Last of the Summer Tomatoes

It’s been a great season for tomatoes, but the crop is pretty much finished for the year. Yesterday, I picked the last of the ripe fruit and made them into tomato soup for our supper. I love this recipe. It is simple to make, and perfect for using up a bountiful harvest or blemished tomatoes. And it tastes delicious, full of sun-ripened goodness!

Easy Fresh Tomato Soup

4 cups of diced fresh tomatoes
1 small onion, chopped
garlic to taste
2 cups chicken broth

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar, or to taste

In a stockpot, combine the tomatoes, onion, garlic and chicken broth. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and blend. (I use a hand-held blender. Quick and easy.)

Melt the butter over medium heat and stir in the flour to make a roux, or paste. Gradually whisk in a bit of the tomato mixture so that no lumps form. Then stir the roux into the soup. Season with sugar and salt to taste. Enjoy!

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Squash Harvest

With Jack Frost knock, knocking on the door at night, it was time to harvest the squash. I’m a lazy vegetable gardener and tend to stick to the crops that offer the largest reward for the least amount of effort. In this category, squash probably top the list as the lazy gardener’s dream plant. You tuck a few seeds in the ground in the spring and in the fall, you gather up your squash! I planted a couple of varieties of squash in the garden, but also had a tangle of vines tumbling over the composted manure pile. What a cornucopia!

At the top left of the photo is Heart of Gold. This variety is listed in the seed catalogue as a sweet dumpling hybrid acorn squash. I like it for its compact size, good for two people, and attractive exterior, which as the name suggests, sets off its golden interior prettily. Beside it are some decorative gourds that seeded themselves from last year’s thanksgiving decorations. The large yellow number is a golden zucchini and below it is a little butternut squash.

I picked one of the unnamed varieties and made soup with it last night. The thing I like best about squash soup is the fabulous rich colour. It tastes good, too! I usually add apples and ginger to the squash for a bit of zing. The very easiest way to serve squash is simply to halve it, scoop out the seeds, cut a small slice off the bottom so the squash half doesn’t wobble, and bake it in the oven at 350 degrees till soft, about 45 minutes. Open a can of beans in sauce and warm them up. Fill the squash cup with beans and there you have it, a nutritious delicious no-fuss meal. Serve with warm bread or a salad. If your standards lean more towards the gourmet, you can dress up the beans with onion and pepper and tomatoes, or make your own bean medley from scratch.

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Tomato Pie

No hard frost, a killer frost that coats everything in icy crystals, has arrived yet, but we’ve had a couple of cool nights. Cold enough to leave the tender tomato vines wilted, a few late tomatoes clinging to their sad stems. The tomato season is winding to an end. We’ve certainly enjoyed it. Since the first tomatoes ripened in August, we’ve had tomatoes with dinner pretty much every single night. There are so many great ways to prepare them.

One recipe that is perfect for the harvest season is Tomato Pie. Delicious! I used up some of our last tomatoes on this pie a couple of evenings ago. Are you a tomato lover? You won’t be disappointed by Tomato Pie.

Tomato Pie

1 unbaked pie crust
1/2 cup quick-cooking rice
Several large tomatoes or a bunch of little ones
1/2 onion, chopped
Tomato seasonings
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 350°

Prepare the pie crust.

Sprinkle the rice evenly inside the pie crust.
The rice will soak up the tomato juice as the pie bakes
and keep the crust from becoming soggy.

Layer in thickly sliced tomatoes and sprinkle with chopped onions.
Add seasonings. You can use chopped basil or parsley or italian seasonings,
whatever suits your taste.
Mix the mayo and shredded cheese together and dollop the mixture
over the top of the pie.

Bake for 40 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand for 10 minutes.

Serve and enjoy. We had the pie with fresh corn on the cob that I picked up at a farm stand (actually the back of a pickup truck!), some of the last of the season. Mmmm Mmmm Good.

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Sunday Treat

It was a quiet weekend. No mudpuppies. No regular puppies even. No visitors. On Sunday, the weather was dull and grey. It didn’t encourage outdoor activities. I decided it was a good afternoon to try out a recipe I bookmarked ages ago, early in the winter. It’s a recipe for Apple Walnut Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes posted by Can You Stay For Dinner. I might not have taken note of the recipe were it not for the commentary that accompanies it, in which the author shares her favorite emails, received from her mother. If you’re a mom, drop on by and enjoy the post for yourself, even if you don’t bake.

It’s the scent of the cinnamon that makes sticky rolls so irresistible, I think. I don’t spend a lot of time shopping in malls, but just before Christmas, I usually make one or two forays into the crush. The combination of tired feet, cold weather waiting outside, and the delicious smell of cinnamon wafting out into the aisle make it hard to give Cinnabon a pass.

Can You Stay gives very complete directions, and I had no trouble putting together these rolls. I was a bit skeptical about the cupcake part, but it actually worked out well. The paper liner catches the drippy, gooey leaks and keeps things tidy. I think I should have waited longer before applying the glaze, which promptly melted, but who can wait? RailGuy and I each had a roll with our tea as soon as they were cool enough to eat. Delicious!

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Blog Action Day 2010: WATER

Blog Action Day is an annual event held every October 15. The object is to unite the world’s bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day with the aim of sparking a global discussion and driving collective action. In 2010, the topic for Blog Action Day is water.

You would think that recognising access to clean water as a basic human right would be a no-brainer, right? But you would be wrong. Recognising the human right to access clean water proved very controversial. Many wealthy nations dragged their heals and fought against the UN resolution on this issue. Finally, on July 28, 2010, the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly agreed to a resolution declaring the human right to “safe and clean drinking water and sanitation.” The resolution, presented by the Bolivian government, had 122 countries vote in its favour, while 41 countries – including Canada, the UK and the U.S. – abstained.

There are many, many issues relating to water that urgently need addressing. We are blessed, here in Canada, with abundant fresh water, yet even here, clean water can be in short supply. Ninety percent of Canadians live in a narrow band along the southern edge of the country, while 60% of the freshwater supply is found to the north. This concentration of people places high demands on local water supplies and leaves little flexibility for coping with water shortages. In picking a topic for Blog Action Day, I chose an aspect of individual water use, the virtual water we eat as food.

Some of the ways in which we use water are obvious. You use water from the tap when you brush your teeth or make coffee. However, a lot of the water we use is less conspicuous. Eating meat, for example, has a huge cost to water supplies. The water needs of livestock are tremendous, far above those of vegetables or grains. An estimated 1,800 to 2,500 gallons of water go into a single pound of beef. Soy tofu produced in California requires 220 gallons of water per pound.

Meatless Monday is an international movement. The goal is to encourage the reduction of meat consumption by 15% in order to improve personal health and the health of the planet. Meatless Monday has a great website where you can obtain more information about the movement. There is also an interesting index of recipes to inspire you.

My favorite vegetarian cookbook is Ontarian Evelyn Raab’s “The Clueless Vegetarian” (Reissued in 2008 as Basic Vegetarian Cooking by Raab). Wherever you find your inspiration, join in the movement. Save water. Improve your health. Give Meatless Monday a try.

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Shanda’s Squash Bread

One of the nice things about keeping a blog is the people who drop by and share their thoughts and views. When I wrote about my squash harvest, Shanda left a comment about her Squash Bread and I asked if she would mind sharing her recipe. She very kindly took the time to write it out for me and I couldn’t wait to try it.

Here at Willow House, turkey soup follows turkey dinner as surely as day follows night. Today was soup day, and it offered a perfect opportunity to make squash bread to accompany our soup dinner. It turned out beautifully and was delicious! Thanks again, Shanda! If you would like to try it too, here is Shanda’s recipe.

Shanda’s Squash Bread

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup squash puree
1/2 cup veg oil
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup water
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped nuts (I use either toasted pecans or black walnuts, yum!)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Sift together flour, salt, sugar, and baking soda. Mix the squash, oil, eggs, water, and spices together, then combine with dry ingredients. Stir in nuts. Pour into well buttered pan (I’m serious, you better well butter it!) Bake 50-60 min or until an inserted knife comes out clean. Turn out after about 20 min to cool on rack.

This is a recipe for one loaf, just double it! If I’m gonna go though the labor for one loaf, I’ll just make it two (share or freeze).

Enjoy.

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