With no four-wheel drive I wasn’t going anywhere, so I decided to put a new twist on a easy recipe.   Crustless Ricotta Pie is the original recipe.  When I’ve tried it before I’ve put in different ingredients, but today I needed to use baby bella mushrooms, along with a few grape tomatoes.  Here are most of the ingredients I used:

After sauteing the mushrooms in olive oil and a bit of butter, I added balsamic vinegar to enhance their flavor.   Next I spread the mushrooms in the bottom of a nine inch pie plate.  I moved them around enough to oil the plate.  Then cubed mozzarella cheese seemed like a good addition.

After baking I sprinkled some fresh parsley on top.  I thought it was much better than the original recipe I tried, or any other variations so far.

It is a beautiful snow that coats every twig, but I’ll be happier when there is no snow in sight.

I used a combination of Waltham and Butterbush squash.

Above are the rest of the ingredients, except for the chicken stock and cream.

This soup has a simply delicious taste and texture.  I thought last year I was growing plenty of Butternut squash, but with all the soup trials, they went quickly.  This is my favorite, but the Spicy Butternut Squash Soup is a very close second.

We had fourteen inches, and very cold weather that kept this snow on the ground. 

The branches touching the ground all broke.  It left so much work, and a big mess. 

From the picture below it is obvious how much weight was straining the pines.

I found these tracks in the snow.  No one seems to know what animal could have left them.

Now, in January, we are getting another big snow.  It has been snowing on and off all day.  So far we only have eight inches.  Most of us are tired of snow!

Pretty, but it is so much work shoveling,

and hauling in wet wood through the snow!

The rock wall has never before had snow clinging to the side like this.

The pines are even icier than in December.  This Thursday and Friday more snow is forecast.  Enough!

The glowing skull peaked the Supervisor’s curiosity.

What’s that flashing?

Maybe I could learn how to do that.

Just can’t figure it out!

Merry Christmas from the Supervisor and friend.

The Pumpkin Tureen

Since it called for horseradish, I decided to finally dig some from my patch.  After grating it, my sinuses were cleared out.  It did impart some strong flavor to this soup.

This time I sauteed the onions and horseradish.  I also added about a tablespoon of fresh thyme and three garlic cloves, and lots more bread.

After mixing the dry ingredients, I added chicken stock and milk.  The pumpkin was so large that I cut off some of the top and cubed it.  That’s what’s floating in the milk and stock.

I had to cut off even more to get it to fit into my convection oven.  With the help of the foil, the top did go back on.  Mia wonders what this strange object is that smells like milk.

After three hours of baking, the pumpkin was very tender, but the inside soup was barely warm.  I ended up taking it out and cooking it separately.  I added more thyme and lots of curry powder.  After blending, and reducing the liquid, it was a decent soup.  This is the last time I will try the pumpkin tureen!

Thanksgiving is over.  Now, what would be a different way to use the pumpkin and squash?

This idea appealed to me.  It sounds simple but elegant.

The Pumpkin Tureen

My pumpkin wasn’t quite eight inches in diameter, so I added the winter squashes to the recipe.

After cutting into the pumpkin,  I found a tiny brown spot on the outside that was evidence of rotting on the inside.  So that one had to be put in the compost.  The little squashes absorbed all the liquid, and really were not that tasty.  After checking with the local produce stand, I could find no other pumpkins to try.  Seems I will have to wait until next fall to give this recipe a try with a pumpkin.  However, it depends upon finding a “serious” pumpkin.  Does that mean I have to find Linus’s pumpkin patch?

We are very curious about the white one.  Obviously it is not an albino, so how did it end up with this group?

There were at least ten of them.  It was difficult to get them all in one picture, and count how many there were.

They were camera shy, or afraid I was going to hurt them.  No danger there.  I was just glad they weren’t in my garden.

After going in the road, a car came and slowed down.  They ran back to the driveway again.  The driver stopped and said, “Did you see the white one?”  How could you miss it?

Finally they went into the woods, where they are safer.  The neighborhood has pardoned all of them.

My camera would not show the delicate lavender of these blossoms.  It was the same with the heather, which is blooming now and will probably last well into winter.

Another  surprise was the beautiful blooms that shot up from the Lamb’s Ears.

The spikes of blossoms lasted a long time, and were appreciated by the bees and me.  I cut them off before they went to seed.  Lamb’s Ears are invasive enough without adding seeds to their production.

Above are the ingredients (except sage) for a recipe that Rabia suggested.  It was a delicious pick, and relatively easy.

Herb Roasted Sausage and Butternut Squash

The sausage I used was poblano peppers with Mexican cheese.

The three of us ate the whole thing! Next year I will have to grow sage to see if it makes it even better.

On October 18th the view of the mountains look like this:

We also had an early frost on October 16th.  So it was necessary to cover the artichokes and hope they will make it through the winter to produce more next year.  The web site I found said to cut them back to twelve inches, then mound with  compost.  Next put a basket on top of each plant, then cover with oak leaves.  The last thing was to top with a waterproof cover and weight the edges with rocks.  I also added a mattress pad under the leaves to help remove them next spring.  Just under the waterproof cover I also added a comforter.  It’s a real eyesore, but maybe the artichokes next year will be worth looking at it all winter.