seasonal - Related Content

In winter, root vegetables can keep for months after harvest.  Keep warm with this Hearty Root Vegetable Soup recipe.  Winter is also the time of year to consider buying a share in a local farm!  The Community Supported Agriculture (or CSA) movement provides a way for eaters to get fresh, seasonal and often organic produce and proteins from a local farm and “put a face” on their food.  Read about CSAs. You might discover a farmer that might be a good partner for you!

Asparagus is a sure sign of spring in the upper Midwest and home gardeners can’t give it away fast enough!   If you or your neighbors aren't swimming in it, look for fresh asparagus at your local farmer's market.  This post is not a recipe so much as a guide to preparing asparagus. 

Fresh tomato season is here!  Here are tips to easily use and preserve them, including: “Fresh Tomato Sauce” (good on pasta, pizza or bruschetta), easy salads, canning/freezing them whole, diced or in Italian sauce.  What are your quick and yummy tomato meals or sides?

In any season we can reduce food waste and use leftover produce.  The recipe for “’Anyway you like it’ Galette” is a great pastry stuffed with either Fruit, Greens, Roasted Summer Veggies or Root Vegetables!  Read on for a self-assessment and recipes, resources and tips to reduce Food Waste.

“Kale Slaw” was one dish served after a recent “pasture walk” at Anathoth Community Catholic Worker Farm
 in Polk County near Luck, WI.  In late July, over 60 farmers, ag experts and friends toured veggie and pollinator gardens and grazing pastures of beef cattle, hogs and chickens.  It was fun to learn and share as we walked.

Corn Chowder is a great fall recipe.  With corn fields all around us, less than 7% of US corn gets to our tables as fresh or frozen corn and cornmeal.  4% is processed into high-fructose corn syrup.  The rest, "dent" or field corn, becomes ethanol and feed for beef cattle, pigs and chickens.  It makes me wonder how the upcoming US Farm Bill supports creation, food and farmers.

A classmate used to create delicious-looking lunch salads from what was found in our college cafeteria!  To her meal of greens, veggies, nuts or seeds and she often added beans, cheese, brown rice or whole grains.  This kind of plate - mostly plant foods – is featured in a recipe for “Warm Farro Salad with Spring Veggies”.

Root vegetables have a sweet, earthy flavor that seems made for roasting.  Beets, sweet potatoes, rutabagas and onions in any combination you like are a savory treat this time of year and you can make extra to freeze for a side dish or creamy soup!  They exemplify the invitation to eat seasonally in winter.  Storing them for lasting flavor is wisdom from the past.

In our after school cooking class in spring 2022, Tamra Dickinson and I shared these recipes with students at Hillside Elementary in La Crosse.  It was fun to watch them wash greens and spin them dry in make-shift kitchen towel salad spinners.  Mason jars of dressing ingredients were shaken with every muscle they had and we all enjoyed a spring kale salad!

Meg Paulino got this recipe from an herb farm in Seattle many years ago and it is her favorite summertime drink!

Cranberries or Mashkiigimin in Ojibwe have been used by American Indians for many purposes. The berry has immense medicinal properties and was sometimes used to dye cloth. Check out this old-fashioned Uncooked Cranberry Relish Recipe and consider your favorite uses of the cranberry.

This fall recipe for "Pumpkin Soup" offers pumpkin food ways facts. Find out how scholars use food like squash and pumpkin to trace history and culture from Central to North American, Europe and back to American tables. Even China and India produce and export pumpkin. Once again, stories connect us across the globe!

In September and October, local Apples featured in the "Fall Apple Salad" Recipe are at their peak in most of North America. For those of us who are not farmers, there are lots of markets for "pick your own" and bagged apples. This post includes a link to help you find a pick-your-own farm for apples and much more near where you live!  Read on for tips for to freezing fresh apples!

Three Sisters' Harvest Bowl recipe uses what Native peoples consider their siblings: squash, beans, and corn. Native languages do not use the pronoun "it" when referring to the natural world. Trees and all plants, animals, rocks and water are "he" or "she." Read about the importance of food plants as family. Look for celebration of Indigenous People's Day this week in your area.

At this time of year, tomatoes couldn't be more gorgeous! This Tomato Upside Down Cornbread celebrates them. One of the healing secrets of food is that when we slow down, we can more intensely appreciate the beauty of all that our Mother earth produces! Use all your senses to take in the beautiful color and shape, fragrance, feel and intricacy of the fruits of creation!

Many of us did not know Sister Eulalia, yet her cornbread is remembered long after she passed from our midst! When we make something with love, the gift and the love it embodies is present. Honor her as you enjoy her cornbread recipe and whet your appetite for some tidbits about corn.

I missed posting on Wednesday, so I'm doubling up on recipes again! Today's focus is zucchini in a tribute to that over-abundant yet delicious plant that's coming into season right now.

Summer’s bounty includes Summer Squash and onions.  Here’s an easy Summer Squash Casserole with roots in the southern U.S. Read on to meet southern chef Vivian Howard, her "Old School Squash and Onions" recipe and stories.

In many Italian families, biscotti are a Christmas celebration cookie. I love making this traditional recipe to remember my loved ones. But as our family grows, we have literally made room for contributions of other Christmas cookies that join the Christmas table. What cookies bring you memories?

Food is a memorable and meaningful part of our lives, in particular at the holidays. Favorite dishes can link us to a much bigger story of our ancestors, culture and values. During December and possibly into 2023, The Seasoned Franciscan invites you to: send in a favorite Christmas cookie or other celebration recipe.

These Rhubarb Crisp and Sauce Recipes are worth repeating this season when both rhubarb and strawberries are plentiful.  Strawberries tell a story of sharing, according to Native American Botanist Robin Wall Kimmerer.  See the post for links to the wisdom of strawberries.

This recipe for “’Massaged’ Kale Salad with Lemon Dressing” is full of nutrients, packed with flavor and may make you into a kale lover. Even kids liked it!  It can be made ahead as the hardy leaves keep well, even with dressing.  Rubbing washed kale with a bit of salt and oil or fresh lemon juice tenderizes the greens.

Try this gluten-free Chocolate Almond Spice Cookie recipe from Switzerland. It was shared by Wis-Corp intern Lisa Broulette while setting up Luminaria for the Advent hike at St. Joseph Ridge. Food traditions of any culture get conversations started!

“This recipe is one which I have made the last few years for Christmas” said Director of Affiliation Michael Krueger. “It is a Norwegian gingerbread recipe but with a spicier taste to it due to the freshly ground cloves and pepper.

My father-in-law was a baker and inherited a treasured wooden Spritz cookie press from one of his employers. Spritz are a Christmas favorite in lots of households and it takes practice (and cookie press or pastry bag skills) to make them! Try them for yourself during the 12 days of Christmas. They make great Epiphany gifts!

When asked about a favorite Polish holiday cookie, Viterbo Chaplain Father Conrad Targonski, OFM described his Mother's Kolaczki (Koe lach' kee, in some Polish circles!). Poles claim it, but so do Slovaks, Croatians, Czechs, Scandinavians and others. Discover the Polish version and other ethnic variations of this celebration recipe.

This chocolate chip cookie recipe was passed on by Bonnie Sacis to Sister Antona Schedlo. “The cookies just melt in your mouth”, says Sister Antona! Sounds like a sweet treat recipe for any time of year.

In Mexico and for folks connected with cultures south of the U.S. border, Dec. 12th is a favorite Marian feast day. In honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe, look up her amazing story! Bake Mexican Wedding Cakes, also known as Russian Tea Cakes or Snowball Cookies! A good thing by any name is loved by all!

Every time summer comes around, I start craving peach cobbler. I know the peaches are ripening and perfectly juicy, and just waiting to be baked up and served with ice cream.

This fall Wild Rice Salad is refreshing and full of nutrients. In this Season of Creation, Native people have much to teach about their sacred relationship to food, such as wild rice, manoomin or “good berry” and to the clean, cool water she depends upon.