Bloom Day October

Gloom Bloom Day October dreary wet cold. If we hadn't just had the coldest mid-October week in 140 years I believe I would have my late-season roses, my reblooming white iris, and possibly my new black iris. The beans that I was leaving on the vine for seeds are a loss-- vines died, so I don't know if the pods will mature enough to have viable seeds. The last pumpkin is not getting any riper, and the broccoli is in a holding pattern. Fingers are crossed for a promised warm-up next week.

In the meantime, still both fall and summer in the garden, fairly typical for this time of year.

Sweet Autumn Clematis, with blooms as beautiful fading as they are when full

More beauty in decline. Sedum with the turning foliage of canterbury bells.

I guess you can't have October Bloom Day without some mums


Head over to May Dreams for everyone's October Bloom Day, and to my flickr page for all my garden photos.

Inertia

Unfortunately, the music season starts just when the larder is packed with fresh vegetables. Why is this a problem? Because I'm now cooking, essentially, for one. The remaining musician at home, Bill, chows down on the leftovers, but somehow it's not the same making homecooked goodness and then sitting down to eat it by myself. I'd send more of the bounty down to Julian but I'm afraid he won't cook it.

Eating alone, eating alone well, is a leap of faith, a statement of self-esteem. It's very very easy to sit down to Wheel of Fortune and a bag of oreos for dinner, but you just hate yourself afterwards. It's hard to hate yourself after making crab cakes and then inventing your own version of slaw as garnish.

Brussels sprouts slaw
1 1/2 cups fresh brussels sprouts, blanched and sliced
1 cup cabbage, sliced (I had a very tiny head from the garden. Don't use too much or it will overwhelm the flavor of the brussels sprouts)
small onion, sliced very very thin
1/2 small green pepper, sliced thin
2-3 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped roughly

3 tablespoons each, lime juice and real mayonnaise
2-3 teaspoons hot or brown mustard
white pepper, salt to taste

Whip the dressing ingredients together (make sure you whip or blend it really well so that the lime juice doesn't separate the mayo. This has to do with emulsion or acid or something. What, you thought I knew what I was doing?) Mix it all up in a bowl, let it sit for a couple of hours.

In the larder

Green vegetables. Lots and lots of green vegetables. One quart each of brussels sprouts, broccoli, green beans. 4 quarts of chard still in the ground. Three good sized bell peppers, including one yellow one. Still got a pound of turnips (and more in the ground, along with some beets). About 4 pounds of carrots (and more in the ground, oy). Two quarts of pumpkin pulp, and another pumpkin still, um, in the ground.

On the menu list are:

Pumpkin soup
Broccoli quiche
Some kind of slaw made with brussels sprouts, to go with crab cakes
Carrot bread
Pumpkin bread
Various casseroles

Are you reading this? What else can I make?

Spaghetti sauce from a jar? Bite your tongue.

I've noticed that lately, the prepared food ads don't say "good as homemade" anymore. They say "good as restaurant food" or "better than restaurant food." When did that happen? One of the most common "good as homemade" accolades used to go to spaghetti sauce in a jar, but I can tell you, nothing is as good as homemade.

Now, full disclosure, I'm a big fan of jar spaghetti sauce. We always called it "fake spaghetti" and it was a quick, almost-like-homemade meal for those nights when you just can't bring yourself to cook and you don't want to spend money on pizza. I remember my daughter, I think it was, showing me some p.r. puff piece or column (sometimes it's hard to tell the difference) about moms "heating up the Ragu in a pot" and putting it on spaghetti. Amateurs. The real moms cook the spaghetti and just dump the Ragu onto it straight out of the jar. The hot spaghetti heats it up just fine. Oy.

But nothing beats homemade.

Spaghetti with meat sauce

1 6 oz can pure tomato paste
1 8 oz can whole peeled tomatoes

1/2 pound chopped beef
1 half medium onion, diced
1 large green pepper, diced
10-15 medium mushrooms diced
2-3 medium garlic cloves, smashed or pressed
dried oregano, salt, pepper to taste

In a medium frying pan or 2-quart saucepan, brown the chopped beef, don't worry if the pan gets a little browned too. Do not drain the fat off (the fat gives it flavor, and also releases the essential oils in the herbs). Add a couple tablespoons of olive oil, let that heat up, then add the diced vegetables. Add the oregano (couple three tablespoons?) and some salt and pepper. I like dried herbs for spaghetti sauce. Saute until the onion is starting to go translucent, then add the tomato paste. Scrape back the meat/veggies and let the tomato paste brown just a little, then add the whole tomatoes, about 1/2 cup of red wine and a cup of water. Browning the tomato paste gives the sauce a nice flavor.

Simmer down to a thick sauce and spoon hot over your pasta of choice.

You can make a sauce your own by experimenting with other flavorings like cinnamon or orange zest.

Sprinkle with commercial parmesan from a jar, or grate your own parmesan or romano. Serve with a nice chianti. By candlelight.

Bringing summer in

One of the wonderful things about growing your own food is how it extends the season.  Outside it's cold and blustery, but inside I have a fridge full of summer goodness-- a big bag of broccoli, a quart of green beans, 3 pounds of turnips, carrots, onions, pumpkins and more.  Tonight, a turnip casserole with crunch, sweetness and color.

Au Gratin Turnips and Potatoes

 4 c Sliced turnips & potatoes (any combination,) peeled and thinly sliced
1 md Onion peeled and finely sliced
1 large carrot, sliced
2 tb Melted butter

1/2 c Milk
1/8 ts Grated nutmeg
1/4 ts Ground white pepper
1/2 ts Salt

10-15 broccoli florets
1/2 c grated medium cheese like cheddar or swiss, grated
1/2 c feta cheese
1/2 cup walnuts

PREHEAT OVEN TO 375F. TOSS together turnips, potatoes, onion and carrots with melted butter and place in a 9-inch square or round baking dish. Cover tightly and place in preheated oven for 30 minutes. In a small pot on top of the stove combine milk, nutmeg, pepper and salt and bring to a boil. Immediately remove from heat. Remove turnip-potato mixture from the oven, remove cover and mix in the feta cheese. Pour the milk over the potatoes and sprinkle with the other cheese.  Mix in the walnuts. Replace in oven, uncovered, another 20 to 25 minute, or until a knife goes easily through the turnips and potatoes.

You don't always have to cook from scratch

The house is freezing cold. I refuse on principal to turn on the heat before October 15.

Oriental ramen with garden vegetables

More stone soup. A small turnip, a small carrott diced Cambells-soup small, a handful of baby brussels sprouts. Boil them for 5 minutes then ramen per package.

Equinox

Of the lunar events that mark the calendar, I think the fall equinox is my favorite. There is such a sense of balance as the garden stands poised between summer and winter. There is still food to harvest, and a few 3-season flowers like cleome and black eyed susans won’t give in to the cool nights. The main color has changed from the neons of summer to subtle reds and purples of fall. The canterbury bells, whose blue insistence marks the beginning of July’s peak, have formed hard seed pods and the leaves are turning yellow. The delphiniums and baby’s breath breathe one more bloom into the chilly morning air. The banes are flowering— bugbane, fleabane, wolfsbane, leopardsbane.

The goddess sends her winter scouts in the guise of spiders the size of a finger joint, and the cicadas scream out one more chorus before the chill takes them underground. The morning dew has that heavy cold sparkle that says “I want to be frost”.

I'll be eating leftovers all week, as there's a fridge-full of the pumpkin variations, as well as some pilaf. Towards the end of the week I'll pick the rest of the black beans and make chili; I need to figure out something to do with 9 turnips (the lo bak gau was a dismal failure). In the meantime, here's another family favorite.

Beef stew
I know lots of people like the supposed no-work method of using a slow cooker for beef stew; this recipe can be put together easily in 15 minutes, then simmered for an hour after getting home from work.

1/4 to 1/3 lb. per person, of any beef cut you like. Don't feel like you have to buy "beef for stew" which is the cheap awful tough stuff they can't sell any other way. Get a nice cut and you'll have a better stew. If you get a bone-in cut, you can use the bone and fat trimmings to make a nice stock*

large onion*, sliced
1 large carrot*, sliced
2-3 celery stalks*, sliced
4 large tomatoes or 1 small can of whole peeled tomatoes
2 cups beef or vegetable stock*
dried oregano
salt and pepper

broccoli or green beans
1 large potato for every two diners
additional water or stock as needed

To make stock: Trim the meat and all the vegetables. Put all the trimmed items (bones, fat, carrot ends, onion skins, potato skins, celery leaves) in a 2 quart pot filled with water. Add peppercorns and salt and boil; simmer until it is reduced to half; strain.

Place the onions in about a half cup of water in a large stew pot and saute until all the moisture is gone. Add 3 Tablespoons of olive oil, the oregano, and the meat; brown the beef (meaning, sear it until all pieces are browned on one side at least; okay if there's still a lot of red on the meat when you add the other ingredients). Add the celery and a small amount of water and saute until the celery starts to get translucent. Add the tomatoes and about a cup of water, simmer until the skin comes off easily. (If using canned tomatoes, skip the simmering and move straight to the next ingredient). Add the stock, carrots, and potatoes, then add enough water to cover all the ingredients. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce to a simmer. Let this simmer for about 30 minutes, adjusting the seasoning. Add water if you like your stew with more sauce. Add the green vegetables 5 minutes (for store bought or frozen) to 10 minutes (for garden fresh) before serving and continue to simmer covered-- you want these to be al dente not mushy.

Serve over rice.