Cinda Webb

I kept seeing these beans at the market and some older women filling bags full of them. What were they? Why would they want to go to so much trouble – shelling all of those beans?
Then I saw the Well Preserved Blog post and decided to give them a try. I bought a 10 pound box of beans on Saturday, along with bunches of grapes and 20 pounds of tomatoes. It was going to be a busy weekend!
The beans and seasonings ready for the canner. Now on to the tomatoes for the pasta e fagioli.
Between the grapes and the tomatoes I gave the food mill a good workout, or maybe I got a good workout turning the handle? Either way, more food for the pantry.

I was given a jar of sourdough culture over a year ago. I fed it and put it in the refrigerator and promptly forgot it. Last week, I decided to see if it could be revived. I had checked out the book “Classic Sourdoughs” by Ed and Jean Wood. I followed their directions for reviving the culture. Everyday I dumped part of the culture out and added more flour and water. One morning I knew for sure something was alive as the mixture had overflowed the jar and was spread out on the kitchen counter. Time to make some bread.

Concord type grapes were at the Farmers’ Market last Saturday so I picked up about 6 pounds of them. They were beautiful after they were washed.
I intended to make grape jelly as my younger son had requested it. I had purchased a jelly bag and was ready to go. I also had Eugenia Bone’s recipe for Grape Walnut Conserve and thought that sounded good as well. So a compromise – no walnuts but also no juice. I cooked the grapes and added sugar.
After the grapes were nice and soft I ran them through the food mill and then was left with a pulpy juice to reduce and thicken.
The chickens were happy to take care of the grape skins and any little bits of stem that were left in the food mill. After simmering away until the mixture was thickened, I was able to can four pint jars of grape jam.

Halloween is over and what to do with the pumpkins?
As these were carved the day of Halloween and only used that night, I decided to cook them. They are not the most flavorful of squash but roasted and then cooked down they turned dark like canned pumpkin.

I added honey, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg and put some of the purée in the dehydrator to make pumpkin leather. The rest will freeze to make into curried pumpkin soup and pumpkin spice muffins.