The Ultimate Sandwich

During our graduate school winter break we took a trip to Los Angeles to visit Marnina’s uncle. We were eager to experience Los Angeles’ vibrant culinary scene.  In addition to the usual Malibu, Venice Beach and Santa Monica sightseeing, Marnina’s uncle provided us with quite the culinary tour. We sampled Indian, vegan Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Italian, and American cuisine. We even hit up the famous Magnolia Bakery (yes, the banana cream pudding was UNBELIEVABLY DELICIOUS).  While partaking in one of L.A.’s new fads, personal piea, at a cafe called SimpleThings,  Marnina grabbed the menu (she loves to bring home menus).  The menu included many delectable sounding sandwiches. The combination of ingredients in each sandwich sounded so gourmet and unique that we anticipated returning to the shop and trying their sandwiches. Unfortunately we were not able to make it back before we left town.  To compensate for our loss (and because Marnina saved the menu), we vowed to recreate the best sounding sandwich on their menu – The Sweet Potato.

Happiness in a Pumpkin

Last weekend, Marnina and I wanted to go apple-picking with some friends from Brandeis University. When we arrived, we were told that the apple-picking season was over at this particular orchard due to the substantial amount of rain.  Therefore, we ended up going ‘pumpkin-picking’ instead.  At first, we were disappointed.  But then Marnina mentioned that she had a pumpkin stuffing recipe back home that sounded delicious.  I was suspicious at first, mainly because the recipe called for baking an intact pumpkin in our smaller-than-small oven.  However, as our neighbors (and our taste buds) can attest, the pumpkin smelled (and tasted) like a slice of heaven.   We wandered around the pumpkin patch for about 20 minutes, took some awesome pictures (see below), and painstakingly picked out the smallest pumpkin we could find (6 lbs!).

Autumn Gold Squash Soup

The cooler morning and nights are a reminder that Fall has truly arrived.  And as we transition from soft and luscious summer fruits and veggies to thicker autumn root produce, our vegetable peeler gets even more use (even though Marnina and I still use our peeler excessively during every season to remove the skin of all fruits and veggies).  Individuals with IBD can generally tolerate many autumn/winter fruit and veggie, as long as they are eaten without skin and seeds of course. They often scare people away because of their thick skins and odd shapes, but Marnina and I have never been deterred from cooking them, especially the butternut squash. We often roast butternut squash to bring out its natural sweetness, or puree them to make soups or casseroles.   It is a good source of fiber, vitamin C, manganese, magnesium, and potassium.  It is also an excellent source of vitamin A & vitamin E.

A Sweet Potato Breakfast

A strange thing happened last Tuesday.  Marnina and I looked out our window and noticed one lone tree that had a streak of orange leaves near its top branches.  During our four years at Brandeis University in Boston, the Fall foliage always seemed to quickly appear; within the span of a week or two, most of the leaves would be a beautiful mixture of yellow, orange, red, and every color in between. Here in Maryland, we had forgotten how slowly the foliage arrives.  It might take weeks for the foliage to really be noticeable.  At first we were saddened by the inevitable arrival of the Fall season, but our sadness quickly diminished when we thought of the many Fall-inspired dishes we would be cooking in the near future.  While Marnina will still go through peaches (peeling each one prior to eating them) and other late-summer fruit until the very last one is harvested, we wanted to cook a ‘transitional’ dish that incorporated some elements of both Summer and Fall.  In the end, the finished product definitely recalls the colors of Fall, which is appropriate as we must acknowledge the arrival of a new season.  We decided on a Sweet Potato-Apple Breakfast – there is nothing like breakfast for dinner!