november at the market
foods in season, eating notes + a playlist for cooking
Welcome to mama eats, a weekly newsletter inspired by a simple + seasonal home life. This week’s post, November at the market, is free to all readers. I try to provide as much free content as possible, however, this newsletter is a labor of love and I am a busy mother of three. If you have the means, please consider becoming a paid subscriber.
November. The darkness settles in once again, softly settling like a veil over everything as we begin slowly to wind the year down. Things begin to decay, trees laid bare to the bones, plants growing slower and slower in preparation to rest over winter- this is such a good reminder to slow down and rest our bodies and minds after the busyness of summer. We are not separate from the world of nature, as much as our society tries to convince us so. Darker, earlier nights are an invitation to stay home more, burn some extra candles, dust off some board games, books or handwork, and enjoy more time simply in each other’s company. Puzzles are a perfect thing to bring out now, on a table to invite whoever wishes to take a pause and play for a moment or two. If you plan to make things for gifting during the holiday season, these evenings are also a perfect time to work a bit each day on the project. Other lovely, simple things to do: stargazing, a completely candlelit evening, roasting chestnuts and/or popping stovetop popcorn for a simple movie night, host a handwork circle or mending evening with other friends, make paper lanterns and go for a walk with them after dinner.
In terms of produce, the season is well reflected here as we move into hardier vegetables that taste best when they are longer cooked- roasted, baked, stewed, braised, and boiled in soups. These cooking processes not only make the vegetable delicious to eat, comforting, and easy to digest- but it also warms up our house and kitchen with these longer cook times. Is there anything more inviting than soup or stew bubbling in a dutch oven on the stove, steaming up the windowpanes whilst it storms outside? This time of year, I really love simple chunky vegetable soups like this one , or pureed creamy vegetable soups such as cauliflower + carrot, winter squash + apple, carrot + red lentil, leek + potato. The wonderful thing about this kind of soup is that once you get the methods down, you can make it with many variations using all kinds of vegetables for variety. For the pureed soups, you can also vary them by topping them with all different things- sauteed mushrooms, toasted nuts and/or seeds, crispy chickpeas, sauteed broccoli or brussels sprouts, roasted potatoes, a scoop of grains or cooked white beans….
Speaking of beans, a weekly pot of beans is perfect now- soak them Saturday night,