For the Love of Carrots!

Organic Heirloom Carrots

To me, the most soulful, life affirming gardens are those that have a sense of poetry about them. The brilliant red-orange Chantenay Royal, the deep orange Bambino, the bright red Nantes Scarlet, the purple Cosmic  - all poetic names of various heirloom carrots. But the Autumn King, is King of Fall and Winter! An imperator with long, bright roots, a broad shoulder and a crisp, light flavor. 

The Autumn King is what I’ll be harvesting in just a few short weeks just in time to make soups to store and enjoy over those cold winter months. Of course we’ll enjoy many of these fresh picked carrots in their raw form before preserving soups and storing many in a box covered in dirt in our dark, cold basement.

Until then, I will be planting carrot seed in pots to grow over the winter months to harvest by mid Spring. Hoping I can keep them thriving all winter, can’t wait to find out!

Happy Healthy harvesting from my family to yours,

Sherri.

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Sherri’s Eye-mazing Cold Weather Soup

(Eye-mazing because it’s packed with vitamin A which is great for vision)

INGREDIENTS

1 large onion, sliced

4 tablespoons grapeseed oil

1 ½ lbs carrots peeled and sliced into coins

½ head cauliflower (or throw in the whole head if you so desire) 

2 large potatoes peeled and cut into ½ inch pieces

½ cup celery sliced

16 oz vegetable stock- homemade or low sodium variety

salt and pepper to taste

Garnish 

1/4 cup basil leaves, loosely packed

¼ cup grapeseed or olive oil

sea salt

INSTRUCTIONS 

Cook onions and grapeseed oil over medium low heat until well-caramelized and a dark golden brown, stirring infrequently (about 25-30 minutes)

Add carrots, potato, cauliflower and celery and cook for another 10 minutes, tossing well to coat with grapeseed oil and onions.

Add vegetable stock, turn heat to medium high, and bring to a rapid boil. Cook until vegetables are very tender almost falling apart- about 20 minutes.

Blend with a blender until completely smooth.

Season with salt and pepper and serve with basil oil (recipe follows).

BASIL OIL INSTRUCTIONS

(Prepare while the soup is cooking so it has time to steep)

Finely chop parsley in food processor until it is very tiny.

Add grapeseed or olive oil and give it a little whirl

When ready to serve, add one teaspoon (or less or more, whichever suits your fancy) of the oil to the prepared soup in bowls and enjoy!

Sherri.

Friendship

The best kind of friend is the one you could sit on a porch with, never saying a word, and walk away feeling like that was the best conversation you've had.

~Author Unknown

Fall Hike - Silver Creek Conservation Area

The sun, with all those planets revolving around it and dependent on it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else in the universe to do.

~Galileo

Look at the trees, look at the birds, look at the clouds, look at the stars... and if you have eyes you will be able to see that the whole existence is joyful. Everything is simply happy. Trees are happy for no reason; they are not going to become prime ministers or presidents and they are not going to become rich and they will never have any bank balance. Look at the flowers - for no reason. It is simply unbelievable how happy flowers are.

I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey-work of the stars.

The human spirit needs places where nature has not been rearranged by the hand of man.

Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.

Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.

~Albert Einstein

Immune Boosting Chai Recipe.

The weather is starting to shift to the cool raininess of autumn. The kids have started their homeschool activities, and there's a buzz in the air this year about illness.

How can we help our bodies transition from the warm dry summer, through the cool damp autumn and into cold winter?

"Chai!"

Keep a pot of an immune boosting, herbal chai brewing throughout the winter , and the kids will LOVE it. What a wonderful feeling to be nourishing them with medicine they enjoy.

I'm starting the chai early - using it as a fall tonic to nourish our immune systems and to warm our bodies on chilly fall days.

Most often chai is made with strong black tea, but I am not interested in that large dose of caffeine and make mine with herbs alone. It is delicious!

Ready for the recipe?

Immune Building Autumn Chai Recipe 3 1⁄2 cups of boiling water 2 Cinnamon sticks 1 Tablespoon fresh Ginger, grated 1 whole Nutmeg, chopped 1 Tablespoon Cardamom seed pods 5 tongues of Astragulus root 1 Tablespoon dried burdock root 1 Tablespoon dried dandelion root 1⁄2 tsp. whole Cloves 1⁄4 tsp. black Peppercorns 1⁄2 tsp. Anise seeds 1⁄2 tsp. whole Allspice 1⁄2 tsp. Echinacea root

What you do...

Simmer the spices in the water for about 15 minutes. (If you’d like to add black tea, add 1/8 cup after removing from the heat and steep for not more than 3 minutes.)

Strain out the herbs, add warmed milk (I suggest at least 1/4 cup) and honey to taste. Enjoy this delicious fall tonic, and the wonderful feeling of giving your kids (and you) a tasty, nourishing treat!

Enjoy!

More Leaf Pictures

I thought these pictures that the boys and I took turns taking were great!

Leaves

I just had to write a more up-lifting post after the last one :)

Sunday was a beautiful day, we all spent most of our time outside enjoying the Fall weather. The leaves were falling, there was barely a breeze and the colors were vibrant.

The boys had a blast raking the leaves and jumping in, they talked me into taking a dive, which I did and I must admit, it was more fun that I remember :)