Spin chain and exchange the gears -- November's recipe roundup

Warning... I've got enough obscure square dance references to last me through several years worth of monthly recipe roundups.

Here's what I flagged for trying in November. Squash, persimmons, warm winter spices and goat cheese take center stage. Enjoy!

Salads:
Kitchenography's Curly Endive Salad -- because everything tastes better with bacon & goat cheese!

Soups -- perfect rainy day lunch fare
A classic Pumpkin Soup from one of my first friends in the blog world, a Thai Spiced adaptation from Heidi @ 101 Cookbooks, or this sweet-savory version provided by The Passionate Cook.
A scientific approach to Cream of Mushroom Soup.
And Peabody temporarily trades her mixer and oven for a stockpot and blender as she shares an artery-clogging if soul-soothing Potato-Cheese Soup.

Sides:
I'll soak up that soup with some of Joe's Onion & Fontina Beer Bread.
Sweet and savory and oh-so-seasonal: Gluten Free by the Bay's Roast Butternut Squash with Sage makes the perfect accompaniment to simply sauteed chicken breasts.
Vanilla Garlic's simple but sensational Potato Bake.
C for Cooking offers creative suggestions for Stuffed Squash.
Orangette's marvelous if disappearing Squash Puree.
A great application for leftover fall herbs: Je Mange la Ville's Herbed Biscuits.

Main Dishes:
Nothing says fall like strudel, and The Passionate Cook's Pumpkin & Chestnut concoction is just the remedy for a cold evening in.
Lex Culinaria shares a light but hearty Fish Dumpling recipe -- with a well-stocked pantry a pretty plate doesn't take hours to create.
Everyone's favorite Creampuff offers a soul-satisfying Butternut Squash Gratin. There's that goat cheese again...
The next time I need a W-O-W dish for a dinner party, I'm going to try Prosciutto-Wrapped Pesto-Stuffed Salmon from the Culinary Chase. Three ingredients. Almost zero preparation. Ultra-extravagant.

Desserts:
One brilliant application of November's answer to tropical fruit after another: Persimmon Madeleines from Cook & Eat and Simply Recipes' Persimmon Pudding Cake are two of my favorites.
After our recent home-run with Peabody's Pumpkin Cheesecake, almost everything she creates makes my list -- especially this creative employment of cranberries! She can improvise in MY kitchen any time...
"Bastardized" or no, Eating Suburbia's twist on a classic cookie is a must try!
Your heroine is glad that Julie gave into the holiday baking pressure -- and shared this Pumpkin Cake.
Just look at that photo -- yeah, I could eat the whole coffee cake.
Comfort food comes in all flavors -- and layers -- Foodbeam's take on Millionaire's Shortbread will drive the winter blahs into submission.
Salted Caramel is the new French Vanilla. I'll take two scoops Molly!

Onion Soup photograph courtesy of Cooking for Engineers. Cranberry Poundcake photograph courtesy of Culinary Concoctions by Peabody.

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