The end of the Summer Garden - It's happened.  The first hard freeze.  Life in the garden has drastically changed in just a few short hours.  We knew it was coming, but it is always a shock; ever so final.  Before the freeze we were still harvesting fresh zucchini, tomatoes, eggplant, and cucumbers daily; along with salad greens, onions, beets, watermelon radishes, and strawberries. Sadly, the squash, tomatoes, and cucumber plants have now turned to mush.

Throughout the summer our garden produces much more than we can eat.  In previous years we have taken the extra to the Senior Center for distribution.  This year however, due to the Corona Virus they were not accepting donations of backyard produce. Our solution was a box of the day's excess harvest set out on the curb for neighbors.  It never failed to be empty by the end of the day. 

The last hurrah -Since we knew when the cold weather would arrive, the day before the freeze we picked everything we suspected wouldn't survive. We found an abundance of nearly ripe tomatoes, 4 crisp cucumbers, three eggplants, and many very nice zucchini hiding among the giant leaves.

 We eat a truly plant based diet, mostly from our garden, and while there is no expectation that every bit of produce will be used, I do accept it as a challenge. Especially when it's the final pick. 

These vegetables provided the inspiration for a delicious dinner of  Roasted Eggplant with a lentil salad on the first night followed the next evening with a revised Quinoa, Lentil, and Arugula Salad paired with Zucchini fritters. Recipes to follow (tomorrow).   The addition of a fresh tomato salsa rounded out the dinner and also made use of some of those final tomatoes.

Ah, those tomatoes.  We do love our summer tomatoes,  Reyn usually plants a baker's dozen - which is really way too many for us. But, who can say no to homegrown, vine ripened tomatoes.  At this point my freezer is full. Completely.  I've made roasted tomatoes, marinara sauce, tomato paste, just plain frozen tomatoes, and canned tomato juice.  But, still there are more. the final solution: Salsa!

My Salsa recipe is quick, easy, very fluid (meaning that I use what I have on hand - ingredients vary somewhat). It's always delicious. In a food processor combine washed and quartered tomatoes, one quartered onion, a fresh jalapeno pepper, a few slices of pickled jalapenos, chopped cilantro, juice from 1/2 to 1 lime, and plenty of salt (to taste).  Depending on what your taste is, use more or fewer peppers.  I also sometimes add a chipolte pepper, some cumin, or chile powder. Process to your desired consistency.   So good!  I must admit that I have several containers of salsa stored in my freezer.  I have yet to try one, but expect the flavor to be great, the texture ??

Zucchini Fritters and Salad recipes coming soon.

 The Gardener and the Cook: Ten years later.  It's hard to believe that so many seasons, so many meals, so many adventures have passed since I last posted.  Although much has occurred in the intervening years, it is comforting to know that the essential ebb and flow of life remains a constant.  The gardener is still gardening, and the cook is still cooking - every day.

Since my last post we have moved to a new home and created a garden from scratch. 

Marathons have been run, an aging parent has been cared for and ushered into the beyond. Children have become middle aged, grandchildren have morphed into accomplished adults, and a new one has come our way.  Although I have not added to this blog in years, from time to time I have searched previous posts for recipes, or to answer the gardener's questions about what may have been happening in the garden at a particular time.  It has still been a part of my life.

2020 has been a year of unanticipated challenges and disappointments for all of us.  It has finally brought me back to this blog.  I've become more of a homebody, having given up many of the activities that filled my days before Covid. I realized that this could be a very long, lonely, dark and dreary winter unless I made an effort to pursue things that I enjoy.  Wandering in the garden, creating interesting food, and sharing ideas all bring me pleasure.  I'm hoping that my blogging, like untilled garden soil, will have benefited from lying fallow.   I've been thinking about this for quite a while, but it took a rainy day at the coast to actually put pen to paper, but here we go.  Welcome to The Gardener and the Cook + Ten.