November 26,2010-- Frozen Veggies, Anyone?

By Fran Taber

Jan. 05, 2011

With winter the produce of summer disappears into jars, freezers and me.

I’m Baaaaack!

It’s been a couple of months since last I wrote and the garden has gone from lush to frozen.

The annual hubbub of the Chelan County Fair in early September gave canners and bakers a chance to show their skills. I entered several jams, canned fruits and tomatoes, dried vegetables and fruits and 3 different breads, proudly taking home 3 best-in-class ribbons. The fair provides a focus to the year’s work and gives visitors a peek into all the home-making skills that are still alive in our valleys.

This summer has been a time of plenty and of plenty of disappointment. The tomatoes, all fourteen plants, grew tall, set tomatoes and froze before I got more than 10 or 12 ripe tomatoes. So none for canning, some for eating and lots for green tomato salsa and relish! The eggplants grew and set one egg-sized one. The beans I planted for drying didn’t quite mature and then drowned in the fall rains. The peppers set well, but foolishly I was waiting for them to color when that early frost came—so no peppers. There were green beans for pickling, freezing, drying and canning, Crenshaw and cantaloupes enough for eating, cucumbers too many, and a mixed bag of squash—the Delicata set prolifically, the beautiful Carnival acorns came through beautifully, the butternut set two and quit. But there will be enough squash for the winter. There are still leeks, carrots, beets, lettuce and chard in the garden (under 6 inches of snow and probably not withstanding 0 degree temperatures.)

Fruit did well –enough Taber Homestead plums to sell and provide me with jam, and enough Interlaken grapes to sell and enjoy and make a few raisins. Black currants, apples and Asian pears did well; Italian prunes as usual were overwhelming. The walnuts didn’t set at all. Yet, all in all, it was a good season.

Already the seed catalogs are arriving—a little too soon for me to get very excited—that will happen in the dark days of February, when I will imagine what this variety and that heirloom would look like in my raised bed garden.

But now it’s the time to cut and store wood, huddle by the fire and enjoy being in the kitchen. I’ll be making crème fraiche this week and I made fresh goat cheese a couple of weeks ago with milk from a local friendly goat. Yum. It’s cool enough for hard cheese making at last so I’ll start a cheddar. I am finally baking all my own breads, looking for the ultimate perfect loaf. And it’s time to get into gear for the Christmas baking. I’m not usually a cookie-person, but am going to branch out this year and make some fancy ones for gifts. But most of all it’s soup weather, so most days there’ll be a soup pot on the wood stove or soup simmering in the crockpot..

Recipe: Solid Gold Squash Soup

4 cups squash, peeled and diced (preferably butternut, but any squash or pumpkin could be used.)

¼ cup onion, finely chopped

1 apple, diced

1-3 tsp. curry powder, to taste

½-1 tsp ground ginger (or better, 1 ½ tsp. minced fresh)

1 cup vegetable or chicken broth plus more as needed to thin

1 cup apple juice or cider

¼ tsp salt

½ cup plain yogurt or sour cream to serve.

In a medium saucepan, heat oil and add onion, apple, curry powder, ginger and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add squash, salt, broth and apple juice and simmer until squash is soft. Cool slightly, then puree in blender or food processor. Reheat and serve topped with a dollop of sour cream or plain yogurt.