Hey there chickadees!

First, I apologize for the long absence. I have no valid excuses and I promise not to let it happen again. I’ll hit this scene at least once a month and that’s a solemn oath.

Let’s get to the good stuff.

The other night, I sent Ky this recipe, exclaiming that it was perfect and we should make it.

It looks delicious, she wrote back.

Also, why do you love things in patty form? she asked.

I have no answers for that.

Except I just do.

We made a plan for me to pick up ingredients we were missing after work, and were set.

Except that we weren’t.

Because I’m always walking into a disaster, chickens.

I left work late Tuesday night, and arrived at the El station only to realize I had left my wallet at the office.

I was with my pal CJ, and she convinced me to just let her swipe me through instead of turning back and retrieving my wallet.

Crisis averted, I thought.

Until I remembered I wouldn’t be able to barter at Whole Foods.

Instead, I interrupted Ky’s hair appointment (nice to meet you, I waved to her hair dresser, before grabbing Ky’s Amex and heading to the grocery store), and then gathered up the goods and headed back home.

It was 8:00 pm by this point, and I was starving.

It was also at this point that I decided to actually read through the recipe, upon which I discovered that I was supposed to dice and roast eggplants before moving onto the next steps.

I turned on the new Mumford & Sons album, strapped on my apron, and started chopping 2-3 eggplants.

I threw them in the oven at 425 degrees, and pulled together some other key ingredients.

At this juncture, Ky showed up, with a great new haircut and two able hands, so I put her to work chopping the onion, parsley, and basil.

I explained that we only needed a half red bell pepper, but that I had cut up the whole thing, since I felt like storing one half of a red bell pepper was ridiculous.

But only cut up half the onion, I demanded. I feel like half an onion is fine to store.

Because Ky is my best friend, she both understood and agreed with me immediately.

Next up, I defrosted a half cup of frozen corn by throwing it in some water loose.

I would recommend using a colander and just running some cold water over it, but it was almost nine and I was feeling both hungry and delusional.

At this point, we mixed up all of the aforementioned items in a bowl.

It was a beautiful thing.

After a few more minutes of listening to new jams and whining about how hungry we were, we decided to take out the eggplant.

The recipe says to cool it, I mentioned, eyeing the clock.

I feel like that’s dumb, Ky mentioned.

Maybe I should just take it outside to cool down? I suggested.

It seemed like a reasonable solution.

After not-really-cooling-the-eggplant-at-all, we mixed it up with the rest of the vegetables, four minced cloves of garlic, two eggs, a few handfuls of romano cheese, a few grinds of pepper, and a few handfuls of whole wheat bread crumbs.

Once this step was done, we gave everything a good mix, and then we tag-teamed the process of forming the mixture into patties.

Read: I made crazy shaped blobs of vegetables and Ky re-made them into patties.

These hung out in the oven for about 35 minutes, while Ky and I bemoaned our situation some more and then wondering about dipping sauces.

We came up with a concoction of sour cream, sriracha and pepper, which worked perfectly.

Then, it was time to take them out.

It was also 9:30.

We plated these up with the homemade sauce, and dug in immediately. Since we had nothing on our menu aside from these, Ky and I took down all 12 of them, and I’m not even one bit sorry, since they’re made of every kind of good thing.

They’d also probably be delightful with a green salad and a slice of bread.

I’d also venture to say that with a sense of timing, a plan, and the ability to hang onto your wallet, these vegetable patties are an easy weeknight option for you and yours.

But what’s dinner without a sense of adventure, chickadees?

As many of you know, I am committed to eating locally. This means that aside from a few special requests (read: banana cream pie) I haven’t had a banana in a few years. I try to get all my produce from the farmer’s market, and when I can’t, I try to stick to fruits and vegetables that I know are grown locally, or at the very least are in season (I check those pesky labels at Trader Joe’s to make sure the product is from California, or at least the US.)

From Pomona College

Eating locally and eating seasonally go hand and hand, and I’ve been able to commit to both with ease. If I don’t see it at the farmer’s market, but I do see it at the grocery store, I know not to buy it because it must not be in season, or local.

A few weeks ago, Jeff said, “You know what we haven’t done in a while? Spaghetti squash.” He was lucky that he realized this just as they started to come back into season. But isn’t that how it is? You get sick of blueberries just in time for stone fruit season, and when you don’t think you can eat another peach, apples grace the market.

Barbara Kingsolver does a great job of explaining eating locally, seasonally, and how hard it can be (but rewarding) in her book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. I loved this book because it was about a mostly average family doing the best they can to live life in a way that is environmentally conscious.

I think the hardest thing about eating locally means you’re committed to sticking with what’s available, and your taste for the “exotic” is limited, too. As our world becomes more and more global our taste buds are introduced to the foods of places we might never get to travel – and that’s a good thing. But the staples of Ireland or Ethiopia or India were never the same because they used what they had where they were. That’s what I have committed to, to save the environment.

I’m not a true locavore, because I don’t always buy local food other than produce. But produce was an easy habit to build, and I am to move towards locavore-ism as I can afford the time, education, and money to do so.

Here’s an infographic to help you see the differences it can make to eat locally.

From LocalLectual

Do you try to eat locally, or seasonally? 

So by now, most of you probably have Pinterest, and probably love using it to browse home decor, style, pictures of cute babies, and party ideas. But here at GMS, we use it for (surprise, surprise) food!

So how can you use Pinterest to help your dinner table?

Find people on Pinterest you love – a lot of websites, bloggers, and chefs have boards, too. From here, you can gather inspiration.

Second, add the “pin” button to your bookmarks, so when you’re browsing your favorite sites you can quickly add recipes to your boards. Start with a “To Try” category – recipes that look delicious, or easy, or healthy, and the like.

Next, actually make some of these recipes. Love them? Add a board for “Tried and True.” Didn’t like them? Remove them from your board, or add a “Better in Photos” board, if you want others to know that they weren’t exactly…up to snuff.

As you pin, you’ll notice you create more specific boards – breakfast, appetizers, good for a party, themed, etc. Use it as a sort of digital recipe box or book – a quick resource to make your life in the kitchen faster.

Do you use Pinterest for recipes? How do you organize your pins?

As we roll into autumn, I want to focus on winter squash for the next month. Jeff loves spaghetti squash, and I suspect we’ll see it at the farmer’s market in a week or two – we’ve already seen pumpkins, and butternut and kobocha squashes. Squash is something that marks the season in our lattes and on our dessert tables, but I want to bring it back to the dinner table, and maybe even the appetizers, too.

Winter squash is a family that spends the summer growing, and come into season right about now. At their prime from October through November, they are a good option to replace carbohydrates, to add antioxidants, and to get your source of carotenoids – that is, vitamin A.

Winter squash have a longer shelf life than summer squash (think zucchini) so they are also ideal for an unexpected dinner at home or party of four instead of, say one, or as a gluten free base that will leave everyone feeling full. When choosing your squash, look for ones that are firm, have dull rinds (as opposed to shiny/glossy) and that are “heavy for their size.”

Originally grown in South America, squash has traveled the globe, and is used in a variety of ways, from soup to salad to seeds, from pasta to pie. As we dive into (almost) October, and the weather in SoCal cools down, join us as we find new uses for old things – such as pumpkin quesadillas, butternut squash salad, and perhaps a spicy or nutty squash side!

The rumors are true! I have returned to Los Angeles and to Garlic My Soul! If you’re a regular reader of GMS, you probably already know who I am, where I’ve been, and why I’m back. Or at the very least, you’ve been reading this blog and asking yourself, “Who’s this other girl in the picture?”

But just for the sake of crossing all t’s and dotting all i’s, allow me to re-introduce myself.

Hi, I’m Corelyn.

Jennie and I co-created Garlic My Soul together back in 2009, and we’ve been best friends ever since. Over time, this blog has grown in both content and contributors, and when I moved back East over a year ago, GMS transitioned into more of Jennie’s baby. She’s done a lot more than keep GMS alive on her own; she’s continued to produce fresh new content and to build this blog even more. Quite frankly, she’s put me to shame. Not to mention our amazing contributors, George, Melissa, Nikki, Liz and Jasmine, and especially the incredible Rebecca.

But like all good things, my time back East came to an end. What can I say? Before I left Los Angeles I made it my home, and I got homesick.

So now I’m back on the West coast and ready to rejoin the Garlic My Soul family. What do you say?