Last beautiful day before the shoe drops....

OK - we live in Ohio, right? This past Sunday was just about the most perfect day that was ever given to us. We got up early and went to church, then to breakfast, which was divine. I wanted to check out this little farm market near our church so we stopped in to see what they had.

We met an old friend from church. His wife has Alzheimers and he has to do all of the cooking for the family. He is a wonderful old man who cooks big everyday - just my kind of guy. He makes his meatballs and sauce for his daughter, son, spouses, grandchildren - every Sunday they eat at 4:00. They stop by for some kielbasa and cabbage or maybe a nice roasted chicken once or twice a week. Obviously they know where to get the best stuff in town. Anyway - on a little side note - this guy is an expert when it comes to garlic. He actually started to grow it in Italy about a million years ago and then, when he came over, he brought some with him. He planted here and has been cultivating this plant and sharing his knowlege with others ever since. I happen to ask about his garlic one day after Mass and the next thing you know - he is here with some for our little garden. Not only did he bring it over - he had to stand over Ralphy while he made the little hole for it "just so" and then he covered it with just the right amount of soil. It is a masterpiece in progress. The heads of the garlic that he brought for replanting were the biggest I have ever seen. The aroma of a fresh head of garlic is like no other. Mmmmmmmmmmm. I use it every day, I think. Anyway - next summer, we should have fresh garlic up the wazoo and we will be able to begin to replant our own - with a little help from "the garlic man", of course!

The recipe for Roasted Pumpkin with Shallots and Sage is a definite winner.



1 medium sugar pumpkin (or pie pumpkin)
(about 4 pounds) peeled and cut into 2 inch chunks

4 shallots (the individual cloves - not four huge single shallots) peeled and quartered

3 T. olive oil

1/4 C. fresh sage leaves

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I had Ralphy do the honors of cutting this thing. You cut the ends off and then peel it with a sharp knife and chunk it up.


Preheat oven to 450. Divide pumpkin, shallots, oil and sage between two baking sheets. Season with salt and pepper and toss it up. Roast about 35 minutes or until pumpkin is tender, rotating half way through and stir it up alittle.


This is a delicious fall side courtesy of my best friend, Martha. This makes 4 servings and is really worth the effort. I did not have fresh sage so I used a little dried, bottled sage. I don't really care for it that much so I just used a sprinkle.


I am thinking that this might be REALLY good in a baking dish with some brown sugar and butter. NOW we are talking trash. I am going to try it and let you know.


Love

I promise I will get this photo "thing" figured out by next week. I don't know what the hell I am doing.