Butternut Squash Apple Soup

butter or olive oil or coconut oil
1 onion
1 butternut squash: peeled, seeds removed, cut into cubes
water to cover the squash as it cooks
4 apples, chopped
ume plum vinegar
spices to taste: nutmeg, ginger, red pepper, salt pepper

Place enough oil or butter in a stockpot to cover the bottom of the pot. Saute onion in oil until clear. Add chopped squash. Fill pot up with water until water mostly covers the squash. Let it simmer for an hour, or until squash is soft. When squash is soft and water has simmered off, add chopped apples. Cook for a few minutes- apples soften quickly. Add a few splashes of ume plum vinegar (this is a tangy vinegar- if without it, substitute apple cider vinegar) and spices. Serve. If you have an immersion blender, blending this will make it creamy and thick. I like to garnish with roasted pumpkin seeds and chopped parsley.

Fried Green Tomatoes

1 cup fine cornmeal
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp salt

Combine above on a plate.

4 green tomatoes (very firm unripe ones)

Slice tomatoes 3/4 inch thick. Dust tomatoes on both sides in cornmeal plate. Let moistness of the tomato slice absorb the cornmeal onto itself.
Fry tomato slices in very hot olive oil or bacon fat. They're done when they are a golden brown color on both sides.

All the Fields Pasta Sauce

Olive Oil
Onions, sliced thin
Garlic, chopped
Eggplant, sliced thin
Tomatoes: Yellow/ Green/ Red/ Orange Ones
Yellow Squash and Zucchini
Swiss Chard, Beet Greens, and/or Kale, chopped into strips
Parsley, snipped into pieces with scissors
Basil, sliced thin
Tarragon (just a little bit)
Oregano stripped from its stem
Honey, a few teaspoons
Red Wine or Red Wine Vinegar
Pepper, fresh cracked
Sea Salt

Heat up olive oil in a skillet, saute onions until soft, or for a sweeter flavor, saute them until they're brown. Gradually add the rest of the ingredients taking time for each to cook in the pan on its own. Saute until the flavors combine or you get really hungry. Tasty served over pasta, baguette, or brown rice.

Simple Basil Syrup

From Janet Schlafstein:
I picked some of the fabulous purple basil yesterday and decided to make a simple basil syrup with it, got the idea from the Courant, it turned out a beautiful purple color and tastes delicious. The paper recommends pouring over pound cake, I am thinking vanilla ice cream or greek yoghurt. It would also be wonderful in mixed drinks.

About a cup of Basil Leaves, purple or otherwise!
1 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of water

Put all the ingredients in a small pan, let them simmer until sugar is
dissolved and the mixture is syrupy, about 8 to 10 minutes. Strain and serve immediately or store in a jar in the refrigerator.