Tonight we wanted to have a dinner that highlighted the transition from summer to fall–and emphasized the best of both seasons.  So we used frozen strawberries and blueberries that we had picked during the summer to make delicious smoothies (summer).  For the main course we made a frittata that used the last of the zucchini from our garden (summer) and the first of the potatoes (fall).  We also added spinach and chunks of fresh mozzarella.  (Mom wanted us to use kale from our garden but since we don’t love kale as much as she does, we used spinach instead and make her crispy kale chips.)  We also served cold grilled steak sliced with bread and a home made pumpkin pie (definitely fall.)

It was a lot of fun and fall took over as we tried to eat outside and realized it was too cold (and so ate inside instead). Here is the full meal: frittata, steak sandwiches, berry smoothies and kale chips (behind the smoothie), with pie for dessert.

Here is what we did for the frittata:  The ingredients are pretty straight forward: zucchini, garlic, spinach, one baked potato, eggs, mozzarella cheese. The first step is to chop everything you need up–that’s called mis en place.

Then you sautee the garlic, zucchini, and spinach till its soft.  Then you add the chopped up pieces of potato. Since the potato is already cooked, it doesn’t need to sautee very long.  Then you add your eggs and drop in the pieces of mozzarella.  We let the egg mixture cook a little till the eggs were set and then we added grated parmesan on top for extra cheesiness. Then we put it in the broiler (on low) for about 5 minutes.  It puffs up beautifully, but keep an eye on it so you don’t burn the cheese on top:

The smoothies were straight forward: Add frozen blueberries, frozen strawberries, bananas, and a little yogurt. Blend and enjoy:

Pumpkin pie is so easy to make that you should never buy a pre-made one.  Seriously the worst cook in America could make a good pie. And the directions are on the can of pumpkin!

Here is what you do: First you combine canned pumpkin with egg:

Then you mix sugar with salt and your spices (typically cinnamon, cloves, ginger). Use a fork for this.

Then you combine the spice mixture with the pumpkin/egg mix; slowly mix in a can of evaporated milk, and then pour the whole mix into a pie shell. Bake for 15 minutes at 425 degrees; then reduce heat to 350 degrees for 45 minutes. And it’s done! But let it sit for 2 hours to set.