OMG it's almost October!

Really. The latest newsletter from the farm warns of the end of the Summer of CSA Produce with the coming of frost in the forecast. Well, that was fast... it seems like we just got into the groove and already we can see the end up ahead. Ah, New England! As an experiment in trying out new recipes and new vegetables it was a minor success. Living in New Hampshire has it's defininite boundaries as far as diversity in veggies goes. I'm still battling my conscience as to use or not use those exotic and definitely not local ingredients - like avocados, bananas, etc. Not to mention salt, pepper and other spices that I love so much!

I guess I haven't found my tipping point just yet between how far I can range for my food, and how guilty I feel making the trip. I guess I could compromise and buy the veggies and fruits I crave, but only buy when the produce is in season on my continent? That still doesn't sit quite right with me - but it is better than hardcore buying "it" because "it" is available I suppose.

This past week's basket included sorrel again, turnips, a handful of tomatoes, lettuce and mesclun mix, radishes, fall spinach and tomatillos, or around here - husk tomatoes. Now I don't know what to do with the tomatillos, but they sure are pretty! I am imagining a necklace of them... ooops, wait that's a different blog -back to food.

We had some good eating this week too. Winter Squash lasagne and Chicken Ricotta meatballs in a yummy broth. Not on the same night though... that would have taken a total of five hours of cooking. I think that is excessive. I really do appreciate meals that can be constructed in under an hour... and there are plenty of really good ones out there that fit that criteria. But every now and then I gird my loins and go for a big one. Someday I will tell you about the challenge Alex gave me to come up with a 10 course meal - and cook it.

The winter squash recipe I made with a butternut squash from Deborah Madison's Supper recipe book. Basically you set aside three hours, make a boiled milk infused with herbs and garlic roux, boil some lasagne noodles (hint* don't overcook the noodles ... they cook some more in the pan while baking), and saute the squash in a pan with onions, more garlic and S&P. Assemble layers of sauce, noodle and squash adding grated gruyere cheese and parmesan cheese. Repeat twice. Bake for about 1/2 hour at 350F. Good first night, and better the next, reheated gently. I'm particularly fond of sage in this dish. Yum.

The Chicken Ricotta meatball soup recipe is one from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food. Easy and pretty quick too, or it would have been had I been able to find ground chicken in the grocery store. So I now have a new kitchen skill - grinding chicken. I asked Alex if the KitchenAid had a meatgrinding function, but he didn't know. So I looked at the attachments in the drawer, and the picture on the cover of the booklet and between the two figured out how to assemble a few attachments into a meat grinding device. Pretty slick one at that! So, about an hour later I had freshly ground chicken for the recipe. The original recipe no doubt was designed for more refined tastebuds, but too bland for our tastes. So I doctored it up. Start with ground chicken, a two cup container of ricotta cheese, garlic, thyme, salt and pepper, sage, grated parmesan cheese, one egg and a bit of ground nutmeg. The broth is chicken broth, in my case, straight from the can with the addition of water and some chicken broth base because I only had one can. Add the zest of one lemon peeled with a peeler. Of course I added pepper, sliced onions, sliced lemons and kale (because that is what I had on hand) though the recipe calls for spinach and fresh thyme.It was a delicious soup. Much better the next day, but too lemony the day after that. The recipe makes 6 really generous servings.




The garbanzo beans have been harvested. There's about a 1/4 cup of them. They are really pretty (yes - I have been designing a perfect setting for them to wear as a bracelet I think). When you first pop open the pod - with a really loud pop I want to emphasize - the beans are a medium green color and they are attached by an umbilical cord to the pod ...like peas. As soon as they are exposed to the air, they begin to oxidize and turn black. But not completely, at least not all of them. I suppose that it is a function of how old the bean is when it is released from it's pod. I found lots of black shriveled beans in old papery pods. One of life's mysteries. A complete success as far as growing to maturity. Not so much a culinary success perhaps, as I think I will go ahead and make a bracelet from them.



Our figs are ripening. The trees we have are turkey figs, and they are in giant pots. We usually have them on big coasters with wheels in the driveway so we can move them around. This summer they spent time in the garden with our new baby fruit trees so they could all be watered regularly. I think they did better in the driveway soaking up heat from the asphalt. They will come into the garage for the winter when they have lost their leaves.

The garden looks really tired now that we have had one frost. We need a few more to complete the devastation, then we can really clean up the yard. The hubbard squash look sort of forlorn now. Poor dears! We also have some acorn squash...just the thought of them makes me look forward to baked stuffed acorn squash.

I saw an otter swimming in the pond out by my mother's house the other day. It's a pretty big one I think... I have only seen them in the spring popping out of holes in the ice and scampering across the surface only to dive into the next hole. Mind you, the pond is only a couple of feet deep. I wonder what they find in the pond? I have totally missed the Canada geese at that pond this fall. It is usually a huge gathering place for the geese. Not this year. They aren't even across the street in the big pond. I miss their honking. Things change, I guess.


I couldn't let this go without mention...



I bought a box of these crackers enticed by the promise of foccacia like flavors ... and of course, by the fact that they are Wheat Thins. What could be better??? Well. First of all, before you buy a box of these, take a careful count of the number of people you are going to share these with...there are only 24 to a box. Yes, they are a good size cracker for the bruschetta shown on the back of the box. But there are only 24 crackers! So it had better be a pretty small party, or you better have lots of other hors d'ouvres on hand. I can't remember how much the box cost, probably $3 or $4 - I do feel that I should carefully ration them at that price. Sheesh.