It’s FALL! The Yelton Manor test kitchen is fired up to fashion some new recipes using the season’s freshest ingredients from our local farms. Coming into the market right now are bushels of tomatoes, summer and winter squashes, eggplant, beets, plums, apples, peppers.  It’s The Grand Finale of the harvest!!!

This casserole is the nexus of my lifelong passion for Mac and Cheese, love of roasted vegetables, mission of breakfast, and gratitude for exactly the right herb and spice. Breakfast is the *new dinner*, so plan this as an appetizer, main event or side dish at your autumn dinner party. It has WOW factor presentation too!

I always double this recipe so I have one to give away.  It’s a kitchen mess, so you might as well double up. It’s fun to share food!

Choose a baking dish approximately 9X13.  This will make 15 small servings, 12 if larger portions. This is fabulous freshly made, of course, but also refrigerates nicely as a leftover and can be microwaved by the serving.  Like anything with cheese that you are “rewarming”, choose a defrost cycle on your microwave so the cheese doesn’t “seize”.  I am currently freezing a few portions and will come back to edit this when I know if that’s a good option.

Here’s what you need:  3-4 butternut squash, depending on their size.  You will just use the neck (for perfect medallions, optimum pizzaz!), so look for squash with long, lovely necks. Chop, roast and freeze the rest of the squash for a soup, or veggie pot pies, later.

  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees for roasting the squash.  Prepare cookie sheet(s) with foil or parchment paper for roasting. Prepare baking dish(s) by coating the bottom and sides with olive oil and a sprinkle of kosher salt.

Peel and thinly slice the squash. In a large bowl, gently toss the squash medallions with olive oil, salt and pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg. Spread the squash on the cookie sheet(s) and roast for about 30 minutes, until soft to a fork.

Get your grated cheese ready.  A cup of Smoked Gouda and a cup of sharp cheddar cheese. Chop a bunch of scallion, including some of the green part.

For the custard, crack 10 eggs into a large bowl and add a handful of water, whisk like a warrior woman for a full minute. The ultimate awesomeness of this recipe depends on this whisk! C’mon, whisk it!

Gently fold in the cheese, scallions, a dash of paprika if you like a bit of heat, chopped dill if you like, and the roasted squash.

Pour the mixture into the casserole. For a dramatic effect, crack three more eggs onto the top of the frittata and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Next time I make this I am going to try and use a knife to cut the egg whites outward and maybe it will create a starburst effect!?  I’ll keep you posted on that.

Don’t be tempted (I am a mac and cheese freak, remember?) to add a bread crumb topping to this. It needs no further adornment and the top is going to be worth seeing just as it is.  Reduce the temperature in the oven to 325 and bake, uncovered, for about 40-50 minutes. The edges should be puffy and brown and the center should be firm, no jiggling. Remove from oven and let sit for 10-15 minutes before serving.

Oooh, are you ready for the layers of lusciousness?

   Yelton Manor Bed and Breakfast fruit smoothies are utterly amazing for one simple reason: they are 100% fruit.  Our Smoothie always features one variable: whatever fruit is at the peak moment of its season.  The backup singers (“Do wop, do wop!”) are cantaloupe, watermelon, honeydew, kiwi and banana.  We freeze the bananas at their peak moment, all the melons can be frozen as ready to use chunks too.   So when it’s all whirred up together, it needs no water, no yogurt, no nuthin! Frosty, creamy and awe inspiring DELISH! This week we made strawberry every day.  Next week it will be cherries.  Soon the blueberries come in, ooh la la! 

We are frequently asked by a potential guest: “What do you serve for breakfast?”  Standard answer: the menu changes.  But it also stays much the same, there are healthy, delicious options all the time.  We have some of the best jams and jellies you’ve ever tasted. We serve our homemade granola (on the sweet side) as well as 3 flavors of Uti’s Gluten Free Granola, and 4 other choices of cereal.  Chobani Organic Greek yogurt tempts in various flavors.  The coffee bar has one of our 3 special Manor blends of locally roasted, free trade Costa Rican coffee and juice.  Our hot buffet (this photo is from today!) includes a fruit platter, fresh whole grain bagels or English Muffins, cream cheese and butter. Today the egg strata was Spinach and Feta Cheese, with a fresh farm market tomato salsa spooning in as a veggie condiment. The Stuffed French Toast was blueberry, the syrup Michigan Maple. We served our “Go Nutty” Pistachio Bundt cake too!

Here’s our strawberry smoothie posing with the rest of breakfast!

Each season at Yelton Manor Bed and Breakfast we invent new breakfast options.  Heaven forbid our longtime Manor Family get bored with our breakfast!!  In 2012 we added this Pistachio Bundt Cake, a very elegant, pale green slice of pure deliciousness!!!  Borrowing the fine idea first invented by The Cake Doctor, we use cake mix and pudding mix for the measurement ease (and predictability) of the dry ingredients, then “doctor” it us with luscious enhancements.

“Go Nutty!” Pistachio Cake

1 box yellow cake mix

1 package instant pistachio pudding mix

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups water

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 cup pistachios, coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 10 inch bundt pan.  In a large bowl, mix together the cake and pudding mixes.  Blend in eggs, water, oil, almond extract.

Add 1/2 of the chopped nuts to the batter. Mix until incorporated.

Scatter the other 1/2 of the chopped nuts in the base of the bundt pan. Pour batter into pan. Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until cake springs back when lightly pressed.

Cool in pan for 20 minutes, then turn onto a wire rack until completely cooled.

Today when we had 3/4 of the “Go Nutty” bundt left over after breakfast, we took it over to the firehouse and treated the good guys there to some breakfast!

Columbine never ceases to amaze me, such colorful beauty in SHADE, no less.  The Yelton Manor Gardens have 6 different varieties and I am still lusting after more!!

Mother Nature does the details!

A spring favorite, dazzling in a vase paired with bleeding hearts!

Mini Iris bloom early and today they are open everywhere!  Sweet, only about 6 inches high, very dainty and  detailed.

I am always looking for great snacks to serve at Yelton Manor Bed and Breakfast, and this amazing recipe has absolutely BLOWN MY MIND!  It’s SO delicious! And perfect for spring when lighter, greener fare is your craving!

Credit where it’s due, this is lifted from the spring issue of Real Simple!  Though it’s not REAL simple, it’s simple enough.  I used store bought pizza dough, EASY, and made 4 pizzas from two tubes of dough. Assemble all ingredients before putting together and it’s a snap to make.

Ingredients:   1 lb pizza dough, at room temperature, corn meal for dusting the baking sheet,

1 lb asparagus, halved lengthwise and across, 5 ounces baby bella, crimini or button mushrooms,

2 cloves of garlic, minced, 1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese, 3 T olive oil, salt and pepper,2 cups baby arugula, 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice.

Directions: Heat oven to 400° F.

Shape the dough into 4 rounds and place on 2 cornmeal-dusted baking sheets.

Dividing evenly, top the dough with the asparagus, mushrooms, and garlic, then the ricotta, Parmesan, and 2 tablespoons of the oil. Season with ¾ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper.

Bake, switching the pans halfway through, until the crust is golden brown and crisp, 25 to 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, toss the arugula with the lemon juice, the remaining tablespoon of oil, and ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper. Top the pizzas with the arugula just before serving.

The ricotta cheese is surprisingly light, a nice change from mozzarella on pizza.  The arugula and lemon juice make a spicy tart contrast to the other ingredients.

I guarantee that you will love these!!!!!