PIE

I do apologize for my long absence. My goal was to write this post last Wednesday, as a kick-off for Thanksgiving weekend, but things got a little hectic around the house and I missed my mark. I also decided to leave my computer in MA instead of transporting it all the way to MI so then I was without photos for this post until today!

Anyway...

I don't know about you, but I love pumpkin pie. #1 Great texture, #2 Great taste, #3 Minimal crust, and #4 Only really acceptable from October through December. Plus, if made well, it has the optimum pie-to-crust ratio for a perfect bite every time. I've only ever made Libby's recipe (on the back of the pumpkin puree can) and it's the best I've encountered. But, since I received a sugar pumpkin in my CSA share I figured I had to try making a pumpkin pie from scratch.

The pumpkin process is a long one. I decided to do whatever my Fannie Farmer cookbook said, so I cut up the pumpkin into chunks and steamed them for about 30 minutes. Then I had to peel the skin from each piece, the longest part of the whole process. Once peeled I pureed them in the food processor for a while. Eventually I managed to make 3 cups of puree, of which I needed 1.5 cups for the recipe (I froze the rest).

Then I added the various spices, eggs, evaporated milk, etc. to the mixture and blended them together.

I always make my own crust (it really is easy, but only try it if you own a rolling pin and cloth mat to roll out the dough) and they are always better than anything a store can provide.

Finally, the finished product:

Sadly, I really wasn't that impressed by the pie. It was still great, but it was a little watery and slightly bland. I couldn't believe it! Isn't homemade stuff always better? I figured I'd done something wrong, but then I happened to read a smittenkitchen post and she experienced the same thing with pumpkin. Canned pumpkin appears to win this battle.

The real winner of my pie making extravaganza was sweet potato pie. It had all the things I was looking for in my pumpkin pie: great taste, great texture, great crust-to-pie ratio. And I made the sweet potato puree at home from my CSA share!

Sweet potato pie is very similar to pumpkin pie: puree, mixed with eggs, milk, and spices. Instead of cinnamon, ginger and cloves (like pumpkin pie) it uses cinnamon and nutmeg with a splash of rum. I consulted Fannie Farmer for this one too, and with excellent results. Of the people who tried both pies everyone voted for the sweet potato over the pumpkin.

My allegiance still lies with Libby's canned pumpkin and the recipe on the label. I made my traditional pumpkin pie over the Thanksgiving holiday and thankfully created the old, reliable pie. But I may have to add sweet potato into the traditional pie mix of the winter holidays. Either way, these two pies are absolutely delicious and I look forward to consuming a few more bites before the season is over!

Veggieland

I decided to write one huge post with lots and lots of recipes and photos from my various veggie creations. So grab a comfy seat on the couch and dig into a big pile of...

Roasted Root Vegetables

I received a crazy vegetable in the share: celeriac. What does one do with celeriac? Well, after extensive allrecipes.com research I decided the easiest thing was to combine it with parsnips, carrots, and potatoes and roast the whole pile in the oven. So I chopped up two carrots, two parsnips, five small potatoes, and the celeriac and spread them out in a 9x13 baking dish. Then I chopped up about 4 tablespoons of butter into small pats and randomly placed them in among the veggies. Finally, I sprinkled a tablespoon of freshly chopped sage over top with a pinch of oregano.

Bake at 425, stirring everything up a few times to make sure the butter coats everything. I think it took about 40 minutes total for everything to be nice and roasted. Turns out I don't really like celeriac but it smelled awesome in the kitchen and the potatoes were excellent.

Fresh Salad with Watermelon Radish

Another interesting discovery was the watermelon radish. When I cut it open it was such a vibrant pink color on the inside - a perfect watermelon! But I had no idea what to do with it so I decided to chop it up and sprinkle it into my salad. I washed the lettuce from the share and chopped it up, mixed in tomatoes and green peppers I got from the store, and added the radish.

Unfortunately, I don't like radish very much. But I covered it in salad dressing to make it tolerable. What do I do with the three other radishes???

Ethiopian Cabbage

After discussing with the roommates I decided on an Ethiopian dish listed on allrecipes.com for the head of cabbage. I had everything except the potatoes so I walked over to the store in a 60 degree late-November evening and picked up five small red potatoes. It was a pretty painless recipe, mostly just waiting for everything to cook through, and the spice combination of turmeric and cumin was delicious! I might even be convinced to buy more cabbage...

White Bean Soup with Spinach and Leeks

This was the first recipe made from my veggie pile. It's a simple soup involving cannelini beans, spinach leaves, leeks, and vegetable broth. I threw everything into the slow cooker and set it to work while I was out on Thursday. It's a little bland but adding parmesan really helped.

...stay posted - there is more to come....

Potatoes and Onions and Beets, OH MY

My Thanksgiving share has arrived! Storage onions, cipolinni onions, shallots, sweet potatoes, beets, parsnips, carrots, potatoes, celeriac, turnips, kohlrabi, winter radishes, leeks, napa cabbage, radicchio, green lettuce, bok choy, kale, sage, butternut squash, and a pie pumpkin! Now what?!

First, a big shout-out to Kesley, with whom I am sharing this plethora of plant goodness. We split most of the stuff but she took ownership of the kale, cabbage, and butternut squash (I won the pie pumpkin and celeriac). Second, a thank-you to Moraine Farm for supplying a one-time share for those of us not lucky enough to have a summer/fall veggie CSA.

What's a CSA, you ask? Only the coolest way to get a weekly delivery (or most likely pick-up) of vegetables and other goodies from a local farm. Generally speaking, a CSA begins in late spring and ends in early to late fall. It is a weekly box filled with whatever is in season, either delivered to your door or waiting for you at a pick-up site. The share is with one farm, usually very local (within 30 miles or so), and the farmer is often the guy or girl handing you your weekly box of deliciousness!

It is an awesome way to eat locally and connect with the seasonality of life (and the challenge of cooking with new foods, like celeriac). The Thanksgiving share is full of root vegetable and cold-loving greens. I'm looking forward to attempting a pumpkin pie made of fresh pumpkin! I will be sure to update everyone with the various recipes I discover in my attempt to eat all of this plant matter...

P.S. Have a good recipe for something like radishes? Please share! I'm desperate to find ways to cook all of this stuff!

World's End

I am 10 business days into unemployment and trying to fill each one with something fun. For five of them I was enjoying my visit to San Diego and ignoring (blissfully) my current job status. Unfortunately I am now at home, whiling away the hours simultaneously watching old Daily Show episodes and searching for jobs online. I'm waiting for the day when the temp agency finally finds me a job.

So on Friday I trekked over to the MFA to see the new "Degas and the Nude" exhibit. Many moons ago, when I was still employed, I decided to become a member of the MFA. I really enjoy the museum and frankly it makes me feel knowledgeable and educated. I will eventually see every room in that building and on Friday I spent some time really exploring the Ancient Egypt and Roman halls.

Yesterday I drove all the way out to World's End, a Trustees site that I still have free access to with my employee ID card. The property is in Hingham on the south coast and from it you can see Boston in the distance. I had heard it was gorgeous and I was itching to do some light hiking somewhere pretty.

World's End is a Frederick Law Olmsted creation with winding carriageways and beautiful old trees. The property was owned by a wealthy guy who decided he wanted a subdivision created there for other wealthy people. He hired Olmsted to design the landscape and create the winding roads. The subdivision was never created and there are now about four miles of pathways that tons of people use each year for walking/running/family time.

The fall colors were absolutely beautiful and the sinking sun set the marsh grass on fire. It was chilly and very windy but I still got in an hour and a half of walking and exploring. This year's fall has kind of sucked, with the leaves turning at weird times and not coordinating nicely for us leaf-peepers. Even so, the site still gave me a glimpse of yellow/red/orange that I love so much this time of year.

San Diego: Photo Travelogue

Fall Foods

Fall is my favorite time of year for both climate and food. Not only do we get beautiful fall leaves, chilly weather that allows me to wear sweaters, and the departure of mosquitoes but we also get squash, carrots, potatoes, and other fantastic foods!

My lovely upstairs neighbors had some friends up from CT and D.C. so they hosted a dinner party last night. Benji made an awesome steak recipe with a mushroom and parsnip ragout and I roasted some veggies purchased from the Central Square farmer's market. Benji's sole reason for the recipe was that it accompanies a merlot beautifully and he had several bottles of his favorite at hand. I chose the roasted veggies to bring back fall and stave off winter for a little bit longer.

At the market I purchased Kennebec potatoes, carrots of all colors (except I didn't find any purple specimens) and a butternut squash. Below are photos from the many minutes spent peeling and chopping everything. Enjoy the color!