Today's tiny harvest - late fall carrots

Carrots

It's getting dark so early these days that it's hard to get good photos before it gets completely dark for the evening.  Today's tiny harvest was a couple of large carrots that were planted late summer for a pot of soup for tonight's dinner and a watering can full of water to water the houseplants from the rain barrel.  The carrots have taken on a rich orange color after a few frosts and are now be nicely sweet. Even though the harvests are down to some root vegetables, cabbage and hearty winter greens like kale and Swiss chard, it's still nice to have a little something fresh from the garden. 

Thanks for reading!

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Today's harvest 1

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Extraordinary...a visit to southern Indiana

On the road from Washington, DC to Washington, IN 

(photo courtesy of Will Parkhurst)

During Thanksgiving week, I traveled to Washington, IN to visit family for the holiday.  It isn't "home" for me as I never lived there during our travels as a military family, but it is where my brother and his family settled and later my parents followed after retirement.  It is a very sleepy town in rural southern Indiana; a place one might conjure up when you think of the term Americana.  

My good friend and business partner, Aurora, asked if I was going to write a post about my adventures on the trip for our blog at Zen Gypsies.  I told her that it was a quiet week and nothing extraordinary happened so I wasn't sure if there was anything exciting to share.  That comment kept creeping into my thoughts from time to time during the day because it obviously didn't sit comfortably in my mind.  As often happens, these things swirl around in my head while I sleep and I woke up with a flood of thoughts about,  "What is extraordinary anyway?"

Life in southern Indiana is at a much slower pace than my normal full tilt Tasmanian devil, breakneck mode of being.  Looking back over the week, I realize that I really had experienced some things that were quite extraordinary from my normal everyday life.

Some adventures I had during the week included:

Basketball excitement (photo courtesy of Will Parkhurst)

- watching my nephew play basketball.  Being in the "Hoosier" state and near the hometown of the famous basketball player, Larry Bird, basketball games have the fervor reserved for football where I went to high school in Texas. I got caught up in the excitement and apparently am a little rowdier than the locals as even my nephew gave me a smile from the court at my wild cheering after he scored a basket.  We live so far away from the area, that it is definitely extraordinary to get to attend an event to see my niece or nephews in action chasing their passions.

- going to a cancer survivors support group meeting with my mother and meeting all the wonderfully warm and incredibly humorous members including a twinkling eyed 90+ year old.  They all shared stories about themselves and the local culture and asked about my life on the East Coast as some had never lived anywhere other than the local area.  The amazing nurse who runs the program even surprised the group with a Thanksgiving meal, which was delivered from a local grocery store deli, fully cooked...however, solidly frozen, which they failed to mention when she ordered it.  A local restaurant saved the day by preparing individual take-out dinners for everyone in the group in short order.  This story will be retold for years to come, I'm sure.  It was extraordinary to spend time with such tenacious spirits. 

- visiting some new and old favorite second hand bookstores, Book Nook in Newburgh and Used Book Warehouse(UBW) in Evansville and giggling like school girls with my mom in the extensive romance novel section in the Book Nook.  Our experience with romance novels is pretty limited although we do have a dear family friend who is a writer who has published a recent novel and is working on a few others to come.  Pretty soon we had the shopkeeper chuckling along with us as we tried to find just the right books for an aunt in her youthful 80s who enjoys the genre and will soon be snowed in for a lot of the winter in western Pennsylvania.  There is nothing like a good stack of books and a cup of tea to chase away the winter chill. Getting to spend girlfriend time with one's mom who lives half way across the country is definitely extraordinary.  

Beautiful tea service at Cafe Arazu in Newburgh, IN

- finding vegetarian fare can be a challenge in rural areas, but we found just the perfect place in a Persian restaurant with a view of the Ohio River.  Cafe Arazu in Newburgh, IN was richly decorated with colorful vintage textiles which was a warm welcome from the bitterly cold winds.  The temperatures may have been in the 20's outside, but we enjoyed a long, leisurely lunch with the prettiest tea service for our Moroccan mint tea.

My husband keeping me entertained on the long trip to and from Indiana

So looking back over the trip, I realize that there were lots of extraordinary moments that would have slipped by without my acknowledgment if I hadn't been prompted to take a few moments to reflect on the time I spent this week in person, online and by phone with family and friends near and far. (Thanks, Aurora for keeping me on my toes!)  So this moment of reflection has been a perfect end to my extraordinary Thanksgiving holiday week,

Thanks for reading!

Our dog Noah resting at home after our adventures in Indiana

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Sweet potato mousse

Pumpkin mousse with maple yogurt, pecans and grated nutmeg

It's the time of year when we turn towards heartier desserts that often feature sweet potatoes or pumpkin. I love those earthy treats, but I find that they quickly add to my waistline. To get that same satisfying taste but keep it on the healthier side, I've taken the recipe for chocolate avocado pudding and tweaked it to become a fall treat that makes a hearty breakfast as well as a company worthy dessert.

Sweet potato mousse

Serves 4 as an entree or 6 as dessert

1 medium sweet potato, cooked and peeled
1 cup raw cashews
1 large ripe avocado, peeled and seeded
1 1/4 cups milk plus additional as needed (I used almond milk)
6 medjool dates, pitted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon each ground cinnamon and nutmeg

1/4 cup maple syrup

juice from 1/2 orange (optional)

In a high speed blender, put all the ingredients and process until smooth.   Use additional milk if necessary to get desired creaminess.  Chill and serve.  Pictured above is my feels like dessert for breakfast version with yogurt, pecans and a grate of fresh nutmeg.  (you could also layering with granola or some cashew or dairy whipped cream).

This turned out so prettily that I felt was prompted to slow down and savor it fully despite my hectic schedule.  This dish isn't just pretty, it was hearty enough to fuel me through the morning and into an afternoon of errand running.   It will definitely find it's way again onto the menu throughout the fall and winter season.

Thanks for reading!

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Chocolate avocado pudding

Overnight oat and chia seed pudding

  

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Green tomatoes and eggplant "meatballs"

Green tomatoes - the last of the 2013 growing season

It was the perfect chilly fall day, full of bright sunshine.  I took advantage of the weather to take out all the rest of the summer plants that were succumbing to the dips to the freezing mark at night.  As I worked, I was reminded why I love gardening so much.  How gardening is more than just about watching plants grow from seed to full flower or fruit.

The work was strenuous enough for a good workout, with all the bending and reaching, shoveling, carting the wheelbarrow loads (I stopped counting around 7 piled high).  As I was working alone, it was truly meditative work with only an occasional bark from our dog, Noah, as he chased a few remaining bumblebees rushing to gather the last of the pollen.

I ended up with a small basket of peppers and an abundance of green, cherry tomatoes.  I'm hoping that a few days in a sunny window will help most of them ripen fully or I'm looking at a lot of tiny fried green tomatoes, green tomato chutney, green salsa...

If they ripen nicely, I'll be able to make sauce to serve over some crispy eggplant "meatballs" inspired by this original recipe in the Washington Post.

Eggplant meatballs served over lightly sautéed kale with garlic

Eggplant "Meatballs"

Makes 4 servings

1 large globe eggplant or 3 Asian variety, cut in half
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 small sweet bell pepper, but in half
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons fresh herbs, chopped (sage, basil, oregano or mix) or 1 tablespoon dried
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1 small onion, minced
1 1/2 cups whole grain bread crumbs
1/2 cup garbanzo bean flour (more as necessary)
1/2 teaspoon salt (or more if desired)
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
red pepper flakes or finely diced jalapeño
course cornmeal (polenta) for dusting

Heat the grill or broiler in the oven.
Cut the eggplant into 1 inch thick slices.  Drizzle the eggplant and green pepper with olive oil. Grill or broil, turning as necessary until soft and lightly browned.  Dice the cooked vegetables.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly Oil a baking pan.
Put all the ingredients except the cornmeal into a mixing bowl and stir together.  If the mixture is too wet, add more garbanzo bean flour until the mixture is firm enough to hold together when rolling into balls.  Shape scoops of the dough into golf ball shape.  Roll each one in a little cornmeal or polenta and place on an oiled baking pan.

Bake for 30-40 minutes until lightly browned.  Serve topped with your favorite tomato sauce, pasta, grain or tucked in a pita pocket as a sandwich.

After cooking, extra can be frozen on a cookie sheet, and then stored in a freezer bag until ready to use. To reheat, thaw as many as needed,  Then sauté in a lightly oiled skillet until heated through and lightly crispy.

Thanks for reading!


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Fall harvests and new adventure

Tiny end of season harvest

It's been a great year in our garden, and I'm sorry to see the main growing season come to an end.  I'll be missing these bountiful harvests of the day.

Sweet and hot peppers

One of the last beautiful heirloom roses of the season

However, I've had little time for digging in the garden lately as I've been working on launching an exciting new venture with my good friend, Aurora.  We are starting a new business to develop a community and spread the lifestyle and philosophy for creativity and mindfulness as I have here.  I've been looking for a way to bring all of this more to life, and we're really looking forward to sharing all of this with you through workshops and other events. I look forward to continuing to share my personal creative explorations here as well as in the new journey that awaits.   Please visit us at Zen Gypsies and join the adventure!

Thanks for reading!

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Other fall adventures - trip to Philadelphia 2012
Fall colors 2012

 Beautiful fall sunset