It is rare that I have a three-day weekend without a million activities planned. This morning, I went to the farm to buy fresh produce. With the current Indian summer that we are experiencing on the east coast, Guy Jones grew another batch of heirloom tomatoes. They look quite lovely.

(By the way — the apples in the background are Old fashioned Red Delicious from my own trees)

So I decided to make one more batch of tomato sauce with them (see previous blog posts for tomato sauce recipe) – reserving a few for slicing and serving in a Caprese salad.
I also picked up some freshly grown Cannelloni beans (which Guy grows), kale and Swiss chard. I plan to make a Kale and Cannelloni soup with small pork dumplings (sort of an offshoot of Italian wedding soup). I will photograph it after I make it.
 



Thinking back to Lydie's Eggplant Neapolitan – I decided to pick up two purple eggplants and make this casserole for dinner tomorrow. Tonight, I will make a Caprese Salad, fresh cheese ravioli with fresh tomato sauce and basil (photos later), and banana bread for desert.

There is just something about the fall… the second I taste the crisp autumn air, I feel compelled to bake. I had a handful of over-ripe organic bananas from last week and decided to make banana bread. Thursday night I took golden raisins and began soaking them in rum. I turn them every so often, so they soaked up the alcohol evenly.

Deb's Banana Bread Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cups golden raisins soaked for two days in a ½ cup rum
• 1 1/3 cup over-rip bananas (about 4), mashed
• 1 stick butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup chopped roasted pecans
• 1/3 Cup milk
• 2 eggs

Directions:

·         Preheat oven to 350 degrees

·         Grease and flour 2 8 ½ x 4 ½ x 2 ½ or 4 petit baking pans

·         Sift the flour, baking powered, baking soda and salt in a bowl and set aside

·         Cream butter and sugar for about 5 minutes

·         Add the banana and mix well

·         Add the milk, mix

·         Add the eggs, one at a time, and mix

·         Continue to mix all the wet ingredients for another five minutes, or until well combined

·         Add the raisins and the nuts

·         Add the dry ingredients and just mix enough to combine (do not over-mix the dry ingredients)

·         Fill baking pans and bake for about 45 minutes – or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

·         Cool and serve.

So, tomorrow, I will go for an early morning hike along the multi-colored trees and enjoy the Autumn to its fullest.  When I come home, I will make Sausage and Peppers, and the Eggplant Neapolitan for dinner after I can the tomato sauce that I start tonight.