Weeding: First frost was Friday morning.  I discovered this Friday afternoon.  On Thursday I had the thought "I should take a picture of the compost tomato plants" because they were so huge and so heavy with fruits.  I also figured I needed to harvest a few more cherry tomatoes, if not more Lemon Boys. So Friday I went out with my camera and harvest basket (really a shallow vinyl bag), only to discover the plants were kaput and the tomatoes not looking so good (oozing a bit).  That afternoon, I battled the gnats (which apparently did NOT die with the frost) and wrestled the huge plants out and into the tarp bag to haul to the yard waste site.  Fifteen plants in there.  FIFTEEN!  And I tried to clean up as many fallen fruits as I could, but they are small and got squished.  So I fully expect more volunteers next year, not that I am complaining.  Those were truly the best tomatoes we grew this year.  They did not suffer blossom end rot or whatever it is called.  They were beautiful fruits.  And so tasty.
Now that corner of the yard just looks empty.  No more 4'x4' tomato shrub.  The end of the season is so sad.  I do still have the mums and asters lighting up the sides of the house with Viking spirit, though.  Gotta love late season blooms!

Eating:  We went to Nectar last night, just for happy hour.  If you don't know us, you may not know about Nectar though I am 99% positive everyone who reads this blog knows me and knows of our obsession for this fantastic wine bar/bistro with the chef-driven menu that changes every 2 weeks.  Anyway, it is the shrimp cakes I wanted to write about.  We have had the crab cakes in the past and they were very good.  But the shrimp cakes are even better.  I don't know how Chef Kevin makes them (will need to ask when we are there for dinner next week), but they are so full of meat and have very little filler (crumbs, etc.).  They taste absolutely divine, better than I imagined shrimp cakes could taste.  And the chili-lime cream sauce they were served with (a small amount drizzled on the plate, not an overpowering puddle of it) SO good.  A little heat, very finely chopped onions and peppers (so small and unobtrusive that E actually ate them), added just the right zip and flavor. If you ever find yourself in or near Osseo, MN, for any reason, stop by Nectar.  Tell Justin, the bartender, that you know E and order any one of the starters or entrees.  You will not be disappointed.  We never have been.

We signed up to take a cooking class.  E found a Groupon and we are going to learn 5 sauces, including Hollandaise, bechamel, and vinagrette (can't think of the other 2 right off the top of my head), and make dishes to go with them.  We are really looking forward to this class.  Sadly, it is not until December.  E swears he is not a foodie.  But he really is.  I at least admit it.

The roast chicken of last week later became chicken noodle soup.  I simmered the carcass in water (with chicken base, herbs, carrots, celery and onion) for a while until the meat literally fell off the bones.  Then chopped the chicken into bite-size pieces, added corn (which had been frozen shortly after roasting the fresh corn from the CSA), green and wax beans (also from CSA by way of the freezer) and some thick "home-style" frozen noodles (cooked according to package directions). I could have made by own noodles with my grandma's recipe but since I was cooking while also working, I opted for the easier method.  The pot of soup made several meals (we had soup 2 nights, 2 bowls each person, each night, then I had soup for lunches 3 times).  It seemed to get better each time we ate it.  Is there anything better than homemade soup when the temperature outside starts to drop?

Yesterday I mixed up some applesauce muffin batter and we had fresh-from-the-oven muffins each morning this weekend.  Here is my recipe, tweaked from a couple recipes I found on-line in various places (not giving credit for the recipes because, really, a muffin recipe is a muffin recipe and I took parts of different recipes to make this one).  A couple weeks ago I had made a small batch of applesauce with the assistance of a 4-almost-5-year-old.  I used this for the muffins.  We added streusel because we like streusel.

Applesauce Streusel Muffins
Combine: 1 1/2 C flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt

Mix together: 2 eggs
2/3 C brown sugar

Add eggs/sugar mixture to the dry ingredients.

Stir in: 6 Tbls butter, melted
1 1/2 C applesauce

Mix just until combined.

Divide batter into 12 muffin cups (or as we did, 6 muffin cups and then store the rest of the batter in the fridge until the next day).

To make streusel topping combine these ingredients and cut butter into dry ingredients until resembles crumbs:  1/4 C brown sugar
3 Tbls flour
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbls butter

Top muffins with streusel and bake for 20 minutes. 

Reading:  Treasure Island is the most recent classic.  I love it.  I am all caught up in the adventure and can't wait to keep reading to find out what happens.  It is the quintessential pirate adventure book.  And who doesn't love pirates?!?

The Saturday morning bookclub (which is now going to meet Friday evenings for dinner - can we still call it "Breakfast club" just for fun?) has chosen Haunted Ground by Erin Hart for our next read.  I read this one a few years ago for the other bookclub.  It is a mystery but I actually liked it more than I thought I would.  Maybe because it takes place in Ireland and starts with finding a perfectly preserved head in a peat bog.  And who doesn't like Ireland or heads in bogs?!?

Creating: E won tickets to an upcoming Vikings game.  So naturally he will need purple hat with braids.  We went to the store last night to pick out the right yarn colors for said hat and knitting will begin shortly.  I will try to take pictures of it as it goes.  I have no pattern but he found pictures of similar hats that he likes so we will tweak and pattern as we go.  First to measure his big head...

Sorry for the long post. I had a lot of words, apparently.

Until we read/eat again,
Hallie

Weeding: Remember when I told you about the compost tomato plants, aka volunteers?  Well I have been harvesting cherry tomatoes from this ginormous tomato shrub for weeks now, filling a 24oz cottage cheese container each time.  Today, I went to harvest (it has been about 5 days since I last picked them) and I filled 2 of them and probably enough leftover for another one (but I ran out of containers).  I also picked 4 full size 'Lemon Boy' tomatoes from another plant within the compost bin!  This was in addition to the 13 full-size Big Boy tomatoes from the garden (the plant I actually bought and put in the soil).  Tomato City, man!
I find this all quite amusing really, considering that I am supposed to either start my tomato plants inside or buy them already started, stake them, water and fertilize, etc., all summer and then protect them from the frost in the fall.  How about this instead: I don't plant them, they don't start growing until the middle of June, they get flowers on them the beginning of September, I don't cover them when it freezes, I don't water or stake or pay any attention to them, and then I harvest bushels of tomatoes in October.  I like that kind of lazy gardening.


Reading: I am over half-way through Tattoo Girl, aka The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  It is okay, still not on my list of Things I am So Glad I Read.  Will I finish by Friday at 5?  Stay tuned.

Eating:  What do I make with all those cherry tomatoes, you ask?  Well, here is one of my favorite summertime recipes, using about a cottage cheese container of cherry tomatoes.  It is another Pampered Chef recipe.  I think the real name of it is Pasta Fresca with Chicken or something like that.  I call it "that one with all the cherry tomatoes and pasta that you cook in the microwave" or something similar.

4 cloves garlic, sliced or pressed
2 C. grape or cherry tomatoes
3 C. pasta (penne) uncooked
3 C. chicken broth
3/4 C. dry white wine (or another 3/4 C. broth if you already drank all your wine)
2 C. chicken, cooked and diced
1 1/4 C. fresh basil, divided, coarsely chopped
1 oz. Parmesan cheese, grated (about 1/4 C. )

In Deep Covered Baker (or other microwavable casserole with a lid), drizzle or spritz olive oil.  Add garlic and tomatoes.  Cover.  Microwave on high for 4-5 minutes, stirring after 2 minutes.  Crush tomatoes with a spoon or similar (basically just break up the ones that haven't already exploded themselves).  Add pasta, broth, and wine.  Cover and microwave on high for 16-18 minutes or until pasta is tender, stirring after 10 minutes.  Add chicken cheese and all but 2 Tblsp. of the basil.  Stir and serve, sprinkling remaining basil on top. 

Super easy, all in one dish, doesn't heat up the kitchen at all, and the flavors are the best of summer.  If you don't have fresh basil (sad!!), you can use some dried basil instead.  I would add it when you add the broth and pasta so it has time to infuse the flavor into the pasta.  And there is plenty of time while the tomatoes and then pasta are cooking to cook the chicken breasts.  We serve this with French bread so we can soak up every last drop of the juice.  It makes about 6 generous servings, so we always have lots of leftovers.

We are actually having this as leftovers tonight!

Until we eat or weed again,
Hallie

Eating:  Tonight we are making a recipe that we first tried a couple weeks ago, Tagliatelle with Fresh Corn Pesto  http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2010/08/tagliatelle_with_fresh_corn_pesto  We use fetuccini because our grocery store doesn't carry tagliatelle but whatever.  It has a great corn flavor, making terrific use of the fresh sweet corn we just can't seem to get enough of this time of year.  It has a rich creamy flavor which tastes almost like carbonara (the bacon in there helps with that taste too!), and is really pretty easy to make.  Yum... my mouth is watering just thinking about it. 
This recipe came from an issue of Bon Appetit from last summer.  They had 3 whole menus, from appetizer/first course, to entree, side dish and dessert, each featuring a different abundant summer produce item: Corn, Zucchini, and Tomatoes.  And yes, there was a corn dessert and a tomato dessert.  Both sounded quite tasty but have not yet been tried by me.
A subscription, even if just for 1 year, to a cooking magazine is a great way to introduce yourself to new recipes.  And unlike most magazines which you read and then toss, you can keep them around forever and keep trying new things, or going back to old favorites.  And they usually have pictures for all the recipes, a big plus in my book.

Reading: I am finishing up Rhoda.  She is now in her late 50s/early 60s, as spunky as ever.  The story I finished last night took place in Paris.  Now I want to go back to Paris...
I selected my book for Sunday bookclub.  If you recall, I was trying to decide between a classic that I loved and wanted to re-read, or a classic that I had not read but think I should.  I ended up picking Pride and Prejudice, the one I should have read but have not.  The reason I went with this one is that it has been on my shelf to read for about 5 years and on my list of "books to pick for bookclub" for about 3 years.  What better time than "The Year of Classics" to pick it?  I don't anticipate loving it but at least when I am done, I can check it off my list.  And isn't that really what it is all about?  Checking things off our lists?  I love lists.

Weeding: The new veggie bed is done (need to get pics on this blog) and waiting to be filled with soil/compost.  It is big enough to bury a body in.  Not that I need to bury a body...
Did I ever tell you about our "volunteer" tomato plants that started growing in one of the compost bins?  It is one of the inactive bins, one where we are not currently adding to it or doing anything with it.  We noticed there were some things growing in there and realized they were tomato plants.  We let them go, just to see what they would do.  We now have at least 3 giant plants, one with cherry tomatoes on it, another with larger tomatoes (type yet to be determined) and probably another cherry (it is hard to see what is going on in there, really).  I harvested the first 6 "compost tomatoes" last night!  Don't know that we will get a whole lot out of them before it freezes but does it really matter?  They were free!  I love volunteer plants.  Last year I added some compost when transplanting some plants including day lilies.  A while later I noticed something growing next to a daylily.  I let it grow to see what it might turn out to be (didn't appear to be a noxious weed, so why not?).  A few months later, I harvested an acorn squash out of the daylilies.  And boy, was it good!

Off to cook dinner.
Hallie