Winter Victules...

With the recent nippy weather chilling both the air and my spirits, I have begun to revert to my "winter menu".  This is an alteration in my  eating habits that occurs in mid November both by choice and circumstance.

Heirloom tomatoes

Circumstance because some of the  wonderful seasonal stuff I have been enjoying throughout summer like fresh fruits and vegetables, are slowly disappearing from the shelves of stores and produce stands.  I will miss the fulsome taste of summer peaches, plums and apricots. I must bid adieu to seasonal gems  from New Jersey and Long Island, and especially to home-grown tomatoes. Yes, I know hot-house tomatoes are available all year long, but nothing compares to the lush flavor of a local heirloom tomato topped with a dash of salt and a sprinkle of olive oil.  And although  I can always get the frozen ones, the early spring peas and asparagus will be greatly missed.

Not that autumn does not bring its own bounty. I do love the "BAP" squashes: butternut, acorn and pumpkin. I like to roast or bake first two, and make a fine cream of pumpkin soup with the later.  If you intend to carve a pumpkin for Halloween;  keep the seeds, rinse them well and place them on a cookie sheet, season them with salt at the very lest, and either air-dry or slow dry in a 250 degree oven for an hour or so.  I use them to garish  soup and salad or to just eat out of hand.   The Mexicans call them pepitos. I must admit, I was never one for pumpkin pie...the ones I had as a child were store bought and often too sweet for my taste.  I recently had one made from scratch and I must say it was very good.


In the afternoons I drink either iced tea or water.  I never acquired a taste for colas...Pepsi or Coke.  I don't like the taste either one of them.  My late brother-in-law, John, could tell the difference immediately just by taking a sip or even a smell.  I believe he preferred Pepsi.  My late husband  liked Coke.  If I have to drink a carbonated beverage, that is not a sparkling wine, I prefer Ginger Ale.


My next dilemma is which hot winter beverage?  I ways have tea with breakfast and after dinner.  It is my "go to" hot beverage of choice. When met my future mother-in-law, the irascible Ingrid Viola Carlson-Swanson, she was shocked that I did NOT drink coffee.  Upon hearing that I drank tea she respond "Are you ill, dear?"  She actually called "dear" until I married her son; I presumed she found my name too difficult to remember. (okay...  will move on here)

  I recently heard  that the first flavored Starbucks coffee was their pumpkin latte, and it was invented in an employees kitchen. It was brought in to work for others to try, and the rest is barista history! But for me the mere thought of pumpkin mixed with a hot liquid of any sort intended to be drunk from a paper cup is alien, so I will pass on any hot pumpkin concoction in a disposable coffee cup with a lid...period.


I am thinking, though, that Hot Chocolate could be the solution to my winter hot beverage blues.  A few years ago ,while I was  Paris in February, I began to order that chocolately brew at the local cafes.  I discovered that hot chocolate does not have to be overly sweet.  It can also be a velvety smooth and satisfying adult brew. On a recent trip to Trader Joe's I picked up a package of their "Sipping Chocolate".  I will let you know how it goes.