Foodie Sunday: The Rain is falling, the house is quiet, and all I want are last night's leftovers!

By Beth Oh my god, what a gorgeous gray morning. It's finally raining in northeast Ohio after a summer that was probably the hottest and driest on record. It's been storming on and off for a week, but last we snuggled up together with our windows open and the ceiling fan spinning and I woke to a cool wet breeze that was absolutely intoxicating. I'm fond of teasing my husband somewhere around the middle of August that I can smell autumn creeping in just around the corner and generally he tosses up his hands and says "NO YOU CAN"T" but having an overly sensitive nose like most of you I definitely CAN and I know that probably all of you can too! But this year I just couldn't and it kept making me sad in a way that only the marrow of my bones can explain. I'm sure that you can imagine my joy at waking up and have the crisp windfall apple breezes of early fall come blasting through my windows! Maple syrup, coffee and pancakes from the neighbors house next door came wafting through as well and that's when I began to get really hungry. We were still snuggling when rather uncharacteristically our son Alex came bounding up the stairs. I say "uncharacteristically" because it was before noon! He lives with us right now while he's going to school. All I wanted to do just then was stay curled up against the yummy warm man in my bed, but Alex definitely had something else on his mind. "Eggs mom?" and when I said I would consider it I was hit with a relentless barrage of requests, designed to force me out of bed and begin cooking. I must have stayed under the covers a little to long because the next comment from both of them was, "Well fine ..if you're not getting up Dad and I will go GET eggs." Now, you have to understand that this was designed to get me to become so jealous that someone else would cook for them that I would instantly jump out of bed and fire up the sauté pan…a rare miscalculation on both their parts. I said rather nonchalantly "Ok, that's fine" and dove back under the covers as I definitely had a plan. So the two of them went off happily in search of crispy bacon and some father - son bonding time and I stayed in bed luxuriating long enough to hear the door slam and then went dashing for the refrigerator where I knew that real treasures awaited. Last nights supper was at a wonderful restaurant in town called RED. RED is a wonderful Cleveland steakhouse and although I love a good cut of meat I generally like the way that I cook it better so I don't order it there. But they have one of the loveliest wine lists in town and the best side dishes to be found anywhere. We sat happily on their patio with a couple of glasses of bloody red zinfandel and Jim had the steak tartare and a well earned cigar. I opted for a plate of their creamed spinach and their incredibly fragrant truffled mash potatoes. In true steak house form they give you easily enough for three meals and that my friends is what was waiting for me to eat this morning! So here I sit all alone listening to Lisa Loeb on Spotify and singing at the tops of my lungs, drinking a hot cup of coffee and enjoying the loveliest plate of spinach and potatoes….truly the best leftovers ever with the exception of my mothers meatloaf , the secrets of which she took with her to the great kitchen beyond the veil. The rain is still falling, the thunder is rumbling, the cats are fed and happy and the windows are all flung open wide and the breezes are so fragrant, smoky sweet and cool. I've got a mountain of perfume samples to sniff and Zoe curled up at my feet. You are all here with me and my life at this moment just couldn't be any better. So tell me….what are your favorite leftovers and how do you like to eat them? Intending that all of you are having a marvelous day, Beth