We are looking for some “clean out the freezer or cold room” recipes for next issue. How do you make the best of the last of last year’s larder? We have a start this month with a few recipes that use those winter vegetables, along with cheese rinds, and other staples. I agree with Beatrice about being drawn in by the name of this soup.

December seems to arrive faster than any other month. There’s so much to do in autumn that I’m still working on my fall chores when winter lands with a wallop. And that wallop usually includes not just snow and ice, but the madness that passes for Christmas in any urban area. I lean into the garish and loud stores much as I lean into the north blasts of wind and snow.

Please sir, more bread pudding

    We have some bread pudding recipes in response to Mary Nearing’s request. These crisp, cool days are perfect for a little oven heat in the kitchen. While you are feeling the warmth, please take a few minutes to send us some holiday recipes: breads, cookies, squares, mains or fripperies – we want them all.

Old time (pickle) religion
As I look at recipes we have on file, my eye is most often drawn to old-style recipes and ingredients. I am not a strict adherent to the four ingredient limit, but I like the timelessness of few ingredients, whole products, and simple preparation.  I enjoy a jar of pickles with lots of different little morsels floating around in the sauce, but I rarely use those recipes at home. 

This little goat went to market . . .

We have a couple goat cheese recipes this issue. We’ll start with a salad and end with a cake. Bookended goat cheese, yum. 

STRAWBERRY GOAT CHEESE SALAD
Liz MacLeod, Sydney River, N.S.
    “A nice change from plain green salad. I had this at my son’s preschool parents’ appreciation lunch last year.”

2 cups salad greens 
1/4 red onion 
12 strawberries 
1 avocado
1/2 cup walnuts 
1/2 cup goat cheese 
Dressing:
6 strawberries 
4 tablespoons olive oil 
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar 
1 teaspoon lemon juice 
pinch salt 

    In a dry frying pan, toast the walnuts for about five minutes, stirring constantly. Watch closely so the walnuts don’t burn. Slice the onion and the avocado, and quarter the strawberries. Chop the walnuts and crumble the cheese. Mix the ingredients together gently over the greens.
    Chop the six strawberries for the dressing. Whisk together all the dressing ingredients. Pour the dressing over the salad just before serving.

We’ve got that summer feeling
    Some salads, some sweets: just the right things for summer evening meals. If you’re working hard, add more protein. There is a wonderful variety of fresh local fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, eggs, and dairy available these days. Check your closest farm markets, or if you live where many of us do, check the farm stands at the end of the driveways. If you’re looking for meat, watch for fields with beef, sheep, or goats. Those are indications there’s a farm nearby, look for the farmer, ask if he or she sells direct. We produce a great range of food here; let’s get it in the hands of consumers. 
    Eat local, eat in season, eat well.

They know beans!

    We put out a call to ask who uses dry beans, and what they do with them. Here are some of the replies. 
   Bruce Blakemore, from Purgatory Point, N.S. sent us both answers and questions:
   “I am an odd Maritimer in that I cannot stand traditional baked beans. I like beans as long as molasses has come no where near them!
    “That being said, I think every bean recipe I use (mostly tomato based) has been published in RD at some point.

A ham and a lamb and a bun in the oven

    It’s beginning to look like spring. Ha! Now comes the hard part: waiting for the thaw and wading through the mud, and hoping, always hoping, to find those first swirls of rhubarb leaf. That’s what spring really looks like. Nevertheless, it is time for Easter and we can celebrate the day with good local food, and fresh tastes. There are fresh vegetables available that didn’t travel across at least one continent. Try them.

The real baker’s secrets
I have been outed. We ran two recipes last month that I didn’t test, and readers have called with questions about both of them. Here come my secrets. I don’t like cooked peanut butter, and I don’t like baking soda. Cooked peanut butter smells and tastes bad to me, and baking soda burns my mouth. So, I took the recipes for health bars with their peanut butter, and the lassy buns, with baking soda, at face value. Marion MacIntosh from New Glasgow, N.S., called the office to tell us she made the health bars and they turned out crumbly. 
    I mixed the ingredients for the health bars, but the batter seemed dry, so I baked them only 15 minutes. They turned out fine, so I suggest that 30 minutes baking time was too long. My own preference would be to mix the ingredients, pat them in a pan and refrigerate. Forgo the baking altogether. 

Celebrating the season
It’s late November, evening comes much too early, and the sound of lobster boats leaving the wharves and coming home again breaks the silence, always in the dark. I love lobster, but I fret during the season for family and friends putting their lives on the line every day, especially on this shore where the season runs from the end of November to the end of May. 
    On these long and dreary days I am reminded of all the people and the places where turkey and all the trimmings are not part of the Christmas tradition, and would be unattainable even if the desire were there.

Keeping things sweet in the dark months

We have a sugary column this month. Our readers came through with recipes for winter treats. These squares and cookies would be a welcome gift in a tin or jar decorated with a ribbon, or a great easy addition to any potluck gathering. I’ve included the stollen recipe because it is a bit different from the recipes I’ve used, and I really like the ginger flavor of this bread. The sweet gingery smell warms the entire house when it’s baking. 

Edited by Anne Gray
    We have a little bit of everything this month. We’re playing catch-up with the end of season vegetables and fruits: pickles and relishes, jelly, and a twist on jam. Relish recipes are popular for those cucumbers that hid under the leaves and grew too large for dills, bread and butter, or other “chunky” recipes. Enjoy them.

Backyard eating, A simple summer meal

Edited by Anne Gray

    The price of beef cattle is on the rise. That’s good for the farmers. It has been hard to hang on for the past 10 years, and many couldn’t. Those still in the business are finally seeing a bit of light at the top of the hole they’ve been in. Needless to say, input costs are also climbing, but they have been all along, even as the price for cattle was lower than it’s been in recent memory. 

Pancakes and salsa!

Edited by Anne Gray

    We have had great response to our query about buckwheat pancakes. Monique Levesque and Kathryn Bradshaw sent us traditional recipes. None of them are sourdough pancakes, but they are delicious. We also have Andrew Harvey’s sourdough starter recipe. Once your sourdough is perking, try using it as the leaven for your pancakes. 

The first blush of spring

    The blush is, of course, the shy rhubarb, trying to decide if it’s time to burst out in its red and green glory. On my daily checks I can see the tiny rosy sprouts, but nothing too forward about their behavior so far. One of these sunny days I’ll find a few shoots to pull and steam for that first tart, luscious taste. Perhaps I’ll try Vera Johnston’s hint for forcing the plants into production. I am getting impatient. 

Tastes of spring, And a toast to the season 

Edited by Anne Gray

            We have a great selection of recipes this issue. I particularly love them for their ease and simplicity. Yet every recipe here would fit perfectly on the most elegant dining table. Enjoy these recipes, eat well, and raise a glass to spring. 

Our call for seasonal eating has been rewarded. The recipes we received look great, are nutritious, and easy to boot. We hoped our readers would share their favorite winter foods made with the good bits found in the freezer. Most of us are ambitious in summer and fall to fill that freezer, but the thought of another meal from it in February isn’t always the most tempting. Not so with the recipes we have here. The combination of colors, flavors, and textures will tempt the most winter-weary palate.