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We might get a frost tonight or tomorrow, so I picked a big bowl of tomatoes today, though I didn't pick everything, so if we don't get that frost I might get another picking in a week or two. I also picked the last of the full-sized spaghetti squashes. There are a couple of littler ones that may never get ripe enough to pick. But I got 4 of them that were in the 35-45 ounce range, and that's not a bad return on a $2 packet of seeds.
But I'm already thinking ahead to next year's garden plans. I probably won't grow the Porter tomatoes, and I might cut back a bit on the Fourth of July, putting in more Italian Heirlooms and Amish Paste. If I can get a better source for First Lady tomatoes, I'll put some of them in, but only 1 of 4 plants produced much fruit this year, and what I thought was a 5th one turned out to be an Italian Heirloom, either I made a (fortuitous) mistake with the seeds or with labeling.
I'll probably do spaghetti squash again, not sure I'll do melons or broccoli. I'm thinking I might order some leek plants from Johnny's and put in a couple rows of them.
The Urban Soil Improvement project will send out a different common plant for everyone to grow in 2024, this year it was zucchini. I actually liked those zucchini, so I might do them again if I can find seeds (the variety is dunja). One plant is probably enough for us, though.
I can't say I'm surprised, Cooks Illustrated was going downhill for a long time before they dumped Christopher Kimball, and seems more interested in selling things (including site subscriptions) than providing useful information to cooks these days.
Well, the parsnip-apple-coriander-cumin soup was a disappointment.
Let's start with the recipe. It says it can be made in 35-45 minutes. It took me about 2 hours and I'm not sure the parsnips were cooked enough when I blended them.
I don't think the coriander/cumin spice mixture was really to our taste, others might like it, though.
We tried adding some cinnamon, that helped. Adding some apple cider helped even more. I thought about adding some brown sugar, but sweetness wasn't really what it needed.
I finished my bowl and then finished Diane's bowl, but there's a lot left over. Diane will take some of it to the wine teacher who recommended the recipe later this week. (Monday and Tuesday is fall break at UNL.)
Followup: After sitting in the fridge for a few days, the spices in the soup have mellowed and the parsnip-apple flavor is more prominent. I'd probably want to play with the spice blend a bit (less coriander and probably less cumin) but the soup is something I might actually make again now.
I haven't made pumpkin pie in several years, I do sweet potato pie instead, similar flavor profile and IMHO easier to make.
We're having one of the spaghetti squashes from the garden tonight, with a tomato-meat-mushroom sauce, and some oven toast.
Use them for cherry pies, mostly. I've been buying them in pint containers at a local store, this bag should keep me in cherries for a while.
I had a BLT using some leftover bacon from the other day, Diane had some soup.
I got a bushel of winesaps and 10 pounds of frozen Montmorency cherries today, took me a little over 2 hours round trip, including time in their store.
I made dough for another batch of cheese crackers, doubling the amount of cheese powder. I also added about a quarter cup of rye flour.
Kimmell Orchards in Nebraska City (about 50 miles away) has winesaps available, I am probably going going there tomorrow to buy some plus some frozen cherries.
We're having BLT's tonight.
With caramelized apples and parsnips, the soup might be on the sweet side. Might even classify as a dessert soup.
We had tuna melts using an Italian Heirloom tomato from the garden. Yummy!
Have you ever tried adding any rye flour to the sourdough cheese crackers?
Diane thought the sourdough cheese crackers were good, a lot like wheat thins. They'd be good with a cheese dip or sour cream dip.
I think she agrees with me that they don't have enough cheese in them, and she thought I put too much salt on top. If I add cheese, I might not need to put any salt on top at all. I might use a slightly finer grind on the wheat berries next time, too, I tend to use the coarsest setting my grain mill will do.
I'm using the "It's Just White Cheddar Cheese Powder", not the King Arthur one.
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