Fall Foods

Winter squash from the home garden

Apple/carrot Salad

   roasted carrots

   diced Mutsu apple

   chopped parsley and raisins

   vinaigrette

Winter Squash Medley

   roasted winter squash

   pan roasted brussel sprouts

   sauteed onions and red bell pepper

   brown basmati rice

   drizzle of olive oil and salt

Hi Winnie and Steve,

It is starting to feel like Little House on the Prairie over here.  All these foods are being harvested, and it is more than we can eat at one time so something has to be done -- canning, roasting, etc.  I have been roasting Early Girl tomatoes from Blue House Farm.  They are sometimes called "Candied Tomatoes".  The tomatoes are put on a roasting pan -- drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with salt and roasted slowly for 10 hours at low temperature.  They are put in jars and canned by the hot water bath method.  That's just the tip of the iceberg -- there's apples and pears and winter squash and carrots.  New dishes spring out of this abundance -- totally by accident. Pie Ranch grew the most gorgeous Mutsu apples this fall.  I got all I could until they ran out! 

While I sometimes feel overwhelmed by the amount of food on my kitchen counter to be dealt with, I also feel drawn to the basic and elemental nature of how many generations have saved food for winter eating.  The hours spent at times may feel impractical when you can purchase jam or applesauce more cheaply.  Yet, I am interested in these skills and efforts at this time in my life.  The global crises seem more in perspective when I can act on these basics of life -- it brings a sense of oasis to the home front.  Bill Coperthwaite says, "We started leaving the home to go to work in order to support the home."  I think that is why I was fascinated by the Nearings who were able to meld work and home into a unified whole.  I also see it in some of the folks in my community.

Thinking of you as always.  Love, Donna