Category Archives: RECIPES

Cook green beans and other vegetables-Julia Child’s way!

Watch Julia Child/The French Chef cook vegetables the french way! Bon Appetit! Part 1

I found this video on you tube on Julia Child back in 60’s when she had her TV cooking show.  Besides finding it very entertaining (I kept thinking of the ‘Saturday Night Live’ skits on her), I also learned a lot. In it she cooks green beans, carrots, stuffed mushrooms and braised spinach. I was most interested in how she cooked green beans. I use to steam my homegrown green beans but I think this might be a better way to cook them as they keep their color and flavor (yes even store-bought beans). Besides I like her accent! Yessss. Watch it and see!

 

Watch Julia Child/The French Chef cook vegetables the french way! Bon Appetit! Part 2

Cosmic Atomic Carrot Soup

Check out the color in this carrot soup!

Check out the color in this carrot soup!

If you haven’t had carrot soup before, this is really good. I’m not a huge carrot eater but went back for seconds with this soup! It is made with Cosmic Purple carrots and Atomic Red carrots (hence the name) but can be made with any other variety of carrot as well.

Cosmic Atomic Carrot Soup

1 large onion

½ lb. Russet potatoes

½ stick butter

1½-2 lbs fresh carrots, cleaned and sliced

6-8 cups veggie or chicken broth

1 cup cream (or half and half)

salt/pepper to taste

honey (to taste) – tablespoon+

Saute onions in butter on medium heat in a SOUP POT till tender. That way you can just add the other ingredients without using more pots. Add carrots, potatoes and broth and cook till they are fork tender. Pour into a blender and blend till smooth. You will have to do it in batches. You could use a ‘wand’ but I find the blender purees it better and it should be silky smooth. Pour it back into the soup pot. Add honey to taste to just bring out the sweetness of the carrots and stir in well. Taste. Add more honey if needed.  Stir in cream. Reheat till warm but do not boil. Delicious!

Pictures from the Santa Fe 4th Annual Pumpkin Bash

Santa Fe 4th Annual Pumpkin Bash!!

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Yesterday I held the 4th Annual Pumpkin Bash here in Santa Fe and about 35 people came! IT was COLD but not as cold as later on during the day and people warmed up swinging an axe! My friend Jill Foster called them ‘the choppers’! I also supplied my pumpkin soup (the recipe is in the previous post) to warm the bones. This was the biggest turnout to date. All my friends, Master gardener friends and Homegrown friends came out for the big event. Everyone had fun and afterwards took some pumpkin home.  Must have given away over 300 lbs to friends and the other 85 lbs is going to Kitchen Angels! Let’s figure out how many pies it would make- Take 385 lbs x 16 oz (16 oz in a lb) = 6160 oz. Divide that by 12 oz (1.5 cups is the standard amount of pumpkin used in pies) and we get  513 pies!!  Even if we subtract some out for that stringy stuff and seeds we still get around 500 pies!

Pumpkin Steaks

Tonight I fixed ‘Pumpkin Steaks’. They were fantastic if I do say so myself!

Here is the setup

I made them with ‘Casper’, my 208 lb whitish pumpkin that Erika Wanenmacher carved up into a jack-o-lantern for Halloween.  I used some that she saved for me from the inside.  Here is how to make them.

You’ll need raw pumpkin and something big enough to cut into 1/2″ steaks. Be sure to remove the skin.

Crush up some Ritz crackers to make cracker crumbs. I like the cracker crumbs better than bread crumbs as they have a  more buttery flavor.  Add some herbs to the crumbs. I added some dried thyme, sea salt and pepper. Beat 2 eggs and some milk in a bowl.

Take the steaks and dip them into the egg mix.

Then press the steaks into the crumbs on both sides. Put some olive oil in a fry pan and heat it up till it is very hot but not smoking.

Put the steaks in the frypan and saute till golden on one side.

Flip and put a top on the pan. Cook until it is golden on the other side and a fork pierces them easily. Take some honey and drizzle just a little of it over the steaks and serve. Delicious.

First Caprese salad!!

Here is the first caprese salad of 2012! Fantastic! Yellow, orange and black tomatoes with mozzarella, basil and olives drizzled with an 18 yr old balsamic vinaigrette! Been waiting for this since last November! Need I say more?

You Little Tart!!

Lately I’ve been into making fruit tarts with our fruit harvest. The latest are these little strawberry-rhubarb tarts. The strawberries are over so I had to buy them but the rhubarb is kicking it and I’m looking for different ways to use it. A fiend of mine, Kathleen, asked for the tart recipe so here is the basic recipe for making tarts (from Julia Childs and Jacques Pepin) I like the tart pastry from Jacques Pepin better as I thought it was flakier than Julia’s so I put it in for the pastry. Get a tart pan if you don’t have one. I have both a big tart pan and little tart pans for individual servings.

 TART PASTRY (Jacques Pepin)

1 ¾ cups all purpose flour

1 1/3 sticks unsalted butter (5 1/3 oz)

3 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar

1 egg yolk

1-2 tablespoons water

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine flour, butter and sugar and mix till butter is crumbly like the size of peas using a pastry blender or food processor.  Don’t overblend. You don’t want it completely smooth as the butter pieces gives it it’s flakiness. In a small bowl, mix together egg yolk and water and add to flour mixture. Knead lightly until dough is smooth-do not over knead or dough will be tough. Form it into a ball and put in plastic wrap and refrigerate it if not ready to make. Then when ready, put it between 2 pieces of plastic wrap and roll out till about 14 inches round. Peel off one side of the wrap and put in tart pan and then peel off the other side of the plastic wrap. Then I roll my rolling pin over the edges to cut off the dough. Prick bottom and sides with a fork and put in oven. Cook from 15-20+ minutes till lightly brown. Your oven may be different so check it a lot. The recipe originally said 30 minutes but that is way too long at this altitude. If the edges get browner before the center, put some foil over the edges to keep from burning. This can be done up to 12 hours ahead. Leave out-no need to refrigerate.

CRÈME PATISSIERE (Julia Child) This filling makes a lot so you may want to cut it in half or even into fourths because you want a thin amount of filling to put the fruit on. I had a ton left over making the full recipe.

6 egg yolks

heavy saucepan

½ cup granulated sugar

½ cup all-purpose flour

2 cups hot milk

2 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1 tablespoon brandy

Separate egg yolks and blend with a wire whip in a heavy saucepan (cooks more evenly). Gradually beat in sugar until it is smooth. Add flour and whip in. GRADUALLY add hot milk stirring with the wire whip until smooth. Continue stirring CONSTANTLY with the whip till mixture is thick. As it turns lumpy whip harder till lumps are out.  Lower heat and cook a few more minutes till thickened stirring CONSTANTLY. Have I said that word enough-‘constantly’? Remove from heat and stir in butter and flavoring. Put plastic wrap right on top to keep it from getting thicker at the top and refrigerate. Leftover mixture can also be frozen for later use.

ASSEMBLING THE TARTS

Several hours before serving, put a thin layer of filling on bottom of pastry. The fruit is the main star in this recipe not the filling. Put fresh fruit like apricots, berries, kiwi or strawberries neatly on top of filling. Make a glaze using apricot or currant jam. Heat up the jam and add a few drops of warm water till it is the consistency of a glaze-spoon warm glaze over fruit).

In this picture I cooked the rhubarb with lots of sugar (to taste) in saucepan and then added some cornstarch as a thickening agent. Mix about 1 tablespoon cornstarch first with a little cold water so it won’t lump up and stir in and heat till thick.  You could do this with any fruit (take some of the fruit, add sugar then cook down and add cornstarch) if you want to make a glaze instead of buying jam.

Salmorejo-cold tomato soup from southern Spain

Here are some good ideas of what to do with our tomatoes this season.
I was at my friends, Bob and Jerry’s house for dinner the other day when Bob whipped up this amazing cold tomato soup that he served with dinner. It was made with raw tomatoes and was fantastic. He got it from a recipe from the Aug. 2011 issue of Bon Appetit Magazine and was kind enough to share it with me below. It’s so good, I could drink this stuff!
I just put a ton of tomatoes through my new food mill that Elodie got me for my birthday. I did about 40 lbs of tomatoes in 20 minutes! It removes the skins and leaves a great raw sauce. I froze some of the raw tomato sauce and will make Bob’s recipe below with some of it.
I also made a huge pot of spaghetti sauce today with the rest of that tomato sauce that is still cooking as I write. I will finish cooking it tomorrow night and can it to enjoy it later this winter. It is so nice to take out a jar of sauce from the summer tomatoes in the dead of winter!
Here is Bob’s recipe for Salmorejo, a cold tomato soup from Spain.
Salmorejo
Note: Very important to let the blender run for three solid minutes. Then get it real cold…. about 2 hours in the fridge.
Squeeze seeds and pulp from 3 lb. ripe halved tomatoes into a strainer set over a large bowl.
Press solids to release as much liquid as possible; discard solids.
Core and chop tomatoes; add to bowl.
Combine 3 toasted, chopped 4 x 4 x 1/2″ slices white bread,
1/4 cup toasted slivered almonds and
4 smashed garlic cloves in a blender.
Pulse until chopped.
Add tomatoes with liquid to blender in batches, pureeing until very smooth.
Add 1 tsp. sherry vinegar.
With blender running, gradually add 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil.
Puree until emulsified and frothy, 3 minutes.
Season with salt and more vinegar, if desired.
Chill until cold, about 2 hours.
Ladle in to small bowls or glasses
Garnish with chopped hard-boiled egg

How to pollinate a giant pumpkin

Here are pictures on how I hand pollinate a giant pumpkin…

Here I’m getting ready to pollinate a giant pumpkin. I’ve gathered several male flowers that are  by my shoe. I have one in my hand ready. I try to use several male flowers to make sure I get enough pollen on the female flower. Notice the female flower just below my hand that is open and ready to be pollinated.

Here is a closeup of the male flower. The ants can be accidental pollinators too.

Here is a closeup of the female flower. When she opens up first thing in the morning, she is ready to receive pollen.

Here I’m peeling off the flower petals from one of the male flowers. I peel off the petals so only the stamen is left. That way it can get to the female stigma.

Here is the male flower with all the petals off.  Notice the pollen on the stamen and around the base.

Now I take the male stamen that is loaded with pollen and use it like a paintbrush to paint the pollen all over the female stigma. then I repeat with the extra male flowers.

Then I tie and close up the female flower so it can’t accidentally get pollinated by the beez. It will stay closed up for one day and then I will untie it as the female blossom will only acept the male pollen for about a 4 hour period. If you want to know who are the parent pumpkins, this is the way to control the assurance of the genetics. We try to get bigger and better pumpkins each year which is why we hand pollinate.

Tomatoes and Mozzarella-Caprese salad-yum!

Caprese salad-Tomatoes, Mozzarella and Basil

It’s starting! I’ve been getting a few ripe tomatoes every couple of days and  have and been enjoying them. Here is a picture of  a Caprese salad I made last night with tomatoes out of the garden with Mozzarella cheese I made and basil I grew, drizzled with a balsamic vinaigrette. I got into learning how to make some cheeses mainly to go with my tomatoes. I haven’t got it down as good as I’d like but the mozzarella was still good.

Pasta Making 101

Pasta making 101

What does making homemade pasta got to do with gardening? Nothing! But a gardener’s got to do something in the dead of winter and I wanted to try out that new pasta machine that I got for a birthday gift in June. I thought it would be a great compliment to my homemade spaghetti sauce that I canned last Fall from all those tomatoes I grew. Lava, Elodie and myself are the ‘chefs’ that made it happen. We did many things wrong and it still turned out great!

Trying to keep the well from breaking..

First mix flour (preferably Tipo 00 Italian flour which is finer that regular flour) with some eggs. Your suppose to put the flour on a board and pile it up and make a well  in the center of the flour (like mash potatoes and gravy) and crack the eggs in the well being careful not to break the well. Of course the well broke and it was a mess mixing it together. We had to add more water than the recipe called for because it wasn’t mixing very well but finally it looked somewhat like dough after kneading for awhile. Then we put plastic wrap on it and let it rest for 20-30 minutes. After that we cut it in half. It looked great! What a surprise! We then put a quarter of the doughball through the machine which eventually makes for very long pieces. We ran it through the 1st setting 5 times, each time folding it in thirds and then rerunning it through again. After 5 times, we started setting the machine at #2 setting and then the #three and so forth until we tighten it to setting #6.  Each time it would get longer and longer and  thinner and thinner, eventually reaching about 2 feet long. After that we ran it through the machine where it cuts the pasta into linguine or spaghetti shaped long strands. We cut the finished pieces in half to not be so long (I imagined slurping up a two foot long piece of linguine in my mouth). Finally we put it on a clean floured dishtowel to dry for about 30 minutes. Just enough time to heat the sauce and have a glass of wine! Lots of fun and it tasted great! Here is a quick slide show.

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Veggies I will and won’t grow this year and why in 2011

Here is my veggie list from last year. I thought it important to go through it and tell you what I will and won’t grow again and why before I forget. Look at my SEED LIST PAGE next week (as it could always change) to see exactly what I am growing in 2011

TOMATO-HEIRLOOMS
San Marzano-red plum tomato-YES-I will try again even though ALL 4 died. I hear too many good things about this tomato

Striped German-bicolor tomato-YES-I WILL grow it again for my third straight year-One of my favorites even though it takes a little longer to develop

Black Cherry–YES– I will grow this for my third straight year-another favorite

Paul Robeson-black tomato-YES-A Farmers Market favorite although I prefer others.

Cherokee Purple-purple tomato-NO-I missed this one last year but it is wonderful. As good as Brandywine.

Cherokee Chocolate–YES-Just as good as Cherokee purple but a little brownish color. I will choose between one of the Cherokees due to space.

Prudens Purple-purple tomato-NO-not as good as the Cherokees nor as prolific but planted it because it was suppose to ripen sooner-not true for me last year.

Black Krim-black tomato-NO I didn’t do this one last year but had it in the lineup because it is only 69 days to ripen. Never had good luck in previous years.

Pantano Romanesco-red classic tomato-YES-wonderful tomato from Italy

Great White–NO– novelty-lost both plants

Costoluto Genovese-red tomato-YES fantastic looking-fluted and great taste

Goldsman Italian American-large red plum-YES even though I lost 3 out of 4, and it took forever to ripen, it makes the BEST tasting tomato sauce I’ve ever made

Aunt Ruby’s German Green–NO-Novelty-lost 2 plants

Gold Medal-bicolor tomato-MAYBE-took longer to ripen than Striped German but great taste

TOMATOES-HYBRID-I grow a few hybrids
Lemon Boy–MAYBE-didn’t get any in last year but it is a sweet terrific tomato

Park’s Beefy Boy-red tomato-70 days-YES-only 70 days and great taste

Sun Sugar-yellow cherry-NO-kinda like a lot of yellow cherry tomatoes but super sweet.Want to try something different.

Original Goliath-red tomato-NO– nice size, early ripener but can’t remember the flavor

TOMATO-COMPETITION (biggest)
Big Zac-red/80 days-YES-takes the longest to ripen but taste is great and chance to grow a huge one.

2010 VEGGIE LIST
BEANS-Rattlesnake-YES-great tasting pole bean over my arbor and Tavera-NO average tasting bush bean

PEPPER-Shishito-YES-I love these-not hot but full of flavor

SUMMER SQUASH-ZUCCHINI-Costata Romanesco –YES wonderful taste and Lungo Bianco-NO-it was good and more prolific than Romanesco but not as flavorful. Sticking to one kind this year.

SUMMER SQUASH-SCALLOPED-Yellow Custard and Bennings Green Tint-NO on both. I’m only growing Costata Romanesco

WINTER SQUASH-Marina di Chioggia–NO-powdery mildew problem and not many squashes and Galeux d’Eyesines–YES-prolific-great taste-3rd yr.

EGGPLANT-Little Fairy-YES-prolific tender skin and great taste, third year in a row. Thai Yellow Egg–NO-took all season to develop and then froze at first frost. What a disappointment.

CUCUMBERS-Parisian, Boothsby Blonde, Poona Kera, and Parade–YES TO ALL-Third straight season

CORN-not sure if I’m growing. Might just pick it up at Farmers Market

LETTUCES-from COOK’S GARDEN-Provencal Mix, Mesclun Mix, Buttercrunch, Yugoslavian Red, Santoro Lettuce, and Little Gem-YES

SPINACH-from COOK’S GARDEN-Indian Summer and Double Choice-NO-will look for bigger leaf variety.Too puny.

CARROTS-from COOK’S GARDEN-Kaleidoscope (mix of red, purple, orange and yellow)-NO want only orange and purple ones this year.

BROCCOLI-Brocolli Romanesco-NO–takes too long to develop.

ARUGULA-Apollo–YES

BOK CHOY-Extra Dwarf Pak Choy-YES

CHARD-5 Color Silverbeet–YES TO ANY CHARD

PEAS-DWARF SUGAR, OREGON SPRING II–YES

2010 GIANT PUMPKINS
895 Grande (1016 Daletas x 1385 Jutras)-YES-grew the 2010 NM State Record Pumpkin-421 lbs + 3 other new ones

GIANT MARROW (like a giant Zucchini)
206.5 Wursten 09–YES–didn’t grow last year but will this year

75.4 Wursten 09–YES–grew the 2010 NM State Record-43 lbs

GIANT TOMATOES
7.18 N. Harp 09 (5.58 Timm x open) YES–grew a 2 lb 11 oz tomato in 2010

5.416 N. Harp 09 (5.58 Harp x open–YES

Big Zac (from Totally Tomato)-YES

GIANT SUNFLOWERS
Titans–YES

Fantastico Spaghetti sugo (Fantastic Spaghetti Sauce)

Here is the recipe I used when canning all those jars of spaghetti sauce. (Only I don’t add meat when canning). My mom taught me how to make this recipe for spaghetti sauce. She learned it from an Italian friend of ours. Her name was Jenny (funny name for an Italian) and she was a neighbor of ours when I was growing up. She was always so kind to my brother and me. Unfortunately she died of breast cancer in her 40s’ but her spirit lives on in her sauce. I have never shared this recipe until now so I hope those of you who take the time to make this enjoy it.

INGREDIENTS
3 large cans of tomato sauce (I think they are 26 oz)
1 large can diced tomatoes (same as above)
1 small can tomato paste
1 cup water
1/4 cup red wine
1 med onion sliced
1 pkg sliced mushrooms (optional)
2-4 garlic cloves, crushed
2-4 TLB dried basil
1 TLB oregano
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp marjoram
1/4 cup olive oil
1-2 tsp sugar (optional)

Put tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, and paste in a big pot and add 1 cup water. Add all the herbs and olive oil and stir in. Bring to a boil and turn down to simmer.  In a fry pan, saute onions and mushrooms in a good grade of olive oil.  If you want to add Italian sausage, add these first and then saute the veggies in the same pan after they are done. If I want vegetarian style I will saute some sliced zucchini in big 1 inch chunks with the onions and mushrooms. After tender, add crushed garlic last and saute till soft as it will burn if you add it too soon. Then add to the simmering tomato sauce. Stir often. Add wine after simmering for a couple of hours. Stir often. The key to this sauce is to cook it almost all day on very low-do not cook on too too high of heat or it will burn. If the sauce starts to get too thick too soon, I will add more water. Cook, cook cook! I usually cook up a pot on a Sunday when I can be home while doing other things. Eventually the sauce gets thick (as thick as you’d like) and a rusty red color. Taste and if it seems too acidic add about 1 -2 teaspoons sugar to reduce acidity. You don’t want it sweet, just want to cut the acid and sometimes out of the can it can be a little acidic. Of course I use tomatoes right out of the garden but not everyone has that luxury and it is still wonderful when using canned tomatoes.  Refrigerate or freeze the remainder. It tastes even better the next day.

3 Great Pumpkin Soup Recipes

Here are the two soup recipes I posted last Spring and one more great recipe I found for pumpkin soup (or any winter squash soup).

JANNINE’S PUMPKIN SOUP

INGREDIENTS:
About 10 lbs of pumpkin or winter squash
Chicken broth or vegetable broth or water
1 can Coconut milk (whole or  lite)
fresh grated ginger
honey to taste

Cut, quarter and clean out your squash of seeds and stringy stuff.  Put oil on exposed edges and put face down on foil lined cookie sheet and place foil on top so it doesn’t dry out. Cook at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes until soft when pierced by fork. Scoop out and place in a big soup pot and add 8-10 cups of either water, OR chicken broth OR vegetable broth-your preference. Then take a mixer or one of those hand held  blender wands and mix till smooth. Heat and add the can of coconut milk, some fresh grated ginger (peel first) and honey to taste. Do not boil. Yummy!

Here is another pumpkin soup recipe that I got from my friends Caleb and Genevieve. It’s really yummy too.

SPICED PUMPKIN SOUP
½ tsp fresh grated ginger
½ tsp cumin
2 cloves minced garlic
1 cup chopped onion
1½ cups apple cider
⅓ cup bourbon
¼ cup maple syrup
2 lbs cooked FRESH pumpkin (this is about 4 lbs before cooking)
1 can chicken broth or 2 cups veggie broth or water
2 cups milk
1 TLB flour
1 tsp salt
black pepper to taste
sour cream
3TLB chopped parsley or cilantro

Saute onions, ginger, cumin, and garlic 5 minutes or until lightly brown. Stir in apple cider, bourbon, syrup, pumpkin, and broth. Bring to boil and simmer 10 minutes. Take out mixture and puree in blender in batches until all blended or use (“magic wand” to puree right in pot) Return pureed mixture to pot and add milk, flour, salt, and pepper. Cook till just heated (do not boil) stirring occasionally.
Serve with dollop of sour cream and sprinkle parsley if desired. For vegetarians, leave out dairy and replace milk with coconut milk, chicken broth with veggie broth.

Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill’s Pumpkin Soup with Cinnamon Crème and Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
Serves: 6-8

Pumpkin Soup
4 cups enriched chicken stock or low sodium canned chicken broth or vegetable broth
3 cups pumpkin puree (not flavored pie filling)
1 teaspoon ground Mexican cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 teaspoons chipotle puree NOTE: Canned chipotle peppers in adobo are available at Latino or gourmet markets or from Kitchen Market, 218 Eighth Avenue, New York, NY 10011, 212-243 4433, which has a mail-order list. To make chipotle purée, process canned chipotles in a blender or food processor, along with a little of their liquid.
3/4 cup crème fraiche
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Roasted pumpkin seeds (recipe below)

1. Bring 3 cups of the stock to a boil in a large saucepan over high heat. Whisk in the pumpkin puree, 1 teaspoon of the cinnamon, ginger, allspice, nutmeg, honey and chipotle puree. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add more stock, if the soup is too thick.

2. Remove from the heat and whisk in 1/4 cup of the crème fraiche and season with salt and pepper to taste.

3. Mix together the remaining crème fraiche and 1 teaspoon cinnamon until combined.

4. Ladle the soup into four bowls; drizzle with the cinnamon crema and sprinkle with roasted pumpkin seeds.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds (Use regular size pumpkin seeds-giant pumpkin seeds are too thick) Makes 1 cup

1 cup raw pumpkin seeds
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Kosher salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350º F.

2. Toss the seeds with the oil and season with salt to taste. Spread the seeds evenly on a baking sheets and bake for 25-30 minutes, tossing occasionally, until they are lightly golden brown and crisp. Let cool. Can be made 2 days in advance and stored in an airtight container.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds (Use a regular size pumpkin for seeds-giant pumpkin seeds are too thick) Makes 1 cup

1 cup raw pumpkin seeds
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Kosher salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350º F.

2. Toss the seeds with the oil and season with salt to taste. Spread the seeds evenly on a baking sheets and bake for 25-30 minutes, tossing occasionally, until they are lightly golden brown and crisp. Let cool. Can be made 2 days in advance and stored in an airtight container.

KONG BREAKS NEW MEXICO STATE RECORD!!!!!!!!!!!

Saturday, Oct 1, 2010/GPC Old Colorado City Weigh-Off, Colorado Springs, Colorado-

Kong broke the New Mexico State Giant Pumpkin Record today coming in at 421 lbs beating the old record of 404 lbs! The record comes home to Santa Fe which is quite a feat considering our high altitude and short growing season. Kong also got a ribbon for third place in the weigh-off for 3rd biggest pumpkin out of about 25 contestants and $100 (yea-paid for my gas to get up there!).  The first place was a 1109 lb monster pumpkin grown by a Colorado grower named Marc Sawtelle and second place was over 800 lbs grown by another Colorado grower named Doug Minix. These guys are my heros-they are really nice and share information about growing these monsters. My pumpkin was little by comparison but still bigger than all the rest of them. My giant marrow, ‘Big Zuc’, also got a ribbon for Best Squash and also set a new New Mexico record. What a way to finish the gardening year. Couldn’t be better!!

So the weigh-off day went as follows:

Got up at 4:30 am and left by 6am to get up to Colorado Springs by 10:30am. We unloaded Kong at 10:30 and waited till weigh-off time at noon. We met the mayor of Colorado Springs who told us the sorid story of the city when it was a mining town and one side of the main street (that we were on) was for the brothels and other side was the respectable side.  He told us the story of how the men would drop off their wives at the opera on the respectable side, go into some tunnels to cross the street over to the brothels and come back again to pick up their wives after the opera! Hmm! He looked like the guy in Monopoly (I think the banker?) I also met Buffalo Bill Cody (I think reincarnated)! Lots of people and families came.

At noon when they went to turn the digital scale on they couldn’t get it to work! Arg! I was freaking out inside as I really wanted Kong weighed and didn’t want to go all the way home without doing that. Talk about how anticlimactic that would of been! Anyways they worked on it for about 40 minutes while I’m dying inside and finally they got it fixed. Phew! Talk about a freak out! Where were the ‘tums’?

Then they started weighing them from smallest to largest. The next thing that made me worried was the entry right before me was a beautiful orange color and looked bigger to me, but only weighed in at 375 lbs. Sheez! Did I measure wrong? Marc and Doug(the two biggest growers there) told me later that color (as in bright orange) always weighs lighter than the salmon color pumpkins. Then the big moment..and Kong weighed in at 421 lbs. Elodie and I were screaming and yelling as they announced I broke the NM State Record! Such a thrill! Then they put my giant marrow, ‘Big Zuc’ (think zuccini) on the scale and it weighed 43 lbs. Biggest fricking zucchini I ever grew! Also a NM State Record! Icing on the cake! So I got ribbons for third place for Kong and Best Squash for ‘Big Zuc’ and of course the sweetest was breaking the NM State pumpkin record. What a way to end the giant pumpkin season! Here is a slide show of the weigh-off.

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