The Last of the Fresh from the Farm

Here in Seattle, autumn and winter are doing their final dance together, trying to decide whose turn it is to lead and switching around just when I think I've figured it out.  We still get a few gorgeous, pale sunshiney days but the drizzly wet stuff is definitely making itself known.  There's a chill in the air, and I saw frost on the grass today; all signs that winter is coming.  Ah, well, at least I can look forward to hunkering down and building up my winter fat stores as my evolutionary instincts compel me to by eating all those hearty stews, participating in hot pot parties, and doing some baking! 

To bid adieu to the season of harvest, here are the last of the fall harvest from the last few months:

Gorgeous flowers from the Grandmother's Garden Mix, especially the Cosmos with their bright happy pink faces, stand out against the colors of fall.  The rainbow chard love the cooler wet weather and grow big and glossy leaves, perfect for stews and stir fries.  The last of fingerling potatoes have been dug up for now though I've realized that once you've planted potatoes, you'll usually continue to get them since they're impossible to dig up completely.

The last of the summer tomatoes are also harvested along with fresh-tasting apples.  For those tomatoes that haven't had a chance to ripen before the cold weather returns, pulling them out by the roots and hanging them upside down in the garage will allow the nutrients to continue ripening the fruit.  Or if you get a chance before pulling them up, put some rotten tomatoes next to the green ones and they emit some ethylene gas that gets their green brothers to mature.

The following is Thom's Ginger Apple Bread Recipe, for those extra delicious apples abundant everywhere this time of year.  Trust me, it's good!

Ginger Apple Bread

4 cups baking apples coarsely grated (3-4 depending on size)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cardamon
1/2 cup butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup toasted walnuts
1/2 cup chopped candied ginger (optional)
1/2 cup raisins

 Begin by preheating the oven to 350 degrees.  Season the grated apples with the cinnamon, ginger, and cardamon and set aside.  Cream together the butter and sugars until fluffy.  Then mix the eggs in one at a time and add the vanilla.  In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt, and baking soda and sift.  Add the dry mixture to the wet in two batches, being careful not to overmix.  Scrape into a greased and floured 9x13 pan* and bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out of the center clean.  It's fall in bread form!  Enjoy!

*I decided to put my batter into a loaf pan instead and had enough batter left to make several muffins as well.  The muffins were done after about 35 minutes and the loaf took about 55 minutes.