I know there are lots of sports going on right now (actually, I’m not certain about this, I just think there probably are). Our favorite to watch is baseball. It’s one of the best things about October (aside from the fact that we got married in October). I have been a baseball fan for as long as I can remember. When I was growing up, it was the Toronto Blue Jays that were my team. I remember when they won the 1993 World Series, my brother, Jake, and I cheered and jumped and screamed so much that the VCR fell off the TV. We were fanatical about our Blue Jays. Now, many years later, I will still cheer loud enough to make the dog look at me like I’m a bit kooky. My team has changed (although I’ll always love the Jays), because for a few years I stopped following baseball. When I got back into it again, Husband and I fell in love with the Boston Red Sox. We’ll watch pretty much any game that’s on though. We just love baseball.

This year, our Red Sox didn’t do so well. But, we’re still super excited that the post season is here! It’s been a tradition for us in our 6 years of marriage to watch the post season together. If there’s a game on, and it’s at all possible, we’ll be watching it. We love to eat baseball foods with our baseball watching. Things like pizza, hot dogs, sausages, popcorn, you know, snacky kinds of foods… and of course, NACHOS!

I made these in July for the All-Star game. I thought it appropriate to share at this time of year too. I don’t know about you, but these on going to be eaten in our home while we watch at least one game!

Happy Eating!

All-Star Nachos

Last modified on 2012-07-12 04:17:03 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

September ended, October has begun. It’s actually been fall for a while, but it’s not really fall (in my mind) until it feels like fall. September was hot. October 1st was 106F. That’s too hot for October. Now it’s cooling down. Relief! We ate on the back patio last night, because it was finally chilly enough. I’m a little obsessed with cooler weather. I love cold fall evenings. I love putting on a sweatshirt, or having to get a quilt ’cause I’m cold when we’re watching TV. I love to be cozy. (When I was little, I had a blanket that I called my “cozy”. Maybe that’s why I still like being cozy so much. I even like the sound of the word. It’s kinda comforting, and, well, cozy.)

My wedding was in October, so I love to remember that fall, which included a honeymoon close to Yosemite, and the brilliant fall colors. I love to think of fall in Ontario, where I grew up. I miss that kind of fall. I wish we were there right now, for so many reasons (one of whom is 2 weeks and 3 days old and would call me Auntie if she could talk).

I love that it’s the baseball postseason. My team didn’t do well this year. But, I just love to watch, so I’m glad that someone is in it, and I’ll keep wearing my Red Sox hat regardless.

I love soups and stews and roasts and baking and the smell of a pumpkin candle. Recently I made (a variation of) my Corn Chowder, and next week I have Chili on the menu (maybe I’ll use leftover puréed butternut squash instead of summer squash, and tarragon instead of basil??!). Perfect.

I love that October is National Pizza Month. I love pizza. Almost as much as I love soup and sometimes more. Depends on the day. Today is a pizza day, Pizza Friday.

There are so many other things that I love about fall. I’ll save them for another time. For now, enjoy your weekend. Hope it’s lovely and just the right temperature. I hope it’s full of joy, laughter, good food, great company. That’s my desire for our weekend. I think we’ll start it off tonight by using up the last slice of bacon (literally, I have only one slice of bacon in the freezer) and make my BBQ Apple Bacon Pizza. It’s a treat for sure.

Happy Eating!

BBQ Apple Bacon Pizza

Last modified on 2019-07-24 21:24:58 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

BBQ Sauce

Last modified on 2012-07-19 17:18:59 GMT. 3 comments. Top.

What do you like to use your weekends for? Do you relax? Play? Go out of town? Maybe you have to work on the traditional weekend, and your weekend is in the middle of the regular work week?

My ideal weekend includes lots of down time. But, that doesn’t always mean lounging on the couch and watching movies all day (although an occasional day like that is wonderful, important even, in my opinion). For me it means some relaxing in front of the TV probably (hopefully catching whatever baseball game is on on Saturday afternoon), but also doing lots of little and random things around our home, that I might not get to during the week. Like transplanting our olive trees and digging in my garden, organizing a cupboard (yes, this is actually fun to me), planning our menu, rearranging furniture, making stocks and breads, cleaning out the fridge… I’m also happy when our weekend includes things like: walking the dog, sleeping in a little bit, popcorn, reading a good book, dinner with friends, church, reading a cooking magazine cover to cover, good TV and movies, a  glass of wine on the patio with Husband, laughter…

Weekends away are great, but I sure love a weekend at home.

Most Fridays we have pizza for dinner. “Pizza Fridays” I call them. I love being creative with pizza. It’s fun and really yummy. This past Friday I didn’t make any pizza dough. I got distracted with work and other things on my to do list. Not too big of a deal. I had a baguette that I sliced in half and topped with Margherita Pizza toppings. It was quick and easy and tasty.

In case you have a dough-less pizza night, here’s a cheater version. 🙂

Happy Eating! 

Baguette Margherita Pizza

Last modified on 2012-10-03 21:20:25 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

It’s been a year since I launched my site. My goal has been to empower you to eat well. This is one of the places where I share my passion for food. Thanks for joining me!

Some of the highlights (and a few low points from the last year)…

September 2, 2011 Heart in my throat, I launch my site with my first real post. My first posted recipe that appears on the blog is Tomato-Corn Salsa. Even though I’ve grown and learned a lot over this year, I’ll still leave older recipes as they are, and just keep adding new ones. It’s a learn as I go job, and it’s so much fun!

October Celebrated 5 years of marriage to my fabulous Husband. I told you what I made for our anniversary dinner with photos and a post. Mmmm, I still remember that meal. It was delicious.

November A Cooking Show with Rachel O began. I do the show in association with Abundant Harvest Organics. I have a blast making up recipes and cooking on camera (and it’s still a little weird that I’m filming myself, I’ll admit it). I hope you enjoy watching as much as I enjoy making these episodes. I do them for you, ya know! I hope they’re a good reference for you and show you that you too can make any of these dishes in your home! Or, if you’re just watching them because you’re family, friends, or you just want to see my weirdness, I’m OK with that too. 😉

Here’s my first episode

and my most recent episode

Notice any differences?! It’s been almost a year… I’m having fun!

December My brother, Josh visited and we had so much fun together. We cooked and ate in, we ordered food, and ate out. What a great time! I wrote about the BACON Pizza we made together. We cook well together.

January 2012 My Oma passed away. I learned I would be an Auntie. All in the same week. I’m so excited about being an auntie (any day now), and I still miss Oma so much that it brings me to tears re-reading the post today.

February I met Joy the Baker! I was so nervous and excited. I wrote about it the next day, while still kinda giddy. That was fun. I also launched the Legacy section on my blog. A tribute to my family. My first legacy recipe was Oma’s Lemon Buns.

May I turned 31. KitchenAid gave me a beautiful Hand Blender. I had some giveaways on the blog. It was so fun to give away some of my favorite things!

August We needed a break, so we went to the mountains and then to Cherry Valley for two mini vacations. We came back feeling refreshed. Earlier in the month I made the best meal ever… Julia Child’s Boeuf Bourguignon. Amazing!

And now it’s September. So far, in my first week of my second year of blogging, I’ve learned how to make homemade pasta. I’ll write about that next week. It’s a must share. It was divine. Simply divine.

It’s been a lot of fun going through the last year and thinking of all that’s happened, the good and the bad. Lessons learned, fun times cherished, memories made. I feel blessed.

Some of what I’m looking forward to in this next year…

Each day that I get to share with my wonderful Husband. He’s so supportive and encouraging and we really enjoy doing life together. A lot of what I do wouldn’t be possible without his support. Thanks, Babe, for being cool with a wife who works from home rather than earning the “big bucks” somewhere else, who forces you to be the taste tester, watches you take your first bite to see if you like it, lets the food get cold because photos have to be taken, gets up in the middle of a show because the food needed some Parmesan cheese… I like you.

The baby that I learned about in January is due two weeks from today. I’m so excited to meet him or her. I don’t know when that will be, as we live 2,505 miles away. So for now, I will just wait for the call that my little brother is a daddy!

Growing with A Cooking Show with Rachel O. Working to make it even better. Hopefully challenging and encouraging more people to be inspired to eat well!

Celebrating my 6th anniversary next month.

Fall and soup season. Always good.

Family reunions and get-togethers.

Pizza Fridays.

My 40th episode of A Cooking Show with Rachel O and hopefully my 50th and 60th and on and on…

Building business relationships and friendships, making connections, learning from the brilliant and inspiring people that I know (and those that I have yet to meet).

Learning more about food and nutrition and how to be a better cook. I love this stuff!!

Being surprised by the adventure of life. Who knows what the next year will bring?!

Until next time,

Happy Eating!