Food, Glorious Food

Fall is the time when food is abundant, when you know that the freshness of some foods will be waning and when you justify eating more to pack on the pounds to stay warmer through the colder months. One's appetite is sharper as well, it seems.

We brought up what will probably be the last of the crabs as the nights are getting much cooler.  Their shells are harder to crack as the molting season has long passed.  I picked a batch of the basil that has gone to seed to add to the lemon/butter sauce for the crab.

We also steamed some of the Swiss chard which will continue to provide us greens up until frost in a few weeks.  I drizzle a little bacon fat over the top and then salt and pepper.  It is also good with just a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.  The plants are huge this time of year and since the weather is cool they are so tender, even the stems!  The rest of the meal was leftover potatoes gratin.  Potatoes from a distant farmer.

For dessert I made a peach pie with some puff pastry on top.  The peaches were a bit of a disappointment as the farmer had placed them in coolers since they had been picked earlier.  I was pushing the season, I guess.

The night before we had breaded/fried eggplant.  We have fixed it a dozen ways this late summer and early fall and this was the last way.  Freshly picked eggplant is so much richer in that subtle flavor than anything I have purchased at the store.

There are still too many tomatoes and we have been too busy to process although hubby has been busy drying the hot peppers to warm our tummy in soups and sauces throughout the winter.  The rainy weather had done a number on our tomatoes, but they seem to bounce back at last.

I did make time to make carrot cake as we had lots of carrots.  They are a little tough in our garden, but when you take a food blender to them and put them in their place, they make delicious cake!  And making this cake makes a delicious mess!

Now that I am well-fed,  I am off to staff a garden booth at one of the events at the museum for the afternoon and see if I can shed all these pounds I have added.  It will be cooler than I had hoped, so need to get out that old turtleneck and take a nice freshly picked apple with me for lunch and answer questions such as "Why can't I get my spinach to grow?"