Eating Pumpkins

Whenever I look at the pumpkins stored in my pantry, I laugh. I get the chuckles because Barbara Kingsolver in her book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle states so eloquently our relationship with our food, specifically pumpkins, when she says,
"Every single recipe started with the same ingredient, '1 can (15 oz) pumpkin.' I could see the shopping lists now:
1 can pumpkin (for curry soup)
1 of those big orangey things (for doorstep)."
She laments that we are perfectly capable of hollowing out and carving faces into this huge vegetable, but that we can't seem to just cut the thing up and eat it.

Admittedly, I only discovered the wonders of pumpkins (and other winter squashes) once I moved here 5 years ago and started using a CSA. I had grown up in a household where fabulous meals were cooked from scratch, but we still only used canned pumpkin (and pretty much just for pumpkin pie). This left me clueless. Once I started receiving pumpkins along with a variety of other mystery giants in my CSA box, I found myself doing a lot of internet research, and I discovered an amazing world of atrociously vitamin-rich and versatile tastiness. I also learned that I find it easier to cut open a winter squash using a sturdy paring knife rather than a big French chef and that all winter squashes have edible seeds. If those seeds make it off of the baking sheet because they have survived snacking, they go great into any dish where you might use nuts or sunflower seeds.

Here are links to a couple of my favorite pumpkin recipes:
Three Sisters Stew
This vegetarian stew can be a completely local dish if you don't use the cumin and black pepper. Either way it's delicious. I made this last year as an appetizer soup for Thanksgiving dinner.

Spicy Enchiladas with Pumpkin Sauce
You can do so much with this dish. It can be made ahead of time to fit your schedule. It is delicious with chicken, pork, beans, or turkey. I've used leftover holiday turkey as the filler many times now. This can also be 100% local if you make your own tortillas.

Pork with Mashed Pumpkin
This dish is fabulous, but it is also more time-consuming that the others listed above. Since it takes so much time, I typically double it so I can freeze some and have it ready-made after a great day of skiing or snowshoeing. Again, this is an almost completely local dish unless you count the cumin, coriander, and vinegar.

Feeding the Baby

When I first gave birth to my little one, folks would often have a great time pointing out that my baby had the most local diet of all. Since I was breastfeeding, this was quite true and keeping my baby on a local diet didn't take too much thought or preparation. Now that he is almost 8 months old, he is eating more and more solid food (meaning not just milk).

Before I gave birth, I vowed that I would provide my baby with the healthiest food I could provide--organically grown and as fresh as possible. I splurged on this special little baby food processor and started making plans. The grocery store aisles provide plenty of inspiration as I peruse the labels on food jars appropriate to his age and gather ideas. Unwittingly, these baby food companies have suggested all of the following local delicacies to me: winter squash, apples, pears, peaches, green beans, carrots, and potatoes. Seasonal produce provides more inspiration and far more variety in his diet as I can feed him kale, parsnips, beets, and turnips as well. As he continues to grow I'll be able to add in chicken, turkey, pasta, yogurt, cheese, and cottage cheese--all local!

Does it take extra time? Of course! Most local eating does. However, it's really not too bad. While the little man plays with his sippy cup in his highchair, I cut up the produce of choice and set it to steam if necessary.

Once it's finished steaming, I dump the contents and the steam water out into the blender and mush it up. After that some food goes into a container to be eaten that day (or immediately) or I put it into ice cube trays.

Later the cubes are tossed into Ziplocs and labeled. Defrosting is easy in either the steamer or the microwave.

Perhaps the most time-consuming part of this whole process has been the research. The more common baby care books and websites stick to the usual baby food staples--prunes, carrots, peas... A high-strung mama like myself could go crazy wondering if she is going to poison her child with kale since it just doesn't appear in the Gerber or Earth's Best selections. Fortunately, I have found some great sources. The Wholesome Baby Food website has offered tons of suggestions and, more importantly, helped me with serving sizes and answered my burning questions about feeding my child dairy. Homemade Baby Food Recipes also offers great suggestions and includes foods such as bell peppers and eggplant--some more great produce that just seems to be missing from those little jars in the grocery.

I'm pretty excited about introducing my little guy to our amazing world of food, and I'm glad that he won't have to miss out on parsnips!

The Last of the Fresh Peaches

The time arrived. Those last beautiful peaches that we picked at the start of October waited and waited in our refrigerator drawer. I had canned and dried all that I was going to, and we munched through the picked peaches one by one. Sometimes they ended up in oatmeal, sometimes they served as a refreshing snack, and on a couple of occasions they become the stars in Oatmeal Peach Betty. Now, it was time for that most special dish that marks the end of peach season--Homemade Peach Pie. I use a recipe that only strays from local goods for two ingredients. Otherwise, it stays on target, and I find it absolutely delicious.

I double the Butter Flaky Pie Crust recipe found on this blog and use the Peach Filling Recipe detailed below.
Honey Peach Pie Filling
6 cups sliced, unpeeled peaches
1/2 cup honey
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp flour

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Mix all ingredients together in a medium-sized bowl.
1. Add flour if mixture seems watery.
2. Pour into unbaked pie shell.
3. Roll out second half of pie dough.
4. Place on top and twist pie edges together.
5. Slice a breathing hole in top of pie.
6. Bake 10 minutes.
7. Lower oven temperature to 350 degrees and continue to bake 30 minutes more, until golden.
8. Allow to cool at least 1 hour before serving. (I didn't. Nothing bad happened.)


Now, you'll notice that my crust is pretty bulky. Sometimes I use the extra dough to make some cookies and keep my pie edge nice and slim.

The cookies are so beautifully simple that I'm asking myself right now why I didn't make any this time around. I think I was just a little too excited about the pie.

Pinwheel Pie Crust Cookies
Roll out the leftover pie dough.
Melt butter and spread over the dough using a pastry brush.
Add other flavorings as desired. Some great choices include honey, mashed berries, or very thinly slice apples, peaches, or pears.
Start at one side and roll the dough into a tight spiral.
Using a sharp knife, cut the dough into 1/4" pinwheels.
Lay these flat on a baking sheet and cook at 400 degrees.
I don't know for how long--I just watch them in anticipation and then eat them all up very quickly.

Enjoy!

Pollo con Crema

Last night I needed to use up the last of a chicken that I'd roasted a few days back. I most certainly did not want to go shopping but was still determined to do this delicious chicken some justice. Then, I was gifted with a memory of this lovely little Mexican restaurant that we used to frequent in Cleveland, Ohio and my favorite dish there, Pollo con Crema, which is basically chicken, onions, and peppers in a creamy, cheesy sauce. Perfect! I have tons of onions in the bottom drawer of my fridge and peppers that I pulled before the last frost hit. For my cream sauce I used a variation on a White Sauce recipe to which I regularly turn--found in my worn copy of the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book, 11th ed. Here's how I whipped this up:

Ingredients (amounts approximate)
1 white onion, sliced
1 chocolate pepper (medium intensity), sliced
2 jalapenos, chopped finely
1 1/2 cups chicken

Saute the onion for a couple of minutes, then throw in the peppers. Add the chicken right before starting the sauce in a separate pan.

While the vegetables are softening, make up the sauce.
Ingredients
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup grated cheese
(Be sure to have these ingredients ready to go ahead of time--cooking show style. Things move quickly while making this sauce, and you don't want it to burn.)

In a small saucepan melt butter. Stir in flour and salt. Stir in milk all at once. Cook and stir until sauce begins to thicken. Add cheese and continue to stir until bubbly. Cook and stir one minute more.

Pour this sauce over the chicken and vegetables.
Cook on medium-low heat, stirring occasionally.






Here it is, bubbling on the stove and almost ready for eating!