September Salutations

 

I'm loving the artwork on this calendar with each turn of the page!  If the months of the year were assigned a color, I would definitely choose red for September.  With baskets of red apples, burnished autumn leaves and brilliant Oriental Poppies, it just seems right somehow. 

My daughters did all the planting and tending the garden again this year.  Grace manages the edibles and Ginger fills the hanging baskets and flower beds.  They make a good team.  The dynamic duo. 

These lovely small Zinnia's tend to bloom in late August/early September (here in Zone 8), signaling that summer is drawing to a close.  And right on schedule, I do sense that familiar fall nip in the air.  Sigh.

Even the bumblebees are slowing down and sleeping on the job.  What a great place for a nap!

I've been visiting the garden a little more frequently, not quite ready to say goodbye to all this yummy goodness. And speaking of yummy goodness...it's about time we harvest this basil.  And make pesto to freeze for the winter.

There's a certain way I like to do this to preserve as much goodness as I can for as long as possible and in 2005, I wrote a little bit about my process on the blog here and here.  That was over ten years ago.  (Ahem).  

However, since then, I've had to make modifications to my diet and to my recipe as I am trying to cut way down on fats and oils.  Anyone who has tried to do this knows the challenge of finding tasty workable substitutions.

How in the world do you make pesto without olive oil? I wondered.   

Well.  I looked around and discovered "elephant garlic".  It (very conveniently) arrives on the scene this time of year, and works rather well for this purpose.  I do like to add a few regular garlic cloves for flavor though, as it is not a true "garlic" and is rather mild, being in the leek family.  But after it's baked, it becomes the consistency of butter and can be used in a variety of ways in place of butter.  Or olive oil in this case.

To prepare, separate the sections leaving the skin on.  Cut off the tip of each clove--this makes the contents easier to remove later.  Put the garlic and leek cloves in a small baking dish lined with parchment paper, add a tablespoon or so of water; cover and bake for about 45 minutes to an hour at 325 degrees.  I use my toaster oven for this and set the timer.  Then, I get ready for my kitchen to smell wonderful! 

Always allow everything to cool completely before handling.  Sometimes I bake the garlic a day or so ahead of time and store it in the fridge until I'm ready for it.  This makes for one less step on pesto-making day.  Use a garlic press or fork to remove the skins.  Add the roasted garlic directly into the food processor bowl with all the other ingredients (basil, lemon juice, pine nuts, sea salt) and blend everything together at the same time, until well combined into a pesto-sauce consistency.  I'm sorry I don't have exact measurements for this, but the oil to (roasted) elephant garlic ratio is about 1T. oil equal to 2T. roasted e.g.  Start there and just add more if needed.  One large head of elephant garlic will yield about 3-4 T. after baking.  More or less depending on its size.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend so far.  Wishing you all a Happy Labor Day from my kitchen!  

 

Comments

[Little Penpen]

Your garden photo's are lovely; there are definitely a few green thumbs in your family.

[Lena]

Beautiful zinnias! I always think of September as the color blue. I think it is because it was my mom's birth month, and she had a pretty saphire birthstone ring, that I remember her wearing when I was a little girl. Funny the things that can influence such things.

[vicki haninger]

As a matter of fact, September is my birth month also, and I've worn a blue sapphire ring throughout my life, but it seems it's had no influence at all! LOL