Hilarious article, veggie soup

Did y'all see this round-up article of absolutely awful American baby names? You can tell the guy writing it is just incensed, and it's an hilarious read. I was screeching in bed last night. This morning, I found my passport and got myself on a good start towards organization for my trip on Thursday. It occurred to me that I will have ample time to read in peace and quiet, and this realization was thrilling. Oliver is home from school today and tomorrow because of Rosh Hashanah -Shana Tova!- so we just took a walk and then made a fall-is-coming version of my Summer Ribollita, a most wonderful vegetable soup in either iteration. It's simmering away now, chock full of carrots, leeks, onions, kale, cabbage, white beans, tomatoes, Parmesan rinds and broth. It will be completely satisfying tonight and throughout the week!

Pretty squash

Winter squash are a'coming. At the farmers market this morning, I found this arrangement to be particularly inviting.

Pineapple preserves

Growing up, my mom often made a very simple, very Southern hors d'oeuvres in which you spread a blend of pineapple preserves, apple jelly, dried mustard and horseradish over cream cheese and serve with crackers alongside. It's called Jezebel Sauce which I always thought was an absolutely marvelous name for it, at least with regards to the post-Biblical connotation of a jezebel. This sauce is slightly outrageous, definitely luxurious and looks like melted jewels strewn across a white cloud. In any case, I'm making it for a catering order this coming Wednesday and could not, could NOT, locate pineapple preserves anywhere in the multiple DC-metro area stores I tried. I looked online, and Smuckers has a "find pineapple preserves by zip code" option. A very few stores in Virginia seem to carry it but otherwise, it seems you really must head much further south of the Mason-Dixon to find this stuff. Plan B? Make my own. I should have considered this in the first place being that I am an avid canner and pretty much always find homemade stuff unbeatably good. Shortly thereafter, I whipped up the first batch, an incredibly simple concoction of pineapple, sugar and orange zest. Then, feeling creative and with another 4 cups of pineapple chopped and at the ready, I decided to take this one step further and make a Jezebel-inspired preserve. I'd bought some extremely fresh, extremely beautiful ginger at the farmers market this morning so added in about an ounce of that, grated, as well as a generous 1/4 teaspoon of dried mustard. 

Jack said it was fabulous. It is also beautiful with chunks of caramelized pineapple suspended in the golden jelly. I'll post this recipe today.