We started the week by getting jabbed, both flu and COVID. I don’t get anti-vaxers, we have been in a lot of groups of people around the world and vaccines have kept us from catching COVID, I know some who were vaccinated did catch it, nothing is 100%, but we always get our shots.

With sore arms it just made sense to try a new création culinaire. We both love crab or seafood cakes. In Gold Beach, Tricia had crab cakes that had polenta in them so we thought why not try something like that but use the tiny Oregon bay shrimp instead of expensive crab. Polenta replaced most of the breadcrumbs though I did add just a bit of Panko. This will be a do again for sure.

Saturday I tried something else new. When we were on our trip we had zucchini fries and loved them. This got me to thinking about the polenta fries that we make so often, baked crisp not deep-fried – so why not combine the two? It worked. Though next time a bit longer in the oven so they are just a bit more crisp. They might be good with truffle mayonnaise, we will see.

Tuesday, Tricia made one of our favorites – squash stuffed with bread cubes, gruyere, bacon, and cream. It is a perfect fall meal.

That afternoon I went to Fields Park for a bit of plein air painting.

So it was a good week. We got out a bit, met a few new people. Tricia swam, I drove. Our October is pretty busy and that is fine with us, but not too busy for cooking and eating.

How was your week? Why not grab a squash or a pumpkin, do a sketch of it then make something tasty for autumn. Next Tuesday I will be showing one of my favorite new techniques.

Tricia is posting more about our time in Helsinki, one of our favorite places.

Thanks for following, I have to finish getting ready to meet up with some plein air painters this afternoon, first time. Enjoy your season and capture the moment with paint or camera.