In Case You Don't Own A Calendar, It's Fall!

You know those periods in your life where you think you are the busiest you could ever possibly be then life is all like "ha ha, nope!" and suddenly you're even busier? Yeah, I really wish it would stop doing that. My whole we're-into-the-home-stretch-things-should-be-calmer statement was way off the mark.

But in the midst of all the craziness which sees me working 9.5 hour days and taking work home, I've discovered exactly how much I love my job. While I could do with a return my regular hours of work with no take-home items so I could have a life outside the office, I wouldn't change anything else. So, you know, silver lining and all that jazz.

Downside? What was supposed to be last week's Trivia Tuesday is still sitting on my hard drive only partially finished so instead, you're getting a recipe.

I may have posted a recipe just so I could use this gif

This recipe is for Schnitz und Drunder, which is just a really fancy way of saying "best Fall food ever!". It's a potato, bacon, apple and pear stew-type-thing which is just as fantastic as it sounds. Every Fall, when everyone else is tripping over themselves to get Pumpkin Spice Lattes, I'm planning entire weekends around being able to cook Schnitz und Drunder.

Schnitz und Drunder is a Swiss dish. Traditionally, this dish is made with dried apples and pears but I have recipes which call for both dried and fresh. I use fresh apples and pears because I'm lazy and most of the dried recipes tell you to re-hydrate the dried fruit the night before they're easier to find in grocery stores. Stop judging me.

Ingredients:

- 2 tbsp butter

- 1 onion, chopped

- 1 pear, peeled, cored and sliced

- 1 apple, peeled, cored and sliced

- 1 tbsp sugar (optional)

- 1 lb potatoes, peeled and chopped (doesn't have to be pretty)

- 10 oz piece of double-smoked bacon or ham, chopped into chunks

- salt and pepper to taste

- 2 tbsp cream

Serves:

4 - 6 according to all the recipes I've ever seen. I think that's generous. I've found 3 - 4 is a better estimate.

Instructions:

In a large pot, melt the butter. Soften the onion but don't let it brown. (If you have a really fatty cut of bacon, you can put it in first and use that to soften the onions instead of butter.)

I threw in the ham early because I wasn't paying attention.
LET THIS BE A LESSON, KIDS!

Add in the apple, pear, sugar (if using), the potatoes and enough water to just about cover them.

Toss in the bacon or ham (if you haven't already done so). Salt and pepper to taste, then let the pot simmer uncovered until the water is almost completely evaporated (roughly 30 mins).

It's around this point that I start hopping around yelling "WHY AREN'T YOU DONE YET?"
My apartment smells delicious and I get impatient.

Stir in the cream and serve.

Look at this fantastic meal!

Okay, so it doesn't exactly photograph well because it's essentially a stew, but trust me when I say that it tastes fantastic. 

If I had to sum up fall in one meal, this would be it.

En Guete!

(Beautiful Swiss German for 'Bon Appetit!)

Sunday Snippets: September

Well, it only took 10 years of not being in some sort of schooling for me to finally stop thinking of September as a new year. Now it's just September, killer of summer dreams and bringer of longer nights. Thanks a lot, September.

September is pretty much Omar in month form.

Many years, September is just a continuation of August weather-wise, but this year it is definitely the beginning of Autumn. While the days are still warm, nights are downright cold here at the moment. We also had some crazy freak rain storms over the last two weeks which left me with two very cuddly cats because, dude, thunder!

This year seemed to be the summer of out-of-town visitors which was a good thing.

It was also the summer of macarons which was a good thing for everything except my waistline.

It was the summer of a missed DietBet because it takes forever to set up PayPal. Lesson learned.

And it was the summer of setting up a bedtime schedule due to sleeping issues. For the first time in years, I turned down social evenings specifically because I wouldn't be home in time for bed.

Yup.

But summer is actually my least favourite season - go ahead, mock me all you want for that fact - so I'm not too sad to see it go. Autumn is my second favourite season and the rest of September is shaping up to be an awesome month. The only thing I'm not looking forward to? All the bloody pumpkin love on the blogs I read.

The only thing I like about pumpkins is carving them and roasting the seeds. I don't care for the Pumpkin Spiced Lattes at Starbucks, I actively avoid pumpkin pie as an option for dessert, and I will roast every other type of cucurbita there is but pumpkin. Every recipe posted on a blog between now and American Thanksgiving is going to have pumpkin in it. To be honest, it makes me a little stabby.

Sorry, pumpkin. It's not me, it's you.

It was also, in case it's not already abundantly clear from the gif choices, the summer that I bought and (re)watched all five seasons of The Wire because it is arguably the best show to have even been broadcast. It is the show that ruined all other cop shows for me because it is so good and it is rooted in reality in a way that no other cop drama is. Fair warning: there is strong language, violence and nudity - hey, it's HBO! - but if you want to know why the war on drugs will never be won then this is the show to watch.

Plus, it has Idris Elba in it; do you really need another reason to watch?

Yeah. I didn't think so.