Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

Toasted pumpkin seeds, or pepitas, make a tasty and healthy snack. And why throw away all of those seeds when you carve your jack o'lantern? It does take some time to make them, but they are worth it!

The first step to making toasted pumpkin seeds is to rinse all of the pulp off of the seeds. This is the time-consuming part! Next, you need to let them dry. I like to wrap them in a dish towel and swing the towel around a few times to get most of the water off of them. Then I spread them out on wax paper (I've tried paper towels, but they tend to stick to the paper) and let them dry overnight.

When you are ready to toast the seeds, preheat the oven to 250 degrees. You need to mix the seeds with oil or butter and whatever seasoning you like. I mix the seeds of one pumpkin with 2 tbsp. of olive oil and a teaspoon of garlic salt. Toss in a bowl until all the seeds are coated. Spread them out on a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake for one hour, tossing them every fifteen minutes. They should be golden brown when done.

Cool the seeds before eating. You can store them in an airtight container for 3 months, or refrigerate up to one year. But they probably won't last that long!!

Happy Halloween!!

Lessons from the Garden

As colorful leaves begin to fall from the trees, and the cool autumn temperatures announce the end of the growing season, I've been thinking about what I have learned from my little garden. A garden is a grand teacher, and my little plot has taught me a lot.

I've learned that with a little planning and thought, anyone can grow healthy, organic food. There are many methods of gardening, and the key is to find the method that works in the time and space that you have. Square foot gardening worked great for me. And if I can do it, with my notorious black thumb, anyone can!

Gardens are very forgiving. I made several mistakes along the way, but my vegetables grew in spite of them. Gardens don't demand perfection, only care.

My little garden also taught me that this wonderful place that I live in has a rhythm all its own. Plants will sprout and bloom at the right time - no sooner, no later. The timing in my garden may be different than the timing in someone else's, but it is perfect for this place. I just need to trust and be patient, and the fruits of my labor will come. And isn't that a perfect metaphor for life?

Perhaps the greatest lesson that I have learned during this adventure is the true love of food. When you really love food, you care about where it comes from and how it was grown. You treat it with respect, because you realize what a blessing it is. You savor each bite with a grateful heart. And when we slow down and approach what we eat with care, we then take better care of ourselves - physically and spiritually.

I am already excited about next year's garden. I plan to build one or two more gardening boxes. I am going to try my hand at a larger variety of vegetables and also plant some heirloom tomatoes! This year's garden isn't done yet, though. I'm still enjoying a few vine-ripened tomatoes and green peppers - and keeping a watchful eye on the weather. :) It will be sad when the last of the garden is gone, but that, too, will be a lesson.

The Last of the Basil

Now that we've had our first light frost, it's time for me to use up the last of my herb garden. My basil did wonderfully late in the season, and most of it survived the frost. Yesterday, I spent the afternoon making pesto with it. I love to eat pesto over pasta, and there are several recipes that call for pesto as well. It can be frozen for up to six months, and freezing it in ice cube trays is a convenient way to store it. You can just grab a couple of pesto cubes at a time.

Traditionally, pesto is made with pinenuts. I've never had much luck finding pinenuts in this area, though. The few times our local grocery store has had them, they were in very small bags, stale and overpriced. I started making my pesto without pinenuts, and later I read that this is how the French make it, calling it "pistou." Pesto is very easy to make. No cooking!

Basil Pesto (without pinenuts)
makes approx. 1 1/4 cups

3 c. fresh basil leaves
3 cloves garlic
3/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 c. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth and creamy. Use immediately or freeze.

Green Tomato Salsa

The weather forecast for tonight is possible frost in outlying areas. Oh, my! I still have a lot of tomatoes and bell peppers growing in my garden. I'll have to cover my garden tonight. I've tried a couple of green tomato recipes. The first was for a green tomato breakfast cake. I wasn't very impressed with it. But I have developed a green tomato salsa that I like. You can adjust how hot the salsa is with your choice of chili peppers. Most of the heat is in the seeds, so you can also choose to include the seeds or not.

Green Tomato Salsa
makes approx. 2 cups

2 med. green tomatoes, cored and diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 med. yellow onion, diced
3 chili peppers, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cumin
2 tsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. water
2 tsp. lime juice
1/2 tsp. sugar
2 tsp. oregano

1. Combine tomatoes, bell pepper, onion, chili peppers, garlic, salt, cumin, olive oil and water in a large sauce pan. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook for 10 minutes.

2. Stir in remaining ingredients and cook for 5 more minutes. Adjust seasoning if desired. Cool completely.

Fast "Food" Experiment

Food should be alive, and therefore it should die.

                                                             - Michael Pollan

Artist Sally Davies' Happy Meal experiment has been getting a lot of media attention lately. But if you haven't seen it, you really should. Davies bought a McDonald's Happy Meal six months ago, and instead of decaying, (as food should!), it only hardened and became like plastic. Draw your own conclusions!!

Daily Mail article about the Happy Meal Project

Green Tomatoes

It's hard to believe that October is already here! Things have been so busy around here that September was a blur. The weather has suddenly become very fall-like, and I'm wondering if all the tomatoes growing on my vines are going to have a chance to ripen. Fried green tomatoes are, of course, a classic way to eat those unripe tomatoes, but I have found tons of other recipes on the internet. Salsa, pickles, relish and even cakes! I'm going to try out some of these recipes over the next few weeks. I'll share any good ones that I find. If you know of a good green tomato recipe, please share!!