There’s a chill in the air, and harvest is in full swing here in the foothills.
It’s time for warm sweaters, harvest festivals, cider pressing and lots and lots of fall comfort food! Nature puts on an intense show of color as soon as the calendar changes to October. Orange pumpkins, yellow squash, red apples, burgundy, pink, gold and orange turning leaves …. in full display against the blue October sky … the perfect backdrop for harvest celebrations. And for cooking!
The change in the weather brings back memories of pumpkin carving and fall parties way back in the days when kids would ‘bob for apples’ in a big tub of water (eeewww, no wonder we always got the flu in the fall).
My garden is turning out more tomatoes and peppers than I can keep up with. Every surface in my kitchen is loaded with ‘harvest’. To keep up with the tide, I’m experimenting with salsas, creating relishes and gumbos …. and, mmmmm, enjoying bruschetta dripping with olive oil on crispy toast.
Coming home to a chilly house makes cooking even more satisfying … its warm next to the stove! Alas, I’m not quite into the seasonal routine yet … focusing my attention on trying to build a fire in the woodstove to warm up the house, I neglected the bruschetta and inadvertently nearly started a fire in the oven instead ….. no bruschetta tonight, I guess.
And you thought my cooking skills were improving! No such luck … yet.
Some of my very favorite foods are fall foods. Pumpkin soup with hot peppers, baked squash with brown sugar and butter, apple cider …. all I need is a little chill in the air to start me thinking of hot vegetable soup with fat noodles and ……. of course, pumpkin pie!
I had my first slice of pumpkin pie of the season to follow up a superb dinner of carrot ginger soup and beet/spinach salad. This was no ordinary pumpkin pie – this was a raw pumpkin pie! Amazingly good. Try it for yourself … at The Fix & 33 Degree Boutique, a funky and delicious new raw and vegetarian restaurant behind the New Moon Café in Nevada City.
Get outside and celebrate fall … Local Food and Farm Harvest Festivals
Ah, for a more civilized harvest celebration, this month is full of opportunities.
(no drooly apple-bobbing, I promise)
Every day in October is Pumpkin Patch day at the Bierwagen farm in Chicago Park. On weekends it’s a full-on festival, with apple juice and cider, farm animals and craft fair. The farm stand is still open there also. You can choose your own pumpkin from the pumpkin patch … and there still may be peaches! I’ve switched from fresh peaches with icecream to hot peach crisps drizzled with cream, so as not to waste a single peach.
And you can’t miss the Harvest Festival and Pumpkin Patch at Loma Rica Ranch on Saturday, October 10. This real family festival will have a corn maze, wagon rides, local music and artists, lots of local food and a Haunted House to get you all in the mood for Halloween, just around the corner.
Also on the weekend of October 9 through 12, the local Tsi Akim Maidu Tribe will be celebrating Indigenous Peoples Days with ceremonial dances, speakers and a gathering at the picturesque Maidu Active Cultural Center on Lake Vera-Purdon Road on Sunday. Saturday will be the traditional Calling Back the Salmon Ceremony at the Yuba River.
And remember – there’s still one more month of Farmers Markets! The Nevada City Farmers Market and the Nevada County Certified Grower’s Market at the Fairgrounds are going strong on Saturday mornings, plus the Tuesday afternoon Grower’s Market at the Presbyterian Church on Ridge Road will also be open through the end of October.
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To close, I will leave you with my simple bruschetta recipe :
Finely chop fresh tomatoes, peeled if you prefer,
Add chopped or minced garlic,
coarse sea salt, ground black and green peppercorns,
plenty of fresh basil leaves, cut or torn into small pieces.
Mix in a bowl with apple cider vinegar and olive oil to taste.
Let mixture chill for a while to mingle the flavors.
Cut thick slices of whole wheat bread or French baguette.
Place bread slices in a pie pan or baking dish,
dot with butter and drizzle with olive oil*
*my favorite for this is the Mistral Organic from Apollo Olive Oil.
Place pan under broiler – for only a few seconds !! (meaning, ‘don’t catch it on fire’)
Put these luscious toasties on a plate, and spoon the tomato mixture liberally on top.
Eat it while it’s hot !
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