A Whole Lot of Air Travel

As I am sitting here in Phoenix at 5:00 AM, wide awake from traveling from the Eastern Standard Time zone, I asked myself how many flights have I been on this year?  I counted 21 with 4 more left to go this year.  That's a whole lot of air travel.

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So I started thinking about when I most enjoyed going to the airport and I remember back to the late 80's early 90's when Beth, Danny and I would have airport field trips.  They were young children and a trip to the airport was fun.  We couldn't afford to fly anywhere but you don't need a lot of cash to have a great time.

First we would drive to the long term parking.  That would guarantee a free shuttle bus ride to the airport.  We would marvel at the ticket booths, uniformed staff and all of the shops.  Then the kids and I would get to take the escalators to the main floor and we hopped the train to the gates.  There were moving sidewalks, people hurrying to their gates - so much to see.  We would look at the screens and all of the places that people were going.  The flight attendants and pilots in uniform were also intriguing to young children.  There were different size planes and we would watch them take off and land.  We would talk about what we would see if we were on those planes and where they would land. Sometimes we were lucky and we could get a pair of the junior flight attendant wings. The last stop would be lunch at one of the restaurants and then we headed back home.  It was a very inexpensive day trip, learning experience and a lot of fun.  Unfortunately with security measures it is no longer an option for young children.

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The featured brooch and bangle reminds me of blue skies and flight.  As to the recipe it's a stretch but I thought about the nuts you used to get on flights (I haven't seen any lately) and wanted to add a recipe for glazed spiced nuts.  I love to put these on salads.  One of our favorite salads is romaine lettuce, slightly roasted sliced pears, blue cheese, spiced nuts with a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar on top.

This recipe is from one of my favorite resources http://www.marthastewart.com/349611/spiced-nuts.  Jeff and I always joke around when I get ready to experiment with a new recipe as I will say, "I wonder what Martha has to say?

I would probably substitute cinnamon instead of allspice.

Ingredients

1 large egg white

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1 3/4 teaspoons cayenne pepper

2 1/2 cups pecan halves, or assorted nuts, such as cashews, walnuts, or almonds

Directions

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Beat egg white until soft and foamy. Combine all remaining ingredients except pecans; whisk into egg white. Stir in pecans until well coated; spread mixture in single layer onto an ungreased baking pan.

Bake pecans for 15 minutes, then remove from oven. Using a metal spatula, toss, stir, and separate nuts. Reduce oven to 250 degrees and return nuts to bake until medium brown, about 10 minutes. Remove from oven; toss, and stir again. Place baking pan on wire rack to cool (they will crisp as they cool). Break up any that stick together.

Fall is Nature's Canvas

Portage Lakes - foggy Fall morning

Fall is a most beautiful season.  Watching the trees turn colors is a different painting every day.  The shapes of the leaves and colors lend to a magnificent vision against a blue sky backdrop.

I love everything about Fall (except raking leaves of course).  The smell of the air, the cool nights and mornings when I get to wear a soft warm sweater and the crunch of the leaves under my feet.  I love riding my bike on the trails in the Fall.

Some special memories of my Fall childhood growing up in Auburn, New York on the Finger Lakes

• The migration of the geese - watching the V formations and hearing them honk
• Making piles of leaves and jumping in them on the playground at Herman Avenue School
• Watching the sunsets move further south on the lakes
• The Flaherty kids (there were a bunch of them) and I would rake leaf pile outlines that we pretended were houses and play for hours
• Apple picking from the green apple tree in our yard.  My mom, sister and I would make homemade applesauce and pies
• Going to Hislop's and picking out my fall school clothes
• Collecting different leaves and putting them between wax paper (we would iron them) to save or take to school
• AHS football games and heading to Eddie's after the game
• Halloween - picking out and carving the pumpkins and planning our Halloween costumes
• Herman Avenue parade where we would parade around the school in our Halloween costumes
• Apple cider
• Maple sugar candy at the Trading Post

Maple Leaf bracelet for sale

Then I grew up and shared these memories and more with my children in Cincinnati

• Going to the pumpkin patch and riding the hay wagon
• Graeters pumpkin ice-cream
• Making our Halloween costumes
• Walking up to the haunted house in our Northside neighborhood and the kids trying to decide if this year they could make it all the way in
• Miami bike trail - stopping to see the chimpanzee on the trail along with the reward of Hawaiian ice after our ride
• Baking pumpkin cookies with chocolate chips
• Roasting pumpkin seeds - and trying different seasonings - garlic - sugar and cinnamon
• Stocking the bird feeder with seed to attract all the colorful birds

I have included a chili recipe.  Please forgive the measurements as it is my own and I don't measure.  I also try to use my garden produce.

Linda's chili

1 ear of corn

1 onion

Several tomatoes from the garden (peeled and chopped) or a can or two

1 package of italian sausage

l pound of ground turkey

Several garlic cloves

Black beans (I like the dry ones that I have soaked but in a hurry 1 can will do)

Red Kidney beans

Hot peppers

Assorted seasonings - cumin, oregano, thyme, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper - to taste

Roast the corn on the grill or take the kernels off and roast the kernels in a skillet. Set aside.  Cook the onion chopped, peppers chopped and garlic minced in a small bit of olive oil.  Set aside.  Cut the italian sausage in small pieces and cook the sausage and ground turkey - drain.

Add everything in a dutch oven or large heavy pot and cook for several hours on top of low heat.  You can also put this in a slow cooker.

Serve alone with cornbread or on top of cooked spaghetti (Cincinnati style) with grated cheddar cheese.

View our Fall Collection at our website at www.svintagecollection.com or shop at our store at http://www.etsy.com/shop/SVintageCollection.  All of our items are vintage - one of a kind.