In the last week I seemed to have moved into autumn with a vengence. My meal plan for the week features pumpkin and black bean chili, stuffed acorn squash, vegetable soup, and roasted vegetables.

The roasted vegetables were great and simple. I’ve never gotten around to making this before. I heated the oven to 400 degrees. I cut up peppers, parsnips, carrots, and mushrooms and put them in a roasting pan. I splashed them with balsamic vinegar and sprinkled them with sea salt and thyme and cooked them for 45 minutes. I also baked sweet potatoes by starting them in the oven 15 minutes ahead of time. I think next time I’ll just cut them up and add them to the roasting pan. Very simple and tasty.

I’ve always considered cutting up squash to be quite a hassle but I got a small pumpkin to use for the chili. (It was a hassle to cut but I went all girly and asked the SO to help me make dinner and gave him the job of cutting up the pumpkin. I’m crafty that way!) It was quite good. I got the recipe from a cookbook but there are plenty of pumpkin and black bean chili recipes on the web.

I’m also in a fall mood in my quilting. I’ve been collecting orange fabric for a while with no clear intended use for it. I just keep being drawn to it. I started making a fall quilt using oranges, browns, and dark greens. I’m not entirely sure if it is going to be quilt or a table runner yet. There is a lot of cutting so when I’m doing that I think it is a table runner. When I’m thinking about it and not cutting, I think it will be a quilt.