It's asparagus season and I wanted to really dig in to using a big amount of this ingredient.  This soup calls for 2 lbs of seasonally delicious asparagus and is pureed with creamy cashew milk.  The tips (the BEST PART) are left whole and serve to highlight the entire experience.  This is a really quick and relatively easy recipe that I was able to pull off on a weeknight.

So, I'm a little sad.  After getting used to the abundance of the end of the CSA season, the veggie/fruit selection around here has become a tad lackluster.  I'll be heading to the local cider mills and markets soon to see whether I can dig up some inspiration.

With that, I think that the last of the CSA produce and green tomatoes from the garden needs to be chronicled on this blog.  I made pickles and sauerkraut, of course. And they're fantastic.

I actually got this Kraut to self-brine!  For the first time ever!   I think it had to do with the addition of 2 whole (sliced and cored) apples.

It's apple time in Apple Country again.   So, we made our first trip of the season to our favorite Cider Mill. Our mill has actually partnered with a Hard Cider company, and we got to do a tasting of their latest combinations.  One of the combos was black cherry cider.  I loved it... and then I remembered that I had a TON of sour cherries left over in the freezer from earlier in the season.   I decided to make my own!   
These recipes are super-easy and don't call for any kind of finishing sugar.  They are dry, and tart, and delicious. My version of hard cider is very unlike a lot of the commercial stuff that's out there these days... which, in my opinion, tastes very much like my daughters' apple juice with carbonation and some alcohol in it. 

4 gallons of fresh pressed MacIntosh Apple cider.

2, 1 gallon batches of MacIntosh Sour Cherry cider.

Like I said.  These are so, SO easy to do.  All you need is cider, any fruit you want to enhance it with, cider yeast, carboys and airlocks.

Bring the cider to room temperature by letting it sit out on the counter for a few hours.  Dump it into a carboy.  Add any extra fruit you may want to add (each of these cherry gallons has about 1 cup of frozen (thawed) sour cherries in it).  Pitch 1 package of yeast per carboy.  Seal with an airlock and let ferment for 7-10 days at room temp.  Then remove any leftover fruit and bottle the cider in beer bottles or swingtop bottles.  Store at a cool temperature (I keep ours in the basement) for about 2 weeks and the result will be dry, carbonated apple-y goodness.  The longer you let it sit in the bottles, the dryer it will become.


Enjoy!!

Ok.  I've been slacking in writing about this stuff.  We've also been traveling a bit and it's been fantastic.

Full CSA Share Week 8

Full CSA Share Week 9

The last 2 weeks have been populated by peaches, plums, apples, melon, and blueberries.  All of which we ate raw and at once.   I actually supplemented our fruit supply with storebought fruit as well.   Just leave it on the table and it disappears.


We made raw salads out of the lettuce, and cucumbers and green beans during week 8.

The leeks (3) and red potatoes and onion were used in a version of Manhattan Clam Chowder.
I modified the recipe to contain Leeks, canned clams and juice (I KNOW!   it was a weeknight!) and 3 or 4 HUGE heirloom tomatoes (more about those in a moment).
 

I also made another batch of Borscht out of the beets and grilled up the japanese eggplants and broccoli.

So guys.  Here's the thing:  I'm finding that I'm happiest when I supplement my CSA share!  "Using it up" as a family of 4 has never once proven to be the challenge that I was hoping for.   Don't get me wrong.  I LOVE the idea behind a CSA membership and being surprised each week with a variety of produce, but it just isn't enough to keep me inspired.   I'll keep updating with photos of the CSA hauls for the rest of the season, but I'm thinking most of my inspiration will be coming from elsewhere...


And with that:  I was feeling uninspired.  Didn't want to cook the same old stuff.  Didn't want to write about it. 

Then Mom went on vacation and let me loose in her garden...  I came home with this:


HEIRLOOM TOMATO GLUT!!  And fresh herbs and carrots and onions and cucumbers and flowers.

THIS is what I'm talking about.

I immediately responded with a tomato/basil/cucumber salad with a simple balsamic vinaigrette.  It was amazing in a way that only fresh heirloom tomatoes can be:

 To go along with the clam chowder (or so I told myself, Actually this could be a meal unto itself) I made a Crostata out of heirloom tomatoes, fresh sage, parsley and basil, and fresh picked caramalized onions.

These ingredients were actually enough for 2 Crostata!

The squash at the roadside stand last weekend were absolutely beautiful.  Except maybe for the Hubbards.  Hubbard Squash were my own challenge of the season.  Most people just use them as decoration outside to contrast  the bright orange of pumpkins... and of course, I took this as an ultimate kitchen challenge.

Hubbards are ugly, and bumpy, and HUGE! But they're also delicious.
I picked up a modestly-sized one along with a bunch of other gorgeous varieties and have been cooking up a storm.


My daughter helped me create this tablescape!

And here is how we're dealing with all of these gorgeous ingredients (I needed one of EACH squash from the farmstand that day!).



Delicata and Carnival Squash as pictured here in front of the Hubbard can be eaten in a number of ways.  The easiest and quickest is to chop them up into slices, leaving the skin intact, and roast them with olive oil, salt, pepper, and an herb combo of choice (I like rosemary and thyme this time of year).  Roast in a large casserole pan in a 400f oven until the skin becomes soft enough to penetrate with a fork.

Another method that would work with these gorgeous squashes is to split them in half and use them as bowls to stuff with YUMMY Chestnut stuffing.  I discussed how to do this recipe using Acorn Squash last fall right here.  This recipe is one for a nice weekend dinner, or even for Thanksgiving. It's filling and could be a meal unto itself!

Another cute little squash I couldn't pass up was this Kabocha.

Kabocha squash sitting next to a couple gourds that volunteered to grow in our garden.

If you're thinking, "Boy, that looks just like a pumpkin", you'd be right! It can be treated exactly like a pumpkin and that's what I intend to do.  I'm going to Roast and Puree it (here's how to roast and puree a pumpkin) and I'll be making our first pumpkin pie of the year out of the puree.  Pumpkin Pie Recipe and some awesome photos from last year, plus what to do with the seeds!

And that brings us to THE MOTHER of all Winter squash:  Mother Hubbard!
These squash are huge, and meaty, and mild, and REALLY difficult to cut up. There are two recipes that I love for "dealing" with this gorgeous monster.  The 1st,  cut the top 1/4 off of the squash,  scoop out all the seeds, roast it at 400f on the bottom rack of the oven until hot*, and then pull it out and use it as an edible soup tureen at a party.  This Autumnal Warming Soup would be lovely in such a tureen!

*I had to google this, but for some reason I thought that winter squash HAD to be cooked because it was inedible otherwise, or perhaps because it carried some sort of bacteria.  WRONG!  It's perfectly fine to eat raw winter squash!  So the roasting of the hubbard here is really only to get it warm so it doesn't make your soup cold when you pour it in there. You could, in fact,  leave it raw *

Guess what I learned how to make?  Proper pie crust.  And it's easy.  Ridiculously easy. All it really took was having a friend come over, give me the "really, it's easy... you're making too big of a deal out of it" tutorial.  A couple of test runs later my youngest daughter and I made an amazing 100% from scratch apple pie that my grandma would've been proud of!

What's so great about this is it's completely versatile and customizable.  I learned with crusts made from good 'ol Crisco vegetable shortening, flour, and water.  I then tried using Earth Balance 100% non-hydrogenated shortening (for those of you who twitch at the word "Crisco" or are Vegan), and my next experiment will be to substitute in lard (because, why not?? And I actually sometimes have some left over from making Lefse... a recipe/process I haven't posted on here yet). 

So here we go!

Pie crust "ball" with apples to fill.

Quinn helped!

Ok.  If you live anywhere close to apple country, or even have access to a store or market with fresh apple cider this is so, SO easy to make.

We took a trip to one of the local cider mills (Mark and I  went to school with the family who owns the place, so we're partial to their cider) and Honeycrisp apples were being pressed that day.  We bought 4 1/2 gallons of cider, and some cider doughnuts for the kids and brought the haul back home. 1/2 gallon went in the refridgerator for later, and the other 4 got to sit out on the table until they came to room temperature.

It's the equinox and from here on out the days will be shorter than the nights here in the northern hemisphere.  The weather has turned cooler and the leaves are starting to change color.  Everything that is going to set fruit this season is doing so and herbs and flowers for winter remedies abound.  This is going to be a photo roundup of what we've been doing and seeing around here lately.

Hope you enjoy!

Here it is, guys!  The crowning glory of Autumnal decadence...  my unforgetable, glorious, and amazing applecake recipe that I got from a multi-generational farm kitchen up in the "north country" and have over the years made my very own.

I admit it, the last couple of weeks I've been pretty rudderless.  No inspiration or creative energy what-so-ever... and I was crabby about it too.  Then, Hubby made this beautiful Crostata dish he saw on a friend's blog... and I was finally inspired to go out there and get some gorgeous ingredients for MORE stuff!


The last few days I've been busy in the kitchen chopping and preserving and simmering.  And I've also been making a bunch of artwork to go along with the book I'm writing (Mostly stories and recipes from here, and it'll be available in a few months both through Amazon and on my main page).

So, here's to a sudden burst of activity, and a YUMMY new recipe!




Using an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, mix the flour and salt and thyme. Then, add the margarine and mix until it is the consistency of coarse cornmeal. Add cold water until the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl, then remove and form into a ball and wrap in foil. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

In a medium skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Sauté the onion, zucchini and summer squash,  and sprinkle with garlic, salt and pepper. Cook for about 4 minutes on each side, then set aside.

Working on a well-floured surface, roll out the dough into a circle about 15 inches in diameter. Then  place the dough on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

The summer heat is still present outside, but  we've officially hit the season of grain harvest!   My husband's favorite thing to bake is Challah bread, so I thought it'd be fitting to share the recipe and pictures in honor of this year's grain harvest.

The instructions I provided are for 1 large loaf, but the recipe can be make into 2 or 3 smaller loaves as well... which is what Mark chose to do in this picture.  Just reduce the cooking time to 20-25 minutes.

We made our annual obligatory strawberry shortcake and it's super-easy, super tastey, and loved by everyone in our household.

The Summer Solstice was a busy day around here! And the beer that resulted from my nettle harvest is ready (in just under 2 weeks).  It's carbonated, zingy with a large dose of citrus, and has the bitterness of mature nettle that is reminiscent of Cascade hops.

*side-note*    Mature stinging nettle, in our area, is bitter. Not completely unpalatable...but my kids and husband did not appreciate it in the soup that I made.  If you're using your nettle in a food recipe that you do not want to be mildly bitter, use young nettle early in the season.  I'll be trying this again next May, since I now know where there's a large patch of it.

And now, on to the beer!

We picked 6 quarts of strawberries on the Summer Solstice, as you may recall.  2 for eating (and pancakes), 2 for wine, and 2 for strawberry rhubarb jam. 

I got the wine going right away that day and it has been wildly fermenting ever since!  Yep, needed a blowoff tube again with this batch.  Never a dull moment around here!

So here's the recipe for preserving the flavor of the Summer Solstice, that'll be ready just in time for the Winter Solstice... when we can ALL use a little more sunshine (or at least a reminder of it).

Mash the sugar into the berries, then add 2 quarts of water.  Let the mixture stand covered with a kitchen towel for 24 hours. 

Stir mixture and then strain the liquid into a 2 gallon carboy (I actually put mine in a 3 liter carboy... and had to discard some of the liquid to make it fit). 

In a mason jar, make a yeast starter culture by combining the wine yeast, yeast nutrient, and orange juice.  Cover, shake vigorously, and let stand for about an hour until it gets bubbly; then add to the must.

Add the lemon juice and tea stir with a skewer or chopstick, and airlock the fermentation vessel.  Allow the mixture to ferment to completion.



When it has finished fermenting (no more bubbles are coming out of the airlock), bottle, cork, and cellar the wine.

Wait at least 6 months before sampling.