Food – Page 2 – New England's Narrow Road

Start the Day With a Vegetable Breakfast

Often I will start the day with a vegetable breakfast. I have a garden, and here in Florida the herbs (and peppers) grow year round. When fresh food can be found in the backyard, it is more enticing to use the vegetables.

I’m still learning how to grow food here in Florida. (Read my Hydrangeas Blue blog if you are interested in my garden adventures.) My second year of growing green peppers (yes, on the same plant – it never died) is a huge success. I am picking big, juicy peppers. Hot peppers are easy to grow, so I have an abundance of those.

Keep onion and peppers in a container in the fridge so they will be ready to add to any meal

The parsley has been growing since 2016 and I use it almost daily. The onions and garlic I buy at the grocery store.

I’ve found that keeping onion and pepper in a little container in the fridge helps me use those ingredients more often. When I’m cooking, I can grab a piece and use it, or slice off what I need, which adds flavor that only comes from using fresh ingredients.

sautéing onion and pepper — Finely chopped veggies sautéing in avocado oil

Eat More Vegetables!

The herbs from the garden (parsley, fennel, basil, thyme) are chopped with the onion and peppers to create a handful of veggies to sauté. After a few minutes, I will add an egg and create a vegetable scramble.

eggs with vegetables — Get a serving of vegetables for breakfast

When I eat my special egg dish with a glass of pure cranberry juice, I feel that I have done something good for my body.

(By 2020 I have switched to a Keto / Paleo diet and do IF (intermittent fasting) so I eat my breakfast at noon!)

You don’t have to have a backyard garden (obviously) to make a meal like this. Garlic keeps for a long time, and so do onions and peppers if they are kept in the fridge once they are cut.

Other vegetables would work well for breakfast too, like summer squash and zucchini. I used to chop the squash flowers and add them to my omelets.

I suggest getting away from the normal cereal, bagels, toast and bacon idea of breakfast. None of that food is really good for us. Now that I am older and my kids are grown, I have time to chop and sauté and eat much better than I used to. I’ve also learned to figure things out for myself so I can stay feeling well without being on medication.

The Fall Foods Help Keep the House Warm

Fall is a great season for the obvious reason of viewing bright leaf colors, but it’s also a time to cook some great fall food that helps warm the house.

I’ve let the kids turn the heat on upstairs these past two nights, but I am cringing at having to burn oil in September! Downstairs it stays a balmy 60 degrees 😉

I’m a little distressed at my lack of fire wood this season. I had some dead trees cut down on my acre of land which I planned to use in the wood stove. It turns out that much of that wood is too old to be of much use. I had some wood left over from last year, but I don’t have a whole lot. If the power goes out, and we all worry about ice storms, I will burn through my supply pretty fast. No worries, I have coats and hats. I’ve made it through power outages before.

I haven’t had the money to finish siding the back of the house, so already it’s cold inside my wall microwave. My kitchen cabinets could double as a refrigerator in winter and I guess it will be this way for a while to come.

But with autumn nearly here officially, and the temps overnight in the 30’s, I’ve started to enjoy cooking again, as it warms us up. Winter squash is such a fabulous food and it has to bake for a while. I cut mine in half and bake it cut side down for about 45 minutes or more. Then flip it right side up, add some butter and continue baking until soft. Scoop it out and add brown sugar, salt and pepper. It’s yummy and healthy.

The apple picking season is also upon us, or nearly. The peaches come first and then certain types of apples, and I’ll take a trip to Norway Hill Orchard to gather a big bag of macs soon. Then I can further warm my home with pie baking and crisp making.

Once the pumpkins are carved and the guts removed, I will dig through the mush and pull out the seeds to crisp up. I look forward to that too.

I see the oven being used for more than just meals for a while to come. And maybe I won’t need mittens when working in the kitchen.

Eating Healthy in Peterborough New Hampshire

seal of the town of peterborough — Peterborough, NH

One of the things I enjoy about living in the Monadnock region of New Hampshire is the emphasis on buying local. Eating healthy and organic, while supporting local farms is easy to do. The quaint and picturesque community of Peterborough has farmers markets all summer long, and an indoor farmers market at the Community Center in winter. There are two health food / organic stores that I know of which sell local and organic produce and meat. Maggie’s Market on Main Street and the Green Grocer on Union Street are the ones I visit. The Green Grocer has tables with various items to purchase for lunch.

Going out to eat is another way to support the locals. Although I don’t get out much and have only eaten at a couple of places in Peterborough, restaurants tend to advertise that what they cook was purchased from farms nearby. I loved that the Bantam Grill listed all the local places that supply their food right on a chalkboard. By the way, they have delicious food and are right on the main road, Route 202 (Jaffrey Rd.), in the plaza.

Harlows is an interesting and cozy place to eat. I’ve only been in there once, but looking at their online menu, I see some yummy sounding sandwiches (Avacado Bliss) and meals, loaded with good veggies- don’t know if they are local. There is a little stage in the back where they feature a variety of live bands and music in the evening. It’s a popular place.

Much of the produce that is local comes from Rosaly’s Garden and Farm Stand. I’ve been there once, at the end of summer, or maybe it was mid summer. There is a long row of hydrangea bushes at one end of the garden, which grabbed my attention. It was beautiful. Here’s what the website says, “Rosaly’s is one of the largest Certified Organic Farms in New Hampshire and is the oldest certified organic farm in the state.” I see that she offers “pick your own” blueberries and raspberries, and sells herbs (also pick your own if you want) as well as flowers and vegetables.

And right after I wrote this post I bought some eggs at Roy’s Market that had a flyer inside. They (the eggs) came from Oxbow Farm, and the flyer mentioned that The Bagel Mill uses Oxbow eggs on their sandwiches.

There is no excuse for not being healthy eater, if you live in or near Peterborough!

Monkey Faces and Indian Pudding

Slow Cooker Indian Pudding (Photo credit: lynn.gardner)

As I sit here trying to cool off at 3:00 AM – yes it’s winter and the inside temp. is 62, but I am hot, (you older ladies will understand), I was enjoying reading about the Indian Pudding again, and I was replying to comments on the re-blog post, from Laurie @ A Taste of Morning. That Indian Pudding recipe and photo got me thinking of my grandparents and all the baking and cooking they did.

My grandmother always had cookies on her little counter in the kitchen and sometimes they were store bought, but I remember her holiday cooking best. She made “monkey faces” which were cookies filled with mincemeat, but I didn’t like mincemeat so she would put jam in some too. She made her own jam and jelly also and had a little dirt cellar where she kept her jars of preserves on wooden shelves. The cookies – which were more like little pies because the dough was like thick pie dough- were made by plopping the mincemeat, or jam, onto a round piece of dough and then covering it with another round piece. The edges would be pressed down with a fork and then slits made in the top.

She also made the tallest apple pies ever. I used to call her apple pie “mountain pie” Continue reading “Monkey Faces and Indian Pudding”