Seeing Red

I’m seeing red these days…as well as orange, yellow, bronze and a lovely shade of reddish pinkish coral.

Spectacular Sassafras Tree

The sassafras trees are one of the first to turn color and what brilliant hues they capture in their leaves.  The picture above really doesn’t do it justice…some few leaves are chartreuse green and the rest range from yellow to gold to orange to scarlet.  I’ve got many of these trees here and there on the property and always enjoy their fall color.

Virginia Creeper

The Virginia creeper vines have deep red (what did they call that color of shoe polish, Ox Blood?) this year.  Those glossy leaves against the gray trunks of the maple trees are magnificent. 

We haven’t had a frost yet.  The nights have been cool, down into the mid 40’s and the days are still warm, in the upper 70’s.  Perfect weather, in my opinion.  And although the nights have been cool, my pole beans are still pumping out beans!  I’ve had so many delightful meals from those beans.  I’ll definitely be doing them again next year.

The winged euonymus (the ones that get the most sun) are starting to turn their signature corally pinkish red color.  In a couple of weeks the area out by the barn, where many of these euonymus grow, will be a luminous pink wonderland.

Winged Euonymus

And although the colors in the following photo look kind of drab as compared with those above, the yellow tones of the weeping chamaecyparis work so well with the hint of bronze in the dogwood.

Chamaecyparis

And now for a real pop of color!  The little fuzzy hardy oranges on my poncirus trifoliata are starting to ripen.  You can see those nasty thorns in this photo as well.

Poncirus Trifoliata a/k/a Hardy Orange

Now that the weather is getting cooler, I have the urge to roast vegetables.  Cauliflower and brussel sprouts are a nice combo.

Hodgson Mill Bulgur Wheat

And I love bulgur wheat with my roasted vegetables.  Of course, you can make delicious tabouli with the bulgur, but I also make a sort of pilaf with it that is equally delicious hot or cold.  I slightly saute some chopped onion and garlic in olive oil and then add the bulgur to it and stir and cook that for a couple of minutes so that the bulgur gets a little toasty.  Then I add the liquid (I use vegetable broth) and in 20 minutes or so I have a wonderful accompaniment to my roasted vegetables!

As for the roasted cauliflower and brussel sprouts, I toss them with about a tablespoon of olive oil, garlic salt, cumin and cayenne and place them on a cookie sheet covered with aluminum foil.  Oh, and I usually add some rinsed and drained canned chick peas.  They get crunchy and crisp as they roast and they definitely add some nice texture (and protein) to the mixture.

Roasted Cauliflower, Brussel Sprouts and Chick Peas

I roast the vegetables at 425 for about a half an hour, and stir them a couple of times while roasting so that all sides get browned.  After removing from the oven, I sprinkle some lemon juice over them.  As I said, this is great served warm, and equally as marvelous as a salad the next day added to some fresh greens and maybe some cherry tomatoes.