PREPARE FOR THE FEAST

"We have everything you need for Thanksgiving!" says Martha, "Cream, butter, squash, apples and pumpkins for pies, sweet potatoes, onions, cranberries, potatoes, and even the turkey and herbs!"

Create a festive setting with decorative corn and guords and, if someone else is doing the cooking, Wealden has perfect hostess gifts--hand turned wooden bowls, books, aprons, a honey bear, more.

"The cheese pumpkin makes a great pie.  Just bake, scoop out the pumpkin, and puree."

There's something wonderful about a baking turkey with herbs. 

Another great "pie pumpkin" and try it for Martha's Mom's delicious Pumpkin Cornbread recipe (below).  "It's like a dessert!" Martha says.

Local fresh butter and cream, very necessary ingredients, mmmm.

Tender Wealden sweet potatoes

A perfect little hostess present or stocking gift--syrup or honey.

Warren Miskell's bowls are beautiful to look at, hold, and use -- another great gift.

Succulent Mache is perfect for a light post Thanksgiving salad.    Top it with some gorgeous goat cheese, fresh pear, and cranberry... you'll feel healthy all over.

MARTHA'S MOM'S Cranberry Pumpkin Cornbread

3/4 C brown sugar

2 eggs

1 C canola oil

1 3/4 C pureed pumpkin

1 1/2 C cornmeal

1 3/4 C whole wheat flour

2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. taking soda

1 t. salt

1/2 t. cinnamon

1 t. cloves

1 t. nutmeg

2 1/2 C fresh cranberries, chopped

Topping

1/2 C flour

1 C chopped nuts

1/2 C brown sugar

1/4 t. nutmeg

5 T oil or butter

Beat eggs and sugar, add oil and pumpkin.  Stir in dry ingredients, then cranberries.  Add topping and bake in a greased 11x14 pan at 400º for 25 minutes.

GOODBYE OCTOBER, WELCOME NOVEMBER

With the changing of the seasons, come changes in our food cravings.  Do you feel yourself wanting root vegetables, hearty soups, you want to "hunker" in by the stove while the darkness settles?  

Embrace it.  Cook and bake and eat wholesome, delicious local foods.  It just feels good!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

OK, it's not my favorite holiday and, I must admit not  r e a l l y understanding it's origin so, just in case, you feel the same, here goes:

Halloween or Hallowe’en (a contraction of All Hallows' Eve) is an annual holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night preceding All Hallows Day. Much like Day of Dead celebrations, the holiday has ancient origins tied to seasonal change, harvest time, and festivals honoring the dead.

Wikipedia

The crew at Wealden preparing leeks for you.

LEEKS, LEEKS, LUSCIOUS LEEKS.

YOUR squash and pumpkin options are many!

Today was the perfect day to bake ginger cookies.  It's one of those foods that just seems to go with Autumn and CIDER (or tea).

GINGER COOKIES

3/4 C butter

1 C brown sugar

1/4 C molasses

1 egg

2 1/4 C flour

2 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

1 t ginger, 1 t cinnamon, 1/2 t cloves

CREAM TOGETHER 1st four ingredients until fluffy.  Sift dry ingredients--stir into molasses mixture.  

FORM into balls.  ROLL in white sugar.  PLACE 2-3 inches apart.  BAKE 350º 8-10 minutes.  Tops will crack

DON'T FORGET TO ORDER YOUR FRESH FREE RANGE TURKEY--call, email or stop by.
OK, oak leaves, you have permission to fall.

CIDER, PUMPKINS, POPCORN... TREATS

We still have the perfect pumpkin waiting for your front porch.  Put some cider on the stove, pop some of our popcorn, and get out your carving tools.  It's time!

Our bins are bountiful from the fall harvest--gorgeous shallots, many potato varieties, colossal cabbage, carrots, beautiful beets and brussel sprouts, parsnips, turnips, tender greens including kale, sorrel, and swiss chard, garlic and onions --including lovely braids for your pantry.  

Remember our Rosemont Breads, bagels, and sweets; 

and Friday is cinnamon/raisin bread day!

Shallots

You just have to try these potatoes with a name like this!

Almost too great looking to eat

Look at the cabbage selection, wow!

Kale, Sorrel, Arugula, Mesclun... more.

Fresh Turkey Orders thru November 17 from Mainely Poultry in Warren.

Just in!  Paperwhites, hyacinth and amarylis to keep you in bloom as your garden fades.

Our cooler is filled with cold cider, organic milk, fresh eggs, a great selection of cheeses, and more!

Stop by to say hi to Martha and her pumpkin(s!)

Here's a great sauce to serve over grilled or cedar baked salmon:

First sprinkle fish with salt and pepper and top with the following mixture blended in food processor:

1/2 C pecans, 1 1/2 t. fresh tarragon and basil or 1/2 t. dried each, 1 T butter.

In small saucepan, combine 1/2 C packed sorrel (or spinnach), 2 T white wine, and 1 1/2 t. shallots.  Stir over medium heat until sorrel wilts.  Add 1 C cream and 1/2 t. fresh lime juice and boil until reduced to sauce consistemcy (approx.12 minutes).  Season w/white pepper.  Transfer sauce to blender.

Bake or grill salmon with nut mixture, transfer to plates, top w/sauce.

THE GREAT PUMPKIN... AND SQUASH...

Fall has arrived and our store is brimming with the harvest!  

It's time to light a fire in the woodstove, simmer some apples for applesauce, settle into a good book, a cup of tea, and a slice of warm pumpkin bread.  

What do you think? 

GREAT PUMPKINS -- ALL SHAPES, SIZES, FLAVORS... EVEN  COLORS!

Stop in to visit Sarah!  A Freeport native and Connecticut College grad, Sarah has joined Wealden Farm  to help expand the wholesale side of the business, Farm Fresh Connection.  She also lends a hand wherever needed--working at the farm store, contributing to the Wealden Farm Facebook page (friend us please), and working in the fields harvesting (she just came in when I shot this in the walk in cooler).  Notice the bags of recently harvested carrots piled nearly to her shoulders behind her!

Many varieties for discerning SQUASH LOVERS... DID YOU KNOW?--Squash was one of the Three Sisters planted by Native Americans The Three Sisters were the three main native crop plants: maize (corn), beans, and squash. These were usually planted together, with the cornstalk providing support for the climbing beans, and shade for the squash. The squash vines provided ground cover to limit weeds. Weeds can be detrimental to the growing conditions of the squash. The beans provided nitrogen fixing for all three crops.

My favorite is Cortland, but there are so many choices!  Local, fresh, delicious! 

PUMPKIN BREAD RECIPE
3 C sugar
1 C vegetable/canola oil
3 large eggs
1 3/4 fresh pumpkin (or 1 -16oz. can)
3 C flour
1 t. cloves
1 t. cinnamon
1 t. nutmeg
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. baking powder
1 cup walnuts (optional)
1 cup chocolate bits (optional, but go for it)
Butter & flour 2 loaf pans.  Beat sugar and oil to blend.  Mix in eggs and pumpkin.  Sift flour, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, salt and baking powder and stir into pumpkin mixture.  Add walnuts/bits.
Divide batter equally in two pans.  Bake approx. 1 hr (when tester in center comes out clean)
Cool on racks for 10 minutes then turn out of pans to cool completely.

Enjoy!
Your comments are always welcome!

SWEET POTATOES, SQUASH, LEEKS, APPLES, PUMPKINS... SOUP TIME!

The sweet potatoes are being harvested as you get this!  
Squash and apples of many varieties await you.  
The leeks are lovely.  
I'm thinking of soups...
Leek soup, squash soup, sweet potato soup... and great combinations like-- Sweet Potato and Apple Soup!

This sounds like one --from simplylifeblog.com

I haven't made this, but ordered  a soup with the same title at a cafe recently and it was delicious! 

Curried Sweet Potato & Apple Soup

Ingredients:

3 medium or 2 large sweet potatoes

2-3 tbs. olive oil (or butter)

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

Ginger, to taste

Curry, to taste

1/4 tsp. turmeric

Dash of coriander

Dash of cinnamon

Salt and pepper, to taste

2-3 cups low sodium chicken or vegetable broth

1 cup water

1 1/2 cups applesauce

Directions:

1.  Peel and dice sweet potatoes.  Heat oil in large pan over medium heat and add onion and garlic.  Cook for about 4-5 minutes then stir in the ginger and seasonings and stir for about 1 minute.

2.  Mix in the diced sweet potatoes, chicken broth and water.  Cover the pot and bring soup to a boil over medium-high heat.  Reduce heat and bring soup to a simmer.  Stir in the applesauce, cover pot and simmer for about 20 minutes, until potatoes are soft.  

3.  Puree the soup with a blender or immersion blender, season with salt and pepper, serve and enjoy!

A customer and I tried this raw while I was shooting--g r e a t !

Laurie watering the mums of many hues.

Stones smoothed by the ebb and flow, gathered and drilled to create a necklace for you by Cat.
Come by to hold one in your hand and try one on.

DON'T FORGET YOUR PUMPKIN!

EMBRACING FALL

clear skies, SQUASH, cool air, APPLES, crackling fires in the woodstove, PUMPKINS, leaves floating to the ground, MUMS on the porch steps...

JUST IN--PIE PUMPKINS, DAZZLING MUMS, 

AND CARVING PUMPKINS GALORE

CERTIFIED ORGANIC GARLIC--several varieties from Martha's Dad, Albert Putnam of Fiddlehead Farm in New Limerick. I was intrigued by the variety "MUSIC GARLIC" so had to look it up...Music is a large, beautiful and well-formed porcelain garlic similar to Northern White. Its flavor is very rich and musky, strong and robust and sticks around for a while.(gourmetgarlicgardens.com)

PEARS, APPLES, 

STRAWBERRIES...get jammin'!  OR

as Jenny's daughter Piper said, "Can we make

Apple Crispy?"  That is the way I'm saying it

from now on!

G U O R D S 

SQUASH in many sizes, shapes, 

and flavors. The easiest way to cook (and

I think most flavorful)--

cut in half, scoop out the seeds, 

place on a baking tray with about 1/4" 

water.  I like to add a dot of butter and either

sprinkle brown sugar or drizzle maple syrup 

over.  Bake 400º for about an hour (depending

on squash size) loosely topped

with foil.

POPCORN and CIDER after school!

CABBAGE

My Mom used to make a beautiful boiled dinner when we 

harvested the garden in the fall.  It was a display of everything

on one huge platter--just cook your beets separately

or the whole platter will be a deep burgundy hue!

MITTENS, HATS, SCARVES... hand knit by Nita of Littleton (the county!)
My grandmother knit a new pair of mittens for me, my siblings, and cousins each Christmas and I can attest to their warmth, even when soaked with snowman snow or during late night sledding.  After a winter's wear and being hung next to the woodstove to dry day after day, they resembled boiled wool --smooth and soft and even warmer because all the small spaces between the stitches would be closed.  

SEE YOU ON THE HILL-- our carved pumpkin display is coming soon!

PERFECTLY PLUMP PEACHES, PEARS, APPLES, APPLES

Sister Cat's lush peach tree next door.

The peach tree (Prunus persica) is a species of Prunus native to China that bears an edible juicy fruit called a peach.  (Wikipedia)

How beautiful!  I just happened to wander over to take a photo of the peach tree and, voila!, Cat had peach tarts just coming out of the oven...  mmmmm.

While I enjoyed a piece of zucchini bread and a cup of tea, Cat showed me the peach and blueberry preserves in her pantry... are you inspired yet?

Just picked, YES, it is apple season!! 

Pear slices with cheddar perhaps... or a pear tart?!

Compliments from our cooler.

Say no more!

Roasted peppers, oooo la la, great in hummus too.

My grandmother's winter pantry was a feast for your eyes... mason jars of bold color!  Tomatoes, bread and butter pickles, green beans, applesauce, AND pickled beats lined the shelves-- winter treasures. 

Keeping a few jugs in the freezer is always a good thing.

TOMATO TIP FROM MARTHA:  slice tomatoes, salt, and bake in a 300º oven for 3 hours.  Pour off excess sauce and use in your favorite beverage or recipe.  What's left is a tray of sweet roasted tomatoes to puree for a pasta sauce or toss in wherever you would like tomatoes.  They can be frozen, ready for you all winter!

CORN FUN FACT FROM MARTHA:  There is a strand of silk for every kernal.  

And the eggplant is not just another pretty "nightshade" vegetable.

I overheard a customer say it was the best corn she had ever had!