Solstice Biscuits

We celebrated the Winter Solstice last night with Butternut Squash soup and sweet potato biscuits. The golden biscuits were shaped like the sun to remind us that now the days will be getting longer as we head into winter.

The biscuits are easy to make and really yummy. Even people who don't like sweet potatoes (like Larry) enjoy them. They're not too sweet, but they are fluffy and absorb butter well.

Plus the sweet potato adds beta carotene, a good boost to the immune system at this time of year when viruses make the rounds along with the holiday cheer. Make sure to buy an orange sweet potato so you get the pretty color.

Because I don't drink apple juice, when I buy a bottle I freeze the remains in 1/4 cup containers, ready to use in recipes like this or the ever-popular tofu teriyaki.

Solstice Biscuits
1 large orange sweet potato
1 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup white flour (plus a little more as needed)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup apple juice

Pierce the sweet potato a few times with a fork and bake it on a cookie sheet at 425° until it is very tender, about 45 minutes to an hour. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool. Remove and discard the peel and any hard bits. Mash enough to make 1 cup. Reserve any remaining for another use (or just eat it - chef's perks!).

Stir together the flours, baking powder and salt. Use a pastry blender or fork to cut in the butter until it makes fine crumbs. Stir in the mashed sweet potato and apple juice.

Knead gently to form a soft dough and turn out onto a lightly-floured board. Divide into 16 pieces and roll each into a ball. Put each on a cookie sheet and flatten it slightly.

Bake at 425° for 12-15 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Serve warm with butter.

Makes 16 biscuits.

Stuffed Squash with Spinach and Quinoa

I made this yummy squash for dinner the other night, and thought it would be great to share the recipe for those of you hosting a vegetarian at Thanksgiving.

While there are usually enough sides at a Thanksgiving dinner to fill up even a hungry eater, it's nice to have something that looks like a centerpiece.

I used a 4-cup squash, but there's enough stuffing to fill one twice the size.

Also, I baked the squash while cooking the stuffing on the stove, then filled the cooked squash and served it. You could also stuff the raw squash and then cook it at 350°F for about an hour. Or you could use a slow cooker - a much-appreciated device when all the burners and ovens are full with other dishes. Put the raw stuffed squash in the slow cooker and cook on low for 6 hours. Fashion a piece of aluminum foil or parchment paper into a sling and nestle the squash in it inside the slow cooker. This will make getting the cooked squash out of the slow cooker easier.

But don't save this recipe for Thanksgiving. It's great on any fall or winter evening. The quinoa and beans give it a high protein content, the spinach (or any other green you like) provides a nutrition boost, the rosemary and garlic boost the immune system. (Although you can omit the garlic if you don't like it.) Skip the feta if you're serving vegans.

Here's what I did.

Stuffed Squash with Spinach and Quinoa
1 winter squash
2/3 cup pinto beans (or 1 14 oz can of a bean of your choice)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup diced onion
4 cloves garlic, minced
6 oz raw spinach, thick stems discarded, washed and coarsely chopped
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp smoked chile flakes
2 cups vegetable stock
1 cup quinoa, rinsed first in boiling water then in cold water a couple of times
2-4 tbsp chopped black olives
1/2 cup crumbled feta (or more to taste)
1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary (or 2 tsp dried)

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Wash the squash and pierce the top with a knife a few times. Bake about 40 minutes until it feels soft and a knife slides easily in near the stem.

Pressure cook the beans for 23 minutes until tender. (Or cook them for a couple of hours in a pot of water on the stove. Or drain the canned beans.)

Cook the onion and garlic in the oil until soft. Stir in the salt, paprika and chile flakes. Cook another minute. Add the stock and quinoa, bring to a boil, lower the heat, cover and simmer until quinoa is cooked, about 15-20 minutes. Stir in the spinach and cook until wilted. Add the beans, olives, feta and rosemary. Stir to mix.

Cut the top off the squash and scoop out the seeds and any stringy guts. Spoon the stuffing into the squash, adjust the top jauntily, and serve.

Any extra stuffing can be served on the side. Sprinkle with extra feta if desired.

Serves 6

Canadian Thanksgiving

Canadian Thanksgiving is a much less stressful affair than the American version. Generally we clean out the garage, tune up the snowblower, close up the cottage — enjoy the fall colors and the fresh air before holing up inside for the long snowy winter.

At the end of the day — Sunday or Monday, there's no set rule — a simple meal of turkey and vegetables is served, maybe with a pumpkin or apple pie to finish. At least, that's how it was at my house.

This year, Larry and I celebrated Thanksgiving on Monday evening with a pumpkin stuffed with mushrooms and barley, the last harvest of green beans from our garden, a salad of crunchy lettuce with pistachios and red grapes, and an apple quince pie for dessert.

As we ate, we thought with gratitude of the organic farmers at the Hollywood Farmers Market who provided us with this bounty.

There are various ways to stuff a pumpkin. Usually I fill it with a grain pilaf and then bake it an hour or so until it is tender.

This year, however, I was late in from the garden, so I scooped out the pumpkin and baked it while I simmered the barley mushroom stuffing on the stove. Unfortunately, I baked it too long so it became soft and lost its shape. No matter, I filled it with the cooked pilaf and it made a lovely, if slightly lopsided, main course.

The mushroom barley pilaf is a delicious fall supper that is great even without the pumpkin.

Mushroom Barley Pilaf
2 tbsp unsalted butter
2 cups chopped onion
1 carrot, chopped
1 stalk celery, sliced
3/4 lb assorted mushrooms (shiitake, oyster, cremini), cleaned and sliced thinly
1 1/2 cups barley
4 sprigs thyme
3/4 tsp salt
4 1/2 cups vegetable stock or water (I used 1 1/2 cups of my strong stock and 3 cups water)

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions, carrot, celery and mushrooms. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms start to brown.

Add the barley and stir to coat with the pan juices. Then pour in the stock, add the thyme and salt, and a liberal amount of freshly ground pepper.

Cover the skillet and let the pilaf simmer over low heat for about 40 minutes until the barley is tender. Keep an eye on it, and add more water if it gets dry. The barley should hold its shape and be al dente when done — not mushy.

Serves 4

Note: If you are serving vegans, replace the unsalted butter with olive oil. It will still be delicious. I do prefer mushrooms in butter, though.

Warm Fruit Shortcake

I've learned that you can't have Fourth of July without shortcake. Over the years I've made various shortcakes, but this is the one I like the best. It's thin and slightly crisp, which contrasts well with the soft whipped cream and fruit.

Warming the fruit on the barbecue makes it excellent. I warmed a white nectarine and some of our homegrown blueberries with a little butter, sugar and lemon juice in an enameled cast iron skillet on the barbecue. Then I carried the skillet inside (to get away from the noise and smoke).

We cut the thin shortcakes in half, poured some fruit and juice on the bottom layer, slathered on cream (previously whipped with a little icing sugar and vanilla), and topped with the other shortcake half.

We enjoyed the warm fruit, crisp biscuits and luscious whipped cream while watching the never-ending fireworks show through our windows.

Shortcakes
1 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 stick butter
scant 1/2 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup turbinado (or raw) sugar

Preheat oven to 425°F.

In the food processor, pulse flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Add diced butter and pulse to a coarse meal. Add whipping cream and process until dough holds together when you squeeze it with your hand.

Tip the dough onto a floured board. Press it together and roll into a 1/2 inch rectangle. It will be crumbly. Cut in four pieces. Carefully transfer to a cookie sheet. Brush the tops with a little whipping cream and sprinkle with a little sugar.

Bake 15 minutes until golden brown. Cool on rack.

Serves 4

Potato Salad with Pickles

Usually when we barbecue I make my standard potato salad — cooked potatoes with a buttermilk dressing and a roasted poblano for zing.

But this Fourth of July, I tried something a little different. I found a jar of bread and butter pickles in our fridge and decided to add them to the potato salad. These weren't just any old pickles — I made them last year when our zucchinis were out of control.

I had planted seeds of an heirloom zucchini called Trombetta di Albenga from Renee's Garden Seeds. It's a vining zucchini plant that likes to grow up into trees. The zucchini then grow stealthily down among the branches. Fortunately, they are still tender even when they're three feet long.

Needless to say, I gave away a lot of zucchini. People still talk about the zucchini I gifted. And yet, we still had way more than two people can eat. I diced, blanched and froze. And then I made bread and butter pickles.

I am once again growing Trombetta di Albenga. (Really, they are the most entertaining vegetable plants I have ever grown.) They are not flowering yet, but I know what is coming. Emptying a jar of pickles into the potato salad seemed like a prudent move.

And I have to say that the potato salad tasted really good. It was slightly grey from the pickle juice I added to the dressing, but it was yummy. (I would have added a lot of colorful parsley if the birds hadn't eaten it all.) The potatoes were German butterballs from Flora Bella — the first time I've used them in potato salad and they tasted nicely creamy and held their shape well.

It's a good thing I'm growing more zucchini so we'll be able to replenish our pickle supply. This potato salad is one we'll want to make again.

Potato Salad with Pickles

1 1/2 lbs German butterball potatoes (or other waxy potatoes)

2 eggs

1 tbsp white wine vinegar

1 tbsp juice from the pickle jar

2 tsp dijon

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup kefir or buttermilk or yogurt

6-8 radishes, diced

1/2 cup chopped bread and butter pickles

Peel the potatoes and cut in quarters (about 1 inch pieces). Put in a pot, cover with cold water and a pinch of salt, and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Bring a small pan of salted water to the boil. Pierce a small hole in each egg with a safety pin. Lower into the boiling water, stirring so the eggs rotate a few times after entry. Cover and let simmer 10 minutes. Drain and cover with cold water. When cool, peel the eggs and separate the whites from the yolks. Chop the whites and add them to the bowl with the potatoes.

Put the cooked egg yolks in a blender with the vinegar, pickle juice and dijon. Whir together. With the machine running, slowly drizzle in the oil, then the kefir. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Pour most of the dressing over the potatoes and egg whites. Toss to combine. Add the radishes and pickles. Toss again and season to taste.

Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving.

Serves 4-6

Trombetta zucchini.

Fourth of July Burger

Portabello mushroom burger with all the
fixings: grilled red onion, tomato, Irish
 cheddar and dijon mustard.

We had a great cook-out on Fourth of July. Larry barbecued corn and burgers — mine was a portabello mushroom — and we ate potato salad and black beans too.

Then we headed inside to eat dessert (shortcakes with nectarines and homegrown blueberries warmed on the grill) away from the smoke of the ceaseless fireworks. Why 2017 Fourth of July has to feel like a battleground is a little lost on this Canadian, but I really enjoyed the food.

Fourth of July Celebrations

Fourth of July corn — cooked on the barbecue,
not incinerated by a rogue firework.

The Fourth of July is a noisy experience here in the 'hood. The fireworks started in April and have been gathering steam daily. Since the Alhambra fireworks' stands opened in mid-June, the daily and nightly explosions have multiplied.

When we first moved here, the loud daytime bangs made us jump. I didn't know that some fireworks are just loud booms that people set off during daylight hours. By the time the Fourth occurred, we could barely eat from the stress of unexpected explosions.

Now, many years later, we rarely jump. And we're able to eat our Fourth of July cookout. But we make sure to have finished dinner by 7 p.m. That's when we move inside with dessert, close the windows, put on the air conditioning, and "enjoy" many hours of fireworks through our living room windows.

This year, when we went to bed at 10:30 p.m., the show was still going on.

Did I mention that fireworks are illegal in the city of Los Angeles?

Arugula Salad with Balsamic Dressing

What greens are in this salad, Larry asked. Homegrown arugula, I said. Yes, but what other greens are in it, he persisted. Just arugula, I replied. Wow, he said in a surprised tone of voice, it's really good.

I understood his amazement because our arugula is exceptionally peppery. I usually add a few leaves to a green salad as a flavor boost or cook it with other greens.

But for our Memorial Day barbecue, I tossed handfuls of the leaves with a hearty balsamic vinaigrette that complemented their heat without overpowering it. With the sweetness of tomato and grilled red onion and the salty umami of a little shaved parmesan, the salad was a huge success.

The extra dressing lasts well in the fridge, ready to be poured over grilled vegetables or hearty grain salads.

Arugula Salad with Balsamic Dressing
3 slices red onion
olive oil
1 tomato
2-3 cups arugula leaves, tough stems removed
wedge of parmesan

Push toothpicks into the slices of onion so they hold together on the grill. Brush them with olive oil and grill over a medium-hot fire until they are soft and well-browned (not black and crispy), 3-4 minutes per side. Remove from heat, remove toothpicks, and cut in quarters.

Cut the tomato into bite-sized pieces.

Toss the arugula, onion and tomato together with just enough dressing to lightly moisten. Use a potato peeler to shave a few pieces of parmesan over the salad. Serve with extra dressing on the side.

Serves 2-3


Balsamic Dressing
1/4 cup pitted kalamata olives
1/4 cup mustard
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup basil leaves, coarsely chopped

Purée olives, mustard and garlic in blender. With the rotors running, gradually add the olive oil until it emulsifies. Add the balsamic and basil. Purée until mixed. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Makes about 1 1/4 cups

Memorial Day Barbecue

We had a wonderful Memorial Day barbecue on Sunday. Larry grilled a portabello mushroom to perfection (apparently his burger was pretty good too), and he grilled a couple of slices of red onion for our arugula salad.

It was a simple meal: grilled burger / portabello, black beans, potato salad, and homegrown arugula salad. Dessert was our first ripe blackberries and blueberries on homemade peach ice cream.

The mushroom benefitted from being brushed with a zesty marinade while it was cooking. It was juicy and flavorful. It would probably have been good on a bun, but I enjoyed eating it with a knife and fork.

Here's how we made it.

Grilled Portabello Mushroom
3 oz olive oil
juice of 2 limes
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
1 shallot, peeled and minced

Combine all the ingredients. This is enough marinade for 4 portabellos. Leftovers last well in the fridge and make a good salad dressing.

Remove the stem from the portabello. Brush off any dirt.

Put it on a grill over high heat. Brush with the marinade. Grill a few minutes, turning and brushing often. Larry's secret is he pours a little of his beer on it as well during the cooking.

Serve immediately.

I sometimes add a tsp of fresh chopped rosemary to the marinade, which adds a little more depth of flavor.

Solstice Celebrations

I really enjoyed our Solstice celebrations this year.

It's rained recently, so everything was feeling refreshed, but the weather over the longest night of the year was dry and cool.

On Solstice Eve, we lit a fire outside at twilight and ate homemade gingersnap cookies (representing the dark of the longest night) and drinking spiced coffee I heated in the fireplace. Then we went inside for a supper of hot soup - it was cold outside!

The next evening, we celebrated the turn from the longest night to lengthening days with a meal of black bean chili (for darkness) and sweet potato biscuits (representing the returning sun). Symbolic and delicious.

There are many ways to make sweet potato biscuits. I also make a kind with buttermilk and more sweet potato - they're a little denser. You can find the recipe here.

This year, I made these fluffy biscuits. Although I cooked a whole sweet potato, I didn't need it all so I diced the extra into a root vegetable soup.

I added some apple juice to add a little sweetness and moisture. Organic apple juice comes in large bottles, and since I don't actually drink apple juice, I never finish the whole bottle at once. Instead, I freeze the extra in small portions, ready to use in a recipe like this one.

These biscuits are great with chilis and soups. They also freeze well.

Sweet Potato Biscuits
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup white flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp butter
1/3 cup apple juice
1 cup cooked sweet potato, mashed well

Preheat the oven to 425°F.

Whisk together the whole wheat flour, white flour, baking powder and salt. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender or your fingers until the largest pieces are the size of small peas. Stir in the apple juice and mashed sweet potato to make a soft dough.

Turn the dough onto a floured board and knead in just enough extra flour that it's not sticky. Divide it into 16 parts. Shape into a ball and arrange on a greased cookie sheet. Pat them down a little to flatten them. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Serve hot with butter.

Orange and Cranberry Salad

I've never really warmed to cranberry sauce. My mother used to cook cranberries with orange zest and a little cardamom and they sat on the table and were returned to the kitchen untouched (at least by me). I didn't like the texture of the cooked berries. Of course, the stories of jellied cranberry sauce being slid out of the can and presented on a plate weird me out even more.

So I struggle to serve cranberries at Thanksgiving.

This year, however, I served them in a salad, and they were great. This is not the jello salad of the '70s with cranberries, tinned mandarin orange slices and miniature marshmallows. This is a healthy yet delicious updated version. No jello (not vegetarian) required.

 I combined chopped cranberries with crisp celery and sweet juicy oranges and served them on a bed of greens. The oranges provided sweetness without jammy-ness, and the lightly-sweetened cranberries were pleasantly tart but not overpowering. The salad provided a nice contrast to the creamed corn and scalloped potatoes.

I added a few home-grown arugula and nasturtium leaves to the butter lettuce for a little variety. Salad mix would be fine too. The mint adds a really nice perk, but if you don't have any, the salad will still be good. Also, olive oil can substitute for the walnut oil if needed.

Orange and Cranberry Salad
1 cup fresh or thawed frozen cranberries
2 oranges
1 stalk celery, thinly sliced (about 1/2 cup)
2 tbsp chopped red onion
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp grated ginger root
butter lettuce
2 tbsp chopped fresh mint leaves
1 tbsp walnut oil

Pulse cranberries in food processor 5 times to coarsely chop. Transfer to a bowl.

Cut the tops and bottoms from the oranges. Cut the peel and white pith from them, then hold them over the bowl and cut the sections from the membranes, letting juice and fruit fall into the bowl. Stir in celery, onion, sugar, lemon juice and ginger root. Cover and refrigerate at least one hour, or up to 2 days.

Toss lettuce and mint leaves with oil. Place on a serving platter. Top with the cranberry mixture.

Serves 4

Roast Pumpkin and Cipolline Onions

I wanted to serve pumpkin at Thanksgiving, but not in a pie, and not stuffed like usual. So I chose a small pumpkin with minimal ridges, and peeled and diced it, roasted it, and served it as a side dish.

I did the peeling and dicing the night before, then stored the cubes in a bag in the fridge overnight.

The next day, I picked some fresh herbs from the garden, peeled a few cipolline onions, and tossed it all together on a roasting pan in the toaster oven for about 45 minutes.

I then just plated it and served it as a side. But when I've served this pumpkin dish previously, I've tossed it into leafy greens with a walnut vinaigrette and toasted walnuts for a good main dish salad. The roasted pumpkin is also good stirred into hot rice or quinoa.

Roasting diced pumpkin is a simple way to add a good dose of antioxidants and fiber to a meal. The key is to buy a smooth pumpkin that is easy to peel. Then this dish takes care of itself.

For the cipolline, I cut off the root end and peeled off the dark skin and cut out most of the stem end. But I didn't obsess with the peeling. They were delicious.

Roast Pumpkin and Cipolline Onions
2 1/2 lbs pumpkin, peeled, 1/2 inch dice
10 cipolline onions, peeled and halved
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
pepper
leaves from a few stems of thyme
a few sprigs of rosemary, coarsely chopped, and more to garnish

Toss all the ingredients together. Roast at 375°F for 45 minutes until tender and browned.

Serves 4-6

Thanksgiving

Filo tart before the top is added

I thoroughly enjoy Thanksgiving – a holiday centered around food. No gifts to buy. Minimal decorating to do –flowers and candles on the table, a pot of mums on the patio and you're good to go.

Just food, food and more food.

That I can handle.

Wednesday night found me dicing pumpkin, making pie, and stirring together relishes. All while watching hockey. It felt good and winter-y.

Thursday, Trace arrived at 11 a.m. and we enjoyed Thanksgiving lunch on the patio. Larry had moved the table into the sun – there was a cool breeze and temps in the 60s, but it was lovely to be outside under the blue sky.

I thought I had restrained myself this year, but Trace allowed as to how I had made too many dishes for her to fit on her plate. Hmmm. Isn't that the point?

Our fridge is now full of a week's worth of leftovers – awesome!

This is what we ate this Thanksgiving holiday:

Appetizers while I did the last of the cooking:

corn chips with this year's salsa

orange-cumin almonds

Main course:

Whole Foods honey-roasted ham for Trace and Larry

filo-crusted spinach and mushroom squares (technically for me, but everyone enjoyed them)

pomegranate relish (instead of cranberry sauce)

green beans with lemon-mustard dressing

scalloped potatoes

roast pumpkin and cipolline onions

creamed corn and poblanos in the slow cooker

salad of butter lettuce, arugula and nasturtium leaves with oranges and cranberries

Dessert:

Apple Tart with Maple Creme Brûlée

I cooked while listening to Lynne Rossetto-Kasper's Turkey Confidential on NPR – my personal holiday tradition whether I'm cooking or gardening. That woman has spontaneous creativity: What do you do when your jello won't set – call it jello spoon-sweet, of course!

I love this because my cooking rarely turns out the way I expect. Wednesday morning I tried roasting walnuts with hot paprika and rosemary in the toaster oven, but I let them cook a minute too long – blackened! The creamed corn got lumpy in the slow cooker – not sure why, it's worked fine before. Fortunately it tasted great.

I went out in the cool of the morning to harvest the finishing touches for our meal: lemons, basil, arugula, rosemary, thyme, mint, marjoram, nasturtium leaves, tarragon. But I left the small young arugula leaves on the table and they wilted before I put them in the salad. I added them anyway, because we grew them and even though they were limp they were still spicy.

The highlight was when I opened my new butane torch to brûlée the tart. In the past I have used the oven broiler, but I have always yearned for a torch. This year I treated myself to one. I didn't actually get around to opening the package until we had eaten the main course. It was a little challenging to get the butane into the torch – the instructions were very unclear – it took both Trace and me together to get it to work. But we managed to brown the sugar on the pie, and then we took a stroll around the garden while it hardened. Larry made excellent coffee and we had a lovely dessert. Maple sugar and maple syrup really improve apple pie.

Then Trace went home and we passed out on the sofa in front of football. Isn't that what Thanksgiving is all about?

Thanksgiving on the patio

Mushroom Pie

I had a picture in my mind of what I wanted the vegetarian Christmas entrée to be. I did not want to cook another squash or pumpkin - I did that at Thanksgiving - I wanted something warm and winter-y.

I wanted a non-meat meat pie.

So I created it with mushrooms and pastry, and I served it with mushroom gravy. To my surprise, it turned out just like I had imagined.

I started by baking a mushroom pâté in a seven-inch round cake tin. Then I lined an eight-inch springform pan with pastry and dropped in the cooked pâté. I covered it with a crust, which Mum helped me decorate with holly leaves and berries made from scraps of dough. I brushed it with egg and baked it, and it came out looking spectacular.

It was very moist so it didn't need the mushroom gravy I made, and it reheated well as leftovers.

The mushrooms were delicious, but I think I could have used any bean or lentil loaf as the filling. Non-meat meat pie will show up again on our winter table, I am sure.

Mushroom Pâté
1 lb cremini mushrooms, sliced
1 onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 tbsp water
2 tbsp white wine
2/3 cup pinquitos (or other small beans) cooked
1 egg, beaten
1 cup fresh bread crumbs
1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme
1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease and line a 7" diameter cake pan.

Cook the mushrooms, onion, garlic, red pepper, water and wine in a saucepan over medium heat about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Let cool slightly.

Put the mushroom mixture in a food processor along with the cooked beans and process until smooth.

Transfer the mixture to a bowl. Add the egg, bread crumbs, thyme and rosemary. Mix well. Season with salt and pepper.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake pan. Level the surface. Bake about 1 hour until set and browned on top. Let cool completely on a wire rack. Once cool, cover and refrigerate overnight.

Serve as pâté with crackers, or use in a pie as described above.

Spiced Nuts

I experimented with Spiced Nuts this holiday season. I found that cooking them in the toaster oven is not a good idea (my squirrel friends are enjoying the burnt nuts), but that cooking them in a skillet with seasonings is easy and very flexible.

I was over-enthusiastic so I made both appetizer nuts and dessert nuts. (No one complained.) Both contain sugar, which as regular readers know is a no-no on this blog, but I used organic cane sugar and figured the holidays only come once a year so what the heck.

I used regular unblanched almonds for the Spicy Almonds and they held the spices well. For the Sugared Hazelnuts, I toasted them and rubbed off the skins in the time-honored manner, but I feel they would have held the seasonings just as well if I had left the skins on. I'll try that next year.

These nuts would be an excellent nibble at a New Year's celebration. Expect everyone to eat more of them than you could imagine.

Spicy Almonds

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp coarse salt

1 1/2 tsp whole cumin seeds

1 tsp red pepper flakes

grated zest of 1 orange

1 tsp vegetable oil

2 cups almonds

Stir together the sugar, salt, cumin, pepper flakes and orange zest. Mash together with the back of a spoon.

In a large skillet, warm the vegetable oil over medium heat. Add the almonds and cook, stirring frequently, until sizzling - 1-2 minutes.

Stir in a tablespoon of the sugar mixture. Toss and stir the almonds until the sugar melts and starts to glaze the nuts. Add more sugar and repeat the process until you've used all the sugar, and it is all melted and coating the nuts.

Tip the nuts out onto a cookie sheet, spread them apart, and let them cool. When the almonds are cool to the touch, break them apart as needed and store in an airtight container. In theory they will last a couple of weeks at room temperature.

Sugared Hazelnuts

1 tbsp olive oil

1 cup shelled hazelnuts

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground cloves

1/4 cup sugar

Warm the olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Add the hazelnuts and cook until sizzling.

Stir together the cinnamon, cloves and sugar. Add to the skillet a tablespoon at a time, stirring to melt the sugar. Continue with all but a couple of teaspoons of the spice mixture. When the nuts are well glazed turn them onto a cookie sheet to cool.

When cool, break the nuts into a bowl. Stir in the remaining sugar mixture.

Christmas Dinner

Festive Persimmon & Pomegranate Salad

I understand that professional food bloggers prepare a Christmas dinner in early December so they can post pictures and recipes ahead of time for their followers to use in their own holiday meals.

More proof that I am not a professional food blogger.

I have been cooking and taking photos these past couple of weeks, but I've been spending more time online researching the next step of my rain farm than I have writing this food blog. Our Christmas dinner was delicious nonetheless, and I'll tell you about it over the next few days. All of the recipes would be good any time of year.

Tracie had last-minute car trouble so was unable to join us Christmas Day. We served the leftovers on the 27th when she came up for lunch - it was a good meal to eat twice.

I hope you are having a delicious holiday season. And once again I say thank you to the farmers whose hard work makes my meals so good.

Christmas Dinner Menu
Before-Dinner Nibbles:
Trader Joe's organic Corn Chips and Homemade Salsa
Spicy Almonds
Dinner:
Mushroom Pie
Turkey
Spaghetti Squash Chutney
Chestnut Stuffing
Persimmon and Pomegranate Salad
Roast Fingerling Potatoes
Brussels Sprouts with Brown Buttered Almonds
Au Jus Gravy
Trader Joe's Gravy
Mushroom Gravy
Dessert:
Meyer Lemon Cornmeal Cake
After-Dinner Nibbles:
Mum's Fudge
Spiced Hazelnuts

I ordered the fresh organic 11-lb turkey from Grassroots in South Pasadena. We picked it up on the 23rd and left it refrigerated in its wrappings until the 25th. Mum, Larry and Tracie found it excellent.

Mum made the stuffing with chestnuts from Ha's Apple Farm that we had roasted in the fire at the solstice. She added sausage and other things. Apparently it was delicious.

I realize it's weird to have three gravies for four people, but I needed a vegetarian gravy to go with my Mushroom Pie so I made mushroom gravy. Mum made an au jus gravy from the pan drippings. And because I wasn't sure if Larry and Trace would like the au jus gravy, I bought a box of turkey gravy at Trader Joe's.

The Meyer Lemon Cornmeal Cake was a recipe from the Jan. 2015 issue of Sunset - I picked the Meyer lemons from our tree on Christmas Eve. It was a moist cornmeal upside-down cake with the floral tang of the Meyer lemons - yummy.

Mum's fudge is an awesome recipe that does not belong on this healthy-eating blog, but we are still enjoying it.

And isn't that the key to good eating - mostly delicious healthy food and the occasional incredible indulgence to boost the spirits.

I hope your spirits are boosted as we head into 2015.

Thanksgiving Preparations

Larry came home last night to the sight of three separate pots of beans boiling on the stove. One was for dinner and two were for the Thanksgiving lentil loaf in a squash.

"Something smells good," he said as he walked into the kitchen. And he was right. The gently-bubbling beans warmed the kitchen with an aroma promising a good meal. It's a hard one to describe, and those of you who think you don't like beans (or have only eaten canned beans) will not understand it, but when beans have become a regular part of your diet, smelling them cooking foretells a good filling meal in the way the smell of pot roast does to a meat-eater.

Larry has come to appreciate beans in a way that could not have been predicted 20 years ago. (Although when I met him he did cook a mean tofu stir-fry.)

When we were discussing the Thanksgiving menu a few days ago, he suggested that we go vegetarian. He had been thinking about what he was thankful for, and realized he was really grateful for the incredibly healthy (vegetarian) food we eat every day, the food that keeps him strong and vital when others in cubicles around him are dragging and sickly. While I was thinking of getting him a turkey part, stuffing and gravy from Trader Joe's, he was looking forward to celebrating with lentil loaf.

So our Thanksgiving table will look similar to the one we had last year when Tracie joined us and proclaimed her (short-lived) conversion to vegetarianism.

We'll have lentil loaf in a funky-looking squash, mashed potatoes, corn and peppers, green beans, and a salad with persimmons in it. Dessert will be a cranberry concoction - although we'll be too full so it will wait until Friday to be tasted.

It's a simple meal which, now the lentil loaf is cooked, will take a couple of hours to bring together. I plan to spend the day in the garden, and then we'll gather in the kitchen around 4 p.m. to chop and bake and mash these fresh delicious foods. Truly a day to be thankful for.

Lentil Loaf
1/3 cup trail of tears beans
1/2 cup red lentils
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 egg
1 carrot, coarsely grated
1/2 cup grated aged cheddar
1 cup fresh wholewheat breadcrumbs
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp ketchup
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp hot chili powder

Cook the beans and lentils in separate pots of boiling water until cooked all the way through. The lentils will take about 15 minutes, the beans about 90 minutes. When they're cooked, drain and set aside.

Warm the oil in a skillet and sauté the onion, garlic and celery until softened, about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool slightly.

In a food processor, combine the cooked beans and lentils, the cooked onion mixture and the egg, and process until smooth.

Transfer to a large bowl and add the carrot, cheddar, breadcrumbs, tomato paste, ketchup, cumin and chili powder. Stir together well, then pour into a greased 9x5 loaf pan.

Bake at 350°F for 1 hour.

This is great warm or cold, in sandwiches, in a pumpkin, fried into burgers, served as slices with mashed potatoes and ketchup - any way you would eat meatloaf. (Although I'm not sure anyone has ever served meatloaf in a pumpkin.) It also freezes well.

Green Beans with Hazelnuts

Finley Farms at the Hollywood Farmers Market has had excellent green beans this fall. The Finley children enjoy them raw. We've eaten them cooked but plain - simmered for 9 minutes in boiling water - no butter or salt or pepper required.

Cooking is really easy when you start with good produce.

The other night, however, I decided to dress up the green beans with some hazelnuts I found in the freezer and some mint and a lemon from the garden.

It is still an easy side dish - it can even be made ahead and served at room temperature - so it would be good for Thanksgiving.

Green Beans with Hazelnuts
1/4 cup hazelnuts
2 tbsp chopped fresh mint leaves
1 tbsp grated lemon peel
2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt (or more to taste)
4 tbsp olive oil
3/4 lb green beans

Toast hazelnuts in a dry skillet over medium heat until they smell good and are golden when you break one open. Tip them onto a kitchen towel, and when they're cool enough to handle rub them with the towel to remove as many of the brown skins as possible. Chop coarsely and set aside. (This can be done hours or days ahead.)

Stir together the mint, lemon peel, lemon juice and salt. Whisk in the olive oil. Taste and add more salt if desired.

Cook the beans in boiling water until just cooked - 7-9 minutes.

Now you can choose whether to serve them right away as a warm vegetable side or later as a room-temperature salad.

I served them warm by tossing the beans with some of the dressing, putting them on a serving plate, and sprinkling the hazelnuts on top. I served the small amount of extra dressing on the side.

To serve them as a salad, when the beans are tender plunge them into ice water to cool, then drain and set aside. When ready to serve, toss with the dressing, sprinkle with the nuts and serve.

Serves 2-3

Bean Salad with Rooster Sauce

This was a pretty salad for Halloween week - black beans, orange cherry tomatoes, red peppers, and rooster sauce (Sriracha) to give it a kick.

Bean salads are great to eat daily - they are low in calories and high in fiber and antioxidants - and if you make a batch of bean salad you can easily scoop it into containers for the lunch box. (I take mine along with a green salad, then mix the two together to get a very healthy meal that, along with an apple, sustains me through my busy day.)

Bean Salad with Rooster Sauce
1 cup black beans
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp rooster sauce
1/2 cup orange cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped red pepper
juice of 1 lime

Cook the black beans in plenty of simmering water until tender. Drain. Put in a bowl and stir in the vinegar and rooster sauce. Let cool to room temperature.

Stir in the remaining ingredients.

At this point it can be refrigerated for up to 5 days. Before serving, stir in extra lime juice if desired.

Serves 4

Canadian Thanksgiving

Canadians do Thanksgiving differently to Americans. To start with, it's earlier - the second Monday in October (although most people eat Thanksgiving dinner on the Sunday). Leaves are turning and the harvest is coming in. It's the weekend to close up the cottage, clean out the garage, tune up the snow blower and put away the lawn mower.

Turkey is the traditional dinner centerpiece, but there's not the same focus on gluttony that there is here in the U.S. In fact, I can't remember a traditional Thanksgiving dessert. I asked my mum and she couldn't remember what we used to eat for dessert either. (She had just eaten Thanksgiving dinner at a friend's house where they ate apple crisp from apples the family had picked that day at a local orchard. That sounds like a good tradition.)

Larry and I celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving in Los Angeles yesterday with a day in the garden and then dinner eaten outdoors under the stars. This year we ate barley and squash cooked in the slow cooker, with sides of lacinato kale and baked acorn squash.

The barley dish was a new one - and I won't be making it again. It was bland - probably because I have run out of my excellent roasted vegetable stock so the liquid was plain water. But honestly, I'm not sure even vegetable stock could have saved it.

Fortunately, I served it with Tomato Chili Pickle, a relish I made in August when we had extra tomatoes. (More on that another day.) That made it delicious.

On the side were cooked kale and baked acorn squash. It was a pretty autumnal meal.

And fortunately we didn't have room for dessert. Because I hadn't made one.