Peppers

Peppers are so pretty at this time of year! We picked as many peppers and every other kind of vegetable and fruit that could be picked this weekend. Our peppers came on in abundance...in OCTOBER! We are just lucky that we had such warm and dry weather through September and early October. We expect it to freeze tonight.

Here the peppers have been roasted and are ready to freeze. Don't worry, they were enjoyed on a roast beef sandwich in between picking more vegies and peeling more fruit!

Autumn Dining on the Deck

It is such a beautiful fall in Southern Oregon. Our remodeling is officially finished for now, but we couldn't resist the fresh evening air to enjoy some corn on the cob, roasted chicken and vegies from the farm. Happy October!

The Traveling Kitchen

Sunday evening we moved all of the appliances out of the kitchen and into the living room. They didn't travel far, but far enough to make the floor available to tear up linoleum, make repairs, and replace the old linoleum with tile.

The old flooring has been removed, the thin strips of wood that formed the sub floor and were laid down in 1930 were showing damage in just a few spots. These were cut out and the bottom layer of floor and very old timber was exposed. The area cleaned and prepped and then replaced. Notice the walls and cabinets? We painted the walls about two weeks ago, then the cabinets were scrubbed down and refinished a couple of days ago. The only thing left to do is the floor!

The replacement of the sub flooring was a sturdy piece of plywood. This formed a solid layer for building the next layer of flooring is ready to go down and it is called cement backer board. This is the layer that will hold the tile. It is now in place and so are the tiles with spacers and they are drying and setting.

In the meantime, the kitchen has only been moved a few feet away and it is not available for canning or chopping or cutting or cooking in anyway. As soon as the kitchen project is finished, we will be ready to get back to our regularly scheduled preserving!

Happy Autumn!

The first day of Fall arrived with fog in the morning. It was as if Mother Nature was celebrating the change of season with a change in temperature. After 10 days of just near or at 100 degrees, this was a welcome change and relief. It also meant it was time to make some tomato basil soup.

First the tomatoes were washed, sliced in half, drizzled with olive oil and slow roasted in the oven for about an hour at 400 degrees. There was about 15 pounds of tomatoes in the bucket and they were all used.

Near the end of the roasting time, onions, celery, garlic, apples, and carrots were chopped and sauteed in butter in the big soup pot. As the onions turned translucent, the rest of the vegetables were getting tender.

They were stirred and mixed to create a delicious vegetable base with just the slightest bit of browning for extra rich flavor. The roasted tomatoes were out of the oven and ready to be added to the soup pot.

You can see the tomatoes have turned lightly brown on the edges and they are completely juiced up. Those juices are also added with the tomatoes to the rest of the vegetables.

Once the roasted tomatoes are added to the vegetables, chicken stock is also added. There are 4 cups of chicken stock or one whole organic carton. If you make stock yourself, that tastes even better! After simmering for 30 - 40 minutes, the soup is ready to be pureed. The blender works great for this task in small batches, so have another soup pot ready.

Once the soup is all pureed, return to the heat and add fresh, chopped basil, salt and pepper to taste. At this point it is ready to can, freeze or eat. When mixing it to eat, add coconut milk, soy milk or cows milk depending on your preference. They all taste good! This batch is ready for the freezer and it made five hearty meals plus leftovers. What are you doing with your end of the season tomatoes?

Last Day of Summer

The last day of summer, 2012, was such a beauty! It was also a Friday, so after enjoying a few hours on the farm after a work day, we drove down the river to have a burger out at Galice. It was a great end to a very busy, but wonderful summer!