Ode to a Silpat

Cooking in an oven can be very droll
When using an oven that turns delicate dishes into rock lumps
Yearning for a way to come up with a solution
As visions of cookies, steak fries, and broiled meats dance in my
head.

Alas, the stark reality of clean-up leads to meals on the stove-top or grill.
Is this how it is to be until the newest, most high tech kitchen
appliance is purchased?
Nay! All I ever needed was a Silpat to make healthy food with only a drop of oil.

Oh, wonderful, slick Silpat with your weaved underside.
How do you make each dish cook so evenly?
Even during times of multi-tasking forgetfulness,
Silpat graciously forgives as foods with crusty bottoms and gooey tops
Become evenly cooked and delicious once more.

Truly something so magnificent in the oven must take hours to soak clean.
Ne'er fret, overworked homemaker!
Simply wipe off after a quick rinse in the sink.
After it dries simply roll it back up.
Patiently the next delectable meal awaits!

I've always loved to cook, but I've been held back at times due to old ovens that turn brownies into bricks or leave permanent crusty residue on pans.


Well, with my silpat mat, no more.

What initially looks like a basic cooking pat becomes a new love as food cooks evenly, making clean-up a cinch.


I've used it from the basics like cookies to more adventurous tries with roasted vegetables and fries. Everything cooks evenly instead of past woes of having overdone bottoms in order to have the tops cooked.

It makes me enjoy my oven again, as I now trust it to make sweet, slightly tempermental desserts to the more hearty, savory casseroles.

And after it cooks everything evenly, everytime? Clean-up is embarrassingly easy as I lightly wipe it off.

Yes, dear silpat, we are a match made in heaven as I combine your even cooking with my desire for homemade dishes.

Autumnal Smells

I just love the crisp smells of Autumn. The harvested apples, the pumpkin patch fields, the dried leaves, and fall-themed candles that exude golden warmth. The crispness in the air as jackets cover tanned-arms (not necessarily mine!) gives a yellow light to the growing season to pause before winter sets in.

True, Idaho doesn't get much of an autumn as it tends to go straight from summer (which is never long enough) to winter. One day it's a balmy Indian Summer day and the next we wake up to snow, wind, and frost with our predictably unpredictable weather.

However, that doesn't stop me from liking the season, even if it's only a week or so long here. I think it's the memory of the smells from past autumns that always bring back memories of raking leaves, trick-or-treating, or harvesting before the frost.

And of course, the smells wafting from the kitchen are my MOST favorite! I get into cozy-cozy mode when I contemplate my menus as I look out the window at the cold. I love the smell of baking bread and simmering stews which add warmth to the whole house, literally and figuratively.

I sometimes get a little too creative with my menu items though (just ask the menfolk in the family). However, my Harvest Stew/Back-to-School Soup/Autumn Soup (couldn't decide on a name as I kept adding stuff to it) turned out great (I mentioned it in my Fall Decor post). I can't really remember all that I put into it, but feel free to go to my shared food blog, The Recipe Retreat to get the "recipe" of what I could remember. :)

Not a picture of my soup, but you get the idea (we ate it all before I took a picture of it, but it was very colorful!)

What's a meal without a little cider and doughnuts afterwards?

I just want to curl up in a blanket, sip my cider and nibble my doughnut while reading a good book...which won't happen until the kiddies are asleep or visiting grandparents. Hmmm...

What are some of your favorite smells from Autumn? I'd love to hear about them...