new culinary adventures

last night i tried three dishes i've never made before, and used beets for the first time. i don't yet have a good vegetable scrubber, so i used the rough side of a fresh double-duty sponge. once the beets cooled from roasting, peeling and grating them gave way to the bright magenta juice explosion i had been expecting. with the help of some homegirls i made: watercress, beet, grapefruit and blue cheese salad; corn and peach salsa; and thyme-roasted sweet potatoes (made even more delicious with red pepper flakes and garlic). another wonderful thing about autumn is this reawakening desire to use the oven to and stove for making hearty and warming dishes after a long day...