Your September recipes include a book-themed cocktail, ways to preserve apples, pretend pumpkin butter, and more
This month, we’re moving to cooler weather and to different ingredients. In some places, tomato and basil harvests are winding down, while winter squash and grain harvests are ramping up.
I think of September as a month where I start to get cozy.
For me, this year, it’s the month where I’m wrapping up my 6-month creative expansion group program, which has been a lot of fun (and which I already heave a ton of ideas for for next year), and where I’m leading two other group programs online (Radical Creators and Bloom: you’re welcome to join us!), so I’m really leaning into generative creativity while also relaxing into the cooler weather and possibilities of the season.
Your monthly recipe round up includes:
Drying late summer and fall produce, plus some ideas for building in extra flavor to dried pantry staples (think rosewater apples for preserving the bounty after going to an orchard)
Canning-safe “pumpkin butter” (NOT actual pumpkin butter, which cannot be canned!), a technique I learned from Christina Ward
An herbaceous, gin-based Catwings book series-inspired cocktail (or mocktail): This one is from my recent podcast interview with Drinks in the Library (coming soon!)
Another version of elderberry syrup, this one fermented with honey
A family recipe for glazed apples
Canning-safe “pumpkin butter” from Christina Ward
Christina Ward, a Master Food Preserver and author of Preservation, taught me this technique years ago, and as a pumpkin butter lover and lover of canned things it was like a lightbulb went off for me: Of course adding pumpkin to apple butter would be the perfect way to can a pumpkin butter substitute!
Before I continue, note that you cannot can any squash puree, pumpkin butter included.
Yes, that includes pressure canning. Yes, even in small jars. Squash purees are dense, and dense enough that the heat of the canning process cannot evenly penetrate through to the center of the jars, which introduces the risk for botulism (commercial canneries use equipment that can safely package pumpkin puree, however this isn’t possible on home equipment).
By using this method, you can make a canned “pumpkin butter” safely.
Here’s what to do:
Make a canning-safe apple butter (use a trusted recipe, like this one from NCHFP)
Make dried pumpkin powder: Using the technique for drying squash later in this email, dry your pumpkin then grind it into a powder using a coffee grinder (not the same one you use for your coffee) or a mortar and pestle.
Mix in powder to your apple butter until evenly combined (to taste, you want enough for it to taste like pumpkin), check your pH, then process normally.
Glazed apples
My grandmother’s recipe box, like many others (perhaps your grandmother’s, too) includes clippings from unknown magazines and newspapers, cut out decades ago and organized behind tiny tabs in tiny boxes.
I think about the ephemeral nature of recipe boxes and handwritten recipes a good bit, and in this case, even the publication itself: Presumably something durable and knowable, is rendered ephemeral and unknown. Even the author, in this case, has been omitted, though it’s unclear if that was done by the newspaper or my grandmother’s clipping skills.
All that remains is the recipe itself.
Here’s the recipe (and if you know what publication it’s from originally, please share!)
Glazed apples
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
⅓ cup brown sugar
½
teaspoon ground cinnamon
Dash salt
3 unpared tart apples, thinly sliced Melt butter in skillet. Stir in brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Add apples. Cook 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally till apples are tender and glazed. Makes 4 servings.
Keep reading for cocktails, preserves, and nice smelling autumn things!
Catwings cocktail
You’ll be not at all surprised to learn that a book series by Ursula K. Le Guin about flying cats was one of my favorites as a child. When Gigi Howard and I were deciding on a favorite book (or series, in this case) to highlight in my recent interview, I immediately chose this one.
I love the books, of course, but I also chose them because I so rarely get to speak publicly about my other book interests beyond food, and I jumped at the chance to combine my food world with my childhood love of reading. It was really fun and refreshing to speak about reading for pleasure, which I do often, but as a professional author often our discussions of reading and writing in interviews are Serious Business.
If you haven’t read Catwings before, it’s a 4-part series that includes Catwings, Catwings Return, Wonderful Alexander and the Catwings, and Jane on her Own (there’s also a paperback boxed set). They’re a short, easy read with lovely illustrations, and are nice for indulging in a bit of cat-themed escapism. I recommend reading them with a beloved pet nearby to snuggle.
This cocktail has a few steps, but I promise they’re worth it: And you can batch out the syrup and tea by doubling or tripling the recipe to make these for a group or to keep the ingredients on hand in the fridge (where they’ll last a week). The tea can be nice on its own, and any leftover syrup is perfect for adding to coffee or other beverages or drizzling on desserts.
For a non-alcoholic version, swap in your favorite NA gin, or try this sea buckthorn-based NA spirit.
Subscribe to continue reading
Become a paid subscriber to get access to the rest of this post and other exclusive content.