Sunday Night Rambling

Perhaps tomorrow night we'll talk about the world situation and how it relates to FOOD.  What can you do to prepare at this late time?  Tonight, I don't want to talk about serious things.  I'd rather just relax and show you some photos and discuss things lighter in nature.

What you are seeing on the stoneware baking sheet below are sweet potatoes.  These are an heirloom variety that comes up every year in the garden.  They are called Golden Wonder and come from Tennessee.  A guy called "the barefoot gardener" (Jeff Poppin) mailed them to me, we planted them, and the grow every year alongside the existing Beauregard variety.

Each year we dig up over a hundred pounds!  We harvested back in October and still have some left.  We always eat the biggest first.  What we're left with now are the smaller ones.  We like to cut them in half, brush them with melted butter and bake them.  They are so sweet and delicious!  I expect to see the slips (sprouts) coming up in the garden for this year's crop any day now.  Usually by the time the existing crop is gone, the new crop is on its way.

I picked the last of the carrots from the fall crop this weekend.  I had picked all the Danvers variety (orange) last week.  On Saturday, I pulled the last of the remaining Cosmic Purple Carrots and Atomic Red Carrots.  Sounds kind of psychedelic, doesn't it?  They are pretty.  They taste like a normal carrot, though. 

The Cosmic Purple carrots are purple on the outside, but the interior is orange.  The Atomic Red carrots, however, are red through and through.  

As we switch the seasons from fall to spring, we had some work to do on preserving the crops.  We had a few heads of cabbage left and it gave us an idea.  We'd make Kimchi.  We hadn't done that in a while.  Kimchi is a Korean side dish made from cabbage, carrots, ginger, green onions, radishes, and garlic.  All of those items are shredded and mixed up.  Then salt is added and whey.  The mixture is pounded to release the juices and then packed tightly into quart jars.  It is set out on the counter for three days at room temperature.  It ferments and then is put into the refrigerator for long storage.  The longer you keep it, the better it tastes.  Here it is on the third day of fermentation before putting it in the fridge.

It has a tangy flavor and is a good, cool, side dish.  The fermented radishes we showed you In This Post are done now.  We've been eating them in salads and just as a tasty snack.  Tomorrow we'll tackle weightier subjects.