BEAUTY AND SURPRISES

It was early November, when I first came into the Kickapoo Valley...everything brown and dreary.  Still I recall the vivid beauty of this area, I remember how despite the monochromatic colors, it was stunning.

Yesterday Freddie and I hiked our property and were confronted with beauty unending.  

A small oak tree dazzles with huge orange colored leaves...

We came upon another oak whose trunk (beautiful in its own right) was almost nothing, in no spot was it any thicker than about 2", and yet...

its upper story was filled with leaves...I found it unbelievable that it could still be alive...what a strong urge nature provides.

On one part of our 207 acre property is a lovely pinery...

...I am glad I randomly choose this bright colored hat for this hiking trip, as unbeknown to us

well camouflaged hunters were staked out on our property...

...and this morning!!!!

the first gentle, lovely snowfall...

that will stick around for at least a couple of hours.

Not that I am so ready for winter, but then again, perhaps I am.  

THE GLORY OF LEFTOVERS

Frosty mornings, cool, crisp air...a certain call for comfort foods to round out the day.  Tuesday morning began this way longing for something warm and comforting for the evening meal.  I let my thoughts meander around the pantry and fridge for several hours until it finally came to me...risotto!  Despite being an Italian dish, I never grew up eating risotto, but have come to love its creamy, aromatic, richness.

For supper, carnival squash risotto, begun with onions, garlic, with the last liquid absorbed being a good white wine.  It was delicious served with braised kale.  Now what to do with the leftovers:

...again the mind's journey took several twists and turns before settling on...

risotto/kale layered with phyllo dough and plenty of melted butter...

served with a fresh spinach salad liberally sprinkled with cut up apples, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. 

Another night of warm, comforting food, which tasted just a bit elegant.  Served with a good glass of white wine (14 Hands Chardonnay) and warm crusty bread...oh, we eat so well!

STILL GARDEN FRESH

It is clearly November with its cool, dreary, misty days.  Some things still remain, at least for a short time, in the garden, namely kale, leeks and carrots.  Having some freshly dug leeks and carrots in the house, they kept dancing here and there in my mind, searching for just the right way to combine them...and I think I found it.

I decided to caramelize the leeks.  I cleaned them thoroughly, cut off the green tops, and thinly sliced them lengthwise.  Melt butter in a pan until bubbly, add leeks on low heat, and saute for about 30-45 minutes, adding a bit more butter if it gets dry.

In the meantime, gently steam cleaned and sliced carrots with about a tsp. of fresh thyme, until just able to pierce with a fork.  Add good white wine to the leeks and let slowly evaporate, then add the drained carrots and saute.  Add the reserved carrot water if they get dry.  

...sprinkle parsley over top just before serving...

Earlier in the day saute onions in olive oil, when onions are soft and yellowish, add plenty of cut up garlic and saute briefly, add lots of fresh, clean, kale, stems removed and cut into smallish pieces.  Saute until desired doneness.  Meanwhile cook potatoes in a small amount of salted water until done.  Mash with a bit of milk, salt/pepper and mix with the kale.

Spread in a buttered casserole dish, dot with butter and bake at 350 degrees for about 20-30 minutes.

One of my very favorite meals that I recall with vivid culinary delight is chicken cutlets.  They are as delicious today, if not more so, than when I was a child.  Take organic boneless chicken breasts put between layers of waxed paper and pound until thin.  In  one shallow dish have one egg (a little water added) slightly beaten, and in another shallow dish place a good amount of seasoned Italian breadcrumbs.  Dip the now thin chicken into the egg (both sides) and then dredge in the breadcrumbs (both sides), and refrigerate for about 1 hour.  About 20 minutes before serving, heat canola oil in a large frying pan, when hot add the chicken, fry until nicely browned and turn and brown the other side.  Chicken should cook in about 15 minutes or less, check for doneness by slicing into the thickest part, if it is fully white, it is done.

Served with warm crusty bread, this meal simply can't be beat.

It is such a pleasure in so many ways to prepare food straight from the garden!  I remain grateful to this earth and all it provides and for the ability to prepare and serve it.  As the growing season reaches its culmination, I regret the absence of fresh vegetables (especially tomatoes, of which I have not had my fill) but also know that my larder is full!  Honestly, when preparing/serving a meal like this, I feel a fullness of heart and know that all things are intertwined.  I can only hope that my grandmother Gennuso,  my mother and my father, from whom I learned the love and respect of gardening and food, wherever they may be, know I honor them and the earth, too.

PIPPI'S HORSE

Finally it is the week of Halloween.  I have never been one to decorate and/or really celebrate Halloween, but I have always loved the challenge of making a Halloween costume!  When my daughter was a child Halloween (and birthdays for cake making) were nearly my favorite times of year.  

Thankfully I have granddaughters who live nearby and want Nonnie to make their costumes.  This year Iris, still deep into Pippi Longstocking, will wear the Pippi 'outfit' she put together for her birthday.  Elsa, the younger, has decided that she wants to be Pippi's dappled gray horse.  

Mmmm, was my first thought, perhaps I can't pull this one off!  However, I loved the thinking and thinking process, how would I do this?? how would I do that?? and in the end, it all came together quite well.

I gave Elsa this costume about two weeks before Halloween, and she has worn and played with it so much, I have already done repairs to it.

I hope it is a long, long time before they decide to make their own costumes, or give them up altogether.

So, I sit in my workshop this morning wondering now that is done, what next?  I am truly excited to get back to the looms as it has been a few months since I did any weaving, but first, the garlic plot, which needs prepping and then the planting and covering.  My Monday project!

 

AN ABUNDANCE OF APPLES

When we first moved to this farm about 2o years ago, there were three apple trees in a clearing up a steep and long hill behind the house.  These trees served us well for years, and I know they had been there for years and years.  They are no longer there, having succumbed to age and weather.  We do have a few wild apple trees around this 207 acre property, but none of them are all that great tasting.  However, I have a neighbor that has a small, diverse orchard in her front yard...and she is the most generous person I believe I know.  Her apples are prolific this year...and she invites anyone to come pick.  Many people have taken her up on this offer, and despite several gleanings, her orchard looks nearly untouched.

The apple on the right is a very large Honey-crisp (not from my neighbor's) and I mean it is large, the apple on the left is a Wolf River apple, and it is gigantic.  She does have Wolf River trees.

I have made applesauce twice now, and canned it both times, knowing that in the winter this is going to be a real treat!

Steamed and mashed apples with the addition of a bit of honey as a sweetener....

...filling the jars...

...ready for storage...

I must say I cannot get all the apples still in her orchard out of my mind, not wanting them to go to waste, feeling that I must collect them and can some more.  I know this is a bit 'mad' as we truly do not need anymore, but still the thought haunts me.  

We have had several pies, I have dried several quarts of apples, I will freeze some apple slices for winter baking, and still there are countless apples.  

How blessed we are for such bounty and the time and desire to preserve.  I feel my grandmother, aunts and mother 'standing' alongside me. I feel their presence and recall with great fondness and gratitude all of the days of my youth when I stood alongside them as they preserved their bounty! 

SUPER SUNDAY AFTERNOON

Absolutely lovely afternoon, fall colors at their peak, and an afternoon spent fishing...well some people fished...

....this is me and what I did...

Drove to Warrens marsh with the Arch family, and had a wonderful time chatting, fishing and picnicking!

...baiting the hooks...

some more willing and able than others (Macy, in the foreground, both able and willing)

Morgan intense and focused, Nolan casting and reeling in...

A bit of a rest and a bit of food, and lots and lots of sunshine!

...a lesson in casting....

Grandpa watches over Nolan...

and the almost teenager can be found, after her intense bout with fishing...

...warm, cozy and all tucked in...

A great afternoon spent with family!!!  Truly lovely.

PASTA SUPPER 2013

Each year for the past eleven years, the Kickapoo Valley Reserve has held the Dam Challenge, a canoe 7 miles, bike 14 miles and run 3 miles Triathlon...and a Pasta Supper the night before.  Unfortunately due to bad weather the 2013 Dam Challenge had to be cancelled.  However, the Pasta Supper went on as usual, although with a smaller turnout.

In the first years of the Pasta Supper I made the sauces and the breads, but a few years in, a local Italian restaurant began donating the sauces.  This year, as they were unable to do that, I took over again...much to my delight.

Some of the thirty loaves of bread to be buttered and spread with garlic powder.

It took me three days, using these two kettles each day, to make enough spaghetti sauce ('suco' as we called it growing up in our Sicilian household) for the event.

The kettle begins with plain canned tomato sauce

and then...

hamburger mixed with seasoned breadcrumbs, chopped onions, fresh parsley, Romano cheese, eggs, salt and pepper...

formed into meatballs (it ended up being close to 300 meatballs)

individually browned before being lowered gently into the simmering sauce.

Then in the Sicilian tradition,  an inexpensive beef roast, pork butt, and Italian sausages are browned before being added to the sauce...

Below are five of the 14 buckets of meat sauce and 3 buckets of meatless sauce made and frozen until the event.

Ready for the first customers...

...help in the 'kitchen' preparing the salad...

Despite about only half of the normal crowd, we did pretty well.  We were able to sell quart containers of the extra sauce and loaves of bread to eager diners before they left for the evening.

Some people believe this is a daunting task I take on, but really it is simply just fun for me.  It is one of the things I most look forward to each year, making food for a crowd.