​My four-year old granddaughter was due to visit and my daughter mentioned she was craving pasta e fagioli. As I had some time before her visit, I picked up the ingredients and the recipe from “Naples at Table,” by Arthur Schwartz. For the recipe you’ll need extra-virgin olive oil, 2 large cloves of garlic, hot red pepper flakes, 3 canned and peeled plum tomatoes, 2-1/2 to 3 cups cooked cannellini beans and pasta.
 
Instead of making cooked cannellini beans, I opted for canned beans (minus their liquid). The other change I made was to use a 28-ounce can of San Marzano tomatoes instead of just 3 tomatoes. This resulted in thick tomato sauce that I thinned out with pasta water. Per Mr. Schwartz, in Campania this dish is made “dry;” it’s not soupy or saucy, which may be how some restaurants prepare it here. 

​My recent CSA share from Dreyer Farms, brought me a new challenge, mustard greens. I also received an acorn squash and more apples.

Recently, I made Acorn Squash with Apples, but as a food blogger, I felt I had to find another tempting recipe in which to prepare this delicious squash. My search led me to the website "The Real Food  Dietitians" and their recipe Herb-Roasted Parmesan Squash. This savory preparation offers you another option for a Thanksgiving side dish. Even better, is that it takes just five ingredients and preps in just 10 minutes. Besides the acorn squash you'll need, Parmesan cheese, fresh herbs, (suggested was thyme, sage, rosemary, oregano or a mix), butter, garlic powder, salt and pepper. As my garden is still doing well, I made a mix of all the suggested herbs and I used minced fresh garlic in lieu of garlic powder. 

In a previous blog, I wrote about our dining experience at the Poached Pear Bistro in Point Pleasant, New Jersey and the wonderful Jersey Corn Bisque. Recently in the New York Times, David Tanis had a recipe for Creamy Corn Soup with Basil that is to die for! As for ingredients, extra virgin olive oil, garlic, sweet corn, onions, water and, as an option, squash blossoms are needed. 

Over the past several years, my husband and I have reduced the amount of red meat that we eat and have substituted eating a lot of chicken and turkey. With ground turkey, I’ve made turkey meatballs and wide variety turkey meatloaves.
 
As the weather is still quite warm and humid, I opted for a recipe that I found on the Food Network website for Turkey Burger Patty Melts, a recipe by Guy Fieri. Back when I was growing up in the 60’s and 70’s, diners were plentiful in New Jersey.  In Little Falls, New Jersey on Route 46E there was West’s Diner, which later became the Primrose Diner. I recall my late mother ordering a patty melt. It was a beef patty that was served on toasted rye bread smothered with cheese and onions.  ​

I had a friend call me the other evening to make sure my husband and I were okay. She hadn’t seen posts from me in awhile and she grew concerned. I assured her that all was well and the reason for the gap was we’ve had our daughter and granddaughters visiting us each week for a few days each week since July. My goal was to have quick suppers on Thursday evenings after my granddaughter’s swim lesson and for the other days, you prepare what’s appealing to a one- and four-year-old.
 
Here’s a review of what’s been going on in our culinary life.

​The ingredients from my CSA Box, Week 3, were lettuce, escarole, spinach, Breadsmith pizza dough from Cranford, NJ and Antonio Mozzarella from Newark, NJ. My daughter and I split everything with the exception of the pizza dough as I make my own. Last week I prepared Escarole, Capers and Fontina Pizza, a recipe from the Alice Waters cook book “Chez Panisse Pasta, Pizza & Calzone.” The spinach will be part of a pasta dish I found on the New York Times Cooking website, Spicy Butternut Squash Pasta with Spinach, by Yasmin Fahr.
 
For the pizza recipe you’ll need pizza dough, 2 bunches of escarole, an onion 6-7 cloves of garlic, salt, pepper, red wine vinegar, red pepper flakes (my contribution) and black olives.