Chicken and apple sausage with Dijon-Braised Brussels Sprouts and cranberry-walnut bread.

Tonight I learned a valuable lesson: just because it’s called “sausage,” doesn’t mean it’s good. The chicken sausage wasn’t inedible by any stretch of the imagination but it just — it wasn’t sausage. It was also a little on the salty side.

I left the heavy cream out of the Brussels sprouts, as I didn’t have any on hand. I also added the sprouts to the pan I cooked the sausage in and deglazed the pan after I browned the cut sides.

Flank steak with “Hashed Brussels Sprouts with Lemon” from Simply Recipes and “Parsnip Purée with Olive Oil and Sage” from French Revolution Food.

I made the side dishes fairly faithfully, making only minor changes for convenience or carelessness. Both were quite good, although I’d definitely put the Brussels sprouts ahead of the parsnip purée in order of excellence. The texture of the parsnips wasn’t quite right for me; they were a little too wet despite my cutting back on olive oil.

Lemon-thyme rubbed pork chop with spinach-walnut pesto. Very adjusted version of “Mustard-Roasted Potatoes” from Smitten Kitchen. Brussels sprouts with pancetta.

Spice-rubbed pork chop with Brussels sprouts and roasted potatoes.

Meat and potatoes. Brussels sprouts with pancetta. Double plus porky!

Leftover braised turkey and carrots remixed with udon. Brussels sprouts with fresh breadcrumbs and a little Parmesan cheese.

I almost ate cookies for dinner tonight. I was very close. But dinner is satisfying, even when I’m not particularly hungry and very tired — so I made dinner with last night’s leftovers and a brick of flash-frozen udon, which is a staple in my freezer. The broth — from when I poached a chicken this summer — was also from the freezer. The sprouts turned up while I was digging around for the parsley — quick steam; add butter, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper to taste.

Farfalle with kabocha pumpkin and sausage. Roasted Brussels sprouts.

Dinner tonight began with one thing: leftover fresh sage. (It was also totally amazing. So. Good.) I thought about it briefly and quickly remembered this recipe. I liked the idea but I wanted something else. Like pork. So I took the idea and ran with it.

I used a medium-sized kabocha pumpkin. Though the skin is edible, I roughly peeled it. I roasted it at 400°F for about an hour with a little olive oil, three cloves of garlic, salt and pepper. I knew I wanted it to be ulta (ultra!) creamy so I aimed for Very Roasted pumpkin. I sautéed the sausage and when it was close to being done, I added 2 thinly sliced shallots. A chiffonade of sage — a heaping quarter-cup — went in last, towards the end. To assemble, it was simply a matter of sausage mixture plus pumpkin plus pasta (halfish pound) with a little reserved cooking water. I tossed it very thoroughly to breakdown the pumpkin. It was a little dry so I added a drizzle of high quality olive oil, then salt / pepper to taste.

I am done with summer.