To “mull,” apple cider or red wine means “to heat, sweeten, and flavor it with whole spices”.  Mulled cider is a cozy drink during fall apple season. Infused with spices like cinnamon, nutmeg or cloves, it will lift your spirits and make your kitchen smell like fall. Smells can hold memories, so as hands are clasped around warm mugs, memories can be shared and made.

Farmers' markets and roadside stands are great sources for different varieties of beautifully colored, tasty winter squash, a food that is thousands of years old.  All squash (and their seeds) are edible.  Use more of this delicious food with a recipe for "Winter Squash Seeds".

Three Sisters Soup is a delicious harvest soup made with the nourishing trio of corn, squash, and beans.  The "sisters" have been staples in the diets of many tribes over the centuries.  Their story honors native wisdom and provides a great learning opportunity for Indigenous Peoples Month in November!

How do we honor your ancestors, both genetic and spiritual?   Images, rituals, habits, motherisms, stories?  Foods can also say mia familia (my family) to us.  This recipe for Italian Gnocchi (potato dumplings) represents strength, values and flavors from my Grandmothers.  There is a “from scratch” and an easy version.  Let kids help!  What food memories might you share?

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.

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.

Hispanic Heritage Month started on September 15.  Corn is the star of a recipe for "Grilled Corn Salad".  It comes with a story of a pre- Hispanic Zapotecan woman named Abigail Mendoza.  She is a cook, restaurateur and teacher who “feels her ancestors” (native people from before the Spanish conquest) present when she prepares food.

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.

For a change of pace, we offer four Homemade Cleaning Products Recipes from former Americorps interns Emily Orth and Lisa Broulette that offer ways to upgrade our household cleaning routine to create a healthier, safer home and help the earth.

“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.

My daughter planted bountiful and beautiful peppers in her first garden this year.  The purple varieties are gorgeous!  She and her husband treated us to this recipe for "Stuffed Purple Peppers" and have already frozen green peppers and canned hot sauce of varying heat levels.  She’s caught the garden and kitchen bug!