Butternut Squash, Kale, and Pomegranate

Butternut squash, kale and pomegranates are foods of the season. This year I am making the effort to enjoy them more frequently.

My grocery store has tubs of chunked butternut squash that makes it very easy to cook just the amount I want. I buy the largest they have and freeze what I am not cooking immediately. Butternut squash cooked in broth - mashed when it is tender - makes a great base for a hearty soup. Adding some dried onion, pepper, basic and bacon bits is delicious. One time I added a few spoonfuls of cranberry orange relish and dried parsley just before pouring it into the soup bowl; the tartness of the cranberries and orange contrasted with the squash (and the red flecks of cranberry made the orange soup even more colorful. Another cooking method is to coat the chunks with olive oil and cinnamon then bake in the over. Since the chunks are relatively small - it takes less time than a potato or whole squash.

Kale is a new vegetable for me. It is a hardy plant that thrives as the temperatures get cooler. This is my first year to experiment with kale chips. They are tasty and easy to make; simply cut up the leaves (discard the tough central stem), coat/spray with oil, season, cook for about 15 minutes at 350 degrees. I’m still experimenting with ways to avoid getting them too oily (spraying is probably better than putting the leaves in a gallon Ziploc with the oil and seasoning)….and trying different seasonings.

And finally -- the pomegranate. I simply cut the fruit in quarters and enjoy every red-jewel seed. They are a food that is beautiful and tastes good too - a worthy fruit to enjoy fresh and celebrate the bounty of the season!

Gleanings of the Week Ending November 10, 2012

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles I read this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article:

Genetic Roulette - The Gamble of our Lives - 1.5 hour video about GMOs….even if you want to dismiss the issue as unimportant to you, you should understand why many people and countries are not.

Non-GMO Shopping Guide - Even without labels…you can

Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week #26 - Which one is your favorite? I like the painted sandgrouse this week although the great blue heron is always a favorite too.

Eight National Park Lodges Join Historic Hotels of America - Don’t all of the sound inviting…for themselves and where they are located.

Are Facebook and Internet Addictions Affecting Our Minds? - infographic

Golden stollen - wonder how one could make a gluten-free version of this

9 New Tree-Loving and Endangered Tarantula Species Discovered in Brazil - includes pictures of 6

Five Parks Where Winter Is Anything But Off-Season - Acadia, Biscayne, Channel Islands, Joshua Tree, and Yosemite

The most important education technology in 200 years - What will the surge in free instruction online do to the education business?

9 Varieties of Nutrient-Rich Winter Squash

Sandy Superstorm Development Animation - From University of Delaware using 800 infrared images from the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite

Brookside Gardens Pumpkin and Squash Display 2012

In keeping with the Autumn Harvest theme Brookside Gardens has a display of pumpkins and winter squashes. The image at the left is the big picture view of largest display and the slide show below contains close-up views. The colors, shapes and textures are quite diverse. My favorite is the one with cream background and red markings (seen in image 1 and 3 in the slide show). 

 

Celebrating October 2012

What do you celebrate in October? Here are some ideas:

Apples and squash. The new harvest is in and apples are at their best. There are a large number of varieties to try other than ‘Delicious’ – so experiment and find a new favorite! Many communities host festivals that feature the produce of fall and fresh apple cider or apple butter.....and all those colorful squashes.

Foliage. Take a drive or a hike through a forest of deciduous trees. Timing it just right is always a challenge – but easier now that there are so many web sites that predict the peak color and even have pictures of areas.

Leaves. Play in piles of leaves. Yes – the raking is a chore…but make it into a fun activity while you are at it.

Cooler weather. After the swelter of summer and even September – October has some very welcome cooler days. Celebrate with some outdoor activities and enjoy a picnic.

Halloween. Buy those bags of candy and be prepared to offer a treats to all those goblins that come knocking! We purchased a plastic jack-o-lantern that looks like the real thing years ago; turned out to be a great purchase to decorate the front porch for the big night.

Recipe(s) of the Week: Yellow Veggies

There have been times in my life that I have been challenged to get enough yellow/orange veggies…but not recently. It seems so easy now. Here are my top 10 ways to get at least one serving of yellow veggies every single day: 

1. Pumpkin or sweet potato or carrot muffin (Great any time but my preference is breakfast or mid-morning snack)
2. Pumpkin custard (Skip the crust and just make the custard!)
3. A fall favorite: Select a small pumpkin and bake it in the oven for about 30 minutes. Cut off the top, scoop out the seeds and fibers from the center. Stuff with applesauce and cinnamon…or just dust with cinnamon…replace the top and bake until it is soft. Serve as wedges drizzled with the applesauce stuffing or butter.
4. Raw carrots (The small ones, already prepared, make a great snack or as an colorfu addition to a meal)
5. Cut up carrots into slivers and add to your favorite stir fry or salad
6. Add carrots to a homemade soup.
7. Baked sweet potato (Serve with butter or a drizzle with butter/pecans/maple syrup to turn it into dessert)
8. Baked sweet potato wedges (Peal sweet potato. Put wedges in a ziplock with olive oil and cinnamon to coat with spice…then bake about an hour at 350 degrees F.)
9. Cut an acorn squash in half. Bake cut side down for an hour. Serve with cinnamon and butter.
10. Shred a raw sweat potato in the food processor then use over the course of the next week
    • In stir fry
    • In sweet potato/raisin salad with orange marmalade and olive oil dressing
    • Baked in individual serving portions drizzled with honey and butter at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes
    • As a salad ingredient