Buon Anno. Happy New Year

                                                                  Welcome 2020

Season's Greetings

Instead of my usual green Christmas tree, I decided to scale down and make do with the Swedish wooden table tree my mother found in Milwaukee many years ago. She also collected most of the mini ornaments that decorate the tree today. There are four holders for candles and if you look closely you can see the charred wood where her red wax candles burned when she forgot to blow them out. It's a wonder she didn't burn the house down. This year we decided to find battery powered red tapers so we could have flickering "candle" light without risk. Home Depot had just the ticket and the four tapers arrived in time for Christmas. The result is very satisfying, especially in fire prone California.

                         
                     Merry Christmas to all and to all a safe night

( A special greeting to Jeanette Baird who's blog has been silent for too long. I missed this year's pumpkin carving post, among others.)

Delicata Squash Season

Here is my new favorite squash variety. Delicatas are easy to bake-- their sweet, earthy flavor lends itself to either simple or more elaborate preparations like the one above, baked with maple syrup and butter.

Delicata baked with butter and cinnamon from The Thirty Day Guide to Paleo Cooking

                                             A reminder: the skin is edible and delicious

                                   You can buy them at  produce stores or farmers' markets...

                                   or pluck them from the Thanksgiving table decorations.

It only takes 35 minutes at 375 degrees to bake them in a convection oven

A more elegant (and time-consuming)  presentation from the blog Summer Tomatoes 

A garlicky kale and delicata salad from Good Things Grow   Good Things Grow

But beware-- the season ends early, so just when you're counting on a tasty delicata for dinner, they disappear from the markets.