Cool nights

Time to wind the garden down. I can't believe I'm going to dry this beautiful parsley.

Ravioli

Last night we made the most divine dinner we've had in years.

Butternut Ravioli, and Spinach Ricotta Ravioli (made with swiss chard) with sage butter on top.

Holy Moly.

Here's the recipe for Butternut Squash Ravioli:
http://iowagirleats.com/2009/11/06/how-to-bake-butternut-squash-butternut-squash-ravioli-recipe-2/
and
http://iowagirleats.com/2009/11/05/pan-fried-butternut-squash-ravioli-with-walnut-butter-sauce-and-bacon/

Here's the recipe for Spinach Ricotta Ravioli:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/keith-famies-adventures/spinach-and-ricotta-ravioli-recipe/index.html

We followed these recipes pretty much exactly for the fillings. We followed the Butternut recipe to construct and cook the ravioli. We made the sage butter sauce in the Spinach recipe.

Let me just say, if you've never made sage butter - at least do that before your sage keels over in the garden. Oh my...

Elizabeth

PS. I made a date-nut bundt cake with Rum Glaze for desert. It was nothing compared to the raviolis, but...

Scarlet emporer pole bean

I'm leaving these on the vine to save for dry soup beans.

Lemongrass

Tonight (11 PM - gotta do it when you can) I harvested some of the strongest lemongrass stalks. You are supposed to cut the stalks that are at least 1/2 inch wide. Then I peeled off the outer leaves, but found it was a little difficult to tell when I'd pulled off enough. The options for the heart include freezing and drying. A couple things I read said you could put these hearts in a blender and then freeze the juice in ice cube trays for later use. I may try this but for now I'm going with the drying method. Although nothing I read recommended it, I think I'm going to cut the grass into 1 inch pieces and dry it like that. Then, when it's time for soup I can just take out the pieces I need.

End of summer.