Fall Harvest...and Salsa Verde!

The first two weeks in October are the most beautiful in Iowa, in my opinion.  The air cools, the light gets deeper, shadows lengthen and the leaves all start to turn, tree by tree, all around the neighborhood--red, gold, orange, rust.  Gorgeous!  This is also the time to get most of the rest of the vegetables out of the garden, and boy did we have some work to do!  Even the teenagers helped.  (Who says teenagers can't take a few minutes away from their video games to assist the oldsters with their silly old-fashioned non-digital chores?)  Most of the work for Emmett and I involved plucking tomatillos from the vines, while Ben and Angus attacked the apple tree.  Tomatillos really took over this year, although I was still able to harvest some tomatoes, peppers, and apples. 

Emmett picked these beauties.

Angus trimming the apple tree.

Tomatillos like crazy!

With all of this bounty, obviously I had to make Salsa Verde.  I based it on the recipe in Viva Vegan!, although I only had one white onion and no green onions, so a large yellow onion stood in.  After our garden work, Ben fired up the grill and we roasted the onions, garlic, serranos, jalapenos, and tomatillos--and then some tomatoes and more peppers to add to the guacamole.  Because if tortillas are on the table, then guac also must be on the table.  It's the law.  (You knew that, right?)

Food prep outside is fun!

Oh yeah...soooo good!

If tortillas are on the table, guac must also be on the table. 

 
What the heck, why not throw some tofu on there, too?  Dinner was whole wheat tortillas with beans, salad, salsa verde, and guac.  Also grapes and apples, and the rest of that rockin' chocolate pudding pie from Saturday. 

Meanwhile, I see big batches of salsa verde in my future, so nothing goes to waste.

And what do you do after a hard day's labor?  You either climb a tree...

He's safe from any further manual labor up there.

Or you lie in the hammock.

Wake me up when...oh, never mind, don't wake me up!