Time for comfort food.

Plus, a nice guy named Eric dropped us a line saying he and his wife loved the soup we recommended a few weeks back, and it seemed like they should have some dessert to cap off the evening of good eating.

We love this Cinnamon-Apple Cake, originally published by Cooking Light. Not too sweet, not too much guilt, but loads of flavor.

And, yes, everyone ate this for breakfast this morning because it’s been just that kind of week.

But we really don’t know exactly what we’re doing. We’re reading books and digging up resources, and then we’re going to wing it and hope it goes well. New to this gardening thing? Join us on our journey! An old pro? Oh, please, give us some advice.

This month we’re working on planning. From what I can gather, we should begin starting some seedlings in early March, and I keep hearing that we’re already behind!

My dream garden is this massive spread of green from which we could sustain ourselves completely. Something like this garden plan from one of my favorite books by John Seymour.

The great thing about this book is that it also offers much smaller garden plans to accommodate different  amounts of real estate. (And more realistic plans for those of us who need to remember to keep our feet on the ground.) We have good friends who planted their garden in the front yard of their suburban house, since it was their sunniest spot. Make use of what you’ve got seems to be the name of the game!

I’ve been hunting around for good planning tools, and this is what I’ve found so far:

Gardener’s Supply Kitchen Garden Planner
This is an interactive tool that allows you indicate how much space you have available, and then drag and drop your vegetables. When you’re done planning the garden, it assembles a planting guide for your use.

Martha Stewart’s Seed Starting Worksheet
Once you know what you’re planting, begin figuring out when you’ll need to start seedlings or start putting things in the ground.

Hume Seed Planting Chart
How much do you need to plant to feed your family? This always stumps me a bit, but I found this chart that indicates the number of plants you would need for a family of four for several basic vegetables. This seems like a good starting point.

Please give us a shout if you know of other great resources!

There’s been the snow. Lots of it. Chris is swamped with work, which is why you haven’t seen him much around these parts. (He’s returning, I swear!) And then there’s been illness. That’s kind of swallowed us whole. And it’s tax season, which is like an awful game of tag where we all try desperately not be “it”.

But tonight? Taking a quick breather to make this Apple Crisp and watch some trash television with the feet propped up.

One of my all-time favorite soups is also one of the most simple. Originally published in Bon Appétit, this Butternut Squash and Apple Soup is a regular go-to recipe in our kitchen. The apple gives it a hint of sweet and the nutmeg gives it some zing.

I buy loads of butternut squash on the cheap at the Farmer’s Market at the end of the season. I chop and freeze it, so it’s ready to go at a moment’s notice in the thick of winter. You can also buy bags of chopped butternut squash at many grocery stores, which is even easier!

A simple sauté of onions, 30 minutes of simmering, and a quick puree in a blender or food processor and you’re in business. I like to keep some extra broth on hand—some folks like a thinner soup, while others like it thicker. I’ve also found this an incredibly forgiving recipe—if you don’t have quite enough of one ingredient or another, it always seem to cook up just fine.

Got any good soup recipes you’d like to share?

In order to begin such kitchen science, somewhere along the way, we’re going to need to purchase a turkey.

As I was shopping at our local Farmer’s Market, I noticed that Morning Sun Farm, where we usually buy our poultry, was taking orders for turkeys. I love this idea! I like that our turkey came from just down the road, was fed an organic diet, and lived a happy life as a free-range bird.

We never would have thought of this option a few years back. As we look toward being more thoughtful about how we shop and eat, I love discovering these options right in our own back yard.

I decided to make my first applesauce last year, and felt like a bit of an idiot after I sent an email to a foodie friend, asking for a good applesauce recipe. In the nicest possible way she replied, “Um, you just cook the apples and then puree them.”

Clearly, this is a crazy easy project that anyone can tackle.

I found all my information on PickYourOwn.org, which is a fantastic resource, from finding an orchard to cooking and canning.

If you’re inclined to can (at which I’m also a newbie), this is an easy item to stock up on for the year to come. I can buy a bushel of apples for $24, which produces approximately 24 pints of applesauce. I can plow through two bushels on a Saturday, and be set for the year! Be sure to ask about “seconds”, less-than-perfect apples that aren’t good enough to eat, but are perfect for applesauce. They’re even less expensive.

Stick with a sweet apple, and you’ll have no need to add any sugar. I like to throw in some cinnamon and a dash of nutmeg to ours, but it’s also delicious plain!

Got any apple or applesauce recipes you’d like to share?