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I spent last week up in Canada, which is always ahead of the curve when it comes to the arrival of autumn. I spend a lot of my time in Kingston, Ontario where spring usually appears a month later, and fall arrives a month sooner than in Philadelphia, my other home. Last week, I arrived in Kingston wearing capri pants and sandals but didn’t put them back on the entire visit! I was back to blue jeans (of course), socks and heavy sweatshirts. So, having had a week of cooler weather up in Canada, I’m really in the mood to start fall cooking again; making chilies, braises, roasts and simultaneously making the house smell fantastic and welcoming!

I’ve been doing a lot of entertaining lately, and I plan to do a lot more in the coming months with the year’s biggest food holidays just ahead. Just last Thursday, I had friends over in Canada and made a sticky toffee pudding for them that had them ooh-ing and ahh-ing. What I didn’t tell them was how easy it was to make! I did the whole thing in the Technique hard anodized 4-quart sauté pan and the 1½-quart saucepan! I won’t keep it a secret from you, however! You can find the recipe here.

The other beautiful thing about this dessert was that it was also super easy to clean up afterwards. Even that sticky toffee sauce came out of the saucepan without any trouble!

I don’t usually use a 4-quart sauté pan for dessert making, however. I normally use it for sautéing or braising. My friend, Jill Bauer, showed me a new recipe where she did both in the 4-quart to make a delicious chicken dish. She started by sautéing some vegetables in the pan, searing the chicken, topping the chicken with the veggies and then braising it a little with some chicken stock. She finished it with goat cheese and pepper jelly on top and it worked perfectly! You can see her making this delicious chicken in her show, You’re Home with Jill. It was so tasty and it’s a recipe I’ll keep and make again and again.  I love getting new recipes from friends, and I LOVE it when people cook for me!

Tune in all day on Wednesday, September 25^th to see what I’ll be cooking in the 11-piece set of Technique Colorsmart Hard Anodized Cookware. I’ll promise you a look at the easiest mac-and-cheese recipe ever, a 12-inch chocolate chip cookie and some sticky toffee pudding!  All these recipes and more can be found here. And make sure you don’t miss the full hour of Technique at 10am ET. I’m zooming in on comfort foods and time-saving tips all hour long! 

See you then,

ML