Black and White Zebras

Black and white zebras at the Philadelphia Zoo – this is my first time participating in The Weekend in Black and White.

Nature Notes: Foliage and Flora

One would think, the closer you get to a tree the more sharply one can see the beautiful foliage. Last week I discovered that when I got close to a beautifully red, yellow and orange leafed maple, the leaves that were against the blue sky already looked damaged and faded, while the ones closer to the trunk were still vibrant, colorful and youthful.

Close to the tree trunk, the colors range from yellow to bright red.

Further from the base of the tree, the leaves are darker and browned at the edges.

Since Michelle invited the animals to her Thanksgiving feast, I am inviting the few flowers left in my yard: the chrysanthemum, the marigolds, white alyssum, rudbeckia and petunias.

I am happy the marigolds have been able to withstand some of the frosty nights we have experienced. A few rudbeckia are trying to bloom in late November.

Most of my mum flowers have browned, but a few stragglers bloomed late and decorate my yard.

My kale experiment is going well. The kale I planted in August from seed is gracefully adorning my front yard. The kale in the back, however, seems to be a Thanksgiving feast for some animals, as it is nibbled away.

For more Nature Notes, visit:

Thanksgiving Soups, Side Dishes, Desserts

Traditional Thanksgiving:

• Leora: Stuffed Squash Workshop
• Leora: Stuffed Squash Revisited
• Renee: Amaretto Cranberry Sauce (and New Orleans-style yams)
• Southern Corn Bread Recipe
• Leora: Easy Stuffing Recipe

Soups:

• Denise: Thai Coconut Soup
• Leora: Lentil Soup with Curry
• Leora: Soup Beautiful Soup – links to soups
• Hannah: Pumpkin Soup with Wine and Rosemary
• Ilana-Davita: Butternut Soup

Salads:

• Leora: No Cook Pea Salad
• Mimi: Sweet Potato and Lentil Salad
• Leora: Crunchy Quinoa Salad
• Leora: Carrot Salad (with link to another version by Ilana-Davita)
• Leora: More side dish ideas (some warm, some cool)

Warm Side Dishes:

• Leora: Kid-friendly Sweet Potatoes
• Ilana-Davita: Bulghur and Chickpea Pilaf (Miriam’s recipe)
• Hannah: Vegetarian Nut Loaf (must try this one!)
• Leora: Ratatouille (eggplant zucchini tomato stew)

Desserts:

• Ilana-Davita: Carrot Torte
• Ariella: Apple Crisp with Oats
• Leora: Orange Cake
• Mrs. S.: No Name Bars (chocolate)
• Leora: Apple Pie

I am going to add more to this list today. But I wanted to hit publish already…

Kid-Friendly Spicy Potatoes

True confession: I’ve never tasted these. But my kids and my father loved them.

Ingredients

• 4-6 baking potatoes (make more so you can eat some after the baking and still have some for the recipe)
• canola oil, enough to coat the potatoes
• 1 heaping tablespoon ketchup (or tomato sauce if you want to avoid the high fructose corn syrup)
• salt
• required spices: black pepper and garlic powder
• optional spices: white pepper, onion powder, turmeric, allspice, paprika, cumin, oregano

Bake the potatoes for over an hour. Take them out of the oven when you can stick a fork in them. Eat a few of them, but make sure you have at least 4 large ones left for this recipe. When they are cool, you can either stick them in the refrigerator for a day or two, or continue with the recipe right away. Cut up the potatoes in cubes, without the skin. Toss them in oil and ketchup (or tomato sauce). Sprinkle with salt and spices. Bake for about twenty minutes. Serve warm.

Red Leaves on Pavement

The fun of the colorful foliage season for a photographer is to achieve a new way of looking at the rampant hues of autumn.

For more posts with a little or a lot of red, visit Ruby Tuesday:

As some of you may be cooking this week, I plan to post a few recipes and links to recipes.