Autumn days

It's been a delicious past few days. My parents made a very memorable autumn dinner for us in their new home in Poulsbo, which we devoured on Saturday night (the meal, not the house). First we took a walk along this little country road to a farmstand (I know, it sounds just like Currier and Ives!) where we purchased some pumpkins, a few of them are pictured above, along with some fresh salsa and these amazing old-fashioned canned "dilly beans" (see photo below).



Now on to my mom's dinner. It was a feast! There was homemade applesauce (which had this really yummy and fragrant (almost rosewater-like) smell and taste), pumpkin soup, roasted acorn squash with cranberry relish, salad greens, steak kebabs with grilled vegetables, mashed potatoes, and Bourbon-glazed salmon. And, for dessert: pumpkin pie.

Speaking of squash, I told my mom that I can't remember an autumn season that I have craved squash this much. There must be a nutrient in squash that I'm lacking, because I can't get enough. Poor Jason. He's not so enamored with squash, but it seems to be on the dinner menu at our house quite a bit these days. Last night I was experimenting with butternut squash, garlic, and kale. See below.


Carson, of course, had a grand time crawling all over his grandparents' new house and playing with new toys. Then he slept all the way home, which was a dream, given that he a had a meltdown recently in the car that was just awful -- miserable, actually. In fact, Jason and I have started calling it "the historic fit" -- as in, it-will-go-down-in-history-as-the-wildest-and-most infamous-of-all-fits fit.

Speaking of the devil. There he is. Up early from his nap.