Capturing my love of whole foods, combined with the activity of a bustling kitchen.

A weekly collection of photos from the center of my home. 

*     *     *     *     *

• I cut the sage back one last time for the season and dried it. Don't you thing dried sage is more flavorful than fresh? Some herbs are like that. Roasted Butternut Squash with plenty of sage is pretty much my favorite thing right now. And seeing as it is so light, we love it as an evening meal. Mid-day, when lots of energy is needed, not so good as a stand alone. But perfect for a cool autumn evening.

• It feels like there isn't much to say. I rambled on so much last week that today I feel a little quiet. We cooked, we ate... I'm going through nettle tea like crazy. Crack an egg, scramble, eat, repeat. Know what I mean?

• How about you? What's happening in your kitchen this week?

Each day I find myself snapping a picture or two in the kitchen - a pile of ingredients, a table waiting for us to gather around, a sink full of soapy dishes, a cup of tea, dinner as it comes out of the oven - simple, everyday moments in the kitchen. These photos serve as a reminder of days gone by and as encouragement to carry on in this busy kitchen of ours when inspiration is lacking.

Every Thursday morning I'll post my photos from the week, words or recipes optional. Just glimpses into my kitchen and you're invited to do the same!

It's simple to join in:

• On your blog, post photos taken in your kitchen throughout the week.
• Words aren't necessary, your photos will tell the the story. Some of us enjoy adding a few thoughts to accompany the images... the choice is yours. 
• Feel free to grab the brief description at the top of this post, or add a few words of your own to explain the project.)
• Link back to this post so your readers can visit This Week In My Kitchen and join in. 
• Come back here and link up your current post (not your main blog) so we can all visit your kitchen!
• Join me every Thursday or the occasional Thursday if that works better for you.
• Please be sure to only link up if you are participating in this series. Thank you!

I look forward to visiting your kitchens!

Everything is winding down. Not just in the garden, but everywhere. Folks are preparing for the quiet months ahead and I can't help but feel this is my element. I am meant for wool and slippers and tea and fire. Adam says, "You can almost always get warmer, but you can't always get cooler." We are cold weather people.

I went out to plant the garlic this weekend and just as I was about to split the heads into cloves, it started to rain so I held off and will wait a few more days. It's better this way as it is finally starting to get cold out there. Snow flurries are predicted for Saturday. I wouldn't mind that in the least.

We've created a corridor of sorts that leads from the chicken pen to the garden, so the girls can come and go as they please - scratching, foraging and fertilizing for a couple of months. They love being able to run free in the garden then head back to the coop for egg laying. Once the snow flies they won't come out of their pen, but for now they're busy doing the good work of chickens.

I still have one small section fenced off from the busy chickens as kale, spinach, beets, leeks, calendula and lettuce are still growing and being harvested. I thought the lettuce was finished after a recent light frost. I had covered it the night before, but it didn't seem like enough. The leaves looked frozen in the morning and my experience has been that lettuce doesn't tolerate freezing the way kale and spinach does. But as the day warmed up, the leaves returned to normal and we continue to harvest. 

Yesterday I harvested a half bushel of spinach with plenty more to bring in still. My body is craving greens as if it knows the end is near so I'm stocking up. When the day comes that I am set up to grow greens (almost) year round, I'm pretty sure my body will be in euphoric shock over such good fortune. Until then, thank the garden gods for winter farmer's markets. Where would we be without them?

To begin getting in the spirit of things, Emily watched the original Halloween movie last night (debuting... Jamie! Lee! Curtis!). I recalled the younger days of our family watching movies such as It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown. That's about my speed. I'm heading out to source some white and black tulle for Emily and her friend. We're going to have a white swan and a black swan this year. Because you're never too old for Halloween.

I don't have pumpkins on the porch yet. There are no cornstalks or hay bales. The one mum that a friend secretly delivered continues to be the single autumn decoration that we have. In fact, I still have a few houseplants outside! Normally I bring them all in by Columbus Day but it's been warm for the most part, with only one light frost, so they remain outside. Though I'm pretty sure this is the week they need to come in, it's almost November after all! We'll  make our way to the farm for some pumpkins and mums within the next few days - it's now or never. With Halloween on a Friday this year Emily is able to have her best friend sleep over (she goes to regular school so normally wouldn't be available for a weeknight Halloween sleepover), so we're really looking forward to an especially festive evening. 

Speaking of school, Emily has been enrolled in university classes for nearly two months now and it is going really well. Nobody knows she is 16, including her professors. One of the greatest, unexpected benefits we've found with attending university rather than high school is the age range of her classmates. She is among students that range from age 16 (herself) to 65. I can't stress how much, according to Emily, this has benefited the classroom discussions, especially in her U.S. History, Post World War II class. A multi-generational dynamic mirrors how we have always approached learning - as homeschoolers and as Montessorians - and low and behold, it is also reflective of how the "real world" works. Imagine that. The way learning should be... relevant. 

Another unexpected surprise (I say unexpected because we consciously went into this with no expectations) has been the overall academic culture and complete absence of classroom behavioral management. Students are there because (for the most part) they want to be there. They are immersed in the content of their chosen classes with little regard for standardized test prep and over-emphasis on courses they have no interest in. There is a maturity and focus to the overall experience that Emily has observed, and all of these things have proven to be a really good fit for her. 

Overall, I think we're off to a pretty good start with this pre-college thing. There are other interests and pursuits that round out Emily's days, but as for attending college early, it's been a very positive experience. One that further confirms my suspicion that a well educated teen is ready for the course work of college, if they should choose (in lieu of high school altogether), much sooner than we generally give them the opportunity to do so. 

If any of my local homeschool friends would like information on how Emily is attending university (this is not the community college program that many high schoolers and homeschoolers attend), email me and I'll fill you in. 

Okay, I'm off to spruce this place up for Halloween. Wishing you a most excellent Monday!

Apple season is just about over, but many of us are still processing the bounty so I thought I’d share a couple of recipes with you. Stepping away from my day to apple preparations which usually consist of eating them raw with chunks of sharp cheddar, or whipping up some Baked Fruit for Breakfast. But in our family, when the holidays roll around, it has become tradition that I will bring the apple pie. Filled with gluten and sugar - no apologies, no regrets. One year I asked my aunt what I could bring for Thanksgiving and she said, "Apple pie!" I asked her what else I could bring and she said, "More pie!" I figure either I'm pretty good at making pie, or pretty bad at making everything else.

I’ve recently come up with a way to make apple pie portable for my daughter who at almost 17 years old, is now venturing off to two part time jobs throughout the week and I want her to feel the love of mom’s kitchen wherever she is. Of course, my love also comes in the form of roasted chicken and leafy green salads, but I’m in competition with M&Ms and Snickers bars in the gift shop of the museum that she works at. I’d much rather send her off with a homemade treat, rendering those shelves of candy much less appealing. (It works!)

Prepping filling for the freezer. I use a tall pyrex bowl to steady the ziploc bag as I'm filling it. Lay the bag flat in the freezer.

And as much as we all love apple pie, a whole pie is a lot for my family of three to get through. Eating pie for days straight is a bit too much sugar and flour for us. And for Adam, anything beyond a small slice a couple times a year and it's migraines for days. Which makes the idea of hand pies even more perfect! I can make a big batch then just pull 2-3 from the freezer to bake off when Emily has work days coming up, or if she’s having friends over.

Slice dough into sixths. Roll into six inch circles.

Add rounded 1/4 cup filling to one side of the circle, leaving room on the edges for sealing the pie.
 

Before we get to the recipes, a few notes about pie making in general.

• You really don’t a special recipe for pie filling. Honestly, how can you go wrong with apple pie filling? Apples, sugar, spices... feel free to play around and make it your own.

• All of your pastry ingredients need to be ice cold. I make my pastry in the food processor and if I feel the butter isn’t firm enough once I dice it into the bowl, I’ll pop it into the freezer for 15 minutes then move on to adding the flour.

• When baking, place a cookie sheet on the rack below the pie plate to catch any juices, not directly under the pie itself. Especially if using and air bake sheet. If you place your pie on one of these the crust will never brown and crisp up.

• This is just personal preference, but for many years I sliced my apples into thin, but full size slices. Emily discovered this year that she prefers the apples to be smaller (see photo of pie filling above), which it turns out makes for easier slicing.

• Always let your pie cool for several hours before slicing. We all have this idea of serving pie straight out of the oven, but the juices are running wild at this point and need to settle and reabsorb before you slice into it.

• If you are someone that struggles with making pie, no matter how many different ways you approach it - stick with hand pies! Seriously, they are foolproof. And there is something so adorable and fun about hand pies, you’ll be thinking about what other fruity combinations you can tuck inside the pastry.

To seal edges, I like to roll the bottom and top crust together in an upward motion toward the pie, then press with my fingers. Brush with an egg and milk wash, sprinkle with sugar.

The Recipes:

Apple Hand Pies (& pie filling for the freezer!)  

Honestly, unless you were here with me in the kitchen I'm not sure I could guarantee your whole pie would come out perfectly flaky and wonderful. Pie is funny that way. But the hand pies are so forgiving, be sure to give them a try. And pie filling ready and waiting in the freezer - what could be better?

 You could use the pie filling for crisps and cobblers too! I always make crisps with maple syrup or honey so I'd skip that myself. But it's perfectly doable if you have last minute company or potluck invite.

Enjoy your apple harvest!

Capturing my love of whole foods, combined with the activity of a bustling kitchen.

A weekly collection of photos from the center of my home. 

*     *     *     *     *

You are so patient. Or, maybe not but that's what I'm telling myself. Thank you! Those apple recipes are all typed up into a post and I've loaded a bunch of photos onto the computer... all will be ready for you in a blog post tonight. I'd hoped to get to it yesterday, but I was pulled in directions other than the computer so it did not happen. But tonight! I have a few hours to myself later today so I'll  be able to get it all posted. Two blog posts in one day - sorry!

I made some beef broth this week and took the opportunity to make Jenny's Salisbury Steak recipe. It was wonderful! My only changes were sage instead of thyme in the pan sauce, I skipped the red wine and doubled the beef broth instead, portobello mushrooms were used, and I used a little arrow root to thicken the pan sauce... because, gravy. I think next time I'll add another yolk or two to the patties. But do give it a try! I also roasted a huge spaghetti squash and it was perfect with all that mushroom gravy.

I cook quite a bit more meat than I used to. And very little grains, legumes, and nuts. Nope - not Paleo (but even if it were, I bristle so much at that inaccurate label that I'd never use it - I'm a little stubborn). I'd love to go into depth about it, (and I definitely will in the upcoming session of Whole Food Kitchen in early 2015), but here on the blog I tend to pull back about personal dietary details. The internet gets a little wacky with that info sometimes. But I will say this - we have found (going on almost a full year now) that a very simple diet of vegetables, good quality fats and meat, fruit, fermented foods, raw dairy, and lots of bone broth has eliminated the chronic migraines my husband has suffered with for nearly 25 years. (That's a sentence worth reading again.) As for me, about a thumb size portion of meat is perfect, then load me up with veggies.

One of our favorite ways to prepare cooked vegetables is roasted. 400F, some ghee or other high temp cooking fat, a large shallow baking sheet, sea salt and pepper. The other night I roasted potatoes and broccoli. First, the potatoes went in for 20 minutes... then, I took them out, turned them with a spatula and moved to one side of the pan. Broccoli was added to the other side, a little more ghee on top, sea salt and pepper. The whole pan was returned to the oven for another 20 minutes. Both done perfectly, one pan, two different cooking times.

Last week I posted a picture with a little dish of herbs, garlic, and oil. Someone asked what it was - it was just that! Olive oil, minced garlic, rosemary and sea salt. I added it to roasted vegetables in the last 10 minutes of cooking, turning the heat way down so the olive oil did not go past its smoke point, but the garlic was able to get nice and roasty. Combined with the fresh rosemary... oh, man that was good. I remember the first time I ever had flavored olive oil. The year was 1993 and flavored oil was a hot new thing. A woman that Adam and I worked with made us a bottle of garlic rosemary oil for Christmas and we ate an entire loaf of crusty bread in one sitting because the dipping oil was most amazing thing we'd ever tasted. Ah... that's a great memory.

Each day I find myself snapping a picture or two in the kitchen - a pile of ingredients, a table waiting for us to gather around, a sink full of soapy dishes, a cup of tea, dinner as it comes out of the oven - simple, everyday moments in the kitchen. These photos serve as a reminder of days gone by and as encouragement to carry on in this busy kitchen of ours when inspiration is lacking.

Every Thursday morning I'll post my photos from the week, words or recipes optional. Just glimpses into my kitchen and you're invited to do the same!

It's simple to join in:

• On your blog, post photos taken in your kitchen throughout the week.
• Words aren't necessary, your photos will tell the the story. Some of us enjoy adding a few thoughts to accompany the images... the choice is yours. 
• Feel free to grab the brief description at the top of this post, or add a few words of your own to explain the project.)
• Link back to this post so your readers can visit This Week In My Kitchen and join in. 
• Come back here and link up your current post (not your main blog) so we can all visit your kitchen!
• Join me every Thursday or the occasional Thursday if that works better for you.
• Please be sure to only link up if you are participating in this series. Thank you!

I look forward to visiting your kitchens!

Capturing my love of whole foods, combined with the activity of a bustling kitchen.

A weekly collection of photos from the center of my home. 

*     *     *     *     *

• It is dark at dinnertime now which makes taking pictures a little difficult. I think I'll dig out the 50mm lens.

• I was away for a good part of the last seven days so my time in the kitchen has been limited. And the warmth returned! Late October and flip flops do not add up for me. Last night I had a green smoothie for dinner, which became my standard go to dinner during the summer heat. Adam and Emily grilled steak and I cooked them the very last of our green beans from the garden. My hopes of having at least ten gallons of beans frozen amounted to zero in the end. Funny how that works. Most years we're giving away beans to all willing takers, and this year we have none. Another reminder that I am not the boss of my garden, I am the student.

• What's happening in your kitchen this week? I'd love to know!

Each day I find myself snapping a picture or two in the kitchen - a pile of ingredients, a table waiting for us to gather around, a sink full of soapy dishes, a cup of tea, dinner as it comes out of the oven - simple, everyday moments in the kitchen. These photos serve as a reminder of days gone by and as encouragement to carry on in this busy kitchen of ours when inspiration is lacking.

Every Thursday morning I'll post my photos from the week, words or recipes optional. Just glimpses into my kitchen and you're invited to do the same!

It's simple to join in:

• On your blog, post photos taken in your kitchen throughout the week.
• Words aren't necessary, your photos will tell the the story. Some of us enjoy adding a few thoughts to accompany the images... the choice is yours. 
• Feel free to grab the brief description at the top of this post, or add a few words of your own to explain the project.)
• Link back to this post so your readers can visit This Week In My Kitchen and join in. 
• Come back here and link up your current post (not your main blog) so we can all visit your kitchen!
• Join me every Thursday or the occasional Thursday if that works better for you.
• Please be sure to only link up if you are participating in this series. Thank you!

I look forward to visiting your kitchens!

Scenes from our Vermont weekend, visiting my favorite place on this green earth. The place that I know I overly romanticize, but when you love something as deeply as I love these green mountains, how else will you talk about it? Winding dirt country roads, New England history, and deep blue skies are home to me. Whether I physically live here or simply visit on occasion, I've been deeply connected to this land for over twenty years. A feeling of connection to place that has never been experienced anywhere else.

We went pretty far north this weekend, where the foliage was past its peak (but still quite amazing) and many trees were bare. Wood piles were stacked high, and wood smoke was in the air. We woke up to frost. I roasted vegetables and made hot chocolate. We walked in the woods and found a fallen tree with two burls - bowls just waiting to be revealed.

Our time up north could always be longer, but it was healing nonetheless.

Feeling rested and content, I begin a new week back here in Connecticut. I may live here, but it's nice to know my true home is only a car ride away. Until next time.

Capturing my love of whole foods, combined with the activity of a bustling kitchen.

A weekly collection of photos from the center of my home. 

*     *     *     *     *

• Three pictures, that's it for this week! We are still elbow deep in apples. The dehydrator is running constantly. Tomatoes are being frozen as they ripen. And peppers... what a pepper year! I diced and froze several quarts for quick use when making soups, stews and sauces this winter. I've never had enough to freeze before and am looking forward to their fresh summery flavor come January.

• Apple Hand Pie (and regular ol' pie) recipes... I'm almost there with my apple post! (Some of you have told me you already have apples ready and waiting for my post. That makes me nervous because I'm notoriously slow with these things. Be sure to go ahead and put those apples in the refrigerator until next week, okay?) I thought I'd have that post up tomorrow but it turns out I have some last minute plans to head out of town for a few days so it doesn't look like that will happen. It's close though!

• I may not have picked up the camera a whole lot this week but I was in the kitchen nearly every waking hour, it seemed. Now is the time to deal with the last of the garden produce, time's ticking! One pot meals saved us this week - taco soup, beef stew, etc. I firmly believe one pot meals are the solution to our family dinner crisis in this country (now that would be a fun book to write). Who needs complicated Pinterest worthy step by step recipes? The point is to gather, connect, and discuss the day over something tasty and nourishing, yes? The beauty of one pot meals is that most of them taste even better with a day or two (or three) hanging out in the fridge. Simmer up a few different pots of goodness over the weekend and dinner is prepared for much of the week. Take that drive-thru.

Each day I find myself snapping a picture or two in the kitchen - a pile of ingredients, a table waiting for us to gather around, a sink full of soapy dishes, a cup of tea, dinner as it comes out of the oven - simple, everyday moments in the kitchen. These photos serve as a reminder of days gone by and as encouragement to carry on in this busy kitchen of ours when inspiration is lacking.

Every Thursday morning I'll post my photos from the week, words or recipes optional. Just glimpses into my kitchen and you're invited to do the same!

It's simple to join in:

• On your blog, post photos taken in your kitchen throughout the week.
• Words aren't necessary, your photos will tell the the story. Some of us enjoy adding a few thoughts to accompany the images... the choice is yours. 
• Feel free to grab the brief description at the top of this post, or add a few words of your own to explain the project.)
• Link back to this post so your readers can visit This Week In My Kitchen and join in. 
• Come back here and link up your current post (not your main blog) so we can all visit your kitchen!
• Join me every Thursday or the occasional Thursday if that works better for you.
• Please be sure to only link up if you are participating in this series. Thank you!

I look forward to visiting your kitchens!

Care to take a grey and drizzly stroll through the garden? I took these pictures last week, the leaves are more colorful (and falling!) now. This will likely be the second to last time my camera comes with my into the garden for the season, things are getting very quiet out there. 

Growing up, I recall gardening season ended (in my area) with the start of school in early September. Maybe that is because people became busy with a schedule that pulled them away from home. Gears shifted. But now that I've tended this garden for a few years, I realize just how important September and October are to the overall growing season. Aside from the promising days of early spring, these last two months are my favorite time to be out there among the rows. 

Half of the garden is officially closed for the season so the chickens have been turned out to scratch and forage all the live long day. It's getting dark so quickly now that it is easy to miss the perfect timing for moving them to the coop for the night. The other day we went up to move them from garden to coop and they decided to put themselves to bed, roosting among the remaining tomato cages. It was quite a sight!

The remaining half still holds growing beds of dark leafy greens, beets, lettuce, carrots, rutabaga, and a few leeks that didn't get very big. Late blight finally came, the latest arrival we've ever seen. I almost thought we were in the clear. I pulled all the remaining green tomatoes and will attempt to ripen them inside. Blight will appear on most of them within a few days, but some will ripen without. I made a great deal of ketchup and salsa already, but no marina sauce yet. I've been freezing the remaining whole paste tomatoes as they ripen and will make all the sauce that I'm able in a few weeks when they are all ripe. Thankfully, prior to the arrival of late blight and the subsequent overnight demise of our 30 plus tomato plants, it was a pretty good season.

I received and email from High Mowing stating that our garlic has shipped so that is something to look forward to. I saved about ten heads for seed from this year's harvest. It will probably take me a few years to have a large enough garlic bed to keep all of our own seed. But I think it'll feel pretty darn good when that happens.

Each year I try to pay attention to the comments my gardening friends make regarding plant varieties that they are really enjoying - so I can add them to my garden the following year.  Nothing too crazy, just a  handful of new varieties. So far, new seeds to try for 2015 include:

• Bangles - tiny bell peppers
• Purple Cauliflower
• Borage (I've grown this in so many places over the years, never here!)
• Dahlia

Have you grown any stand out varieties this year that you'd recommend? I'd love to hear about it!

Each day is a little more quiet out there. Soft and golden. Grey and moody. Rain is coming later tonight, I'm going to get a pot of stew simmering and bake an apple pie.  October begs for such things.

Capturing my love of whole foods, combined with the activity of a bustling kitchen.

A weekly collection of photos from the center of my home. 

*     *     *     *     *

• October seems to give full permission for things like Shepherd's Pie, a canner working non-stop, apple hand pies and roasted potatoes. Truth is we're up for those things any day of the year, but it all seems especially right come October.

• I share this tid-bit every year, I think... but did you know Art Garfunkel said he determines his "success" in life by whether or not he has to work in the months of May and October. I might stretch that to June and October, but this month is meant for savoring. No time for work! (Don't we all wish?)

• I have one more bushel of Macs to turn into sauce then it's on to the pie fillings. I hope to provide a good pie filling recipe for you all next week, as many of you asked. I don't usually follow a specific recipe so I'll pay extra careful attention to what I do and write it down. Also, I'll put together a recipe for those hand pies too... because, hand pies.
  

• The Shepherd's Pie was a bunch of veggies from the garden sauteed in fat of your choice - carrots, peppers, onion, garlic, peas added at the end. I removed the veggies and browned some pastured ground beef. The veggies were added back into the pan of cooked meat along with a pint of homemade chicken broth (reserved 1/3 cup cold and mixed with 2 tbs arrowroot, then added it to the pan as well), sea salt, pepper, thyme. Simmer for a minute or so until sauce thickens. Thinly slice a bunch of potatoes and layer on top (the thinner you slice, the faster they cook). Season potatoes with sea salt and pepper. Bake at 350F for 30-40 minutes, depending on potatoes being cooked through (if you saute everything in an cast iron skillet you can bake it right in there, no need for a separate casserole dish). Let sit for 10 minutes then serve.

Each day I find myself snapping a picture or two in the kitchen - a pile of ingredients, a table waiting for us to gather around, a sink full of soapy dishes, a cup of tea, dinner as it comes out of the oven - simple, everyday moments in the kitchen. These photos serve as a reminder of days gone by and as encouragement to carry on in this busy kitchen of ours when inspiration is lacking.

Every Thursday morning I'll post my photos from the week, words or recipes optional. Just glimpses into my kitchen and you're invited to do the same!

It's simple to join in:

• On your blog, post photos taken in your kitchen throughout the week.
• Words aren't necessary, your photos will tell the the story. Some of us enjoy adding a few thoughts to accompany the images... the choice is yours. 
• Feel free to grab the brief description at the top of this post, or add a few words of your own to explain the project.)
• Link back to this post so your readers can visit This Week In My Kitchen and join in. 
• Come back here and link up your current post (not your main blog) so we can all visit your kitchen!
• Join me every Thursday or the occasional Thursday if that works better for you.
• Please be sure to only link up if you are participating in this series. Thank you!

I look forward to visiting your kitchens!