Last gasp of summer?

10/21/12

Wow, what a gorgeous day!  Blue skies, sunny, warm (69 degrees), slight breeze - why can't I live somewhere where the weather is always like this?  Well, I suppose I'd start to take it for granted, whereas this way - man, do I appreciate it.  This is particularly true when contemplating the coming winter...  Even if the predictions are for a warmer-than-normal and drier-than-normal winter, that could mean 10 below rather than 30 below, and maybe a couple blizzards rather than a dozen!  Though, after last winter's non-occurrence, I don't know...  With the drought this summer, I think I have to hope for a very snowy winter, in spite of personal inclinations to the contrary!

The last of the tomatoes in the basement are ripening up nicely, with only an occasional failure to be tossed.  The basement-ripened ones are more tart than the vine-ripened ones were, but still very enjoyable.  I've just been eating them sliced, with crumbles of feta and chopped walnuts on top, salt & freshly ground pepper, and drizzled with balsamic vinaigrette.  Very yummy!  We also made several batches of stewed tomatoes (peeled, simmered with onion and garlic) which were then frozen in smaller units for use this winter.  The tomatoes were definitely a success, as were the squash.  The other veggies.... not so much.  I think the rabbits got more use from them than we did!  That's okay; small compensation for Henry's depredations earlier in the summer!

Speaking of squash, I made a very tasty soup from some of Fred's already-cooked butternut squash.  It was basically squash, pureed with some cream, chicken broth, and your choice of spices (I added a bit of pumpkin pie seasoning, but I couldn't taste it at all - too stingy, I guess!).  I used the blender I've had forever and never thought I'd use again!  Had to do it in small batches, but worked fine.  Now I wish I'd kept the Cuisinart I sold when I moved to the first farm...  I added more broth once I had it all back in the pot because it seemed really thick, and then it was wonderful.  I broiled an open-faced sandwich of cheese, dried tomatoes, and onions to go along with it.  I felt very "harvest dinner"-ish!  Well, a small harvest dinner...

I froze the leftover soup, with some trepidation because of the cream, but it thawed nicely.  The reheating and whisking made it totally creamy again (I was worried that it would remain porridge-y).  I'm feeling pretty pleased with my first summer of growing veggies.

Drying tomatoes

10/2/12

Finally a chance to catch up a bit.  This fall has been busy!  We're in the midst of a warm spell - supposed to be 80 degrees tomorrow - but the cold is coming.  Over the past couple weeks, I've harvested all the tomatoes off our two plants and have been trying to deal with the results.  I can only eat so many tomatoes in one day!  After spending some time online, I found a site with a simple way to oven-dry tomatoes.  The result is tomatoes that are just as good as sun-dried, but without the bugs and dust and bird poop!  And a lot cheaper than the store-bought ones...

This is just a small number of the ripe tomatoes I dealt with, and there are probably 5 dozen more green tomatoes ripening in the basement.

I cored and cut tomatoes for what seemed like forever, squishing the seeds out with my thumb.  The acid stung after a while - surprised me!  Started this process at about 4:30 in the afternoon.

I didn't bother to remove the skins, but did cut them in sixths, rather than fourths.  If they'd been smaller or less juicy, I think fourths would have been fine.  You can see the seeds and squishy parts are gone, leaving the meaty part behind.

If I'd had enough cake racks, I'd have used them, but I didn't, so cookie sheets had to do.  My oven's lowest setting was 170 degrees, so that's the temp I used.  Using the cookie sheets meant turning the pieces and rotating the racks every few hours to even out the drying.  The pieces stuck just enough that they had to be turned individually.  Turning at 4:30 PM, 7:30 PM, 10:30 PM, serendipitously awake at 1:30 AM, then again at 4:30 AM when I discovered that the oven has a safety feature: it turns itself off after 12 hours of continuous "on"!  Lucky for me, I was there and turned it back on before too long.


At around 8 AM, they all seemed raisin-y dry, so I took them out.  I think they turned out great and have been using them in my scrambled eggs, grilled cheese, salads, etc.  I did the whole thing twice, so I have 4 baggies in the freezer with dried tomatoes!  And as the basement greenies continue to ripen, I'll probably have to do it all at least one more time!  Oh, and we also have about a dozen tomatoes frozen in the freezer!  They were too ripe for drying but should make good sauce.  Good weapons, too, if the need arises...

Fred's been eating squash from the garden every day.  I'm going to try it tomorrow.  To me, squash is best used as a vehicle for a puddle of melted butter and brown sugar in the center of the cup!  Yummy...

I think this is about the end of the garden for this year.  Not a raging success, but good enough for our first attempt. :)