Harvest, Exchange, Celebrate Food with Friends
Celebrate food with friends by practicing an age-old harvest that still flourishes in the twenty-first century. Participants share recipes of the food they bring yearly to the celebration.
September/October 2005
By Carolyn Dille
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Glorious colors of autumn's bounty embellish the harvest table.
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Your garden has produced bushels of the best tomatoes ever. Or your favorite organic strawberry grower had a bumper crop. And all the cherry varieties—from Burlat to Utah Giant, Rainier to Royal Anne—were superb. After you preserve these, you begin to think of how to share them: family and friends, house gifts, groups you belong to.
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When it comes to sharing food, our roots go deep—back to prehistory. We wouldn’t be here if our ancient ancestors hadn’t shared gleanings, hunt, and harvest. Now many of us share for friendship, the pleasure of putting by, and tradition.
A group of about twenty friends and I have been carrying this tradition forward for fifteen years with an annual Harvest Exchange at the home of DeWitt Durham and Susan Gere in the San Francisco Bay area. DeWitt makes vegetarian black-bean chili and frybread, and friends bring homemade cider, beer and wine. We come together to share the bounty, celebrate the season, and keep the homemade and handmade alive. Through the years, we’ve seen the kids grow tall, new gardens established, and changes in careers and homes.
We enjoy trying new recipes and bringing back old favorites. We can’t live on mustard, pickles, applesauce, or cherry jam alone; we need chutney, salsa, herb vinegars and oils, and exotic spice blends. We don’t all make potpourri and soap or bath scents and salts—but we appreciate their grace notes.
BOB AND JOANNE’S PEACH CHUTNEY
My friends Joanne and Bob have also made this recipe with nectarines, a tasty variation. The chutney is most versatile if prepared with mild curry powder. Serve it with roast chicken or duck, with cream cheese and crackers as an appetizer or snack, or as an accompaniment to hot Thai or Indian curries.
MAKES ABOUT 4 PINTS
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup white-wine vinegar
12 firm, ripe peaches, peeled and diced
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup onion, minced
1/2 cup red or green sweet pepper, minced
1 tablespoon crystallized ginger, chopped
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
2 teaspoons curry powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Combine sugar, water, and vinegar in a pan large enough to hold the peaches easily. Cook over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil, then simmer 5 minutes until syrupy.
Toss peaches with lemon juice and add them to syrup. Simmer 10 minutes. Remove peaches to a bowl with a strainer and set aside.
Add remaining ingredients to syrup and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook until reduced by about a third. The mixture should be thick.
Add peaches and cook an additional 5 minutes. Ladle chutney into hot, sterilized canning jars and seal with ring lids.
For use within a few weeks: Cool to room temperature, then store in the refrigerator.
For storage of several months: Water-bath the chutney, following canning-jar manufacturers’ directions.
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