Cool almost cold nights, early sunsets and the first few yellow leaves on trees clearly signal that summer is over. We vegetable gardeners urge our tomato and pepper plants to finish ripening their fruit since a mid-September snow is not out of the question in Colorado. It’s also the time to preserve the summer’s fruit … Continue reading end of summer
I’m coming to the end of my visit to see the new grand baby girl and spend some grammy time with the 2+ year old grandson here in Portland, Oregon. So much fun! And of course it’s a food-centric visit as well, although having two-in-tow puts a damper on the eating out. We did visit … Continue reading putzing in Portland
and not enough time, make a big batch! Yes, it will take you more time to chop twice as many vegetables (don’t forget the food processor), but the cooking time doesn’t increase by much if at all. And you will have an extra meal for later in the week, or if you don’t want to repeat eat, most vegetable-based dishes (already cooked) freeze well too. Continue reading “when you have too much food”
Seems like I’m always saying our weather is unusual, but I guess what I really need to do is not expect it to be the same from year to year. Natalie, owner and farmer of Isabelle farm reinforced that notion in her newsletter last weekend saying, “This season, June and July were abnormally hot and dry, and August has been unusually cool and wet. We build our planting plans around cooler, wetter Junes and hotter Augusts, so the crops are a bit confused this year.” Thus the lack of corn, melons, cucumbers and field tomatoes for us so far this summer. Eggplant, peppers and of course summer squash have persevered in spite of these conditions, so this week I’m celebrating some of those crops, especially the chiles in the pepper family. Continue reading “tale of two chiles”
An odd title for a midsummer post in Colorado. But we had a very odd midsummer cool, grey, drizzly day with almost an inch of much needed rain yesterday. It was such a relief from July’s heat, that I was inspired to make soup with the summer vegetables making their first appearances this month. And I say build rather than cook soup because that’s how I think of making a hearty full-bodied soup. Continue reading “how to build soup”
So many types of kale – curly, ruffled, savoyed (with pebbly surfaced leaves), Russian, Tuscan, green, red, purple, white (really white-veined) and varieties called black and rainbow! And then we create different names for the same type of kale. Did you know that Tuscan, dinosaur, lacinato and black kale all refer to the same narrow, straight-edged, savoyed leaves? Continue reading “a tale of kale”
Or perhaps better titled, “how I use recipes”. Every weekend, Isabelle farm owner and vegetable whisperer Natalie and I chat about what she plans to harvest for members’ CSA shares that week. Usually her choices have already made an appearance at the Isabelle farm store, so I pickup a few to prepare in my home kitchen, try out a new recipe or two, photograph and post for your viewing and cooking pleasure. Continue reading “how to use a recipe”
Summer is officially here with the arrival of zucchini and other summer squash. Early European explorers brought squash, both winter and summer (calabaza and calabacita) from the Andes and Mesoamerica to their home countries where they were readily adopted into many regional cuisines. Continue reading “play with your food”
I must admit, I have a limited repertoire with beets. I’m comfortable roasting, boiling and pickling them, but for this project of posting about the vegetables offered each week in Isabelle farm’s CSA, I wanted to try something new. Continue reading “listen to the beet”
Last week I posted about turning the corner from spring into summer, but a couple days later it felt like we were smack dab right in midsummer with those high 90’s. Whew! That’s why I leave growing food to the professionals, farmers that is! Continue reading “gosh, it’s hot!”
the Cook and the Farmer 