We had a lot of kids come to the house this year for trick or treating. I was surprised to see how many little kids were out. They started knocking on the door around 5:00 and then by 9:00 the streets were deserted and they all were heading home.
The weather was lovely – warm enough that you didn’t need a jacket and no chance of rain. A perfect night to go out and gather up candies from the neighbors!
Today we picked up Mother and went Krogering to take advantage of senior citizens day discounts. We decided we might as well each buy a couple of pumpkins for Halloween. Kroger had huge boxes of the biggest pumpkins in town and they were only charging $5.99 – no matter how big or small the pumpkin. I thought that was a very good price and have seen other stores chargin much more for inferior produce. We bought two pumpkins – one is smalled and fully round and the other is taller with a narrow “face.” so I can get busy carving two very different characters into the pumpkins this weekend. When I’m finished I’ll have Mother choose which one she likes best and she can have that one for her porch. And the other will have a place of honor on our front porch.
While preheating the broiler, place 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium heat, add the onion, celery and carrots, season with salt and pepper, and cook until tender but not caramelized, 5-6 minutes.
Add the potatoes, thyme, juice of the clams and 1/2 cup of water to the skillet and bring the liquids to a low boil. Cover and reduce heat to medium. Simmer until potatoes are tender, 8-10 minutes.
While the vegetables are cooking, place a medium saucepot over medium heat with the remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Sprinkle the flour over the melted butter and cook for 1 minute. Stir the milk and 1 cup of water into the roux and bring up to a bubble. Add the clams to the sauce, season with salt and pepper, and simmer until thickened, about 1 minute. Reserve warm.
When everything is ready, toss the cooked vegetables and the prepared sauce with the cooked pasta in a large casserole dish.
Sprinkle the breadcrumbs and grated cheese over the surface of the casserole, then brown for just a minute or two under the broiler.
Yields 6 servings
We’ve had a couple days of rain and a couple cool nights, so it is nice to see the trees have been prompted to start turning color.
The autumn color here is one of the most beautiful features of this area. The variety of trees makes for all different colors, from light yellow poplar leaves to dark golden maples to orange elm and bright red dogwoods.
The squirrels have started their gathering of nuts and burying them in the ground. I love watching the little critters scampering about the yard searching for new hidey-holes.
Our wonderful weather forecaster on TV, Ron Howes, announced that snow is falling in the Rocky Mountains tonight. So this winter’s first snow is falling. But not here, thank goodness!
Locally, the temperatures are still a very mild and pleasant high 70′s and low 80′s, with not much chance of rain. We had 2 good days of rain last week to help catch up our annual rainfall total back to almost normal. The month of September was very dry and hot but October has started out absolutely lovely. We still have tomatoes on the vine and even new peppers are coming forth – both bell peppers and the jalapenos. So we got a nice long growing season for our little garden this year.
I’m not a betting lady, but if I had to choose a date for our first snow here this winter, I would pick the 25th of November. Don’t ask me why – it’s just a number that popped into my head.