Full Fall

Last night I made a fire in our wood stove because it was so cold, but now that it is the next afternoon it is warm and wonderful outside. Usually the 6-9 months long rainy season has begun by November 1st, but not this year. This is my favorite part of fall; wearing sweaters, sitting by the fire, warm-ish afternoon walks, chilly nights. I recently got two new sweaters. Well, really the same sweater in two colors; blue and pink. I'm wearing it in the bathroom selfie pictured above. So cozy.

After the cinnamon croissant loaf that we all loved in my last post I decided to bake a loaf of cinnamon swirl bread. It was good, but needed to be rolled thinner to accommodate more cinnamon/sugar goodness in every slice. Lessons for next time... Over the weekend I made French toast with it which was really, really good. I roast a whole chicken almost every week, usually spatchcocked. It cooks quicker that way and more of the skin gets crispy, which is a huge bonus. This week I tried a technique I read about in Dynamite Chicken where the chicken is coated in cornstarch and seared breast side down for the first half of the cooking time. It did result in a crispier chicken, although the skin tore a bit when I flipped it. I think I'll do it again. The crispy chicken is the only reason my kids eat the chicken at all. Honestly it's what I want too!