Comfort Food

Well, I think that yesterday marked the official end of summer here in Edmonton. Temperatures hovered around 5 degrees (C) most of the day. I even had to bust out Teague's little fleece MEC onesie! As much as I love the fall, it's always sad to see summer go.
It's a good thing we had a big Farewell To Summer firepit at my mom's this past Sunday! We dined on veggie dogs and pasta salad, and, of course, I had to try out the marshmallows I'd ordered by making s'mores!
They were so ridiculously good. Unfortunately, my tolerance for sugar has been really low lately, so I didn't get to enjoy more than a couple, but I was so impressed. Yum. I can't wait to use the marshmallows again. Good thing we have plenty left-over! I give them 5 enthusiastic stars!
We were doing our weekly grocery trip, when I spotted these beauties at Planet Organic:
Red bananas! They were too cute! They tasted very similar to bananas, but had almost more of a creamy texture, and a faint floral-y taste. The sign said that they tasted like raspberries. My husband agreed, but I didn't make that connection. I was a little disappointed that the fruit was the same colour as the standard banana. I was kind of hoping that they would be bright red inside. :)
And, from our CSA, a purple potato!
Isn't it lovely? I roasted bite-sized pieces, and served with the Bean and Nut Loaf from the Vegetarian Mother's Cookbook, and a giant salad. They potatoes maintain their colour when cooked (unlike purple beans). I remember having mashed purple potatoes as a child and thinking that they looked like playdough. :)
And from the Vegetarian Mother's Cookbook (I don't know why I overlooked this book for so long....it has been sitting in the bookshelf collecting dust for over a year, but it is really fabulous!), a Shepherd's Pie.
Believe it or not, I don't think I've ever had Shepherd's Pie in my life prior to making this. My mom used to make a reverse kind of thing, with the potatoes on the bottom, and it wasn't baked in the oven. Anyways, this version was super yummy. It was filled with aduki beans, carrots, kale, broccoli, corn, peas....the list goes on. It was darn good! Perfect fall comfort-y food.