October's Bright Blue Weather

Helen Hunt Jackson

Fall is my favorite season. Time to make Pumpkin Pie and enjoy good Soup. Halloween will soon be here..

The colors of Fall are so rich - eggplant purple, bright blue sky, bright orange squashes. Time for children to dive into piles of golden leaves with abandon. Life is good.

October’s Bright Blue Weather
O SUNS and skies and clouds of June,
And flowers of June together,
Ye cannot rival for one hour
October’s bright blue weather;

When loud the bumble-bee makes haste,
Belated, thriftless vagrant,
And Golden-Rod is dying fast,
And lanes with grapes are fragrant;

When Gentians roll their fringes tight
To save them for the morning,
And chestnuts fall from satin burrs
Without a sound of warning;

When on the ground red apples lie
In piles like jewels shining,
And redder still on old stone walls
Are leaves of woodbine twining;

When all the lovely wayside things
Their white-winged seeds are sowing,
And in the fields, still green and fair,
Late aftermaths are growing;

When springs run low, and on the brooks,
In idle golden freighting,
Bright leaves sink noiseless in the hush
Of woods, for winter waiting;

When comrades seek sweet country haunts,
By twos and twos together,
And count like misers, hour by hour,
October’s bright blue weather.

O suns and skies and flowers of June,
Count all your boasts together,
Love loveth best of all the year
October’s bright blue weather.

by Helen Hunt Jackson

Simple as Pie - Cranberry Walnut Thanksgiving Pie

Every year this recipe saves this cook's time and sanity. So I republish it every year at Holiday time so someone new can find it. Enjoy.

When I first encountered this recipe, I scoffed. Nothing this easy could be all that good, I thought. The easy in this pie is no pastry to make. I was so wrong. Make this once and it will become a holiday favorite.

This recipe meets my standards (simple to make, no exotic ingredients, dynamite result). The sweet tart taste is divine. The pie has a texture like a soft shortbread cookie with fruit. It may more properly be called a Cobbler, but I digress.

For cooks who have to turn out good food for their family on short notice in a regular kind of way, this recipe is a godsend. I found this recipe in a regional cookbook. It came from Mary Yeaple of York Friends Meeting. Mary Yeaple says of this recipe "I always make two pies at a time because they don't last long."

Cranberry Walnut Pie

1 1/4 cups fresh or frozen Cranberries
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
1/4 cup chopped Walnuts
1 Egg
1/2 cup Sugar
1/2 cup all purpose Flour
1/3 cup Butter, melted

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter a 9 inch pie plate and layer cranberries on the bottom. Sprinkle with brown sugar and nuts. In a bowl, beat egg until thick; gradually add sugar, beating until thoroughly blended. Stir in flour and melted butter; blend well. Pour or spoon over the cranberries. Do not stir. Do not worry if the batter does not cover each berry and nut. The high butter content and lack of leavening make the batter relax and become more liquid when heated. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown. Cut into wedges and serve with ice cream or whipped topping. English custard sauce would be good too. Note: Be sure to use a 9 inch pie pan. Do not take the pie out too soon or it will be too soft. Let it cool completely before slicing. A pie server is useful.

Eddie Hertzberg Noodle Pudding

Click Me!

I found this recipe in Nika Hazelton's cookbook American Home Cooking. Ms. Hazelton was an expatriate from England who married an American. She was a prolific cookbook author who traveled over the world. She died in 1992. This cookbook of hers is not just an exercise in ego. Ms. Hazelton selected the quintessential American family dishes from every region in the United States. Every recipe works perfectly

As cooking became trendy and precious in the United States, she seemed to raise a speculative eyebrow. Facing a group of wine writers in New York several years ago, Mrs. Hazelton waved aside questions about white truffles and little-known family vineyards. "I'm here to show you a meal from Tuscany that has the virtue of not being too expensive and not taking much genius or fuss to prepare," she informed her audience and proceeded to demonstrate the proper way to make escarole and rice soup. - Molly O'Neill, New York Times 

Eddie Hertzberg's Noodle Pudding - from New York

1/2 pound medium Noodles, homemade or store bought
6 tablespoons Butter
Salt and freshly ground Pepper
2 cups creamed Cottage Cheese
2 cups Sour Cream,

Cook the Noodles in plenty of rapidly boiling salted water until almost but not quite tender. Drain. Turn Noodles into generously buttered 1 1/2 quart baking dish. Toss with 4 tablespoons of Butter, Salt, and plenty of Pepper. Stir in the Cottage Cheese and Sour Cream and mix well. Dot with the remaining 2 tablespoons of Butter. Cook in a preheated moderate oven (350 degrees) for about 30 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly. 4-6 servings.

Mr. Hertzberg must have been a great cook. Although made of simple ingredients, this noodle pudding or kugel is elegant enough to serve to company. In order to get the fabulous texture and taste, you must follow directions precisely. If you do so, this recipe is simple, inexpensive and sublime. I made one alteration. I top the pudding with panko bread crumbs. If you also do that, you must watch carefully as a bread crumb topping burns easily. And this dish is easy even if you "can't cook."

Three Sisters in the Garden

I have been a lazy but thinking gardener ever since I first read Ruth Stout's How to Have a Green Thumb without an Aching Back. Say the words "natural weed control" and I become interested. Add some Native American history to the mix and you have more of my attention and interest.

The Three Sisters planting method is featured on the reverse of the US Sacajawea Native American dollar coin. The Three Sisters are Corn, Squash and Beans.

I went hunting in Google Land. It is amazing where a good graphic can lead you. I like things simple. Keep it simple, Sweetie is my motto.

I learned that this garden is simple to do. Except for the getting dirty and doing the digging part. I cannot think of an activity that would be more fun for parents and children. My children loved digging in dirt and picking flowers and vegetables.

Making a Three Sisters Garden is an excellent teaching tool for science classes. There is an entire class lesson plan at the link.

Cultivating these companions in your school garden, a small patch near the building, a barrel, or even indoors, can inspire studies of Native American customs, nutrition, and folklore. As students dig in, investigations of plant growth and relationships will also flourish. - Creating a Three Sisters Garden

I learned a Three Sisters Garden is beautiful and became determined to put this planting into my own small backyard.