bedtime stories, originally uploaded by cabanagirl.

a little nap

a little nap, originally uploaded by cabanagirl.

What to do with your green tomatoes:

green tomatoes, originally uploaded by cabanagirl.

When the first winter storm was in the forecast I had plenty (more than 80 lbs) of unripened tomatoes. "Fry them" I heard. I tried fried green tomatoes years ago and even though everything fried tastes good it didn't even resemble a tomato in the end. So I asked every patient that sat in my chair if they were a gardener and if they answered "yes" my next question was "how do you ripen the green tomatoes?"
1. Wrap them in newspaper loosely in no more than 3 layers.
2. Place in a cardboard box and seal it up.
3. Store in a cool place.
4. Peek every 7-10 days
5. Cross your fingers.

wrapped and ready to "send", originally uploaded by cabanagirl.

wrap the green tomatoes loosely in newspaper (dunnage) and close in a cardboard box. Store in a cool place.

ripe after 10 days, originally uploaded by cabanagirl.

after 10 days they are red, ripe and delicious

November pumpkins

Pumpkin, Galeux D'eysines Squash, originally uploaded by cabanagirl.

The pumpkin patch was good to me this year. The GD squirrels ate my neighbors' pumpkins but not mine. I harvested about 15 small to large size squash and am now trying to be creative with what I do with them.
These are strange looking pumpkins called Galeux D'Eysine. They are heirloom French pumpkins with gnarly skin that looks like peanuts or warts. The French named them "Galeux" which means embroidery....so embroidered pumkins from the provence of Eysine. They have thick orange meat that have been delicious in everything I have made: butter, bread and a fabulous pumpkin pie I will call:
Mile High pumpkin pie...with about a mile of meringue on top. I had to do something with all of the extra egg whites remaining from my ice creams and custards.
Pumpkins are so thematic for this time of year and lend themselves to decorating, sketching and painting and even a head for a doll.
What will you do with your pumpkins?

pumpkin, Galeux D'eysines Squash, originally uploaded by cabanagirl.