Pumpkins!

Here they are. Aren't they beautiful? Imperfections and all. It's that time of year...Halloween is around the corner. Pumpkins will line porches and sit on window sills, as they are or with carved faces on them. Pumpkin muffins, pumpkin fudge, and best of all fresh pumpkin pie. (As in cooking the pumpkin, and making your own puree. Mmmmm....)


This is the rustic Fairy Tale pumpkin. Can you imagine this turning into a coach drawn by horses that were once mice?



A close up of the Jarradale.



The bright orange French Pumpkin.

How about these guys? Super Freak Pumpkins.


And this is a Swan Gourd.

The Sweetest Tomato

I am not much of a gardener. But, I am learning.

I was given a potted gerbera daisy one year for my birthday. I went out of town for a couple weeks and had forgotten to ask my roommate to water my flower. I returned home to a shriveled, dead plant. The poor thing baked in the summer sun.

Last year, I was again given a plant for my birthday: a tomato plant. I had named it Mater as in the character from the Pixar movie, Cars. ("As in 'Ta-Mater'...") Determined not to make the same mistake, I kept a close eye on it, making sure that it received some TLC. It had grown to be taller than me. Not bad for a cherry tomato plant. The best part was that it had tomatoes! Proof that I can do some gardening. So I made a second attempt this year: I picked up a beefsteak tomato plant, Mater 2. It has not grown very tall, but I am proud to say that it has produced fruit. At first, there was only one, and it grew big. But I think the best part was watching it change color. It started out green. Then, there would be a patch of light orange and, before you know it, it has become plump, juicy, and red.

I decided to eat the first fruit of my labor one night. My husband had decided to make an enchilada bake for dinner, so I chopped it up to garnish. It was the sweetest tomato I have tasted. I mean sweet like a fruit, though botanically speaking a tomato is a fruit.

I have five more little guys on their way. Hopefully they will be just as good.

Cherries: We're back!

This is one of the many reasons why I love living in California: the produce! Next in line for the summer fruits are cherries. I was walking down College Avenue today and passed by Yasai Market. I could not resist picking up a prepackaged 1 1/2 pound bag of California cherries. (For $1.99 a pound, who could resist.) We've been getting them at work, so I've been able to try the first cherries of the season.

I tried them right when I got home and to my delight they were sweet (as compared to the ones these previous weeks.) It is strange because no one in my family really likes to eat cherries. I think I am the only one. (Well, my dad like Cherry Garcia ice cream, but that is the only form of cherries that he enjoys.)

California cherry season is the strongest through June. If you plan to bake with them, removing the seed may be more appealing. You can purchase a cherry/olive pitter at Sur La Table or Williams-Sonoma. On my most recent trip to Williams-Sonoma, they carried an OXO cherry pitter for $11 and it comes with a splash guard.

Bing cherries and Rainier cherries are also starting to come around.

In Season: Apriums

It is that time of year as the summer fruits are beginning to peak around the corner. I love summer fruits: peaches, plum, cherries, melons, etc. One of the things that I like about the kitchen is that produce is a bit more accessible. I have received so much more exposure to the variety of fruits and vegetables than if I went to the market on my own. My most recent discovery is the aprium. I tasted my first one this last week as our purveyor dropped off a sample.

The aprium is across between a apricot and a plum. In comparison to the pluot, which is also a hybrid of the two fruits, apriums have more characteristics of the apricot while pluots are more like a plum. On the outside, the aprium looks just like an apricot. I found it to be suprisingly sweet. I generally do not prefer apricots because of their tartness. And I am finding myself to enjoying apriums. (I dug one out of the produce reach in and had it as a part of my breakfast.) Apriums are in season a bit earlier than apricots, but its season is shorter. Note: Try dipping it in chocolate.