GTTC: kabocha pie ice cream

Like pumpkin? You'll love kabocha. This Japanese pumpkin is a bit sweeter than its Western counterpart and is perfect in any dish that calls for pumpkin or even butternut squash. The ice cream I made above is made from roasted kabocha and is spiced with a generous sprinkling of nutmeg and cinnamon. Perfect for these last warm days of summer when you want something refreshing, but know that fall (and the season's culinary cravings) is in the air.

Want to share what you've been harvesting/cooking? Post about it and add your link here. I have faithfully posted every week all season but this post will serve as my Garden to Table Challenge post for the next two weeks. More details soon on the fun I'll be having...

Nasty mushrooms and other random (lovelier) photos

Above: just a pretty scene from the circle in front of my parents' house. Below: my husband was giddy with excitement to squeeze these mushrooms expecting to show our kids a little puff of mushroom powder. Instead, he got squirted with mushroom goo.




Above: the little 4x4 garden I built this summer (whose purpose I will share at a later date). Below: anti-grass lawn enthusiasts would be pleased with my lawn of creeping Charlie. Seriously, my "lawn" really bugs me (a lot), but on this day, it took on a sort of magical look. And speaking of magical looks, the scene from the pond in front of my parents' house looks quite pretty, don't you think?

GTTC: habanero pepper jelly

This week the habaneros were all sorts of green, yellow, orange, and red. The pepper jelly I made is so yummy (spicy, sweet, tart) and incredibly delicious with some brie and crackers. (I and) People I've shared with love it so much that I've taken the original Ball Habanero Gold recipe, modified it somewhat, and quadrupled it.

1. In a large pot, soak 1 1/3 cups of thinly sliced dried apricots in 3 cups white vinegar for 4 hours or overnight at room temperature.
2. Seed peppers. Finely chop to measure: 1 cup red pepper, 1 cup red onion, 1/2 cup habanero pepper, 1/2 cup jalapeno
3. Stir 12 cups sugar into vinegar and apricots. Add peppers and onions and while stirring constantly over high heat. Bring to a rolling boil that cannot be stirred down.
4. Add 4 pouches liquid pectin and continue to boil for another minute, stirring constantly.
5. Quickly skim off foam.
6. Fill jars to 1/4" from the top.
7. Process for 10 minutes and remove from water to cool.

Makes about nine 8 ounce jars or what you see below. The little jars are 4 ounces.

And as an added bonus to unwind after the morning of cutting, cooking, and canning, I made myself a nice stiff drink. See, I started off by chopping the apricots instead of slicing them like I was supposed to. My first thought was to make cookies, but I decided to not sabotage my week of relatively low-fat eating. Instead, I soaked the apricots in gin overnight. The next day, the strained gin made a great gin & tonic. Cheers!

What's going on in your kitchen and garden? Post and add your link below - we'd really like to know!

I love gardening (and books, and birds, and toads)

Last weekend, I took Veggie Pak's advice and went out to do some weeding. Though I'd planned to take the whole season as a loss after months of neglect, his advice about pulling weeds before everything went to seed was not only timely and sagely, but made me realize how freaking much I love gardening. Several times, my husband peeked out, and with dirt on my clothes, sweat pouring down my face, I stated, "Gardening is so fun".


It's incredibly rewarding to be on the ground hyperfocused on a task, and then stand back and see how much progress has been made. I love filling this blue can.


I even got to sow a row of fall greens.

I'm glad I got in the mood because this weekend, my new order of perennials from Bluestone arrived. Along with planting new additions, I moved several plants around. I absolutely LOVE moving plants around. Anyone the same way? I'm sure the moonbeam coreopsis will be so much happier in this spot - and passersby will more enjoy its reliable loveliness.




Above - lingonberries fruiting one tiny, tart, delicious berry at a time...

Below - the pepper garden going full force - poblano, cayenne, habanero, and jalapeno.


Tucked in the back, where I would never have strolled if I were sitting on my ass indoors like I have been all summer: pretty, delicate cyclamen.



And another benefit of all the fresh digging - birds coming to visit! I've never seen a woodpecker like the one above . And below, I've never actually seen any birds perch here, especially three! My husband bought me a really crazy bird book (was a birthday request). I wanted to learn more about birds and at least be able to identify some local ones. I even thought that as the talented whistler I am, I'd be able to learn some bird calls. But this book is really wacky. If you see a Great Blue Heron, you can communicate by saying deeply, "frahnk, frahnk, frahnk". A Scarlet Tanager will say, "hurry, worry, flurry, blurry". More literately, an Eastern Towhee will say, "drink-your-tea", and the elusive Olive-sided Flycatcher will say, " quick three beers"!


And last night, one of my favorite fall sights - garden toads. I don't know much about toads, but I'm certain that I never notice them except for around this time of year... I need a toad book.

In other book news, I'm excited about three books right now. The book above is a collection of stories written by women about turning points in their lives. One of the stories is written by Grace, one of my favorite bloggers (who happens to have a spectacular flower garden). The book below, is written by Ricki - another favorite blogger who has written a lovely, personal, common sense guide to gardening (and also makes these beautiful banners!).

Finally, I have been completely consumed by reading The Godfather. For the past two weeks, I have carried this book everywhere, have gone to bed at 9pm just so I can read for a couple hours, have brought a chair next to the stove to read while cooking, have skipped calling ahead for carry out just so I could order at the counter and read at the restaurant while waiting for my food, have encouraged the family to stop the convo and eat quickly so they can leave me alone at the table to read. For 2 straight days, I fantasized about being a crime boss. A generous one. You know. One that gets respect. Then I started getting paranoid - One day I dog-eared a page, ran out to pick up my daughter and at the stop sign down the road, I saw an unmarked delivery truck. As I passed it and looked in my rear view mirror, my first thought was that someone in there was paid to follow me. Anyway, despite having to set some fantasy vs. reality limits, I can say this is one of the best books I've read. I'm so sad that I only have about 50 pages left...

By the way, I know the movie is awesome and all, and we actually started watching it, but there is absolutely no comparison to the book. I would say the movie only includes maybe...1/2 of what's in the book. If you've seen the movie and enjoyed it, you REALLY need to read the book.

GTTC: pizza and giveaway winner announced!

I don't know why we don't make pizzas more often - they're cheap, quick, fun, and incredibly tasty - especially when topped with summer goodies from the garden! The version on the left is topped with arugula pesto, fresh mozzarella, tomatoes and prosciutto. The version on the right is just brushed with olive oil and topped with garlic and herb goat cheese, tomatoes, and purple basil ribbons.



The variation below was made by the little one who enjoyed making it much more than eating it.

This week, I chose a name from all the GTTC entries made during this season. Holly from Tasty Travels is the winner of the Barefoot Contessa's Back to Basic's cookbook. Holly cooks up some incredible meals using the bounty from her plentiful garden. I'm not sure how much she needs a "back to basics" cookbook, but hopefully she'll find some inspiration!

Want to join the Garden to Table Challenge? Simply post about how you're using your garden harvests (or fresh market purchases), link back to the weekly GTTC post and link below.

GTTC: fresh raspberry gratin and next giveaway announced!!

I spent some time purging the bookcases today - boy is this a difficult task. I added many books to the donation pile that were hard to give up - not because they were particularly good reads, but simply because I've held on to them so long. But I'm happy to not have too much of a hoarder mentality. I found a never-opened Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics cookbook by Ina Garten on the bottom shelf. It's a lovely book - don't know why it's not sitting with my other cookbooks. As I flipped through, I found a decadent sounding recipe involving raspberries - conveniently what I returned from the farmer's market with!

The dessert was fabulous! Now back to this essentially new cookbook. No idea where it came from. It was more than likely a gift (maybe from my mom?). Sorry in advance if it was from my sister who might be reading this, because...this week, I'm going to give it away. For a chance to win, join the Garden to Table Challenge by posting about what seasonal goodies you're cooking and including a link in the post back here. Link below and earn one entry to the giveaway. I'm drawing from every entry earned during the entire 2011 season of the GTTC. Winner of this great cookbook announced next Saturday!

GBBD - September 2011

September is a month of few blooms and maybe few words this time too...

Don't feel so fulfilled after this 3 photo post? I don't blame you. Visit May Dreams Gardens to see what's blooming all over the world!