Fall is for freezing!

Autumn has finally arrived in Delaware; the leaves are changing colors, and the squirrels are burying nuts in the soil in front of Chestnut Hollow. The cooler weather is a welcomed change, but I know that I will soon miss the sunny fresh taste of summer vegetables.

Last week, in order to preserve a tiny bit of summer, Ish and I went to the Farmer’s Market to buy an abundance of fresh vegetables and herbs. I spent several days preparing the vegetables to be frozen. My Tuesday was spent making a double batch of roasted vegetables; admittedly, we ate half the batch in different meals through out the week, but the other half is sealed in a freezer bag ready to be pulled out for a midwinter treat. Wednesday morning I spent making several batches of pesto—some regular and some with basil and mint. I froze the pesto using my muffin tins and some saran wrap; I’m sure glad my mom taught me this trick. Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning, I dedicated myself to chopping a rainbow of bell peppers. I now have about a quart each of red, green, yellow, and orange peppers in the freezer. This is not only more cost effective than buying peppers in the middle of winter (in season vegetables are much less expensive), but summer peppers, even after being frozen and defrosted, taste much better than those found in the grocery store midwinter.

This week I am looking forward to preparing a few more vegetables for freezing as well as making a batch or two of homemade applesauce. What is brewing in your kitchen this week?

An Answered Prayer

Ish and I recently moved [back] to Delaware with no furniture aside from a few bookcases and a small tray table to our names. As we began our search for furniture, a clear dilemma arose; what were we going to do for a bed? We had managed to secure some nice secondhand furniture in short order, but finding a bed would not be so easy.

As someone with allergies, the chances of finding used mattresses that I won't have a reaction to are very slim, but buying brand new mattresses, even at a discounted price, would not have been a sound financial decision for us. As is very typical of me, I started to get worried about it--What in the world were we going to do? Then, I began to pray,"Lord, please find us a bed that we can afford and won't give me allergy problems."

Over the period of a few days, Ish and I continued to search for a bed via craigslist. We found a bed that was one and a half years old (boxspring and mattress included). Ish promptly e-mailed the seller to inquire about his asking price--it worked with our budget. In a followup e-mail, Ish assesed the allergy situation and found out that the mattress was coming from a pet free home (score!).

Yesterday, Ish went to check out our potential bed. Meanwhile I was at our apartment hoping and praying that this bed would be the answer to our prayers. Ish called me when he was on his way home to let me know that God had delivered. We had a bed!

When Ish came home, the boxspring was still in its original plastic which the previous owner had never removed in the year in a half he had owned it. Ish had then informed me that this bed was clearly sent from God since not only had the boxspring been enclosed in plastic but the top mattress had been encased in a plastic "allergy-proof" cover as well!