Fall foodies!

Coming from here
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1324613/

Pretty pic.

Yes, it is pretty for Fall! I bought a bunch of different apples at the orchard the other day, guess I'll make something with them.

Just took apple crisp out of the oven. It must smell pretty good if I can even smell it.

Still have not done anything with my apples......I made apple jelly from my own drops, have some more in fridge....the Baldwins are starting to drop now as well....I love them, along with Romes!

Picked a few eggplants at my sons.....guess I'll make parmasean with them.....a lot of work, but I love it.....

Cheddar and broccoli soup. The last broccoli plant bit the dust.

Good use for it......am making beef & broccoli stir fry tomorrow, but I bought the broccoli.....

Made beef & broccoli yesterday, ham & scalloped potatoes for church tonight.....

Surveying the dwindling veggie garden, I find that I have lots of chard and chinese greens like oak choi left over. I have used these for salads, stir-fry and egg sandwiches in the past, but to use up the plants before frost sets in, can anyone suggest other chard/choi dishes I could try?

Picked all the green tomatoes yesterday morning.
Saffron crocus are blooming and the Fuyu persimmons are starting to ripen now.
The medlars are going to be huge this year (too bad they are mostly skin and seeds). Found a recipe for medlar jelly I am going to try this year.
Still have some figs and fennel seeds to gather, if I want, and am waiting to see if the fern-leaf dill sets seed heads.
Tried making "vegan bacon" out of my last eggplants in the dehydrator. Looked at the bottle of soy sauce I used in the marinade for the "bacon" and it expired 3 years ago! Where does the time go?

Don, I blanch the chard, then saute with bacon, onions & tomatoes.......I don't see why you couldn't use a cream sauce, with breadcrumbs on top & bake like you would spinach......Memory, how nice to have all that growing in your garden, figs especially! We will have our first frost tomorrow.....nothing left for me to pick in the garden anyway...just basil, I guess......

I used up a lot of chard, pak choi, tatsoi, peppers and kale in a chicken stir fry. Colorful! (Darned spellcheck keeps changing pak to oak!) I'll try your bacon suggestion next, Robin. Isn't there a cooks rule: Everything is better with bacon!

Don, just blanch it and put in freezer bags. It will be perfect for any cooked chard recipe you come across between now and next spring!

Oh, yes, bacon is like a siren song.....have to limit my intake to about 3 times a year!

DW made a soup with pak choi, carrots, lentils, onion. Ok, but a little bland, so with her approval I spiced it up with hot pepper sauce.

Sounds good to me! I like the red lentils for soup.....

Used last eggplant, peppers and tomatoes to make a sauce for spaghetti. Still had lots of peppers left over so I chopped and tray-froze most, hung a few up to dry.

Mmm..sounds delish.....I have one eggplant left, may do the same thing with it...thanks for the idea!

With the frosty weather, not much to report from the kitchen garden, but I did rescue some sage that DW stuffed into a pork roast for Thanksgiving dinner. (Plus haricots verts, and pumpkin pie with rum whipped cream! I contributed the smashed sweet/white potatoes.)

How many of you didn't have turkey either?

Don, that sounds like a wonderful feast! I was invited to my son's inlaws, & they cooked a turkey.....I brought a tossed salad & green beans....there were 20 of us for dinner & 26 for dessert.....too much food!

Personal best on Turkey breast this year. Couldn't baste with butter so used olive oil with rosemary, sage and fennel seeds from the garden under the skin the night before and it was delicious!

Epic fail on stuffing - went straight to compost pile. Although I might make a little more now for leftovers and put some herbs in it this time!

Also to be noted is lactose intolerant friends should not try making pumpkin pies with condensed GOAT MILK!

Memory, too funny! The turkey sounded awesome......the pumpkin pies I made went to the church's free Thanksgiving dinner for the town, so I never got to taste them.....I'm thinking of making pumpkin custard.....no crust. Easy, too.

YuMMM except for your epic fail stuffing, Memory. Hehehe

Turkey breast, chicken, mashed sweet and white taters, stuffing, green bean casserole(DIL made the mushroom sauce from scratch), veggies. 6 adults and 7 grandies.

Had the same menu the next night with 3 more adults. YES, we made too much. Some is in the freezer even.

The turkey was devoured, so the only leftovers I had were green beans....gave the salad to my son....our hosts were leaving the next day for Rhode Island, so they didn't want any leftovers.

Today's a great day to make chicken soup & that's what I'll be doing......

We finally finished a big pot of mixed bean soup. Red lentils and garlic gave it some extra zing. Our dog finished off the hambone that was simmered in the pot also to add its zest to the soup.

Trader Joe's Striped Pangasius fish (southeast Asian catfish), apple celery salad and spaghetti with basil pesto for supper tonight.

I like the red lentils....have made crockpot soup with them......today is a beef stew day!

Just baking a huge potato to smother in homemade yogurt for lunch. Trying a chia seed recipe to make "pudding". Chia seeds, milk (of any kind - I used Almond) a little maple sugar and a little cocoa. The seeds swell and get gelatinous - kind of like tapioca. I will let you know how it tastes.

Well, Memory, it sounds delish........hope it turned out well for you!

Went out to lunch yesterday & had a wonderful eggplant parm...today, leftovers!

I had eggplant parm for lunch yesterday, too! (But it was from my garden - except for the cheese.)

What variety of eggplant did you raise? I had 'Lavendar Touch' this year. Seeds were quite small when picked at about 6inch length.

Made 'Indian Vegetable Stew' tonight from a James Peterson recipe. Tasted good (especially after adding a touch of Garlic Chili Sauce!) but it used 9 different veggies and nearly every pot in the kitchen. DW said "never again!".

It was a bit smaller than Black Beauty - but a traditional black eggplant. I just got a few too many to eat at once so I breaded and baked them and then froze them for later - like now. LOL

Sadly, eggplant doesn't do well in my garden.....I've only had good crops a few times, so I no longer plant it.....I've been snitching them from my son's garden! The vegetable stew sounds wonderful, but I know the recipes that use up every pot & pan may be delicious, but I try to avoid them!

Think I will make a pork roast for New Year's....have invited a few friends......my aunt always invited us to her home for Lucky Bean Soup on New Year's, but I'm not that ambitious!

Could you tell us the recipe for Lucky Bean Soup? I threw in the towel on a coherent Christmas dinner and just made sure everyone had at least one favorite dish. Consequently we had beans. Navy beans - the best I'd ever made. I had extra and made navy bean soup from my childhood (the real recipe is on some .gov site). Navy beans, bacon, garlic powder and salt. Cooked to almost puree. Yummy!

My aunt never gave me the recipe.......but I think I made it similar to hers by using diced ham (she used ham hocks), onions, lots of garlic, bay & thyme, salt & pepper, chopped carrots & black eyed peas....I also used veggie broth, not sure what she used, maybe just water......yours sounds tasty also!

I make that. Why is it called Lucky bean soup?