The best laid plans…

 

 

 

 

As with most places in the U.S. summer has suddenly turned to fall.  Here in the Seattle area we’ve had a glorious summer and very lovely fall, but the rain is supposed to return this afternoon and be with us for most of the week.  So I spent much of yesterday out in the yard tidying up in preparation for winter.  I came back into the house around 5:30 pm and suddenly it dawned on my that my plans for pumpkin lasagne were going to have to wait. 

 

I had intended to make the entire dish, including the pasta, from scratch.  I should have taken a break during the day to prepare the pasta but hadn’t.  While it doesn’t take that long to make pasta you need to allow an hour because after mixing and kneading the ingredients the dough needs to rest for 30 minutes.  Add to that hour the assembly and baking time for lasagne and suddenly dinner time would have been later than I wanted.  Instead I decided to hold-off on the lasagne until today (and I will make that pasta early in the day!) and satisfy myself with a savory snack. 

 

One of my favorite Northwest Cheesemakers is the Rogue Creamery in southern Oregon.  They have a whole line of cheeses but I am especially enamored with their blues, of which they make several.  Last night I cut off a wedge of Oregonzola, their version of Gorgonzola, and let it warm up a bit.  The flavor is quite tangy and is great with a glass of wine. 

 

I paired it with some new crackers that are becoming favorites of mine.  I’m not sure how long they’ve been available, but I’ve recently discovered a line of crackers from Blue Diamond.  You may recognize the name from their line of almonds.  They sell almonds in just about every flavor imaginable from natural almonds to smoked to honey-roasted, with several other varieties in between.  Now they have a line of Nut-Thins, rice crackers made with nuts.  They are thin and crispy like a rice cracker but the nuts give them a great, well, nutty flavor.  There are several varieties and so far I’ve tried (and liked!) the Hazelnut and Pecan versions. 

 

So last night’s dinner was simple and satisfying.  A little glass of wine, some gorgeous cheese and nutty, crunchy crackers.  But I’m really looking forward to the lasagne tonight!