If the family dynamics get a little tense tomorrow afternoon, just gather everyone around the computer and show them this video on how to make a carrot clarinet.  Then suggest forming a vegetable orchestra instead of arguing over who gets the last piece of pecan pie.

Thanks to Denise for sharing this fun video! I love it.

A few miles from my house on the corner of a busy street filled with rundown strip malls and auto body shops sits my culinary north star: the taco bus. It is parked at the back of a small, potholed lot. A portable carport plastered with mariachi posters leans against the side and serves as a patio. Inside, the seats have been removed and low stainless steel counters and short stools line the foggy windows. At the back, a lone chef warms small white corn tortillas on a hot griddle before carefully topping them with carnitas, a squirt of hot salsa and finely chopped white onion. Each order comes with a grilled jalapeno, thinly sliced radish, and a choice of three salsas.

It is heaven.

Vegetarian pickings are slim at the taco bus, so I dreamed up these tacos for Jon. Small cubes of homegrown butternut squash and onions are dusted with chile powder, cumin, and coriander and roasted until they are sweet and caramelized. Warm corn tortillas and black beans, stewed with tomatoes and roasted jalapenos from the garden, form the foundation of the tacos. A topping of cojita cheese and lime add in salty and sour notes. They are the perfect warm up for a chilly night and my favorite way to use the vegetables I stocked away in the freezer earlier this fall.

Butternut Squash Tacos with Spicy Black Beans
Butternut squash has a tendency to go all mushy when roasted, because the squash cubes steam when they are crowded into a pan. I’ve found that scattering the squash in a thin layer across the bottom of a rimmed baking sheet helps the pieces develop crunchy, caramelized bits. Because this recipe calls for so much squash, I divide it between two pans and rotate them in the oven halfway through the roasting process.

You’ll need:
½ of a medium butternut squash, peeled and cut into ½ inch cubes (about 5 cups)
½ cup white onion, chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 ½ teaspoons cumin
1 ½ teaspoons coriander
2 teaspoons plus 1 tablespoon ancho chile powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups tomatoes, skinned, seeded and chopped (or 1 15-ounce can fire roasted, diced tomatoes)
2 15-ounce cans black beans
2 jalapenos
1 serrano chile (if you like spicy beans)
¼ cup cilantro, chopped
12 small corn tortillas
½ cup crumbled cojita cheese (or feta)
Lime wedges

Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Heat a cast iron skillet over medium high. Place the jalapenos and serrano (if using) into the pan and cook until the skins are charred and blistered in spots. Remove the pan from the heat and set the peppers aside.

In a large bowl, toss the squash and onions together with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Sprinkle the cumin, coriander, 2 teaspoons of the chile powder, and 1 teaspoon salt over the squash and onions and toss until well coated. Divide the vegetables between two rimmed baking sheets and spread them out in a thin layer, so each piece has a bit of room between it and its neighbors. Place into the oven and roast for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the edges of the squash and onions begin to brown. Rotate the pans and give the vegetables a quick stir halfway through.

Meanwhile, peel, stem and seed the chiles before chopping them finely. Then, heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium high heat. Add the garlic and cook for a minute or two before pouring in the tomatoes. Allow the tomatoes and garlic to bubble briskly for five to ten minutes, or until the tomatoes reduce down to a loose sauce. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the chile powder over the tomatoes and then stir in the chiles and the beans with their liquid. Cook the beans over medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring carefully so you do not smoosh them. When the beans reach your preferred consistency, remove them from the heat, stir in the cilantro, and adjust the seasonings.

To assemble the tacos, spread a few spoonfuls of strained beans (I use a slotted spoon) onto a warm tortilla. Place a mound of roasted squash and onions on top of the beans. Shower the tacos with crumbled cojita cheese, chopped cilantro, and a squeeze of fresh lime juice.

Yummy Vegetarian Tacos

The squash before they became tacos!

My hands are just now beginning to recover from the intensive gardening season. In summer, no amount of scrubbing removes the soil from the creases in my fingertips. I have to remind myself to check my nails before I leave the house. The edges of my fingers feel like fine grit sandpaper. Well meaning friends give me gardener salves, and creams, and scrubs. But none of them work because I hate to wear gloves. So my hands stay soil stained and rough for a good eight months of the year.

When I rub knobby beet seeds between my fingers, or snuggle seedlings into the soil, or pet the soft leaves of my ‘Bergaarten’ sage, I want to feel it. Gardening is a tactile experience and gloves just get in the way.

But lately I’ve noticed that my hands are getting old before their time. The skin is getting crepe-y and sun splotched. I think I’ve even spotted some nascent wrinkles. So I’ve decided to try out wearing gloves. At least some of the time.

West County Gardener sent me a pair or their new Landscape Gloves that are made with a fabric that comes from recycled plastic bottles. What I hate most about gloves is that they feel restricting, but these had plenty of wiggle room in the fingers and an adjustable Velcro tab at the wrist. The palms have a nice, but not bulky, bit of padding and the fingers are reinforced with a sticky material, which made it easier to keep a handle on my tools when I was out in the rain. Best of all, the gloves are my current favorite color, orange. All in all, they did what West County promised. They kept my hands clean, comfy, and even warm while I did some heavy-duty fall gardening. I might even wear them again.

My only bone to pick with West County is not with the gloves. It is with their press kit. The gloves arrived at my door in a cardboard box that was printed with this message: Every pair of West County Gloves made from our new recycled materials removes one 8 oz plastic water bottle from landfill. I opened up the box and found brown paper packing material, a pair of gloves, a CD with PR info, and a water bottle filled with little plastic bits, plastic fibers, and a sample of the fabric. I know the bottle was included to help illustrate that the gloves are made from recycled bottles, but doesn’t that kind of defeat the point?

My advise to West County is to keep up the good work using recycled materials, but ditch the current press kit. Sending the gloves and PR CD in a recyclable envelope would have been just as effective, and a lot less wasteful.

Patience is an overrated virtue in my book. That’s why I tend to grow a lot of instant gratification crops that are ready to eat in a matter of weeks, like baby greens, radishes, cilantro, and arugula. So what did I find myself doing on Monday? Planting garlic.

It won’t be ready until June.

Garlic comes in red, purple, brown, white and silver skinned varieties. Its flavor ranges from subtle and sweet to clear-you-nose hot. Some garlic varieties are better for baking, others are well suited for roasting, stir frying, or even pickling. But the only garlic bulbs you’ll find at the grocery store are big, white, and boring. So I decided to try being patient and grow my own.

Rather than choose just one variety, I set all moderation aside and ordered six. I am growing hardneck types (the bulbs literally grow clustered around a hard, central core or “neck”) because they produce a bonus flower bud in spring called a scape. These curvaceous buds have a subtle garlic flavor and a lovely tender texture…and they are ready in April or May. Hurrah!

Here’s what I’m growing:

‘Ukranian Red’. It’s strongly flavored cloves come wrapped in brownish skins streaked with red and purple. So lovely.
‘Chesnok Red’. Known for retaining its hot flavor, even when cooked. This quality makes it a good candidate for baking. I’m already plotting to make ‘Chesnok Red’ garlic studded foccacia.
‘Musik’. Love that name. Plus, this puppy stores for up to a year. It’s truly a keeper.
‘German White’. Classic big white bulbs belie this garlic’s distinctive spicy flavor.
‘German Extra Hardy’. These cloves have an extra high sugar content, which makes them well suited for roasting.
‘Methechi’. This garlic an has intense, hot flavor. It matures late, but I’ve been assured it’s worth the wait.

I ordered garlic from my friend Dan, a garlic enthusiast turned amateur garlic entrepreneur. Before I planted the cloves, I watched the garlic planting slide show on OrganicGardening.com.

I burned my pinky cooking butternut squash tacos last night and it hurts to type. So instead of writing a longer post, I thought I’d share a photo of my traditional raised beds built from recycled cedar fencing (top) and some alternative raised bed ideas I discovered at The Garden for the Environment in San Francisco. They include a curvilinear bed made of woven branches, a bed delineated with roofing tiles, an ornamental border framed up with recycled concrete, and a tall raised bed that is accessible to people with mobility limitations.

Andrea over at Heavy Petal in Vancouver, BC runs a weekly photo tour of gardens and this week she featured our garden. Yay! Jon and I were totally thrilled that she thinks our garden is “truly fresh food porn.” That is the best compliment ever.

If you’re new to DigginFood, let me say a big hello. I’ve been writing here since April about growing, cooking, and eating fresh food. I do my best to post a mix of recipes and gardening advice here three times a week.

If you want to explore what happened in my garden this year, click here. You’ll find step-by-step directions for building a mini greenhouse, advice for dealing with leaf miners organically, and tomato growing tips.

And if you’re more interested in eating, you’ll find my Italian grandmother’s heirloom pesto recipe, a damn good bacon sandwich, and pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting in my recipe section.

Over the winter I’m planning on beefing up my Gardening Guides (beets is the first entry) and sharing what’s happening in my garden and kitchen.

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you’ll check in again soon.

p.s. You should also definitely check out Andrea’s back patio makeover. I would kill to have her design savvy (love that horizontal fence!).

I love to make pizza, but I do not cook my pies on a pizza stone. Instead, I use my trusty cast iron skillet.

When we bought our 786 square foot house, we adopted a strict rule: every tool must have more than one purpose. I’ve since had to abandon my desire for a pizza stone (and bulb planter, and olive pitter, and pickle grabber) at our door.

Luckily, my preferred pizza preparation technique (which I learned from a Real Simple recipe a few years back) uses the bottom of a hot cast iron skillet in place of a pizza stone. The hot skillet prevents soggy crusts by evenly distributing heat across the surface of the dough as it cooks. I’ve made a lot of pizzas this way. They turn out perfect every time and make me love my cast iron skillet even more!

Potato, Caramelized Onion and Sausage Skillet Pizza
Adapted from Potato and Onion Flat Bread, Real Simple, May 2006

Use the technique in this recipe as a starting point for creating your own pizza topping combinations. Homemade pesto with goat cheese, roasted garlic, and sundried tomatoes is always a winner at our house. If caramelized onions don’t fall onto your favorite topping list, preheat the skillet by placing it over medium heat for about 6 to 8 minutes. One pizza, if served with a generous salad, makes a nice meal for two people.

What you’ll need:
1 10- to 12-inch cast iron skillet
1 pound of pizza dough (I package of refrigerated dough)
Olive oil
1 small yellow onion, halved and thinly sliced
2 small, well-scrubbed ‘Yukon Gold’ potatoes, very thinly sliced
1 hot Italian sausage, cooked and sliced into rounds
1 tablespoon whole rosemary needles
¼ cup provolone picante cheese, finely grated
Salt
Pepper
1 tablespoon cornmeal

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil in the cast iron skillet over medium heat. Stir in the onions, give them a good shake, sprinkle with a bit of salt, and cook until they soften and turn a deep, nutty brown (about 8 to 10 minutes). Place the caramelized onion in a bowl and add the potato, sausage, and rosemary. Toss to combine.

Wipe out the skillet and set it upside down on a heat-proof surface. Sprinkle the corn meal evenly over the bottom of the skillet. Divide the pizza dough in half and place one half on a floured work surface (use the other half to make an additional pizza or place it back in the refrigerator). Roll out the dough into a round that fits the bottom of the skillet.

Place the dough on the upside down skillet (make sure it doesn’t overhang the sides). Brush it with olive oil and then arrange the potato mixture over the dough, leaving a 1-inch border. Sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper over the potato mixture and then dust it with the cheese. Set the skillet into the oven on a middle rack and bake until the crust becomes golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the pizza from the oven; slide it onto a cutting board and slice.

We are definitely having Wellie weather.

The wind whipped up last night and blew the leaves from the trees. Big raindrops are splattering against the windows. The path between the chicken coop and our house is a muddy mess.

Luckily I have my ridiculously bright galoshes.

Gardener’s Supply Company sent me this pair last year and they have taken up permanent residence by the door. I slip them on over my socks whenever I pop outside to clip some herbs or salad greens for dinner. In the morning I tuck my pajama bottoms into their tops before I pay a visit to the chickens.

With our long, wet winter coming up, I wouldn’t mind adding to my Wellie collection.

Perhaps a classic pair of red Hunter’s is in order?

Or maybe some argyle boots to go with my argyle socks?

Do you think these will scare the slugs away? If so, I’ll order them!

Zappos has a huge selection of Wellies, with most ranging between $35 on the low end and $100 on the high end. I like the red Hunter’s best (hint, hint Jon).

Jon and I stopped by the farmer’s market this weekend and bought two big bunches of multicolored carrots. Before we even moved on to the next stall to look at apples, I started thinking about how I wanted to cook the carrots. But all my carrot pondering did not lead to a happy afternoon in the kitchen. Instead, I developed a  massive case of recipe indecision.

My problem is the carrots are just so pretty. I want to give them my very best, but I just can’t decide what that might be. So my spare time has been devoted to thoughts that go something like this:

“Oh! Oh! I know. I’ll rub them with olive oil, sprinkle them with cracked peppercorns and that new salt I picked up at the grocery store and roast them. Yes! That’s it…or maybe I should make Aunt Lisa’s carrot ginger soup because that would help my cold. But I don’t know if I really feel like ginger…So I could roast them. Or, I could slice them into matchsticks and serve them up on that cute little white platter with some creamy dressing. But what kind of creamy dressing?”

Clearly, I need help. So if you have a favorite carrot recipe, please send it my way!

Growing and cooking food is a fundamental, creative human experience, which is why, I think, there are so many examples of art and food intersecting. Just this morning I discovered Fallen Fruit—an activist art project that started by mapping fruit trees on public land in Los Angeles.

They have hosted nocturnal fruit forages, created art to hang in public fruit trees, hung posters in bus shelters advocating guerrilla fruit tree planting, and made maps of public fruit in several LA neighborhoods and Santa Fe, New Mexico.

This coming Saturday the group is teaming up with the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco for a Public Jam. This event twists the notion of a music jam—instead of instruments, participants are asked to bring homegrown or public fruit and jars for a communal jam making session.

This project makes me feel so hopeful because it represents further evidence that reclaiming control of our food helps connect people and create better communities.

Fallen Fruit’s stated goal is “to get people thinking about the life and vitality of our neighborhoods and to consider how we can change the dynamic of our cities and common values.”

Making jam with strangers sounds like the perfect start. I wish I could be there.

It’s Election Day and we’re headed over to our friends’ apartment to watch the results this evening. They requested that everyone “bring a celebratory food or beverage, which, depending on how the night goes for you, may flip flop into a comfort food or beverage.” I really hope that my food remains in the celebratory column, but just in case I’m bringing my all-time favorite comfort food: pumpkin bars.

My grandma made these every Halloween, and since elections are always kind of scary, I thought they would be appropriate. Plus, they are crazy good. Everyone always asks if crack is an ingredient. It’s not, but if you eat more than two bars you are definitely at risk for a sugar high.

Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting
There can be no debate about pumpkin bars. Pillowy pumpkin spice cake topped with fluffy cream cheese frosting is a reason to celebrate, no matter what.

For the cake you’ll need:
4 extra large eggs
1 cup of oil
2 cups of sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
2 cups un-sifted flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

For the frosting you’ll need:
6 ounces cream cheese
1 stick of butter
2 teaspoons of vanilla
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk

Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. In a large bowl, beat the eggs, oil and sugar together until lemon colored. Add in the remaining cake ingredients and beat until just combined.

Pour the batter into a greased 12-inch by 17-inch jelly roll pan or rimmed baking sheet. It might look like it will run over, but it won’t. Place in the center of the oven. Bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Place the pan on a rack to cool.

Meanwhile, mix all the frosting ingredients together in a large bowl. Beat the frosting on high until it is light, fluffy, and smooth, about one minute. Frost the bars when cool.