I won’t keep you in suspense. It’s Fennel Pesto in the making. I harvested a fennel bulb from the back yard, and wondered what I might do with the fennel fronds – the furry tops of the bulb. I found this recipe, and decided to give it a try.

It was quite good! The fennel taste is fairly subtle – it almost tasted a little grassy, more than anything else. The Pontiff actually liked it better than regular basil pesto. I did find it a little salty, so I’d cut down a little bit on the salt next time (I actually ended up throwing in a handful of basil leaves, just to help cut down on the saltiness). It was definitely a good use for the fennel fronds though, rather than just tossing them.

I served it with a Caprese salad (using some of my delicious garden-fresh tomatoes, of course):

I just put a blob on the side of the salad, then dipped the tomatoes in it. I also put a dollop of it on our steamed Tilapia. (It was going to be pan-fried Tilapia, but I forgot to take it out of the freezer.  When faced with frozen fish fillets, I have found that using the steamer works very well.)

As for the fennel bulb itself, I used it to make Scalloped Potatoes with Gouda and Fennel. If you don’t do dairy, or limit your saturated fat, this is definitely not the recipe for you. I don’t make dishes like this very often, but once in a while, it’s worth the calorie splurge. I made this recipe exactly as written. The fennel flavor is distinct, but not overwhelming. You could make it even more subtle by just using the fennel bulb and omitting the fennel seed. We liked it quite a bit. It had that “moreish” quality, where you keep wanting just a little bit more.

Three cheers for fennel! It will definitely be on my list to grow in the garden again next year.

Clockwise from the top: Hawaiian Pineapple, Pink Grapefruit, Woodle Orange, Martin’s Amish, and a mystery dark pink tomato that I thought was a Martin’s Amish, but is definitely something different. It has a lovely dark rose color that doesn’t really show true in the photo.

In the center is Sungold on the left (one of the most delicious tomatoes of any size I’ve ever eaten, and the only hybrid in the bunch), and Red Robin (grown from seeds from last year’s plant) on the right. It’s normally a darker red, but this was the only tomato left on the plant that was even close to being ripe. It had its main crop early, and now there are just a few stray fruit left.

It was so nice to have a good tomato year after last year’s terrible season.

We did a lot of the work last year, but we still had shelves and hooks to put back in place.

Now it’s clean and organized, and my most-used items are right by the door where they’re easy to find and handy to get to.

It’s about 1000% better than it was 2 years ago. I’m very happy. I even have more shelf space than I need, so there’s room to grow.

But wait, there’s more!

And Carole’s not the only one with lilacs.

OK, I’ll admit that it isn’t at its prettiest, and the leaves are a little tough. But it was still good enough to use in the fresh tomato sauce I made last night. This basil is in a fairly protected area, so even though we had snow and a light frost, it wasn’t killed.

It’s definitely an Indian Summer here. These lovely temperatures in the 70′s have been delightful, but they’re on their way out of here.

Speaking of tomatoes, I figured I’d use this lovely day to go out and cut down some of the tomato vines, and gather up more green tomatoes. The tomatoes are no longer ripening (except for the cherry tomatoes), but they haven’t gone bad. Some of these will be made into fried green tomatoes, and the rest will join the crowd in the basement, with the hopes of future ripening.

While picking the tomatoes, I heard some birds chirping in the trees, but the sound wasn’t familiar. It’s hard to tell for sure, but they look like Cedar Waxwings. A rarity down here in the ‘hood, though pretty common in the parts of the valley closer to the mountains.

Growing up in the higher parts of the valley, I always got a kick out of watching the Cedar Waxwings flock to the berries on the Pyracantha bushes in the fall. Especially when the berries started fermenting and the birds would get a bit tipsy.

Still busy enjoying the fruits of the garden, though the cold weather is coming soon.

I still have a lot of tomatoes and bell peppers in the garden. I see some more roasted tomato sauce in my future.