Golden Fall

I’ve been waiting for Mimi to send her essay and finally asked her if she had written anything. “But Barbara, it’s your turn.” Uh-oh. I guess I imagined I wrote a post. I write a monthly column for our local paper, The Redstone Review, and assumed I’d done a blog post. Oh well, here I am on a beautiful fall day ready to write to you.

We’ve had lovely weather with warm days and cool nights. The clear, raking light reveals every detail of the ponderosas and the rocky hills across the way. Like we’ve had our eyes washed. This is my favorite season. I treasure the languor of these fall days. We enjoyed a wonderful rainy day last week. The grass is turning green again. The chamisa is putting on a show too.

We have ventured to the mountains for glorious golden hikes in the high country aspens. We have gone to the Caribou open space trails near Nederland and after hiking had lunch at a local bakery. We ate a Southwestern Quiche made with a corn tortilla crust. I had to try this in my kitchen.

For the crust:

Lightly oil a comal or heavy skillet and soften 6 – 7 corn tortillas. Line a pie dish with them – one in the center, then overlapping others around the edge.

 Roast 2 – 4 poblanos or other chiles like Anaheims. (I do this right on the gas burner. Or use a grill or the broiler.) Peel and deseed and cut into one-inch pieces. Sauté a medium sized red onion, chopped, in a tablespoon olive oil or butter until softened and translucent. Add a ½ teaspoon salt.

Make the quiche mixture: In a measuring cup combine three large eggs and enough milk or half and half to make 1 ½ cups. Whisk in a bowl until well combined and lightened. Add half a cup grated Monterey Jack, cheddar or gruyere. (3-4 ounces.)

Spread the onions and chiles in the tortilla shell. Pour over the egg/cheese/milk mixture.

Bake at 350° for 40 minutes or until the center is just barely jiggly. Cool for ten minutes before slicing. Garnish with chopped cilantro.

We have done some household maintenance having a heat pump furnace installed, buying a new washing machine and new tires for the Honda. Yikes. How come all these necessary repairs come at once?

I’ve been relishing the last of the summer veggies making ratatouille, (go to Summer Treasures in the Search bar on the right for a recipe), and salads with the last of the eggplant, peppers, green beans, cukes, tomatoes, and zucchini from the farmer’s market. My tomato plants are slow to ripen their fruit. And I’ve discovered the remains of partially eaten  tomatoes stolen by a rock squirrel. I hope to still get a few before the weather turns cold. Meanwhile I’ll bask in the golden glow of a Colorado fall.