winterish veggies

So today I was really missing summer eggplant. We get a produce basket every week for the whole year from Pumpkin Ridge Gardens and I love it. The vegetables are incredibly fresh, delivered to my door and really keep my veggie consumption very very local. The farm is really just about a 20 minute drive from my house. Today, however, I was feeling a little sad about the vegetable transition that has been happening slowly over the last couple of weeks. Actually, the vegetables seem to be transitioning always, but you kind of get into a groove at certain points and can, for instance, expect an eggplant pretty much every week or tomatoes every week at the height of the summer season. This weeks basket feels a little more um fall-winterish and doesn't even have my favorite greens like kale or kale or even kale. Today's basket has fennel, romanesco, celeriac, potatoes, cabbage, broccoli, onions and a few bell peppers (yellow, red and green). It seems a stark contrast to see all of those whitish vegetables (minus the peppers) while the trees are sparkling so splendidly. I never know what to do with fennel and I think last year I just took it eventually to the compost pile. I have a ton of fennel growing in my own garden that the last person who lived here planted and which grows so well and expands each year. The bees love it! So I might try the fennel this time if I am feeling inspired. We will definitely be having cheesy romanesco/broccoli soup and probably creamy celery root (celeriac) and barley soup or maybe potato leek soup (leeks from last week). I guess I can jazz it up a bit with some squash and carrot muffins. I bought several squash and 5 lbs of carrots at the farm we went to for our pumpkin this year and have already made roasted squash soup. Still, nothing jumps out at me quite the way an eggplant in the heart of summer does. I look forward to some kale next week. Or maybe I will pick some up at the market this week, along with some salad greens because Eva has been asking for salad and there has been a dearth of salad greens in the produce baskets over the last couple of weeks and we just haven't made it to the farmers market in ages it seems.

Seeing all of that cabbage, too, just makes me sigh. I juiced a bunch recently with some carrots and cherry tomatoes languishing in the produce drawer and it was divine. Really wonderful. Last year I made a bunch of egg rolls week after week but Eva and I got to the point where we couldn't look at another egg roll. Still, there must be something fun to do with all of this cabbage.



Eva yesterday at OMSI. She has a new owl and some rock candy. Earlier in the day, Eva had been asking for rock candy and wanted me to take her to this candy store we know of in downtown Hillsboro that sells rock candy. I told her I wasn't up for that but that if we saw rock candy somewhere else, I would buy some for her. And so we did - inside the gift shop at OMSI, there was a whole display wall of rock candy. She picked purple. Her face is still slightly blue from another costume she dressed up in after Halloween.

Oh, and then today we saw a raccoon out in our back yard, just kind of walking along like they do. I thought it was curious he was out in the daylight. We do have the compost pile, although this one is covered (I'm pretty sure he could get the cover open, though), and I am sure the copious amounts of corn and bird seed for the birds and squirrels is interesting as well. Let me say also that if Jack has a no squirrel policy for the yard, he definitely has a no raccoon policy for the yard. He was most upset that I wouldn't let him outside while the raccoon was there.