Hey Apple!

In feeling the prick of fall in the air, and swift change in colors and smells we are ready for the soups and the flannel. The next few weeks will be the time of abundance and harvest and we should relish in the bounty, for as we don't know what the winter will bring.

Last year, she brought us Hurricane Sandy right around this time. November last year was our worst month. We took a 50% hit in sales and had to replace equipment, but our costs were the same. We are still trying to recover from that financial hardship, and we were one of the lucky ones, we were able to stay open when many had no power.

Right now we eat apples. If there's anything that says NY its apples! When I lived in Panama - the land of bananas, oranges, mangos, pineapple, coconut, starfruits etc....the favorite among the kids were apples and pears. Imported fruit! I guess its human nature to want the things that are hardest to reach.

It made me think about the whole global commerce and the world of food. Presumably, the whole global commerce started with those Spanish Explorers and their spice trade. Now we can walk in to almost any supermarket in the US and get pineapple any time of year. From Barbara Kingslover's book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle ~

"As the U.S. population made an unprecedented mad dash for the Sun Belt, one carload of us paddled against the tide, heading for the Promised Land where water falls from the sky and green stuff grows all around. We were about to begin the adventure of realigning our lives with our food chain."

The journey to the Promised Land after the depression in the 20's is why we have such options and supply. California is the place to be! I spoke about the American spirit before and these are again, people in our history who took adversity and turned it into something good.

Now we are re-evaluating the situation and saying, its better to eat foods grown from our own neighborhood. Well that can be pretty tough when you have already tasted the food of the gods! But we try. In the next few weeks we will be cooking up a storm, preparing for the winter, with foods I gather up at Delea Farm Stand be assured! On the roster are butternut squash risotto, cranberry upside down cake, butternut squash and MORE pumpkin raviolis. Chard & Kale pies, apple desserts, apple salads but most interesting, apple soup.

Last winter I made a pear soup and was elegant and silky. I am going to try a version on it with the apple this weekend, a bit more rustic with the brie and look forward to bringing the apple onto the savory side. Want the recipe? Stop in and I will give it to you!