fattening fall foods

a link to a slideshow of fall’s most fattening foods was advertised at the top of my gmail account and i clicked with some trepidation.  the first few slides were depressing as they might be dishes i’m likely to consume (not that i was unaware they were fattening, but still…), but as it continued i felt less depressed.  since when are cocktail peanuts “fall food”?

to combat our consumption of fall foods (chicken and dumplings last night.  really good recipe but no pictures because i used red/purple carrots, which turned the dish a dingy purplish color.  unappetizing but tasty.  i made it with skinless chicken thighs, which kept the chicken moist but did cut down on the fattening aspect some), a and i went on a giant walk today.  our plan was to go to the prospect park zoo, the brooklyn botanic garden, and then to ft. greene to check out a possible apartment.  the zoo took longer than expected so we never made it to the garden, and the walk to ft. greene took about 45 minutes.  we mapped it on google earth, because that’s the kind of nerds we are, andwe walked 4.5 miles.  i know, it’s impressive. 

the zoo was surprisingly nice.  i’m usually wary of zoos–they can be awfully depressing and there’s been lots of press about poorly-treated animals, so i was happy to see large and natural seeming habitats.  there weren’t any big cats or elephants which seemed like a good idea to me because those are probably the hardest to take care of (as if i know), but there was a cool walk-through habitat with kangaroos and wallabys, otters with a pool and slightly forested area, porcupines (one climbing a tree), red pandas, and prairie dogs (which were in their holes).  three sea lions put on a great show at feeding time, and there was a pretty cool petting zoo.  i petted a cow, goat, and an alpaca until the rude worker man yelled at everyone to leave the barn area.  why?  no one knew, but we left because he yelled, “yo, get out of the barn!”

leftovers for dinner tonight, and then roasted butternut squash lasagna tomorrow night, which just might qualify as a fattening fall food…

click on the pics for a better view: