Fall Kitchen Adventures

As the temperatures have dropped a bit (finally), I have been spending a lot more time in the kitchen. I've made dozens of things that I've been meaning to post, but have been too busy making more to do so!

I have to make a little bit of a timeline, as a lot of this cooking has stemmed from one thing - attending the Heritage Harvest Festival this past September. It was at Monticello (in Charlottesville, Va - not all that close!) and I was just excited about seeing the vegetable garden again, not to mention all the actual festival goings-on. It was not quite the hippy-fest my hubby accused it of being - mostly different organizations and vendors promoting whole foods. I walked around with a goofy grin on my face the whole day. The two main things I took from it (besides a strong-burning desire to move to central Va!) were a renewed interest in cheesemaking and brand new interest in fermented foods.

I bought this cheesemaking book last year with the thought that sometime in the distant future I would be able to use more than just the yogurt recipe - that time became now! I have since made lots more yogurt, fresh chevre, Fromage Frais (a fresh cow's milk cheese), Domiati (brined cow's milk cheese), buttermilk, cultured fresh butter, and there is cream cheese in process right now. The main hurdle to overcome was finding a source of good milk - I have since found a few! Moo Thru, about an hour south of here (pasturized, but unhomogenized, and their ice cream and grilled cheese are to die for...yum!), Trickling Springs Creamery which I've found at the MOM's stores in the area (but it's from PA, but they sell bottled cream - so much easier!!), and I recently found a have yet to try South Mountain Creamery which is from MD and is available at one of the farmers markets here. So there is no limit to the cheese making now! :)

The fermentation adventures are evidenced above - water kefir, kimchi, saurkraut, turnips and beets. A lot of the cooking I'm doing right now is from Wild Fermentation and subsequently Nourishing Traditions. These books are definitely not for everyone - both authors have very strong views on the world (I don't necessarily agree with all of them either) but their books are spectacular. I still have lots to learn from them, so all the better!

Enjoying Late Summer Bounty

Well, it is raining here, as it is on most of the East Coast, so now seems as good a time as any to get blog-land up to speed. The weather is starting to cool off a tiny bit, so the garden tomatoes seemed to have petered out, but the beans are flowering up a storm of promised orange and purple blooms.

The farmer's market has also been quite generous with its tasty produce. In the last few weeks I've acquired nicely priced baskets of tomatoes, peaches and also a couple of the monster zucchinis one expects at this time of year. The tomatoes became over 12 pints of tasty salsa, with its heat coming from our garden chilies.
The peaches make us whole-heartedly appreciate living in the south because they are unmatched. They became a spectacular peach jam, spiced peach butter, canned for later pies etc. and even dried peaches. The toaster oven did a great job with slowly drying them out (until I can financially justify a dehydrator, that is!). We look forward to popping open fresh jars of summer flavor this winter. :)

One small portion of the baseball bat-sized zucchini became a couple loaves of whole wheat chocolate chip zucchini bread. The King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking book is on my top 10 list for sure. If you're going to bake goodies, they should be whole wheat if at all possible, and this book makes it not only possible, but downright tasty! One loaf was shared among the coworkers, and the other is being quickly devoured at home.

The cats have been enjoying the season as well. As it cools off, there are more walks on the harness, and recently one realized that corn provides him with nature's string. He hoovered up the silks that fell on the ground, and even tried to eat some of the husk before I took it from him (not wanting to clean it up shortly after).

And because we cannot end on a cat barf note, here is my reblooming lilac, reblooming. It's a wonderful smell to be able to enjoy for most of the year!

Now Introducing...

Well, the front garden is in full swing doing its thing - making food. Its job is also to cover as much of the front of the house as it can in a blanket of green. It is doing that quite spectacularly as well, although the heat has slowed it down a little.  

This is how things go around here in the summer - pretty quiet, but also quite content. The goal is to quietly become a suburban hippy, without the husband realizing it (shhhh).

By the way, as much as he may deny it, hubby loves the garden too. He's a country boy through and through (anyone need a tractor repair man?) and he will baby the cucumber and tomatoes like no other.

And of course, then there are our babies - the cats, I mean. They are the troublesome trio, but are a pretty happy kitty family. They love to watch the active chipmunk and squirrel population in the backyard (doing absolutely nothing to prevent the uprooting of my plants, of course) as well as help mow the front yard, when allowed.

Today is turning out to be a wonderfully lazy Saturday. The weather is like a perfect spring day, except for the quiet buzz of the summer cicadas and occasional bumblebee stopping in for a snack. Time to go out and get some Vitamin D.