'Tis the season

As the cooler weather sets in (although we have some nice days coming up), I tend to start thinking about things to cook. Part of it is wanting comfort food, and part of it is because it feels good to be in a warm kitchen! (It doesn't feel so great in August, when it's 85° and above! We don't have central air conditioning, so I don't like heating up the kitchen.) I rarely make desserts, because it's just too much for us after we have dinner, and neither of us needs the extra calories! So I focus on dinners.

I'm also in the mode of wanting to use up things that are residing in the freezer. I still buy things on sale, but I need to start using other things up. So last night I used a bag of ravioli I'd had in the freezer for a while and made a casserole. I cooked the ravioli, then layered it with spaghetti sauce, some fresh mozzarella, cottage cheese, and some shredded mozzarella, and baked it. It was pretty tasty, and some garlic bread with roasted garlic went well with it. We'll have leftovers tomorrow night.

Tonight, I thought I'd do some stuffed chicken breasts. Pound them thin, then roll them up with...I'm thinking spinach, mozzarella, and sun-dried tomatoes. A little bit of sour cream to hold it all together. Then some bacon strips laid on top, and the whole thing baked. I like finding recipes that I can tweak a little and use stuff I have in the fridge, and those of you who have been reading for a while know how much I love a chance to use my meat mallet!

For the weekend, I want to try some black bean soup. I found what sounds like a good crockpot recipe. I saw lots of recipes that use canned black beans, and that would be easy to whip up, but I have a bag of dried black beans downstairs, so I might as well use those. I love having black bean soup in restaurants, so it will be fun to try it at home. Some ham, onions, a little bit of tomatoes, spices...I've never tried it before, so I hope it turns out okay!

It's not just the cooking season...it's also rutting season, and the deer have been hanging out in the back yard all day! A little bit ago, I looked out and saw 5 does. Suddenly, a young buck came charging up and started running after all the does! Everyone settled down, and the does were hanging out by the small pond in the middle of the yard, while the buck was at the far pond. He finally came strolling up to all the does, real casual-like. "Hi Ladies, lookin' good, don't worry 'bout me, I'm cool." Then BAM! he started chasing them again! It cracked me up!

Of course, for any of us that are fortunate enough to live in rural areas, rutting season also means an increased chance of hitting a deer on the roads. They're on the move, looking for a mate, and auto-deer collisions cost millions in insurance claims every year (and some people get killed in the crash). Not to mention the poor deer who don't exactly enjoy the encounter. I've been fortunate to have stayed safe so far (knock on wood!), but Ken hit one a few years ago. So everyone be careful out there, use your high beams when you can, and keep your eyes peeled for glowing eyes in the roadway ahead.

Oh, and for all you bird watchers out there, I saw a Dark-Eyed Junco today. It's official...winter is on its way.