Fall Into Summer

So...that happened. You know, the part when I apparently took over two weeks off from this blog. I'm not quite sure what happened exactly. One huge part of it was that we didn't have potluck for two.whole.weeks.

My heart and belly hurt over that one.

But summer happens. Lazy days and busy weeks...trips, vacations, visitors. And so, sometimes, potluck doesn't happen. We make up for it by seeing the familiar faces during the week. At playdates, farmers markets and in town. And we make up for it by having delicious potlucks in the middle of August when the weather threatens Fall and you're just not ready for it.

Yesterday was grey and rainy and just plain gloomy. Potluck was a much needed event. We hosted and decided to make baked rice - my go to dish in soggy, chilly weather. This time we worked with what we had on hand.

I started by sauteing up some onion and carrots from the farmers market in a little bit of olive oil.

After they cooked for a bit, I added 1.5 cups of a brown/wild rice mix, a 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes (liquid and all), 2 cups of chicken stock, and a little salt and pepper. Once that came to a boil, I covered it and transferred it to the oven to bake for 40 minutes at 350*.

While it was baking, I prepped a few more ingredients.

I chopped up some dino kale from the garden and a few Italian seasoned veggie sausages. Normally I would use chicken sausage, but this is what we had on hand, and despite my reservations, they actually ended up being quite tasty and held up pretty well in the dish.

After 40 minutes, I added them to the dish, stirred it and let it bake for another 15 minutes.

Perfection.

Yeah. Potluck was rocking it out last night. In addition to the baked rice (in the lemongrass colored Le Crueset on the left) we enjoyed some homemade tomato soup, fresh bread, and a fabulous pine nut & parsley infused couscous salad. Dessert came in two forms...some Dean & Deluca cookies sent to me by a friend and a crazy.amazing.delicious macaroon/raspberry/pistachio tart. The meal was bittersweet as it reminded me of how amazing potluck can be, which makes me all the more sad to be missing it next week when we go camping in Cape Cod. But...Cape Cod. I think we'll be okay!

Also, stay tuned because I've been hard at work this month testing out all sorts of delicious new popsicle recipes featured in Anni Daulter's book, Ice Pop Joy. I'll be reviewing both the book and a few of the recipes. And perhaps there may even be a give-a-way...