these tomatoes and now I've got a base for all kinds of dishes. The first use was spaghetti with basil tomato sauce.

Ragu Bolgnese simmering. There's a reason Megan and I call this stuff Italian crack. About a cup of this with a half pound of spaghetti (don't use Barilla, I'm begging you) is some of the best pasta you'll ever have. I like Mario Batali's recipe, but there are as many recipes for ragu as there are Italian grandmothers.

Some other stuff that we've been having is pan seared ribeye with polenta and pancetta sauteed mustard greens, leek and potato soup, and leftovers.

There'll be more to come because we're getting into my favorite time of year to cook: fall is for braising!

Danny's Big Weekend

Sorry about the high pitch squeal!

Down on the Farm

Danny had a fun adventure on Saturday. He got to meet some farm animal friends up close. We went to the Deanna Rose Farmstead in the OP to enjoy the weather and give Danny something new and fun to do.

There were cows, goats, bunnies, and evil (Megan's opinion) swans to see along with lots of others.

This goat was pretty friendly. I think he figured we might have food or those weeds on the other side of the fence were really tasty.

Hanging out with Mommy by the big tractor.

That's a big longhorn and a little buffalo.