Monday, December 2, 2013

Harvest Monday, December 2nd, 2013

I didn't write a Thanksgiving post, but you can be sure that I brought home grown food to Thanksgiving. I went out and picked the herbs fresh I needed. I figured there was just enough to weigh. Often I don't bother because the weight is negligible.

We also got another day in the 60Fs before it got frigid again. And though the ground was frozen still, the vegetables perked up and I picked the last of the broccoli.

And a pile of spinach. I still have more good leaves to pick out there, but they are only good if it warms up enough. I suppose if all I'm doing with them is boiling them, the limp leaves would be fine. Maybe I should consider it frozen spinach? My hands won't appreciate picking them, so I'll probably wait until we get an unusually warm day. And if not, they wait until spring.

And I tried an very successful experiment. I love pizza, but since I can't eat tomatoes without getting sick, I've been experimenting with different kinds of pizza. My go to favorite has always been spinach (or kale), mushrooms, and onions sauteed in red wine as a topping. The red wine sort of substitutes for the tomato sauce. But not really. This week I tried using plum sauce as a tomato sauce substitute. It worked out beautifully and paired well with the spinach and squash with oregano and cumin as the herbs. The cheese was cheddar as my family likes that as a cheese much more than mozzarella.
  • Broccoli 0.97 lbs
  • Greens 1.00 lbs
  • Herbs 0.05 lbs
  • Weekly Tally 2.02 lbs
  • Yearly Tally 528.05 lbs, $1106.52

Harvest Monday is a day to show off your harvests, how you are saving your harvest, or how you are using your harvest. If you have a harvest you want to show off, add your name and link to Mr Linky below.

15 comments:

  1. I find it fascinating reading about your spinach and how it behaves in the freezing weather. As much as I love it, it never thrives here in the heat. I'm glad for you that you can enjoy pizza again.

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  2. Love your pizza, did you make your own plum sauce?

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    1. Yes I have to make my own. Most plum sauces include peppers which I can't eat. I make mine without. Last year I didn't make enough, but this year I made eight pints. I'm sure in the summer when the plums are available again I'll be asking myself why I made that much.

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  3. Interesting to read about your pizza experiments. I would never have thought about a fruit based topping like plum sauce. I almost never put tomato sauce on a pizza. My favorite 'sauce' is usually pesto or an herb/garlic infused olive oil. Is your plum sauce sweet, or more savory?

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    1. More on the sweet side - on the order of ketchup. In fact I use it as a ketchup substitute often.

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  4. Daphne, I thought of you on Thanksgiving. I didn't use anything from my harvests/farmer's market trips this year. I will have to plan better for next year. Maybe I can plan to use my own stuff. :)

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  5. I love the idea of sautéed spinach, kale and onions as a pizza topping. I bet the plum sauce was delicious. Kevin likes traditional tomato sauce, but I sometimes want something different. I often make two smaller pizzas and use pesto as a topping.

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  6. Two pounds of spinach and broccoli the last week in November is amazing!

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  7. The pizza looks delicious! That's a great harvest for late November!!

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  8. The last of the broccoli looks great, those are nice compact heads.

    These days I prefer my pizza without tomato sauce - Pizza Bianca. And like you I prefer something other than mozzarella, something more flavorful like Fontina or Petit Basque.

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  9. My last attempt at posting a comment went awry.

    Nice white pizza! (Nightshade allergy fist-bump!)

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  10. Lovely broccoli - lovely long stems . It's sad to say goodbye to some crops. I always miss broccoli when its gone...

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  11. Those are very nice broccoli shoots and spinach you have there. Love your pizza, I usually do my pizza vegan style without tomato sauce, just lots of veggies.

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  12. What a great idea for the pizza! Hummus could be a good replacement as well. Sounds strange, but I think it's really nice on pizza!

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  13. That pizza looks amazing!

    I am failing miserably at growing anything but a baby (and a new site: evergrowingfarm.com) this fall/winter... Got totally distracted by our Little One and forgot about the greens! ;-)

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