Pumpkin Soup and the New York City Marathon

When another gardener gave me several pumpkins, I knew I'd not be carving them for Halloween. I wanted to try Pumpkin Soup!

I researched several recipes, some of which included the juice from a sweet orange or lime, nutmeg and cinnamon. I steamed cubes of fresh pumpkin with one of my huge zucchinis, then sauteed celery, carrot, onion and garlic together. Then I added a cube of Vietnamese Chicken Bouillon, tumeric, cinnamon and fresh ground nutmeg. Since I had a bit of organic carrot soup left in the fridge, I added just a bit of that to add richness and sweetness. The result was light, not too sweet, with a pleasant aftertaste of cinnamon. I served it for dinner last night, with a hearty stirfry of mixed greens - mustard, arugula, chard, cauliflower and broccoli seasoned with an east-Indian mild curry. The flavors and aromas blended quite nicely. I save all of my squash and pumpkin seeds. Some will go for next year's garden; the rest are roasted and ground up for toppings and breads.

I've made my last visit over to my garden at Franklin Park, and came home with things the other gardeners threw away. I brought home celery root (excellent for soup), chard, borage, tomatoes, and some of my lettuce and greens.

It amazes me how much is thrown away or left to rot. I noticed cabbages, beets, cucumbers and squash, beans....just so much good stuff that could have been used. Steve, another gardener, had quite a few tomatoes lying on the ground that he encouraged me to take home. I proceeded to pick several up, saying they'd make good salsa; his lettuce and celery could have made a good soup, but they were damaged and woody.

He dug up several of his celery roots, chopping off the fine strands, and handed me a few. He didn't even realize that once these are washed and clean early in the summer that they add a fantastic aroma to a good soup. (I grew celery primarily for the roots.) I gave him the recipe for root soup, which uses parsnips, turnips, potatoes and leeks.

We've had fantastic weather the past week, and I've resumed a 3 day a week jog, just a few miles over on the hills at Old Town. During the summer I had to cut back on this because with my gardening it was just too much physical work. I had to make a choice, jog or garden. I can sure tell the difference when I do not do this workout.

My daughter, Ruhiyyih, is going to run in the New York City Marathon this weekend. She has been in training for this ever since she was accepted, and has slowly built up to a 20 mile run and beyond. The Marathon is 26 miles, the largest in the world, with over 37,000 participants. Ruhiyyih starts at 10:10 on Sunday, and registered my e-mail so I can get an update every several hours as she runs the course. The transmission of her progress is due to a little microchip in her shoe! GO! 52514! How I wish I could run the last mile with her! (Flickr photo: Paula Radcliffe, on her way to victory last year.)

West Fork of the Hoquiam River

This little guy was struggling to swim across the Hoquiam River when we noticed him mid- stream. He was just barely able to stay afloat.



He'd over-estimated his abilities, and just wasn't making any progress, so I slid my paddle under his belly and lifted him up out of the water. He seemed to be so worn out that he just clung to my finger, blinked his eyes, and tried to catch his breath.

We paddled over to the shoreline, where we could put him down on a nearby log. Aside from his golden belly and quivering adam's apple, he had the most luminous eyes, brilliant aquamarine and silver. While he clung to my finger he slowly closed his eyes, then opened them again as if he were making a wish: On the count of three... 'one, two.....and then the feel of warm sunshine on my tummy'.

When we finished our paddle an hour or so later, he was gone.

Last of the Dahlias

Hamming It Up On The Weekend

Well, guess who couldn't stay away from the family reunion? She kept it a secret from me for almost two months! In popped Ruhiyyih from Washington D.C., and her boyfriend Matt from the tri-city area over in eastern Washington!

What a fantastic surprise - I'd just been telling Taraz earlier in the day that parties just don't sizzle unless Ruhiyyih is there to provide the energy. The two of them ignite an intensity that is so characteristic of our family. Then, here comes Ruhiyyih rushing out into the room, surprising all of us with hugs and screams, hoots and hollers.

We all gathered Saturday at my oldest daughter Laurel's for an early dinner and a pink elephant exchange.

I brought a corn-hominy-polenta chowder with chorizo saussage; home-made tomato salsa and chips; a tossed salad with huckleberry dressing; apple-cranberry coffee cake; and pineapple-rum muffins. The muffins had a sprinkling of shredded calendula petals on top.

We had lunch at Rue and Annie's (and Daisy) the following day, with her mom, dad, grandmother and brother.

I won't dwell too long on the delights of this past weekend, as I feel it is Ruhiyyih's story to tell. We all had a blast, and we wish her visit could have been much longer. George and I have plans to visit her in D.C. over Thanksgiving ... just a month away. So, we are all looking forward to that. (more photos in our Flickr account.)

Old Apple Tree at Woodard Bay

It was too windy on the weekend for a canoe paddle on Woodard Bay, so we took a stroll through the forest. Second-growth forests of cedar, big leaf maple and Douglas fir; mossy boardwalks; and well-maintained walking trails. It drizzled a little, but the tree cover absorbed all the moisture.

Until 1984, the Weyerhaeuser Timber Co. was bringing up to 1 million board feet of timber by rail from all over Thurston and Lewis counties. The logs were dumped in the water at Woodard Bay, gathered into rafts and floated up to mills in Everett. It was quite an operation.

Then the Woodard Bay Natural Resource Conservation Area was established in the late 1980s. It became a sanctuary for harbor seals, river otters, bald eagles, a colony of bats, the great blue heron, pigeon guillemots, cormorants ... just a rich habitat for wildlife.

We canoed the waters of Henderson Inlet and Woodard bay about seven years ago, not realizing that it was a protected wildlife sanctuary in the winter-time. We had not seen a warning sign when we put our canoe into the water, and within a short time we heard a helicopter scouting the shoreline. We quickly got out of the area, paddling up a little stream. The current was a bit brisk, even in shallow water, and our canoe capsized. Needless to say, if we ever hear aircraft over water where we are paddling, we figure 'they're after us again'!

We enjoyed the bucolic charm of Thurston County, and I told George how much I would still love to live out in the country and raise much of my own food. My goodness, why I hold onto this wistfulness I'll never understand as I'm definitely too old to ever do all the work. It astounds me, just how fast life passes by.

Part of that wistfulness is just knowing that I do not have the kind of physical ability to do the work, and knowing that at one time I DID have it. However, I still have a small garden which provides an opportunity to stock my pantry with home-canned goods. I've managed to make BBQ sauce, pasta sauce, pesto, bruschetta, and a few batches of fresh salsa. This last batch of salsa was incredibly good, so fresh and crunchy.

I've kept a bouquet of yellow roses on my coffee table for a week, left over from our IPG. I told Arlene (the bestower of this gift) that the blooms have begun to droop, and that there is a poignancy about it. I feel that same kind of slump when the harvest season is over. Partly exhaustion and partly a type of melancholy that my labor out in the garden is over. The rain comes, with grey skies and a begrudging light.

So, it was a comfort to see candles on Saturday at the Olsen's Devotional. As I watched them flicker on the little table I listened to the sound of the rain on the windows. I imagined the golden light of autumn sunsets ... perhaps a harvest moon.

Starburst: Borage Flowers

Now that the garden is torn down the last plant to be pulled is a wild borage that took over the far end of my tomato berm. I could have pulled it, to give the tomatoes more light, but it had attracted so many honey bees I decided it would serve my garden well.

Botanical.com indicates that in the early part of the nineteenth century, the young tops of Borage were sometimes boiled as a pot-herb, and the leaves considered good in salads. Women pressed the beautiful starburst blue flowers...and they were candied as a decoration for pastries.

Pliny called it Euphrosinum, because it "maketh a man merry and joyfull". He wrote: "Those of our time do use the flowers in sallads to exhilerate and make the mind glad. There be also many things made of these used everywhere for the comfort of the heart, for the driving away of sorrow and increasing the joy of the minde. The leaves and floures of Borage put into wine make men and women glad and merry and drive away all sadnesse, dulnesse and melancholy, as Dios corides and Pliny affirme. Syrup made of the floures of Borage comforteth the heart, purgeth melancholy and quieteth the phrenticke and lunaticke person. The leaves eaten raw ingender good bloud, especially in those that have been lately sicke.' " (20 spell-check warnings in that last paragraph!)

At our last IPG my friend Claire mentioned that her family served the flowers on top of tomatoes, and that they have a sweet, cucumber fragrance. So, I tried them. The hairy little plant (well, mine wasn't so little....it grows up to three feet tall, and mine shot up to five feet) always had bee festivals, just ooooozing good will. Even when it blocked the sun, making my tomatoes stunted, I knew it had a reason for being there. Recently I read that the candied flowers can be put into the centers of ice cube trays, and served with sparkling cider in the winter time. The seed packets say it will 'gladden the heart'! How fun!

I made carrot soup this week, using a carrot-ginger soup base by 'Imagine' that was on sale at Bartells. These soups which come in a box are organic, and provide an instant soup. All one has to do is add more vegetables. So, I added peas, carrots, zucchini, and lentils, and purried up about 20 small tomatoes and added them to the broth. It was tasty and a tad sweet, perfect with cornbread.

Just a couple of smooth little pumpkins. My neighbor swapped them for a few of my dahlia tubers. Now, to find a recipe...

Gleanings Soup and a Intensive Program of Growth

My friend Nancy brought about 20 of these over on Sunday - individually wrapped squares of baklava, a heavenly treat for our IPG gathering.

We hosted another IPG weekend in our home, with about 25 Baha'is attending.

Some of our little friends slept...like Mindy here. Shadie is on the left, and Krissie. She and I spent part of Sunday afternoon visiting families on M Street.

The others, like Lillian here, were busy receiving assignments from Jeff, so they could street-teach. It was a perfect afternoon, sunny and warm, and families were out in their yards or on the front porch. Chris and I did a home visit with a new mother of twins, her sister Pi (a Baha'i), and Kim, the grandmother. It was so enjoyable visiting at their kitchen table. Pi and Kim will be attending our Ruhi Study Circle on Friday.

Both days were filled with the intensity and joy of teaching the Faith, meeting wonderful new people in the neighborhood, and working together to accomplish important goals. Although I went out both days with the friends, I spent most of my time in the kitchen. I figure we provided about 90 servings for the four meals, with my friend Claire bringing the main courses for dinner. She made a heafty beef stew for Saturday night and two trays of enchiladas for Sunday. I could not have pulled off the meals over the weekend without her! We worked as a team to get everything done.

Some of the friends brought desserts and treats, fruit and nuts. Pictured here: cornbread, coconut-coffee cake; zucchini bread.

I provided soup and salads, much of it using produce from my garden - tomatoes, squash, zucchini, leeks, celery and onions, potatoes, carrots, kale, broccolini, arugula and fresh herbs. On Saturday I made a 'Carrot-Squash Soup'with fresh ground ginger, a dash of curry and tumeric, coconut milk, and all kinds of chopped veggies. I counted 10 different vegetables in this soup, much of it pulled at the end of the growing season, so I called it my 'Gleanings Soup'. I served Brushetta toasts with it. These are slices of bread that are brushed with olive oil and fresh garlic, broiled, then a layer of brushetta and cheese is added. Broil again.

This salad had a wild huckleberry dressing. I mixed balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar and olive oil together with pepper and garlic, then added a little huckleberry juice. It was so wonderfully light, with just a hint of sweetness. Finely chopped oregano seed-heads and flowers added additional flavor to the salad.

I experimented with a 'Kale-Leek Soup' for Sunday lunch. (no photo available, but this photo is similar; a rustic potato soup by Fishlamp).Hearty with a bit of sliced pork, flavored with collard greens, carrots and onions, yellow zucchini, white beans and lentils. Rather than add milk or cream to thicken it I blenderized some boiled potatoes.

Tomatoes in red wine vinegar, olive oil, and huckleberry juice.

Leeks and other veggies in a Tuscan Italian dressing.

My finely shredded arugula, which was the base for all the vegetable toppings. Arugula is an 'acquired taste', strong, almost bitter. It is so nutritious!

And, least I forget, this was the pizza I served at Taraz's party Friday night. Shredded phyllo dough on top, then sprayed with olive oil and baked. Only a little cheese topping is necessary with this phyllo topping. And, my huckleberry pie.

In my comments on the last post Jen wanted to know how to start up a zest for cooking, and I really had to admit that I just 'play', then take a photo! Of course there is a lot of work involved, and taking time to study a few cookbooks. But to attain a level of consecration that is necessary in serious undertakings I recommended that she rent the movie "Babette's Feast", a favorite of mine.

When my weekend was over and the friends were gone, I looked around my kitchen. It had been such a hub of activity, savory smells, and so much fun. Now it was dark and quiet, and I had only a few potatoes left that didn't get used. I lit this little candle, grateful that everything went well, that people were nourished and enriched in so many ways.

Huckleberry Pickin' at Joemma Beach

My son Taraz has his birthday today. Rahmat and I did some berry pickin' so I could bake him a pie.

I saw the berrries when George and I hiked the trails at Joemma Beach a week ago. We didn't stay to pick, but I sure hoped I could return, as this was a goal of mine to freeze huckleberries for the winter.

We collected three gallons of huckleberries in about an hour.

Then when we got home I made Rahmat a stack of buttermilk pancakes. Sliced bananas, plum syrup, and the berries.

I've pulled all the tomatoes from my vines and brought them home to ripen. Rahmat mentioned the sweet pickle relish I used to make when the kids were young and asked if I'd make some more. Well, I sure had a lot of green tomatoes, so I made three pints using onion, yellow, red, and orange peppers, garlic and pickling spices.

These little eggplants were hiding under big leaves in the garden. They're too little to cook, but I enjoy looking at them in a dish on my stove.

I've got two dehydrators going. The small one on the right is mine, and the other one belongs to my friend Sandy. I'm making prunes from my plums and drying mint and oregano. They are good little gadgets. I'm hoping to dry tomatoes next.

My three sons are going up to Mt Rainier today for a hike, and invited me to join them. But I have too much yet to finish up in my garden. I told them I'd have a meal ready for them when they finish their hike - and we'll slice that huckleberry pie for dessert.

Fall Harvest: Let The Good Times Roll

I pulled the last of my sweet peas on Friday and hope to chop up the vines today. Then I'll turn the organic material into the soil, digging it deeply so it can decompose throughout the winter.

Most of the garden plots over at Franklin Park are being stripped of produce - pumpkins, squash, tomatoes, late corn. Everything has to be leveled by October 1st, and all stakes, boards, trellises etc have to be removed.

So, I've been shredding plants as I pull the vegetables, then leveling the berm. I still have much to do, and will probably pull my remaining tomato vines at the end of this week. I hope to dry them for recipes that call for 'sun-dried tomatoes'.

I'm drying some of these plums in a dehydrator, for prunes, but will give the bulk of them to the food bank.

I pulled all of my basil, and made pesto sauce using fresh grated parmesan, sesame and olive oil, ground almonds, pecans, walnuts, and peanuts, and a minute amount of sugar to bring out the sweetness of the basil. The color of this fresh basil is preserved by using Fruit Fresh. I do not can pesto as the parmesan cheese would become compromised; I've read that it can be frozen in ice cube trays for individual uses.

Hot peppers from my garden.

Hot Pepper Polenta Chipolte Soup using many of my garden vegetables. The base is chicken broth and corn chipolte, with fried chipolte sausage and drippings on the top. I also fried the polenta chucks in the drippings.

I'm finding huge surprise zucchinis in my garden. I just groan when I see them as they explain why some of the 'little fellas' on the vine just failed to get big. But, I use everything. Zucchini Bread with a caramelized pineapple/cranberry, pecan topping.

We hosted another 'Intensive Phase of Growth' in our home over the weekend, so as I was working production in my kitchen the Baha'is were doing a little planting-harvesting of their own, visiting many of our neighbors in Hilltop, building friendships. About 25 of the Baha'is went out, but some remained here praying together and offering all kinds of assistance or support. I'll always remember the spirit in my house those two days - people coming and going, food being brought in for meals, children out in the backyard playing, giggles and laughter coming from all the rooms.

While I chopped vegetables or diced fruit for syrup, people gathered around to chat. Everyone (especially the youth) were interested in the procedures, such as this sieve that I use for making my plum syrup.

This is pasta sauce, made from tomatoes, finely chopped celery, carrot, kale, golden beets, sauteed onion and garlic, leeks, fresh basil, oregano and parsley. A drop of Thai beef paste for salt, Mandarin oranges for sugar, and a little Merlot to enhance all the flavors, then it is simmered for three hours with frequent stirring.

We've got a gorgeous sunny day today, so I'm going to put plums in the dehydrator and get out for my jog...this is something I've not been able to fit in for several weeks now and I can tell the difference when I put this off. I count my blessings for my good harvest, for the wonderful friends who shared stories in my home over the weekend, and for these last few days of sunshine in the Pacific Northwest.

Production: Oriental Plum Sauce

Yesterday I made my own Oriental Plum Sauce using the basics of this recipe, plus a few additions of my own. This type of sauce is a specialty at the market, and so costly that I've hesitated buying it.

I mixed the cooked, chopped plums with cider, brown sugar, sesame oil, onion and garlic. Then I added shredded fresh ginger, ground mustard, salt, soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, chile sauce, and lemon juice. A portion of the sauce was put in the blender to create a thick sauce perfect for basting as well as marinading. I figure I've got at least a year's worth here...ready for barbecued ribs and chicken.

I had to laugh when our friends arrived for dinner last night. When they entered the house they smelled this marinade and thought they were getting barbecue. Walter gasped with anticipation, saying the house smelled so good. But, I had to apologize, saying I'd just finished capping the last of my plum sauce. Then I pulled out my kettle of mixed-bean soup and some warm Como bread. What a let-down, I'm sure!

Walter gave me this painting, saying that a conversation he and I had out in the backyard inspired him to paint it. He said we talked about my home and garden, my grand-daughter Daisy, and the beauty of central Washington. He captured all of that in the painting. But, I saw all the careful stones and flowers along the walkway leading out to the prairie, and I thought, 'yup. That lady likes all her ducks in a row'.