One potato, two potato, three potato, four!

I planted three potatoes.

Well, actually, I planted a few more than that, but they were overwhelmed by the Squash Jungle and didn't get enough sunlight to set tubers properly. So, for all intents and purposes, I planted three potatoes.

I dug 3.75 pounds of them out of the ground yesterday.

La Ratte fingerling, German Butterball and All Blue potatoes

While it may be true that that isn't a whole lot of potatoes, you have to keep in mind that this was my very first time planting them and that anything more than three was a success in my book.

No one told me they'd be so pretty, either!

All Blue is actually all purple.

Tasty, too.

I think I'm going to have to plant more of them next year. In pots. In full sunlight. Well away from the raging hordes of squash.

This, by the way, is my absolute final harvest.

No, really. I mean it this time!

I'm really looking forward to next year!

When Life Hands You Peaches...

Where Life = Heather, that is.

You make far more than just Peach Lemonade.

You make peach jam. I've never made jam before! I did it in the crock pot and it is wonderful!


Peach puree, blended with skins on and cooked down to remove a lot of water, this is intensely peachy stuff. It's perfect for peach yogurt.

Or peach ice cream!

Chopped and individually frozen peaches can be used later for all sorts of things, including peach cobbler!


Or peach bread.

If you run out of peaches, you can also make Pumpkin Raisin-Date bread.

Tomato soup base (Just add cream and simmer!).

Or tomato sauce.

You know, in case you had a stockpile of them sitting around your kitchen.

So, in case you were wondering what I've been doing the last few days, the answer is cooking.

A lot.

Respect The Thumb!

I lied.

This was not the Final Harvest.

This is.

Veggies to the left.

Veggies to the right.

On Monday, the temperature was supposed to drop down to 27 degrees. Realizing that I didn't have very much hope of being able to save any plants that had to endure temps that low, I spent the final hours of twilight hauling in my remaining produce.

Then I had to stop and soothe the twins.

Then I hauled in more produce.

Then I had to stop soothe them, change them, nurse them and put them to bed.

Then I had to break out the head lamp and a jacket and haul in still more produce!

Nuthin' sez Gardenin' like a harvestin' with a headlamp.

Yes, there I was, outside in the cold, plucking every green tomato and squash I could find. I filled up 6 nursery flats, one 5 gallon bucket and my gardening basket. I roped Eric into helping me by holding a flashlight and a flat while I feverishly tossed veggies into it. He doesn't just think I'm crazy anymore.

He's certain of it.

Then again, since he loves all of the yummy stuff we've pulled out of the garden all summer long, he doesn't regret the time I spent cutting down all of the remaining basil and plucking off all the remaining good leaves. And washing them. And pulverizing them in the food processor. And freezing them (See Kalyn's Kitchen for details.).

Bowl o' Basil.

Of course, that image above is of the pile of basil in the flat. I haven't dealt with the 5 gallon bucket o' basil yet!

So...! Anyone have any great recipes for fried green tomatoes? I'm in the market!

It's funny to surprise yourself with something like gardening. I expected that I'd have some success with veggies this year, but never did I think I'd be hauling in flats and flats of vegetables just prior to the last frost. Clearly, I underestimated the Power of The Thumb! The Thumb that is stained green from the plucking of a thousand tomatoes! The Thumb of pow-ahhh!

The Thumb of Gardening Overkill.

Ayup.

I can hardly wait for next Spring.

I've got Plans!

Butternut Squash Soup

First, get yourself a nice butternut squash, approximately three pounds. This one is 4lbs.

Our victim.

Opening the squash can be the toughest part. I recommend a large chef's knife and a mallet.

No, I'm not kidding.

Tools of the trade.

Every good chef has a rubber mallet on hand!

You'll need some shallots.

Sauteed shallots in butter.

Keep the seeds and strings from the center cavity, you saute them with the shallots to enhance the butternut flavor.

Mmmm?

In a bit, you'll add some water and salt. You'll be using this broth to steam the squash.

Steaming liquid.

Put the quartered squash into a steaming basket and lower over the broth. Cover and simmer until tender.

Quartered.

Later, you strain the liquid off and reserve it, scoop out the flesh, puree it with some of the liquid and then put it back into the pot. Add cream.

Lightening the soup.

Finally, season with nutmeg and salt and enjoy!

Put that in your crock and cook it!

I have to tell you, it was lovely, thick and tasty. A crusty bread and a salad would go nicely with it as well.

Butternut Squash Soup
From Cook's Illustrated The Best New Recipe, pp. 50-51.

4 tbsp unsalted butter
1 large shallot, minced
3 lb butternut squash, cut in half lengthwise and widthwise; seeds and strings scraped out and reserved
6 cups water
Salt
1/2 c heavy cream
1 tsp dark brown sugar
Pinch freshly grated nutmeg

1. Melt butter in large, heavy-bottomed stockpot over med-low heat until foaming. Add the shallot and cook, stirring frequently, until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add seeds and strings from squash and cook, stirring occasionally, until butter turns a saffron color, about 4 minutes.
2. Add water and 1 tsp salt to the pot and bring to boil over high heat. Reduce heat to med-low, place squash cut-side down in a steamer basket, and lower the basket into the pot. Cover and steam until the squash is completely tender, about 30 min. Take pot off heat and use tongs to transfer squash to a rimmed baking sheet. When cool enough to handle, use spoon to scrape flesh from skin. Reserve the flesh in a bowl and compost skin.
3. Strain the steaming liquid through a mesh strainer into a second bowl; compost solids in strainer. You should have ~2 1/2 to 3 cups liquid (I had ~4, so I didn't add all of it back to the soup or else it would have been too thin.). Rinse and dry pot.
4. Puree the squash in batches in the blender, pulsing on low and adding enough reserved steaming liquid to obtain a smooth consistency. Transfer puree to the clean pot and stir in the remaining liquid, cream, and brown sugar. Warm the soup over med-low heat until hot, about 3 minutes. Stir in nutmeg and adjust seasonings, adding salt to taste. Serve immediately. (Soup can be refrigerated for several days in an air-tight container. When re-heating do not boil.)

Time to get cookin'!

Growing Challenge: Final Harvest

The first frost of the season is coming this weekend. Leaves are dying, changing color, shriveling up and falling off. The hummingbirds are all gone.

But...

My garden is still producing!

The tomato bed looks pretty bad these days. The plants have grown up, over and out of control. Some got so heavy they snapped their stakes, most I just left the way they were and pick the tomatoes out in a vegetal game of hide-and-seek. The Caspian Pink on the end has surprised me by producing the best and largest tomatoes all season long. I'm definitely planting another next year.

I probably won't put 17 in a bed all together again, though. And I definitely won't try and stuff an additional 12 bell peppers in the same bed, either. Maybe just twelve tomato plants in a 5' x 12' bed...six on each side? Hmm....

Crashing and burning, but still makin' 'maters!

This late in the season, while my green beans and basil are just about done, the winter squash are all coming into their own.

Acorn squash.

The acorn squash had a disappointing output, but I suspect that may have had something to do with having to compete with buttercup, spaghetti and pumpkin squash all in the same bed. I probably won't do this again next year. I make no promises, though. Those acorn squash need to buck up!

The bees are still out and about, happily fertilizing everything that is still flowering, even if it's a fruitless endeavor (Hah! Gardening puns!). They worked really hard this year: let's give them all a round of applause! Yay bees!

Ever vigilant bees.

The buttercup squash went crazy at the end of the bed and threw vines up and over the edge, raced around in the grass and are looking for other yards to explore.

Buttercup squash.

There's just something so amazing about plants that go completely nuts and try to take over your yard and produce food for you at the same time. The thrill I get from watching them grow from seed is hard to explain. One small or large seed, a bit of soil, a lot of water, sun and time and in the end: food! We haven't bought any vegetables outside of garlic and onions this entire summer and it's been delicious!

Speaking of which: butternut squash, anyone?

Soup on the vine.

Considering that I had planted these a couple of weeks after everything else, the butternut squash was a resounding success. I made a butternut squash soup that was fan-TAS-tic! I'll give you the recipe on that one in a separate post.

Pumpkin with a pair of spaghetti squashes.

Considering that I'd never grown any winter squashes before the Growing Challenge, they were really easy, prolific and tasty. I'd definitely recommend adding some to your garden next year, if you like them. I've got plans for lots of different recipes for them and have been watching to see which ones Caitlin likes best. So far, she's decided to be picky and not like any of the squash. Good thing for her there are still a few green beans left!

On the other hand, the twins? They love all of the different squash I've offered them. Emma loved the soup and the spaghetti squash dinner, Logan loved the mashed buttercup and both went crazy for the crookneck and zucchini.

By the way, I found a pair that were hiding.

Monster zuke in the middle.

Eek!

It was an unexpected find, too. I had thought they'd stopped producing, but perhaps they were just on a short hiatus? Now, if they can survive the next few nights outside, the temperature is supposed to bounce back up again.

Unfortunately, that didn't stop me from stripping it, almost bare on Thursday. I couldn't stand the thought of losing any of it to a sudden unpredicted frost. The weather is so funny in Colorado that even when looking at the daily predictions, you never know when it may abruptly drop even lower or shoot higher.

Hatchet picked a peck of perfect pie pumpkins.

Here's what I got for my last minute panic harvest:

Bountiful.

That pile? That's 76.65 pounds of squash you're looking at there.

I haven't even added up the tomatoes and tomatillos yet.





Oh and don't forget the last of the peppers.

Purple Beauty.

Wow. It was a great year.

Updated to add: That was 23 lbs of tomatoes and tomatillos. Woo!

Fresh Pumpkin Pie

Now that you've had a moment to dry your eyes, I thought I'd talk to you about...pie.

Not just any old pie, but pumpkin pie.

This particular pie is probably a record breaker for Slowest of Slow Food desserts.

Step One: Grow your own pie pumpkin.

Ding! Ready for harvest!

Step Two: Three or so months later, harvest your pumpkin, slice it in half, scoop out the guts, bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until soft. Scoop out the flesh and (Key step here!) drain it in a sieve overnight to get as much excess water out of your pumpkin as possible. If you don't drain it, you'll have a very watery pie and that's no fun.

Step Three: Puree your drained pumpkin.

Mmm! Baby food!

Step Four: Break out a fantastic recipe and completely ignore the part where it mentions one 16 oz can of packed pumpkin. Also ignore the part where it tells you working with fresh pumpkin is so haaard. Whiners! OK, it's a lot more involved than just Ksssht! opening a can of pumpkin, but this part is where all of the glory and bragging comes in. You grew that thang! You get to strut your stuff! And you also get to follow all of the other parts of the recipe, including cooking your pumpkin with sugar and spices and par-baking your pie pastry.

Did I mention this is an involved recipe?

Pumpkin with sugar and spice and all things nice.

Step Five: Add the cream. Yummm! Creeeeeeam! Simmer gently.

Almost ready for baking.

Step Six: Pour that warm filling into your par-baked shell and bake until done. Remove from oven. Inhale deeply.

Ooooh! Ahhh!

This is what Autumn smells like.

Step Seven: Slice and dollop with Brandied whipped cream. After all that work you don't use Cool Whip. Have you ever looked at the ingredients on that stuff? Bleah!

One slice, ready to eat.

Then, at long last, grab a fork and enjoy! Never did a pie take so long to make, nor taste so goooood.

Clearly, you need a recipe.

Pumpkin Pie
From The New Best Recipe Book by Cook's Illustrated, p. 903.

1 pre-baked pie shell

Filling:
2 c plain pumpkin puree (canned or fresh - don't forget to drain it before pureeing and measuring!)
1 c packed (7 oz) dark brown sugar
2 tsp ginger
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 c heavy cream
2/3 c milk
4 large eggs

Whipped cream:
1 1/3 c chilled heavy cream
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp brandy

1. Process pumpkin puree, sugar, spices and salt in a food processor for 1 min until combined. Transfer the pumpkin mixture to a 3 qt heavy bottomed saucepan; bring to a sputtering simmer over med-high heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until thick and shiny, about 5 minutes.
2. As soon as the par-baked pie shell comes out of the oven, adjust oven rack to lowest position and increase oven temp to 400 degrees. Whisk heavy cream and milk into pumpkin mix and bring to a bare simmer. Process the eggs in a food processor until the whites and yolks are combined, about 5 secs. With the motor running, slowly pour about half the hot pumpkin mix through the feed tube. Stop the machine and add the remaining pumpkin mixture. Process 30 sec longer.
3. Pour warm filling into the hot pie shell. If you have too much liquid for your shell, let it bake for 5 minutes to give the pie a chance to settle and then pour the excess on. Bake until filling is puffed, dry-looking and lightly cracked around the edges, and the center wiggles like gelatin when the pie is gently shaken, about 25 min. Cool on a rack for 1 hour.
4. Whipped cream: Beat together cream and sugar to soft peaks. Add brandy and beat to stiff peaks. Dollop responsibly!

Growing Challenge: Veggie Parade

Just so you know, this isn't one day's haul.

It's two day's hauls. On Saturday, I pulled in a load of tomatoes, beans, basil and tomatillos while friends were over for dinner.

Caitlin shows off four Sungold cherry tomatoes.

We had fresh pesto over linguine with sauteed crookneck squash. Caitlin, being allergic to nuts, had linguine with butter and grated parmesan cheese with fresh tomatoes chopped on top. She liked it so much she had four helpings. Yay!

Emma shows you her flood of tomatoes.

I gave away a bunch of stuff, too.

Persimmon (left), Caspian Pink (right) and Principe Borghese (small) tomatoes.

We chopped some up into a spaghetti sauce Eric made last night. Some were eaten as a caprese salad.

Tomatillos, waiting to become salsa.

The green beans were devoured by one and all. The twins really like green beans.

A veritable sea of tomatoes.

Sometimes I just like looking at them. All of those colors! I was aiming for a rainbow of tomatoes and I think I managed it!

Yellow = Candy's Old Yellow. Purple = Cherokee Purple. Yellow/orange = Pineapple. Small oval red = Principe. Small round red = Stupice. Orange = Persimmon. Pink with green shoulders = Casian Pink. Small orange = Sungold.

Green beans are delectable.

Eat me!

They're not always perfect. I have plenty of cracking going on. Some were hard to get to and rotted on the vine. Some are on the edge of being over ripe. Too many are watery - I'm still fiddling with my watering system.

Big yellow.

But even when watery, they're still yummy. Especially drizzled with balsamic vinegar.

Cherokee Purple and Pineapple.

All of that? That was just Saturday. This is today's haul.

Basket o' goodies.

Except that I forgot to photograph the first basket that I'd brought in. This is the second.

Purple tomatillos and cherry tomatoes.

This was my beast tomato. Twenty one ounces. Hopefully the watering issue is worked out and this will be as yummy as it is pretty.

How shall I eat thee? Let me count the ways!

I loved watching Caitlin's reaction to this pile of cherry tomatoes.

Yellow = Snow White. Red = Gardener's Delight. Orange = Sungold.

Did I mention that I can't get to the tomatoes in the middle of the bed? I'm going to have to do something desperate to get in there.

Crookneck squash.

Hidden on the bottom: zucchini.

Yup. I seem to be in the middle of a tomato glut. Must be time for soup!