'Tis the Season!

I LOVE this time of year. Seriously, LOVE. I can't get enough time outside. I love when the air starts to turn a little crisp, a little cool. But the sun is still shining, the sky is still blue. And the leaves...THE LEAVES! They are stunning this year, breathtaking, the colors startlingly vivid and vibrant. I LOVE IT!

I guess it's the part of Dad I have in me, but I long to jump in the car and go for a long drive to drink in the spectacular color. I love driving up to Door County, reveling in the color, and stopping in the small coastal towns for some yummy treats: fresh apple cider, pick-your-own apples, homemade caramels, delicious fire-roasted tomato salsa, baked goods.

I also love the farmer's market this time of year. Since we have never had a very big garden of our own (that will change next year...FINALLY!), we've relied on the farmer's market to supply most of our fresh produce. This fall, the farmer's market has been spectacular.

This was some of my take from our trip last weekend. I'm in a preserving frenzy right now, which is all very new to me. I'm loving it.

tomatillos for fresh salsa

fresh organic garlic from a local farm

yummy hot peppers

just a few of the five-gallon bucket's full of tomatoes

Fresh apples from a local orchard

This is just a little of what my kitchen is filled with right now. I also scored a free-range organic chicken and a couple of dozen farm-fresh eggs. They're so pretty! So far, I've made fresh pico de gallo (We tend to eat this on and with everything.) and a lot of roasted tomato sauce. I saved just enough tomatoes from this load to make some Carrot Tomato Soup (under Tutorials on Soule Mama's website) with the fresh carrots I bought.

Today's agenda: finish planting the plants I can't seem to stop buying and clean out the pots to ready the truck for a trip to the compost. Later this week: tomatillo salsa (thanks for the delish recipe, Ames!), roast peppers, can applesauce, dry apples using my new dehydrators, and get the carrots ready to freeze for use in smoothies. LOVE this time of year!

On a lighter note, I ordered a bunch of snow boots from an online company with free shipping and free returns. I have yet to own a good pair of snow boots during my time here in Wisconsin and it makes my winter experience less than wonderful. My toes get wet and go numb oh-so-quickly. So, my quest for the perfect snow boots has begun. Snow boots are large, right? I was stunned to see that this online company shipped ALL of the snowboots together in one GINORMOUS box. Like, coffin-size. I was on the phone with Dayna when it arrived. I genuinely believe that both she and I could fit comfortably together in said box. IT'S THAT BIG! I almost couldn't get it in the house by myself and I've got some muscles.

The photographic evidence:

whatever...the photo does not seem to want to be righted. Just tilt your head, okay?

On the up side, amongst the many boots it contains, this box holds two very promising pairs of winter boots for moi. Now to whittle it down to one pair.

Now for the gratuitous cute picture of the boys. They love to dress up...every day. They love to put on random items of clothing and hats and blankets and aprons. Here's yesterday's get up:

Again, I can't get the photo to want to stand upright.

Anyway, enjoy the season!

Love, kate