Honeymoon Salad? - "Lettuce Alone"

Happy Halloween!

It's the last day of October and we still have lettuce growing the the garden.  It's amazing!  It was planted at the end of July.  Even though we've had a couple of frosts, I covered it with a tarp on those few nights, and the temps did not get low enough to kill it.  We've been eating it since early September.  My DH planted it, but doesn't remember the variety. It's very much like Romaine lettuce - great for salads and in sandwiches. I've given it to neighbors and family.  It's been tender and delicious.  Now a hard freeze is predicted for tonight. It's fully mature; for the last week or so we've been eating the inner leaves.  I think I'll let it go tonight, but I say goodbye reluctantly; it's been a great crop.

Does this mark the official end of our 2010 vegetable garden season?  I guess, although we still have carrots, beets, and parsnips covered with leaves that I can dig as needed.  We harvest these root crops throughout the winter as long as the snow doesn't get too deep.  Of course, if we wait too long the deer will beat us to them.  I don't feel that bad if they eat the beets; I prefer them small and tender in the summer.  The carrots I've been digging a few at a time for the last month or so.  Parsnips we leave alone until after the first snows.  The cold weather seems to bring out their sweetness.  I've tried them earlier in the season, and they just don't taste the same.



This has been a wonderful crop of lettuce.



Can't Beat These Beets

The beets are getting ahead of me.  We've been pulling and eating larger beets, but they seem to be growing quickly.  Fresh beets are delicious when they are 2 inches in diameter or less.  As they get bigger they get progressively more fibrous, and tend to lose their sweet flavor.  So when I peeked under the greens and saw big beets pushing their way up out of the soil, I was guilt-ed into action.

I pulled a pail-full with the plan of turning them into spiced pickled beets.  I hosed them off and cut off the tops outside.  I leave about 2 inches of stem and I do not cut the root.  This prevents the beet from losing its red color while cooking. I used to boil the beets, but experimented with roasting them this year.  After another light scrubbing, I wrapped them in aluminum foil packets and baked them at 325 degrees for 2 hours.  The roasting method develops a rich full flavor in the beets, and it's relatively neat compared to a boiling pot that spits red juice all over the stove-top. When the beets felt soft poked with a fork, I let them cool a bit before unwrapping them.  Then I cut the tops and root off, and slid the beet out of its skin.  I sliced my beets, but you can also cut them into cubes.

Here's the rest of my beet canning process:
There's a little beet juice in the foil packets, and I add that to the pot of syrup I have simmering on the stove.  My syrup is 2 cups cider vinegar, 2 cups sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.  I also have a couple onions sliced very thin at ready.  Now it's time to "can".

My canning jars, lids and screw tops are hot and waiting in the "just-finished-its-cycle" dishwasher.  I take out one jar at a time.  Drop 2 whole cloves in the bottom of the jar, and then fill it with sliced beets and a few onion slices.  Ladle in the hot syrup up to 1/2 inch from the top.  Use a wet paper towel, followed by a dry paper towel to wipe and dry the top edge of the canning jar.  Put on a cover and screw it down.  Continue until all jars are filled.  I had to make a second 1/2 batch of syrup to complete my ten 12 ounce jars.

Last step:  I use my large soup pot to process the jars. This step assures a good seal on the jars.  I fill the pot to about half full and bring the water to a boil.  Five jars fit at a time; you want space between the jars.  Boil the jars 10-12 minutes; then remove and let them cool.  As they cool, I could hear the distinctive "pop" that lets me know they have sealed.  After several hours, I can touch the tops of the jars to test for a good seal.  The cover should not pop up and down when you touch it.  If it does, the jar needs to be reprocessed, or refrigerated and eaten soon.  I did a good job this time; all my jars sealed!

This is a great recipe for pickled beets.  They are great chilled and added to salads.  You might have noticed that we grew 2 different varieties of beets.  The traditional round beet is "Detroit Red".  The long, tubular shaped beets is "Cylindra".  "Detroit Red" is sweet and flavorful.  The "Cylindra" is very dark red in color and slices into perfect small round disks.  The flavor is good, but not quite as sweet as the "Detroit Reds".  It's fun to experiment with new varieties.