fall crop Archives

Lots of Babies and Butternut Squash

October 20, 2015 by theblogbloom.com 5 Comments

Last weekend I shared that Adam and I are expecting a baby, which is super exciting. But, even more exciting is that Adam’s brother’s wife and Adam’s sister are also expecting babies in early 2016. Emily is having a son and Amanda is expecting triplets!

It’s going to be so fun.

Actually, it’s already been a lot of fun.

It’s neat to share this time with everyone, compare notes, and just laugh about how wild and loud our lives are going to become. We have all spent the last couple weekends together celebrating the upcoming arrivals of Amanda and Emily’s babies at their baby showers.

Emily’s sisters hosted a great shower this past weekend that had a precious “Little Pumpkin” theme. It was really fitting not just because of the time of year, but because her bump is so perfect and cute; it seriously looks like she has a pumpkin under her shirt.

And then, Adam’s oldest sister, Aimee, hosted a luncheon shower for Amanda at her home the first weekend of October while Emily and I helped with some of the food.

When trying to determine what to serve for lunch at Amanda shower, Aimee and I talked about a handful of recipes that we have liked at other family events. We narrowed it down to a light, super-fresh avocado chicken salad and a very autumnal salad. Both taste great, are easy to do for crowds, and I had actually made both in September for another shower and a dinner with friends.

As I began to prep for the shower and sat down to make my grocery lists, I had to laugh: Both recipes we planned on preparing were introduced to the three of us by Amanda.

In fact, a lot of my favorite recipes have been introduced to me by Amanda.

Amanda is a great cook and is always trying new things. She is particularly good at baking and really shines as a hostess. Her husband, Mike, even gets into the action serving as the family mixologist at the Holiday’s whipping up fun and festive drinks… Although, this year, he may be out of a job with all these pregnant gals!

Last fall, Adam came home from work with one of Amanda’s recipes for a butternut squash soup.

Adam is a major soup fan; but, I had always been on the fence about butternut squash. I couldn’t really tell you what it was about butternut squash… maybe it was the sweetness or the texture? Maybe the color? Honestly, it was probably the name. But, I had never purchased one as an adult and, in the past, I have even dissed butternut squash right here on Bloom.

But, thanks to Adam’s persistence and Amanda’s history of great recipes, I gave the soup a try.

And… LOVED IT.

The combination of apples, butternut squash and spice marry well and create a flavor that is so perfectly, “Harvest.” I also enjoyed the addition of the spicy pepper and cool sour cream as a garnish as it adds even more depth of flavor but also dimension to the texture of the smooth soup.

I loved this soup so much it changed my whole perspective on butternut squash and I am now proud to say that I am a BIG butternut squash fan. (Although, maybe we could get somebody to still work on the name…?)

I even made it a point to make room for butternut squash in this year’s garden.

A budding butternut squash from August.

Room is one of the main things that butternut squash will need in a backyard garden because the plant’s vines can run longer than fifteen feet.

But, for the most part, good sun, well fertilized soil, protection from pests and moderate moisture is a good recipe for butternut squash plants. Be advised that the growing season is long; somewhere between 110-120 days. We started our butternut squash seedlings inside to ensure fruit maturation by fall.

This fall, our vines are full of great looking butternut squash and I can’t believe I resisted them for so long. They will be in the garden for years to come… Thanks to my favorite recipe curator, Amanda.

Spiced Apple-Butternut Squash Soup

2015-10-20 14:01:58

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Ingredients

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 medium onion, diced
1 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded and chopped into chunks
4 apples, peeled, core and chopped
2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground corriander
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
2 1/2 cups water
1 hot chili pepper (Jalapeño, poblano), finely diced or thinly sliced for garnish
Sour Cream, for garnish

Instructions

In a large sauce pan, melt butter and add onion, cooking until tender.
Add squash and cook, stirring occasionally until soft. (About ten minutes)
Add apples, salt, cumin, coriander, ginger, cayenne, black pepper, stock and the water. Bring mixture to a boil then reduce to a simmer for about thirty minutes or until the vegetables are soft.
Puree using an immersion blender or in batches using a food processor or blender and then return to the pan.
Heat pureed soup on low and thin with more water, if needed.
Serve in bowls and garnish with hot pepper and sour cream.

Notes

An immersion blender is a game changer for homemade soups. It's one of my favorite tools.

Adapted from Martha Stewart

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Cool Carrots

October 19, 2014 by theblogbloom.com 7 Comments

Carrots are definitely Adam and my favorite vegetable we have grown in the garden.

Oooh. But, I do love tomatoes.

And, growing our own garlic is pretty cool.

Oh… and having lettuce straight from the backyard is kind of awesome.

Oh geeze. I can’t forget about how great it felt to slice into that first spaghetti squash either.

Okay, so it’s hard to pick just one, but carrots… are a (one of many) favorite(s).

Carrots have also been a favorite of any guest to the garden.

When we had photos taken last month, the photographers were blown away with how great the carrots looked.

Hive and Honey Photography

So was Adam’s mom when she stopped by to pick some this summer. She laughed as she pulled carrot after carrot with his sister, Amanda.

Amanda described pulling the carrots from the ground as “magical.”

And, when Stephanie, my friend from Chicago, visited for a weekend I think she felt the same way. She excitedly pulled so many carrots from the ground I wondered how we were ever going to eat them all fast enough. … Cue the veggie dip!

Summer 2013 was the first year we grew carrots and both Adam and I were blown away by the amazing flavor in our homegrown carrots versus the carrots we had been eating our whole lives. The flavor of a carrot is best right after it is pulled from the ground. In fact, some say the flavor diminishes within hours of being harvested.

The good news is that carrots don’t typically last much more than two hours at my house anyway.

But, this is bad news too. In 2013, we only planted a half of a garden bed in carrots. They were all ready mid summer and then they were gone.

So this summer, with one year of carrot growing experience under our belts, Adam and I decided to see how we could extend our carrots into the fall… and, at this rate, we should be good for the winter too!

Carrots are planted straight into the ground and they need good, light soil to penetrate the earth as their roots grow. They are pretty hands off throughout their growing process needing normal amounts of water, sun and a little thinning when the tops start sprouting.

This year, we planted carrots in a couple different beds in different rounds to extend our carrots throughout the growing season. It’s currently a couple weeks out from Halloween and we have plenty of carrots still in the ground… and I am in no hurry to get them out.

They do need to come out of the ground before the ground freezes solid (or good luck getting them out ’til spring…), but they are incredibly cold weather resistant and can eve handle freezing temperatures. Carrots are full of natural sugars and those sugars act like an anti-freeze in the cold weather so that ice crystals cannot disrupt or damage the carrot. In all our reading, we have also learned that freezing temperatures actually make carrots sweeter!

We are still frost free, but it’s likely only a matter of time until we can find out first hand.

I have also blanched and frozen some of our carrots throughout the late summer and early fall. Blanching and freezing is one of the easiest things that you can do to preserve vegetables from the garden.

Here is how I do it:

Clean, peel and slice carrots into small coins, discarding the tops and ends.

Place carrot coins in a pot of boiling water for about two minutes.

Remove the carrots and immediately cool carrots in a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process.

Drain and dry well. Lay coins out on a cookie sheet and set in freezer overnight.

Working quickly, remove the carrot coins from the cookie sheet, put into a gallon ziplock bag and place in freezer. Use within a year.

I am excited to have my carrots, preserved at the peak of their freshness, for chicken noodle soups and vegetables soups all winter long.

Charming Chard

October 5, 2014 by theblogbloom.com 3 Comments

I am kind of disappointed in the fall crop of chard I planted in late July. It is not growing like I expected. And, it doesn’t look as vibrant as I was hoping for.

Okay. To give the chard a little credit: it did grow well and it does look good.

I was just hoping the stalks of my chard would shoot up full of colors like reds, yellows, and oranges like I saw in a Master Gardener’s garden last summer.

Instead, the stalks of mine are white.

Perplexed about the chard’s appearance, I did a little research. Turns out there are three different varieties of chard: Rainbow, Red and Swiss. I had planted Swiss.

My disappointment faded as I kept reading and learning more about this powerhouse of a leafy green. Chard, no matter what the variety, is packed with vitamins, nutrients, antioxidants and minimal calories.

One website even said that if vegetables were to receive grades for nutritional components, chard would be the valedictorian. One serving brings more than 300% of your daily Vitamin K to the table, in addition to plenty of cancer fighting and blood sugar regulating properties.

So, with all these healthy benefits, one might think that chard must really lack in the flavor department… But, think again.

Well… first I will put out a warning: Eating chard raw is… a little rough. Probably only for the super strong health nuts.

I am not there… and doubt I will ever be. But, that’s okay because, in cooking, chard is incredibly versatile and can be boiled, steamed, sauteed, braised– whatever!

Through these techniques, the flavor is not just tolerable, but tasty and the nutrients can be more condensed.

Since our first harvest this fall, Adam and I have enjoyed our Swiss Chard baked into a frittata, mixed in with lemony pasta or just cooked like spinach or kale.

I have made this protein packed salad a couple times for lunch because it’s easy, all the ingredients are staples in my kitchen and, most importantly, it fuels me with plenty of energy to get through an afternoon of phone calls, spreadsheets, and onto garden chores and evening spinning!

It definitely doesn’t disappoint.

Swiss Chard and Chickpea Salad

2014-10-05 13:38:42

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Ingredients

2 TBS olive oil, divided
1 big bunch of Swiss Chard (About 10-13 leaves), center stems cut out and leaves chopped
2 cups of chicken broth (Vegetable broth works too)
2 medium shallots, finely chopped
4 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 15.5 ounce can of chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

Instructions

In a large skillet, heat 1 TBS olive oil over medium-high heat. Add half of the Swiss Chard and cook until just wilted then add the remaining chard.
When all of the chard has wilted, add the broth. Cover the skillet and cook for about ten minutes or until the chard is tender. Drain the chard and set aside.
Wipe out skillet and heat 1 TBS olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and garlic. Cook, stirring, until fragrant.
Add the cooked chard and chickpeas to the pan. Cook until the beans are just heated through, about three minutes.
Remove from heat and add lemon juice, salt and pepper, and feta. Stir to just combine.
Eat right away.

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