Wonderful fall supper

As we anxiously await the first real snow of the season, or so they say... we had a most wonderful evening with my dear friend and spiritual adviser PB and his wife, Karen.
Sunday was gray, all day. But, not too chilly until the sun went down. Naturally, it is officially soup weather. It is after all nearly November. We dined on wonderful vegetable soup with everything local, including the soup bones. We had marvelous fresh baked bread and butter and for dessert, rhubarb crisp with ice cream.
Not wanting to do too many dishes on a Sunday evening I set the table in an eclectic collection of plates and extras. I decided to offer jellies and left them on the table in their respective jars, not ever once checking to see the condition of aforementioned preserves. Somehow in my brain, I'm thinking jelly has so much sugar it rarely spoils, or does it.
Not until the very end of soup and bread did Karen open a jar of plum jam. I could tell by the way she hesitated that something was not quite right. Lo and behold, mold.
That's right, I tried to serve moldy jam to the pastor's wife. Wow. I was stunned and felt really embarrassed. From now on, I will serve jams and jellies in little tiny cups with spoons so I can see first if they are past their prime. One forgets how quickly food used to spoil, before the days of preservatives anyway. I usually freeze my bread and cookies immediately after we have sampled the fresh-baked taste. While most conventional loaves of bread don't show mold until five weeks, most of my home-baked bread spoils in five days or less. It does not go to waste, I do try and feed the birds with stale bread. Now, weather or not the raccoons or some other wild animals beats me to it... well - I'll never know.
 It was a blessed evening and one that was a long time coming. We cleaned the house furiously on Saturday and did most of the cooking before hand so we could sit and visit. Truly a wonderful Sunday reminiscent of the days of my youth when Sundays were reserved for family and food. There was a time that my mom and her sisters were not even allowed to pick up a scissors on Sunday because that was considered work. It's raining this morning... wet and wonderful. For sure today the rest of the carrots must be removed from the garden... just couldn't get them out of the cold hard ground yesterday. It should be softened by now and so sometime before the predicted snow I will be outdoors enjoying one last moment of fall. And hey, it's Monday, so in a few minutes I must officially go to work. May your Monday be full of wonderful surprises, friends, good food and a warm home.

Frosty

According to the Victory Garden seed site, today is the last frost day in Bismarck. Of course, there's a 10 percent chance that there could be frost after this date. So, I will not feel too guilty about not getting my garden ready this weekend. Tonight we are going to meet at the garden site in Mandan. I decided to support that endeavor and plant potatoes and onions in town. I can check on them between work and home and hopefully have an abundance of potatoes for storage this winter. In the meantime, I have tons of plants going in the house and by the weekend, they will be out and then all I have to do is worry about the deer and the bunny -- both of whom I caught sneaking around the yard this morning....bath time.