Cookin’ Up a Storm - November 14, 2024 @goldenoakfarm

in #homesteading20 hours ago

Holly from Corky crop Nov 2024.jpg

Holly brought by my oldest brother

On Thursday morning I was up at 4:30AM and got the post up. Then I cleaned the kitchen up and got ready, in case I was going to get the car at 8AM. But I couldn’t reach the mechanic, so I called another neighbor. She said she’d take me at 9:30AM.

The plan for the day was to make a lot of zucchini ravioli to freeze. So I started setting up the kitchen for that.

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Zucchini ravioli - peeling garlic crop Nov 2024.jpg

Then I got the garlic out and started peeling cloves and pressing them. 9:30AM came and went and I had just finished the garlic when she called and said she’d be there at 10:15AM.

This was pretty late for me. I had to run errands and I hoped I’d be able to. We got the car and I went straight to the grocery store. Apparently there was an IT issue as many of the shelves were completely bare! I got a few things and headed home and remembered I forgotten to get a birthday card.

So I stopped at the co-op to do that and get the things I couldn’t get at the grocery. I headed home and realized I’d forgotten to get the card, again! Too late, too tired, I just headed home.

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Some ingredients for zucchini ravioli

I got the groceries put away, lunch eaten, and did some more setting up so when my helper friend arrived at noon, he started slicing zucchini strips. I made the sauces and we started constructing raviolis.

My oldest brother stopped in and brought me holly to decorate with. We kept making raviolis and filled the 2 large pans. Then they went into the oven.

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I had a ripe persimmon on the counter and my helper friend mentioned making pudding with it. So he found a recipe and started. It wouldn’t chop up well in the blender, so he added cream, which was part of the recipe. It turned into a creamy pudding like mass in the blender. So he had me taste it and it was lovely! He never did make the pudding per recipe.

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source

I forgot to get a photo but it looked much like this and tasted like a creamy fruit sherbet. I will definitely be making this a lot as long as the persimmons are in season. Just fruit and cream blended together. One large ripe persimmon, ¼ cup heavy cream. That’s it.

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I’d seen medlars at the co-op so I got 2 for us to try. Neither of us had ever had any and these appeared to be perfectly ripe. They tasted good, but there were a lot of seeds to deal with and not much pulp. Probably will not try them again, too much work for outcome.

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I had a pound of hamburg in the fridge that needed cooked up but I didn’t want the old standbys of hamburgers, meatloaf, or meatballs. My helper friend is an excellent cook and he took it and seasoned it, added a jar of spaghetti sauce and boy was it good! Cumin was the main but mild flavor.

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As we’d used up all the zucchini so I couldn’t make zoodles, I remembered I’d gotten a spaghetti squash, so we set that to bake.

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And when he left at 5PM, I had supper and an extra jar of sauce I froze.

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I also had 8 meals for the freezer of zucchini ravioli.

I was exhausted, just got the shades pulled, fires going and laid down to watch a movie.

On Friday he will be here at 8AM and we water the house plants (that we forgot to do on Thursday), get the window candles out of the attic, and I plan to make cranberry-blueberry chutney. In the afternoon I have my first PT appointment. This will mean I have to get serious about going to exercise class and doing the PT exercises.

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Is a zucchini a vegetable and what does it really taste like?

Yes, it's a summer squash, and has a relatively bland taste usually.

Absolutely homemade spaghetti sauce
And I know it will taste great.

Lot of work, but for a good dish!