F.A. Farm

Since the latest freeze, I have been busy salvaging pumpkins that don't store quite as well as they should, so that means making lots of pies. This is not a bad thing. Both Toni and I have pumpkin pie for breakfast, as a dessert, and at odd times during the day. I started to think of it as "pie-plus" but Toni reminded me that since we are beyond organic, my pies are really "beyond pie." They have become a staple food.

I start out with my own seeds and my own fertilizer on well-cared for soil. I make the crusts using a basic dough recipe from Joy of Cooking (still my main cookbook after all these years - the new cookbook by British hotshot Jamie-something-or-other doesn't even come close). The pie recipe itself also comes from Joy of Cooking. I cut the sugar way down too. The result is really quite delicious. It doesn't even need whipped cream.

This is also the season for apple pies, as I have a couple of boxes in storage that are getting a bit soft. They make good cider too. There are a lot of potatoes and rutabagas I should be eating too, as well as a lot of grass-fed beef from the quarter we just bought. I might have to go on a diet this winter, as I have already put back the 10 pounds I ran off in July when I was putting in long days weeding. But for right now, I think I'll go have some more pie.