Squash and Apple Soup

Is it bad when the squash call to you at the store?!? Don't answer that.

Regardless, these two buttercup squash seemed to beg me to put them in my cart and bring them home with me. So, I did, and I quartered them and dug out their seeds, drizzled them with olive oil and sprinkled on some salt and dried rosemary and roasted them in the oven until....

Mmm. Nice and tender! 

Next up, saute some red onion, garlic and apple and in butter. (The original recipe I started with called for pear, but I only had apples.)

Add the roasted squash, a little milk and some veggie stock. Puree, either with a stick blender, or a regular one, and heat to serving temp.





                                                                         Ta da!

Squash and Apple Soup

2 medium buttercup squash
Olive oil, for drizzling
2 tsp salt, divided
1 tsp dried rosemary
2 Tbsp butter
1/4 c diced red onion
1 clove garlic, minced

1 small apple, cored, peeled and chopped
3 c vegetable stock
1/2 c milk
1/2 tsp sage

Preheat oven to 400º. Cut squash in half, remove seeds and cut pieces in half again. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with 1/2 the salt and the rosemary. Roast until tender, about 40 minutes, rotating squash around to avoid over cooking. Cool until you are able to handle the pieces. Remove squash from the skin.

Melt butter over medium-high heat in a soup pot. Add onion and garlic and saute 2-3 minutes, until they begin to turn tender. Add apple pieces and saute, stirring frequently, until apple is soft. Add squash, stock, milk, remaining salt and sage to pot and heat over medium-low heat. Use an immersion blender to puree soup to desired consistency (or, use a regular blender, working in batches as needed).

Butternut Squash Lasagne

Squash are a good source of iron, riboflavin and vitamins A and C. And, I learned on the farm last summer that even cows like them! I got this recipe from twincitieslive.com. When assembling this, I split the ingredients between two 8" square pans (one lined with foil, then sprayed, assembled and put in the freezer before baking). It will take about 20-30 min longer to bake from frozen.


Butternut Squash Lasagne

1 T olive oil
1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded and diced (about 3 lbs.)
4 T butter
1/4 c flour
3-1/2 c milk
1/8 t ground nutmeg
1/8 t ground cinnamon
3/4 c lightly packed fresh basil leaves
2-1/2 c shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1 package (8 oz) oven-ready lasagne noodles
1/3 c grated Parmesan cheese

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add squash and toss to coat. Add 1/2 cup water. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes, or until tender. Cool slightly. Puree squash in food processor and season with salt and pepper.

In  a medium saucepan melt butter over medium heat. Add flour, whisking for 1 minute. Increase heat to high and gradually whisk in milk. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes or until slightly thickened. Whisk in nutmeg and cinnamon. Let cool slightly. Pout half the white sauce into a blender, add the basil and blend until smooth. Return basil sauce to saucepan and combine with the rest of the white sauce. Season with salt and pepper.

Heat oven to 350º. Reserve 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese. Lightly spray 13“ X 9” X 2" baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. Spread 3/4  cup of basil sauce in bottom of dish. Place 1/3 of the noodles over sauce. Spread 1/3 of the squash puree over the noodles, followed by 1 cup mozzarella cheese. Repeat layering.

Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Remove foil and sprinkle with reserved ½ cup of mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Return to oven and continue baking 15 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting.

Freezer Pickles

Probably, if you're still reading, you're tired of listening to me apologize for my delays in posting. So, I'm not going to do it this time. I'm just going to jump in.

Today, I made freezer pickles. Care to follow along? I'll type up the recipe at the end, and you can cut and paste that into a word processor, if you like.

Find some beautiful, happy cucumbers. (Don't forget to wash off the bird poop off that one.)

 
Cut them up to accommodate your slicer of choice, and slice thinly. You should end up with about 8 cups of slices.

 

Put the slices in a large bowl and add sliced green pepper and onion, if you like.

 

Sprinkle with salt and stir thoroughly. Allow to stand at room temp for 2 hours.

 

Drain the liquid off, add the vinegar, sugar, dill and celery seed. Stir thoroughly.

I happened to have some fabulous dried celery leaves, so I used them instead of the seed.

 

Package in desired portion sizes with a smashed garlic clove and a jalapeno, if desired, and freeze for up to a year.

Mmmm!

Freezer Pickles

8 cups fresh cucumber slices

1 bell pepper, sliced (green, red, etc.)

1 med. onion, sliced

3 tablespoons kosher salt

3/4 cups sugar

1 cup white vinegar

Dried dill weed, to taste

Celery seed, to taste

Garlic cloves, peeled, optional

Jalapeno peppers, cleaned and slit open on one side (but still whole), optional

In a large bowl, combine cucumber, bell pepper and onion. Add salt and combine thoroughly. Allow to marinate for 2 hours at room temp. 

Drain off liquid. Add sugar, vinegar, dill and celery seed and combine thoroughly. Refrigerate for one hour before serving, or freeze in desired portion sizes with a smashed garlic clove and/or a jalapeno for up to one year.

A Beautiful Day

Today was wonderful. I was off work, and the weather was, in my opinion, perfect. Lots and lots of sun, temps in the mid-60's, and this morning at least, no wind. (The wind picked up this afternoon, I'm sure to thwart my desire to have a fire on the patio, but I have no proof of that.)

I got a lot of yard work done. The first step was to borrow the neighbor's lawn mower. I have a reel mower, and that works great, if I keep up on it. Once the grass gets too long, though, the reel mower can't handle it. (Yes, I'm sure it could use a sharpening, but it seems to work ok if I'm not trying to lop off 4" or 5" at a time.) So, for the first mow of the season, I borrowed hers. Some fresh high-octane gas, a couple of pumps of the primer button, and we're off and running. Side note, here: mowing extra-long grass makes it super easy to find the dog poop!

While getting fresh gas for the lawn mower, I also get two bags of actual "Cowsmo" Compost! Can't believe it, but I saw it at Mississippi Market a couple weeks ago. "Fresh" from Cochrane, WI, organic dairy cow manure. I actually know where this comes from and have used it (on my farm adventures last year)!   

Part way through the mowing the backyard, it's lunch break time. A nice cold tuna salad with farm-fresh spinach and watercress, plus cantaloupe and blueberries, then the yard calls to me again. Mowed around the grapevines (all five survived their second winter!) and turned the stuff in the compost bin. By then, E & the baby have joined me in the gorgeous back yard. E has seedlings to plant and starts mapping out where to put their gardens. I get distracted by things growing through the fence from the other neighbor's yard.

Now I'm looking at the clock. The afternoon is disappearing, but I've gotten so much done, it's alright. A few more minutes, then the focus shifts to dinner. I get parsley and rosemary plants in the bed and a chamomile in a big pot by itself (each with its very own scoop of Cowsmo Compost, of course!).

Then, it's time to wrap up and get working on our big Farmer's Market Dinner! We were at the Farmer's Market in downtown St. Paul on Sunday and were inspired! But.... that is for another post! 

Plantings!

Well, everything finally came together: a day off of work, temp not in the 40's, not committed elsewhere.

Here's what I got in: a lettuce mix (20% each Prizeleaf, Royal Oak Leaf, Salad Bowl, Red Salad Bowl and Ashley), a mesclun salad greens mix (20% each Red Salad Bowl, Mizuna, Green Curled Endive, Red Treviso Radicchio, Rocket Arugula), spinach, radishes and green onion.

I can't wait to start eating salad with every meal, and I'm researching new dressing recipes!

Mmmmore to come!

"BLT" Pasta

This is one of my favorites.

“BLT” Pasta

12 oz mostaccioli (or other short pasta)

4 sliced bacon

Splash of white wine (if desired)

1 pint container cherry or grape tomatoes, cut in half

6 oz fresh baby spinach leaves

Salt and pepper, to taste

Cook pasta according to package directions.

Meanwhile, cook bacon in a large pan until crisp. Remove bacon from pan and chop into 1/2”-1” pieces. Drain off all but about 2 tbsp of drippings from the pan. If desired, pour a splash of white wine in the the hot pan, and cook until almost evaporated, scraping up the bacon bits from the pan. Add tomatoes to pan and cook over medium heat until they start to release their juices, stirring occasionally. Add spinach to pan and continue to cook and stir until tomatoes are tender and spinach is wilted. Remove from heat.

Add cooked pasta and bacon to pan and mix well. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serves 4.

Roasted Radishes with Sauteed Tops

Last summer, I learned that even though I don't like raw radishes, I do like them sauteed. When I saw a recipe talking about roasted radishes, I thought that sounded good, too! The original recipe called for the green tops to be just chopped and sprinkled raw on top of the roasted radishes, but I mis-read it at first, thinking the tops were sauteed in butter. I couldn't get that out of my head, (especially when I tried a bit of the raw greens and didn't like it) so I sauteed them with some garlic. Mmmm.

Roasted Radishes with Sauteed Tops

2 tbsp olive oil, divided

2 bunches radishes, radishes and greens

Lemon juice

1 tbsp butter

1 clove garlic, minced

Preheat oven to 450º. Drizzle 1 tbsp olive oil in a rimmed baking dish. Wash radishes and greens thoroughly. Cut greens from radishes and remove root ends. Cut radishes in half lengthwise and toss in prepared baking dish to coat with oil. Roast radishes until tender, about 20-25 minutes, stirring several times. Sprinkle with lemon juice.

Meanwhile, in a small heavy fry pan, heat 1 tbsp olive oil and butter. Chop greens and add to fry pan with minced garlic. Saute until garlic begins to brown and greens become crispy.

Serve radishes with greens sprinkled on top. Serves 2.

If you try this, let me know what you think!!

Changing Seasons

I love watching the seasons change. Especially in these early days of transition. With high temps above freezing during the day, there has been significant melting of the record snow this winter brought. All that moisture in the air, and below-freezing temps at night means re-freezing. This is bad on my sidewalk in the morning, but it also meant that I saw trees coated with frosty whiteness as I was driving at 8:00 this morning. They were beautiful! I tried to get a few pics, but the camera on my phone isn't the greatest. Anyway, you'll have to take my word for it...it was beautiful!

I know there are a lot more signs of spring coming. And, coming soon! On March 19th of last year, I got a picture of the crocus in our yard. They were just about to bloom, and there wasn't a speck of snow in sight. In that same spot, right now, there is still a pile of snow that is 4' high. I think the crocus will have to come up through the snow this year (but, that's normal...last year wasn't).

I love winter, but if we didn't get any more snow this year, at this point, I'd be ok with that. I'm ready for a transition into spring, a new beginning.

March 5, 2011

“What a difference it makes to come home to a child!”
― Margaret Fuller

I mentioned yesterday that everything seems cold and dark and dead in winter in Minnesota, but that's not entirely true. You just have to look harder to see the life...Usually. There are always birds around, and every time a new coating of snow appears, so do the tracks of squirrels, rabbits and other critters.

But, there are other signs of life that make themselves known, very loudly and very clearly! The life of a newborn baby fills this house with sights, sounds, and wonder. (Between the car seat, bouncy-chair, diapers, crib, cradle, bins of clothing, changing table, dresser, blankets, etc., etc., Scarlett Rose Cayetano has also filled this house with STUFF! I had forgotten how much a baby “needs.” )

In Scarlett's short life I have already had a couple of those moments when a completely monotonous situation suddenly seems monumental to me. Seeing MY daughter walking through the grocery store with HER daughter the other day was one of those moments.

We had gone our separate ways to tackle our lists. When I went to find her again, I saw her across the store, and she looked like any other mom making her way through the produce department. For a moment, she wasn't just the person my daughter had become, she was a fellow MOM. She had a little BABY with her. If I hadn't know her, I might have wondered how old the baby was, if it was a boy or girl, if the baby was crabby or a "good" baby, if the mom could appreciate the journey she was just beginning. It's hard to put all the feelings that went through my head in that instant into words, but it was kind of amazing.

I am blessed to be able to witness and participate in this new chapter in Erica and Shane's life!

Hiatus No More!

Hello, all! (If there is anyone still reading, that is!)

I know it has been a long time, and frankly, the lack of pressure to post frequently (or at all!!) has been kind of nice. There were times at the farm that I thought to myself, "Oh, geez. I haven't blogged in DAYS! I'd better post SOMETHING." Sometimes it seemed like a chore or burden, but for the most part, knowing that people were actually reading it was a great motivator. The good-posting days were when I'd start writing something, and by the time I was done, even if the post was nothing like I would have imagined, I'd be really happy with it. It felt good to share a story, or a moment, or a feeling. On the not-so-good-posting days, the really long, hot, tiring days, sometimes the good feeling came from knowing I'd done it today, so I didn't HAVE to do it tomorrow.

Lately, inspiration is a bit lacking. It seems as though there is no life around. Everything is cold and dark and dead.

Now, finally, signs of spring are starting to appear. Longer days, stronger sunshine, more and more days that register ABOVE the magical 32º. Although there is still snow and cold temps, spring feels inevitable.

I am going to get back into the routine of blogging. The subject matter may vary considerably more than before, but hopefully there will be things of interest.

Welcome back!