Mother nature is cleaning house! Golden leaves swirl and tumble, making me pause to watch the show, as balmy gusts of wind bring down all the dried cedar leaves along with a storm of maple 'helicopters'.
The remainder of late summer processing tasks are checked off one by one, as October marches on. The pile of dried Papa de Rola beans are shelled and stored in jars, the Floriani Red Flint corn hangs drying, awaiting the grinder for our first taste of homegrown polenta, and peppers are chopped, sliced or roasted for the freezer. I haul out the dehydrator to dry what's left of a basket of asian pears, and prepare a batch of Ratatouille with the season's last eggplant, zucchini, basil and tomatoes.
Beautiful Floriani for this winter's polenta!
I use the recipe from Moosewood cookbook, choosing the spicy version!
If you're lucky enough to have a stash of late summer veggies lingering, THIS is the recipe for a grand finale of summer flavors. I usually serve it over creamy polenta, but alas, since we don't have a grinder yet, I used brown basmati rice instead.
The last of the poblanos and tomatillos are slated for Chile Verde this week.
The mini hoop greenhouse which extends the pepper season into late October is doing it's best to stay anchored in these winds, but throughout the day I've taken multiple trips to go out and check and readjust the heavy boards that hold down the edges. Luckily it's not supposed to get too cold, so if the wind wins, they'll get some rain and wind, but will survive the night without a blanket.