Braver souls would put them together in a cold salad with spinach, but salad, when it is cold, is the last thing I want to eat! It is a perfect early winter scene outside my window this morning, so my grocery planning involves warming comfort food with inexpensive/on sale items (it's the end of the month, and the bank account as well as the larder is empty).
I realize my ambitious weekly post went by the wayside as soon as midterms hit. I thought about posting (we still did eat the last few weeks), but any moment of free time, I spent "resting" my eyes. And, now at the end of a long weekend with a stack of journals behind me, I am spending a moment to post. Trying to eat fresh and in-season food at this time of year becomes a challenge...a challenge that I accept! Not much is growing in the garden (at least not to edible size) except kale which one can pretty much throw into any recipe, and I'll be throwing it into at least three below. Oh kale, how I love thee. Let me count the ways...1...2...3...
But what about the persimmons, you ask? Well, our persimmon tree put out a bumper crop this year. I may be exaggerating when I say 1,000, but I have three boxes full and have given away two bags full, yes sir, yes sir. Persimmons are an acquired taste; you either love them or hate them. I grew to love them in France--not because I ate any, but because it was late October, and the lovely B&B, Le Cadran Solaire, had a giant tree in front of the breakfast room. I equated the gorgeous orbed fruit to the crunchy croissant smothered with autumnal orange-colored jam (was it "Kaki"?--French for persimmon--I do not know) that I ate each morning alongside a bracing cafe au lait. Upon returning to the U.S., I scoured grocery stores for the strange fruit to concoct my own Kaki preserves. It didn't turn out so well, and ever since then, I have been concocting persimmon recipes every November and December hoping I will land on the right one. My husband does not like them...unless I dry them in the food dehydrator. Actually, drying them turns them into a candy, and sprinkled with cinnamon, they are a delicious munchie treat to eat on a long hike. Besides dehydrating many, I will be trying a persimmon tart, brandied persimmons, and maybe another jam recipe.
As far as the turkey goes, having leftover Thanksgiving turkey is not a problem in my house. Each year I make up turkey pot pies to stick in the freezer for a cold winter's night...best eaten after a long snow-shoe trek. We also enjoy them in non-traditional dishes such as curries and enchiladas. One year, after a bumper crop of tomatillos, I made salsa verde turkey enchiladas. Yum. No such luck this year--just plain ole enchiladas.
This week's menu:
Sunday: Turkey Enchiladas (Use my own recipe, but this one looks good)
Monday: Turkey Pot Pie (Recipe from a cookbook called, Farmhouse Cooking)
Wednesday: Potato-Bacon-Kale-Spinach Fry with Eggs (This is what I call a "Eat what is is in the pantry and garden and top it with eggs for protein recipe. Husband calls it "Breakfast for Dinner".)
Thursday: Spaghetti with Homemade Pesto Sauce (All those summer days spent in the kitchen blending up basil come in real handy at the end of the month meals.)
