Archive for September, 2009
For a brief moment in time I rented a house with a huge Italian Prune Plum tree in the backyard. When the plums were ready, they would fall off the tree and knock me on the head as if to say, “Hey, pay attention to me!” And when I finally obliged, I was pleasantly surprised that the tart but sweet egg-shaped beauts are not the messy drippy plums, but neat and organized, offering fabulousness and no muss. So we climbed up the tree and shook the branches to get a bounty to eat and we left the rest to the birds.
So when I bought my own house, the first thing we bought for the yard was a prune plum tree. It is now a member of the family. Sitting right by the compost heap, it gets regular organic feedings and enjoys a yearly pruning (snicker). Then the question begs, what to do with hundreds of plums? Last year I made preserves with vanilla and orange. This year it was, Plum Apple Bran Muffins, Chinese Plum Sauce and the most amazing torte. All were delicous but the torte was such a hit the first time I made it (on Thursday) that I remade it for the harvest party (Sunday) at the community garden. The recipe is here: The Original Plum Torte.
It’s easy and tasty, and if you have some extra prune plums, give it a try. I’m glad I was encouraged to!
September 28 2009 | Canning and Growing Food and Harvest and Photography | 2 Comments »
This was originally printed in the New York Times, Wednesday September 9, 1992 in an article called Eating Well by Marian Burros.
Ingredients:
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3/4 c sugar
- 1/2 c unsalted butter
- 1 c flour, sifted
- 1 tsp baking powder
- Pinch salt, optional
- 2 eggs
- 12 Italian prune plums
- Sugar and lemon juice for topping
- 1 tsp cinnamon, or to taste
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugar in a bowl. Add flour, baking powder, salt and eggs and beat well. Spoon the batter into an 8”, 9”, or 10” spring form pan. Split and pit the plums and place the halves, skin side up, on top of the batter. Sprinkle lightly with sugar and lemon, depending o the sweetness of the fruit. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake about an hour. Remove and cool; refrigerate or freeze if desired. Or cool to lukewarm and then serve plain or with whipped cream. Yield: 8 servings. Note: to freeze, double wrap torte in aluminum foil place in plastic bag, and seal. To serve, defrost and reheat briefly at 300 degrees.
For variation:
Strawberry Coconut Torte
Blueberry Lime Torte
Whole Wheat Caramelized Fig Torte with Amaretto Caramel
September 28 2009 | Baking and Harvest and Recipes | 3 Comments »
These sunflowers blew down from the wind last night so I put them in a vase in front of a royal blue painting. The combination turned out stunning.
September 20 2009 | Flowers and Photography | No Comments »
At the end of June I posted a summary of my 2008 Topsy Turvy failure and my 2009 outline for success in Topsy Turvy: Ugly as Stink But Good Tomatoes.
And a sucess it was! In August and September, I have had more tomatoes than I knew what to do with. It’s mid- September, and they are still going strong. I walk by and pick a few off for snacks, cook some, freeze some, dry some, and give them away and still I have tons leftover.
So now I spend my rockin’ weekends putting them by in various ways. These Sweet Heart Grape Heirlooms are so sweet and meaty that I just couldn’t bear freezing them. So the lucky fellas got oven-dried overnight and will be preserved in olive oil for pizzas and pasta.
September 19 2009 | Gardening and Growing Food and Harvest | No Comments »
Ingredients:
- grape or cherry tomatoes
- coarse salt
- olive oil
- fresh herbs
Directions:
Wash, dry and half the tomatoes. Arrange tomatoes cut-side up on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt. Dry in the oven at 175 degrees F for 6-8 hours. After you have done it a few times, you’ll know how long it takes and you may be able to leave them overnight safely. I find mine take about 8-hours. Pack into a jar with some fresh herbs & olive oil. Refridgerate and start enjoying. Note: these aren’t meant for long term storage, so eat ‘em up (like that will be hard).
September 19 2009 | Growing Food and Harvest and Recipes | No Comments »
At my community garden, there is an organic heritage orchard with a number of large apple, pear, quince, and Asian pear trees. There is also a bunch of rows of espalier apple trees. The heritage apple varieties on the espaliers are so unique that I thought it would be fun to pick up the fallen apples and make an applesauce with the 40 or so different flavours. I was right, it was fun. Cutting open the apples, fearing a worm, but finding crisp white or golden or even pink flesh was a thrill. The flavour? Well, the richness and zing they provide to the final applesauce is magnificent. I’ve posted the recipe here so that no more poor fallen apples will ever have to go uneaten.
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Fallen apples from the Community Garden’s Heritage Orchard
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A motley crew of apples
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This amazing apple was not much to look at but when I cut it open…PINK!
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Cooking the apples to make one delicious sauce
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The final product – Fallen Applesauce
Fallen Applesauce Recipe
- 1 crate fallen apples
- apple cider
- water
- 1-2 cups sugar (many of my apples were sweet, so I used less than a cup of sugar. Plus I like it to taste true to the apples).
- cinnamon sticks, ground cloves, ground nutmeg
Directions:
- Wash, core and peel the apples (cut out worms or any bruising) only use what you would eat fresh. No need to peel the apples!
- Cook the apples, sugar, cinnamon sticks and spices slowly in a cup of cider and a cup of water. Add more liquid, sugar and/or spices as you cook to get the flavour and consistency you like. Personal taste is the only rule here!
- When apples are tender, remove cinnamon sticks and set aside. Blend apples with an immersion blender until smooth. You can add the cinnamon back in now if you’d like.
- Continue to add liquid and cook the apples, until you get the consistency and flavour you like.
- Ladle into sterile jars leaving 1/4 inch of headspace.
- Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes (adjust for altitude if necessary). The applesauce can also be frozen if you prefer.
September 18 2009 | Canning and Community Garden and Growing Food and Harvest and Photography and Recipes | 2 Comments »
August was such a busy month I didn’t get many pictures of the garden. But I saw the Japanese Anemones (aka Japanese Windflower) reaching for the clouds and I am reinspired!
- Reach for the clouds
It’s September. End of gardening season. Officially it’s still summer for a few days, but it’s colder, and darker, and everything is slowing down (well, the plants are slowing, not the crazy parents taking their kids back to school – yikes). It’s a time for new things.
For years now I’ve been using gardening as a way to connect with myself and heal. This summer I’ve been digging in the dirt, tenderly tending to my plants, trying out new ways to cook them, and figuring out how to save them for the winter months. I went looking for like-minded folks by posting photos of my garden and tweeting . And there are so many of us. Lots of cool people, with interesting stories, who are going back to basics: slow food, simplicity, connection with the earth. I’ve learned so much from them, and I’ve shared my tidbits. So now the gardening adventures continue after a brief break in the heat of it (literally). Gardening Therapy: not just for summer.
September 15 2009 | Gardening and Photography | No Comments »
