Plums, cooking pot, salad, sandwich, soup

My son and I were out and about this morning prowling the neighborhood, taking advantage of the beautiful weather, getting some (three hours worth of) exercise and doing an errand or two. First we walked to the library so I could return a book and maybe find another but the library was closed so only the return was accomplished. Along the way I spied a hand-printed sign offering free plums from a plum tree. The note advised passers-by to pick from the tree twice a day to keep the plums from falling to the sidewalk. We did our part and picked a large bagful of what turned out to be my favorite plums - Italian prune plums. They're perfect!

We headed towards a local shopping area where I wanted to check out the thrift store. In the housewares section I practically stopped breathing when I found a like-new (maybe actually new) 5-1/2 quart Le Creuset white round cast iron French oven for $25. In spite of the fact that we'd have to carry it home, I bought it. We continued on to Archie McPhee where I got a strange gift to send to someone back in Wisconsin. (Can't say what it is in case he reads this.)

We ended the morning at a vegetarian Thai restaurant where we had lunch. I had something called ginger delight, and if I'd had any socks on, it would have knocked them right off. It might have been the most ginger I've ever eaten in one sitting. Good thing I love it.

Not a lot of creative cooking has been going on around the house as we've been living an undisciplined end-of-summer life. We eat when we want to, which can mean lunch at 3 or 4 o'clock, and a late dinner when we're too tired to put a lot of thought into the meal.

See this salad? It looks like it was meant for at least four people but nope, it was made by me for me on one of those late lunch days. I was starving and got carried away but yes, I ate the whole thing. We've been shopping at a lot of farmers' markets and also gratefully receiving excess garden produce, so salads are high on the fresh and easy meal list.

Another day my son made this spicy tofu sandwich for lunch and it was so good. I rarely eat sandwiches but when I do, I'm always surprised at how good they taste.

Here's an old familiar soup we had for dinner last night. It's called Tuscan stew and we ate so much of it last year that I couldn't even look at it for a while. But it was just right last night, filled with late-summer veggies from our kids' garden. Yesterday was dark and gloomy, with a windy chill in the air, and this soup was exactly what we needed to warm us up.

Plum crisp, easy and delicious

I was trying to clear out the refrigerator and make room for a new fruit share box and I was staring at a bag of red plums at the point of use 'em or loose 'em. When we signed up for a bi-weekly fruit share from our CSA, we didn't realize what we were getting into. We already split a veggie share with friends and we each take a box on alternate weeks, so it seemed we'd be able to use up the fruit in two weeks. Not so. We eat a LOT of fruit but it's never enough. With the plums, I meant to make a batch of plum and apricot chutney, but just plum forgot all about it. (sorry) As I looked at the bag, all I could think of was apple crisp made with plums. I should have looked on the Web for ideas but that would have meant another trip upstairs, so I just went at it, hoping for the best. I did keep track of what I did—pretty basic but really delicious.

Plum crisp
12 ripe red plums, cut in half and stones removed
two tablespoons sucanot
two tablespoons spelt flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Topping
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup sucanot (or other evaporated cane juice)
1/4 cup spelt flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch salt
two (or three if you want it richer) tablespoons vegan margarine (Earth Balance)

Lay the plum halves cut side up in a large baking pan. Sprinkle with two tablespoons sugar, two tablespoons spelt flour and 1 teaspoon cinnamon.
In a medium sized bowl, mix together the rolled oats, sucanot,spelt flour, cinnamon and salt. Cut in the margarine with a pastry blender (if you have such a thing) or two knives (or your clean fingers) until it looks like bread crumbs.
Spread the topping evenly over the plums.
Bake in a preheated 375˚ oven for about 40 minutes or until the plums are soft. If the topping starts to get too brown, cover with a sheet of foil.