The Harvest

Fall officially here, the rains have arrived in Portland.

Today I pulled out the ends of my garden. I now have bags of potatoes and apples, and a fridge full of cukes, tomatoes, and greens. I also harvested my first ever cauliflower. It was beautiful and delicious - and gone really fast. We roasted it up (surprise!), before we knew it, 4 months of growing had been eaten.

Luckily, I have managed to can quite a bit of food this year to make the summer last a little longer.

Here is a list of what we have in our pantry:
pints of tomato sauce
quarts of tomatoes
endless jars of pickles - roasted beets with rosemary, yellow beets with garlic, celery, fennel, cucumbers with dill and jalapenos, zucchini, and carrots.
blueberry jam
strawberry jam
rhubarb sauce
"chicken jam" - garlic, chili, ginger, and apple jam

I am also enjoying garlic confit. This slow simmer garlic is fall apart tender and perfect for smearing on bread. The olive oil is also nice and garlicy. I have been using it to saute veggies and adding to salad dressing. The recipe is from The Earthbound Cook, I highly recommend both this book and Food to Live By.

Garlic Confit
1 cup garlic cloves, peeled
1 1/2 cups olive oil

1. In a small sauce pan add garlic and olive oil. The oil should cover the garlic.
2. Simmer garlic 30 - 45 minutes, until very soft and fragrant.