Alley Cat Acres

More Info: alleycatacres.com

B-Patch Photo Album

In case you didn't know, or forgot, there is a B-Patch Photo album to take a look at. Nice to look at pictures of the start of our garden, especially in these cold winter months!

Pie in a jar

This isn’t your grandmother’s apple pie. We’ve taken the tried-and-true favorite and spun it on its head, pouring the sweet fruit filling into a dough-lined jar. Top it off any way you choose—we’ll provide the scrumptious topping options. Find the recipe here

Roasted Vegetables

Excellent for fall and winter and all those root veggies.

Roasted Vegetables

1 small butternut squash, cubed
2 red bell peppers, seeded and diced
1 sweet potato, peeled and cubed
3 Yukon Gold potatoes, cubed (You can subsitute baking potatoes)
1 red onion, quartered
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions
Preheat oven to 475 degrees F (245 degrees C).
In a large bowl, combine the squash, red bell peppers, sweet potato, and Yukon Gold potatoes. Separate the red onion quarters into pieces, and add them to the mixture.
In a small bowl, stir together thyme, rosemary, olive oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Toss with vegetables until they are coated. Spread evenly on a large roasting pan.
Roast for 35 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven, stirring every 10 minutes, or until vegetables are cooked through and browned.

Pumpkin Cre’me Brứlee'

A great dessert recipe for all those pumpkins that everyone grew! And since I have all this pureed pumpkin in the freezer I thought Pumpkin Pie (sticks finger in nose and announces "BORING") and it came to me- Pumpkin Cre’me Brứlee'. I saw Michael Chiarello make his version of this on Food Network, and I adapted it into my own little recipe. His version calls for using left over pumpkin pie stuffed into a ramekin, mine is a tad bit more involved, using my pumpkin pie recipe with no crust- but very easy! And yes, I washed the finger I stuck in my nose!

Pumpkin Cre’me Brứlee'
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups of pumpkin puree or canned pumpkin
1/2 cup of firm brown sugar
2 eggs or (vegans- 1/2 cup of egg substitute)
1 tablespoon of Pumpkin Pie Spice
1 can (12 ounces) Nonfat evaporated Milk or for vegan recipe, as Chile writes in her blog try making some evaporated soy milk (cook down to double-strength) for pie or as Chile says:
"Put 2 cups soymilk in a saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirringconstantly, until volume is reduced to 1 cup. Cool. Store in jar in fridge."
Preheat oven to 350. In a medium bowl, mix together the pumpkin, brown sugar, egg, pumpkin pie spice and non-fat evaporated milk. Carefully pour into Ramekins leaving about a quarter inch of room. Place Ramekins on a cookie sheet and Bake in 350 oven for 60 minutes or until a knife inserted in the middle of one of the Ramekins comes clean. Let cool on the counter. Place into the frigidaire. Chill
Before serving, sprinkle about 1 1/2 Tablespoons of sugar over each "custard". To get it crusty, Take your Blowtorch (I love cooking when there is the chance of danger) and aim the flame just above the sugar, just out of reach , until sugar starts to turn brown. Or use The whimps method: Simply place the sugared custards under a hot broiler and watch for browning, when evenly browned, Serve with a small dallop of whipped creme on it, and perhaps a berry for garnish. And yes this is also my favorite pumpkin pie recipe- you just pour the pumpkin mixture in a pie crust and bake for 60 minutes or until a knife inserted in the middle comes clean. Hmmm- a Cre'me Brứlee' pie???
Quick tip- Don't have ramekins? try using 1/2 pint wide mouth mason jars- then you have a screw on lid if you need to take them somewhere

Fall Clean Up Party and Potluck

POTLUCK AND GARDEN CLEANUP

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Potluck in the Garage at 1 p.m.

Garden cleanup following

Many of us have our own plots to clean up and perhaps plant winter veggies. We also have pathways to weed.* The work you put toward the whole community garden will go toward satisfying the required 8 hours per year.

Come celebrate our first summer in our community garden.

Contact Rebecca at RDARE2@yahoo.com for more info

* (By the way, it’s suggested that you use a tarp on the pathway when you clean up your plot. Dirt in the pathways leads to the growth of weeds in the pathways – and it also doesn’t look too great.)

Another use for zucchini

Still another use for zucchini- Bear repellent!

(FRENCHTOWN, MONTANA) -- This is not a joke, this story is for real.

Missoula County Sheriff Lt. Rich Maricelli says a Frenchtown, Montana woman defended herself successfully in a bear attack with a pretty low-end weapon -- a zucchini squash.

Frenchtown is part of the Missoula, Montana Metro Area, population 883 at the 2000 census.

Authorities say the 200-pound black bear went after one of the woman's dogs just after midnight Wednesday on the back porch of her house, which is about 15 miles west of Missoula.

The bear bit her in the leg while she tried to get the bear away from her dogs so she grabbed for the nearest hard object and it was the zucchini she had recently harvested from her garden sitting on the porch’s railing.

The woman threw the squash at the bear, hitting it with enough force to make the bear run away.

The sheriff’s office said the woman’s bite was not serious enough for medical attention. Montana wildlife officials were trying to locate the bear.