Welcome to Harvest Monday, where we celebrate all things harvest related. This will be a No Harvest Monday for me, as fresh veggie possibilities are limited to kale that is recovering in the greenhouse and sprouts that aren’t quite ready in the basement light garden. We have been enjoying plenty of food from storage though, and sweet potatoes from last year’s bumper harvest are a frequent visitor to our plates. I used the microwave/convection oven to bake a couple of the Indiana Gold taters last week. I had not planned on growing this one again since it was a shy producer compared to others, but the taste is great and I am now having second thoughts. We need to taste it again and do a comparison with another variety like Beauregard. I still have plenty of sweet potatoes and lots of time before I need to start slips, so the garden plan could change. Indiana Gold has moist, sweet orange flesh with a golden yellow skin.
Indiana Gold sweet potatoes
We’ve also been depending on the Instant Pot for a lot of meals. I’m making a pot of veggie soup today to take to a carry-in dinner tonight, using frozen vegetables from our garden mixed with fresh ones from the grocery like carrots and celery. I also baked a batch of rolls to take using the convection feature of the microwave. I baked them yesterday since it will be a zoo in the kitchen today with contractors working in there. I had to bake them on a round pizza pan to get them to fit in the oven, but they turned out well. I used a recipe from King Arthur Flour’s Whole Grain Baking for Dark and Soft Restaurant Dinner Rolls. The rolls use half whole wheat and half unbleached bread flour, and have honey added for a bit of sweetness. I ground the whole wheat flour for the rolls using Bluebird Grain Farms Organic Methow Hard Wheat Berries, which makes for a flavorful high protein flour. Cocoa powder gives them the dark brown color.
Dark and Soft Restaurant Dinner Rolls
Yesterday for dinner I made a pot of black beans in the Instant Pot, pressuring them first then switching to slow cooker mode to simmer and let the flavors develop. I used some beans I got from a farm in Berea (Ky), adding the last of our 2017 Candy onion crop and some roasted New Mexico peppers from the freezer for seasoning, along with our garlic and homemade guajillo chile powder. I served them up over some yellow rice, cooked up in the rice cooker. Black beans and rice is real comfort food for us and just the ticket for a cold, dreary winter day!
black turtle beans
The kitchen makeover is nearing the end, and they finished installing the floor on Friday. The countertops are coming today, and appliances and plumbing should be moved back and hooked up by tomorrow. It will sure be nice to have the stove back so we can cook with it again! Two small sections of the counters were installed last week, but then they discovered the sink was damaged in shipment so they came to a screeching halt while a replacement sink was shipped. It is nice to have a little counter space in the kitchen, and we quickly put it to use. It will look even better when the backsplash is installed!
new counter
Harvest Monday is a day to show off your harvests, how you are saving your harvest, or how you are using your harvest. If you have a harvest you want to share, add your name and blog link to Mr Linky below. And be sure and check out what everyone is harvesting!