Pumpkins, Pumpkins Everywhere

I've been lax on blogging for this site, I know I'll commit to posting one a week for anyone out there reading. I just got caught up in the harvest and then garden clean up, then we got sick, then, then, then... Let's face it, we have excuses for EVERYTHING, but the bottom line I made the commitment to put myself out there, so I'm going to do it

The end of the summer brought about several bountiful crops - small green peppers, a bumper crop of a few zucchini (that the squash bugs didn't destroy!), tomatoes, apples, grapes, peaches, small pumpkins - mostly pie pumpkins, and ice box watermelon. I was like a canning and cooking fiend. On my best days I put up 8-12 quarts of something or another - Typically some type of "garden marinara sauce".

When the tomatoes ran out (Or more likely when I ran out of steam for cooking them all) I was faced with the last of the green peppers and pumpkins! We ate a lot of pepper steak and I made several batches of the pepper/onion mix to freeze for use later. Pumpkins though they were a different story, and we had 30 small pie pumpkins and 4 presumably small carving type pumpkins, we carved 2 of them.

What does one do with pumpkins that's not "sweet". I knew I could make a killer pumpkin spice cake/cupcakes - But what else?! And so I went on the hunt...

I found several awesome recipes that I'll write about in the next few days: Pumpkin Noodle Bowl (courtesy of a Facebook friend), Pumpkin Ravioli, Pumpkin Pasta, and finally several Pumpkin Soups. When I got confident in the flavors of pumpkin I made my own recipe that turned out mild but very tasty. Here it is:

Delicate Pumpkin Soup

1/2 cup minced onion
1 1/2 T unsalted butter
2 cups of fresh pumpkin puree or 1 can of pumpkin puree
3 T Parmesan Cheese
1 cup heavy cream
2 cups beef, chicken or vegetable broth
1/4 t dried thyme
1/4 t dried tarragon
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste

Sour cream, creme fresh, roasted pumpkin seeds or fresh fried sage leaves for garnish

Brown 1/2 cup of minced onion in a pan with 1 1/2 T butter. Add 2 cups of pureed pumpkin and saute for an additional 2 minutes. Add 3 T of Parmesan cheese and a dash of nutmeg. Simmer gently until the pumpkin mixture is slightly dry.

Add approximately 1 cup of heavy cream and 2 cups of desired broth and whisk together until all ingredients are fully incorporated. Add a 1/4 t thyme, 1/4 t tarragon ad 1 bay leaf and bring soup to a gentle boil for approximately 30 minutes - Or longer to add more of the herbal flavor!

Season with salt & pepper to taste and top with a dollop of sour cream or creme fresh and couple chopped and seasoned baked pumpkin seeds or a fried sage leaf for garnish.

Yummy, hearty and warming... The entire family liked this recipe!

Make your own grape juice - It's good for you and tastes GREAT!

This year the kids and I have done a TON of foraging - I say they help me, but basically they run around the open field and play while I harvest! Sometimes I go just by myself - I just need to get away.. The other day I needed one of those days and I popped over to my friend Steve's to harvest the last of our pumpkins, and misc. garden produce. I also wanted to grab the grapes that i had seen earlier in the summer growing in several places along his property line.

As I arrived I realized I may be too late, as one of his new neighbors was hacking away at the fence-line at the uncontrolled and overgrown grapevines, mulberry trees and black raspberries. As grandma would say, I was a day late and a dollar short... However as I approached the fence-line I heard "So you must be the maple tree girl, Steve told us about you. He said you may be coming for the grapes." Luckily most of the most prolific vines were still in tact, so i was able to harvest a bunch.


After I stopped by to ask Steve about any large nearby Oak trees (as I was also on a Hen of The Woods mushroom hunt). He told me to check out the old cemetery adjacent to his property

I arrived and didn't find any elusive mushrooms HOWEVER I thankfully looked up and saw a whole lot of wild grapes. I spent the next hour and a half collecting as many as I could reach - Wish i had a ladder with me! In all I collected 15-20 pounds of grapes.

So what does one do with grapes? Make jelly? I already have so much of that put up for the year... Make wine? I didn't have everything I needed to make that happen... How about GRAPE JUICE!

Now if you think making your own grape juice is difficult, it's not, but like the I Love Lucy episode where she gets very messy from mashing grapes - It IS a messy project!!! The kids thought it was cool that I brought home these tart super dark purple gems - They didn't much like eating them though, as they were too tart!!! So I set about to make my juice

Grape Juice

*NOTE: Generally, a pound of grapes makes approximately 1 cup of juice.

Essentially all you do is wash the grapes and remove them from their stems - This is really a pain to do though given the size of wild grapes! After they were washed, I added them to a large pot and added enough water to cover the grapes. Next mash the grapes and bring the pot of water/grapes to a simmer for approximately 10 minutes.

Next prepare a fine mesh colander with cheese cloth or other fine cloth - Don't laugh but I actually used clean nylons that were no longer good - They really do the trick! Then strain and gently squeeze the juice out of the grape pulp and compost the remaining mash.

You now have pure grape juice...

Our final product could have stained shirts BLACK it was so dark and rich, and in all after we cut it with water some and added a little sweetener we got 3 gallons of a very tasty juice. be aware though that there is some sediment in the bottom, so if you like strain the juice several times, or avoid shaking it before serving! My favorite way to drink it was to add some red wine to it making a perfect fall wine cooler!

I figure with all the natural goodness I got from that dark, rich juice, that I won't EVER die of any cancer because the juice was so full of so many good-for-you antioxidants

For a great step-by-step photo pictorial and directions for making your own grape juice, check out this site I found!

Fall Mushroom Foraging

Last fall my husband and I headed out to a guided fall mushroom hunt with the Washtenaw County Parks & Recreation Program. We had a good time hunting for puff balls and were the only team that found the elusive Hen of the Woods.

I don't know why I had a craving to find them this fall, but the other day I decided I wanted to find my own Hen of The Woods. I packed up the car, loaded the kids and went to a local Township Park for the "hunt". We didn't hit the jackpot immediately, with Hen of the Woods, however we found TONS of puffball mushrooms all over the park. The kids had a blast walking around looking at dead tree trunks, in the open fields and along the trails - I think they found all of the mushrooms before I did. I COULD however smell the mushrooms as we headed along our way and told them to look out, and it's likely that walking ahead of me netted the most fungi, but I won't complain.

Along with finding mushrooms, I told my children never to pick any, except if Mommy or daddy were right there and said it was OK, and I told them to NEVER EVER eat any. I even said that they could die from eating mushrooms - I would tell ANYONE that. The two types of mushrooms I was hunting though are the easiest to identify and don't have poisonous look-a-likes really, so with my trusty guide-book in hand I felt confident in our harvest. Anything I wasn't certain of I took the "when in doubt throw out" route...

What was truly amazing was the next week while at my son's soccer game, my husband and daughter were roaming around, and my daughter netted a large cache of puff balls that hadn't gotten trampled - they were right in the middle of all the soccer fields!

We had a blast walking through the park looking for wildlife, falling leaves and all there is to see and do (I enjoyed tiring them out too!). I love teaching my children new and exciting things to do, and they enjoy spending the time with dear ole' mom!

Canning Across America

Yesterday I pulled 12 more pumpkins (can't wait to make more pumpkin ravioli and soup!), a half dozen ice-box watermelons, more green/yellow/red peppers, several handfuls of grape toms, and the end of the tomatoes... There might be a FEW more to pull from the garden, but thankfully the toms are coming to an end.

Don't get me WRONG I have thoroughly enjoyed the countless recipes and canning concoctions this year, and for the first time (because of the economy) I have canned more than ever! I'll have some awesome new recipes to share shortly too!

I also had a friend pass along something she heard on the Splendid Table on NPR this weekend - What a PERFECT site for me, and for the current canning trend. So if you've wanted to try canning, but were afraid to, check out Canning Across America. Maybe you'll be inspired to put up next years harvest!!!

Well folks, time to get back to preserving the fall harvest. The cool weather this week signals the seasons crops may be coming to a close...

Oops...

Hi All!

I realized that I have been lax in posting these past two weeks... I promise to get something up shortly. I have been busy with the fall harvest canning - Apples, peaches, more berries, pumpkins, watermelon, and more tomatoes!!! I have come across some great ways to prepare and preserve some of these gems that I will share later this weekend!

Tomato Canning Event This Weekend

Have you ever wanted to can your own tomatoes? Think "summer in a jar" in January sounds tasty? Maybe you would like to try a hand at canning but you are worried about food safety - What if I feed my family something I canned that makes them sick? Maybe you've had grandma's old canning jars forgotten, tucked into the basement just waiting to be used. Have no fear, for the next two Sundays at the Pittsfield Grange you will have the learning opportunity of a lifetime learning to can tomatoes - Actually I consider being taught to can by my grandparents as the "opportunity of a lifetime", however they're not available this weekend!

This introductory tomato canning workshop at the Grange is perfect for folks who have never canned before or are looking for a refresher course. Participants will discuss canning methods, food safety, and equipment, then have a hands-on lesson canning fresh tomatoes.

Tomato Canning Extravaganza!
Pittsfield Grange
3337 Ann Arbor-Saline Rd., Ann Arbor
Sept. 13th & Sept 20th, 2-5 pm

Suggested donation $5; free for members of the Grange

Participants are encouraged to bring 2 dry quarts of tomatoes and either one quart or two pint-sized canning jars with NEW lids and rings to take home some "fruits of their labor". Hint: You might also bring an extra jar or two, just in case there is extra 'maters!

RSVP for the Pittsfield Grange "Learn to can Tomatoes" event here!

Photo by Flickr user galant.

Bumper Crop of Tomatoes?

I'll have to admit, I'm running out of energy to can, preserve or even eat tomatoes. I've made everything from Bloody Mary Mix, tomato soup, pizza sauce, marina sauce, and even sun-dried tomatoes. My family has eaten fresh 'maters over pasta, on sandwiches and on pizza... I'm beginning to feel like the Forest Gump of tomatoes! So the other day after coming back from the garden with yet another LARGE bag laden with the ripest, juiciest fruits I though - What now?! Even my family has begun to whine "Again?" So what's a girl to do?

It just so happens, I am an "experimental cooker". I'm not going to say that my cooking doesn't provide some "interesting" or not-to-be-repeated meals, but almost always I come up with a real hum-dinger of a recipe. In fact typically I'll try repeating it, only I have forgotten the "recipe". (Recipe is a vague term since it's really just my throwing in a pinch of this and a dash of that!) Yesterday after bringing yet another bag of tomatoes home though, I began to dream up a new recipe - Maybe it was the Rachel Ray coming out in me, but the first step was to see what pantry staples I had on hand!

I'll admit, this was a fun, easy recipe to put together AND to eat, and yes I did write it down!

Rustic Italian Tomatoes & Beef

Ingredients:

1 lb lean ground beef

1 shallot - chopped

6-8 medium tomatoes, cored, quartered and seeded, with the skins on

1/2 green, red or yellow pepper, sliced into small chunks

2 Tbs. Italian "season" mix

2 Tbs. Olive oil

1 Package (cup) instant tomato soup mix

Saute the shallot and beef together until the meat is cooked through, then drain the beef. (I actually drain it then gently blot with a paper towel.) Add the peppers and tomatoes to the pan. (I used yellow and red tomatoes and red and green peppers for lots of color!) next add your olive oil. Mix the cup of soup mix as directed and pour into the pan. Simmer on medium-low in a covered pan until the tomatoes are limp but not mushy.

I served the dish over whole wheat elbow noodles, however this would be great served over bow tie, twists or other "substantially" shaped pasta - It should look like a nice, hearty meal!

Photo by Flickr user Eric Begin.