Last night’s dinner was Moroccan meatballs with harrisa, cumin-roasted cauliflower with tahini, Greek salad and rice. The five tomatoes in the salad were the very last ones from my garden. They had been ripening on the kitchen window sill for the past five weeks. They were so very tasty.
From my garden in my pantry right now: garlic, hydroponic basil I grew from basil cuttings back in early October (although the basil now is slowly dying).
From my garden in my refrigerator right now: carrots, leeks, beets (I roasted them a couple of days ago and we will have them in a salad tonight).
Still growing in the garden: leeks, kale, Brussels sprouts.
We spent Thanksgiving at our friends’ house and I was on appetizer duty. My daughter and I made these 
Eating from the garden in November – potato leek soup. Leeks, garlic and parsley are home-grown.
Last two cloves of (volunteer) hardneck garlic. Now onto the softnecks.
Leeks and garlic sauteed in butter.
Add potatoes …
… and water , salt and pepper. Simmer for 20 minutes and puree. To be served with chopped parsley, bacon bits and homemade croutons. Yum!
Yesterday was the Head of the Charles Regatta here in Boston and my 16 year old-daughter participated with her high school’s girls varsity Eight. They did great and qualified for next year’s event but the conditions were rough. It was very cold (40s), with a light drizzle at the beginning of their race and the wind was fierce. Our family spent most of the day outside and we all felt this weather called for soup for dinner. So, I made the first butternut squash soup of the season. I like to roast the squash at 425 for about 45 minutes depending on the size (I typically add fresh herbs at this step, this time it was sage and rosemary from my porch kitchen garden). In the meantime, I saute an onion in butter in the Dutch oven. I then add the roasted squash and saute for a couple of minutes, add water (or veggie broth) and simmer for 15 minutes. I then puree it and add a cup of milk and more water to make it the desired consistency and season with salt and pepper. I like to serve it with a spoonful of grated Parmesan on top and fried sage leaves (optional) and with fresh crusty bread on the side (yesterday’s sourdough bread was from 
Squash is roasted cut side down at 425 F. (The smaller squash on the side was the one from my garden. It was very tasty.)
Post-roasting, nicely caramelized. 
My share today: Ping Tung eggplant, rutabaga, flat parsley, red Russian kale, jalapeno and ghost peppers (not pictured: tons of Thai basil).
I will take back what I said about cucumbers. I harvested two big ones yesterday, plus green beans and two eggplants. There are just a few more tomatoes on the vines now, sadly.
I harvested a lot of basil today, about a third of what is in my plot. I will puree the washed and dried leaves with olive oil and freeze for use in the winter. I find that just freezing the basil in oil makes it more versatile for cooking and it keeps better. I use it to top soups or as pesto for pasta, pizza, potatoes or chicken. I just add the cheese and pine nuts (for pasta) later during cooking.
Today’s produce harvested other than basil. (My first red dahlia is finally blooming!)
Baguette with 
My three tomato plants are heavily producing. I put them in late, but now at the end of August they are giving me plenty of delicious fruit. Despite my best efforts, I have too many tomatoes to eat raw (e.g. Caprese salad, Greek salad, fresh tomato/mozzarella/basil pasta sauce, or just plain on bread). So, I slow-roasted about three pounds together with garlic and fresh herbs and will either turn them into pesto or top some bruschetta in the next couple of days.
I quartered the larger Brandywines and halved the Momotaros and put them on a parchment-lined, lightly-oiled baking sheet together with some garlic cloves and fresh rosemary and oregano. Seasoned everything with salt and pepper and drizzled with olive oil. I slow-roasted them in a preheated oven at 325 F for about 2 hours. I let them cool and put them in a mason jar in the refrigerator for use within the next few days.
I signed up to be one of the harvest volunteers at 
Ping Tung eggplant 
My share 🙂 (The tomatoes are from my garden).