It has been the coldest winter that I have experienced since moving to Oregon and I am over it already. I mean really I didn’t move here from NY to experience cold winters. 😦

Ok, venting over, let’s move on. So recently I was mourning the end of Summer and not having my garden when I remembered how wonderful it was when the house was full of the smells of homemade bread and pumpkin pie during the holidays. Then just yesterday I was shopping at my local health food store and marveled at the beautiful fall vegetables available. As I was shopping I thought, “I wonder if my readers would like to know what vegetables are available during what season”.  Having it will help you when your shopping and want to use the freshest and most flavorful ingredients in your recipes. Keep in mind that when a vegetable or fruit even a herb is not in season it doesn’t have the same flavor that it has when in season. We all know this about tomatoes and cucumbers but have you ever used cilantro in winter and wondered what was wrong with your finished dish. Well, it’s the cilantro, try smelling it or tasting the leaves in winter. It is virtually tasteless. The best way to preserve the flavor of fresh herbs is to freeze them in water in summer (like in ice cube trays) then you will have them at the peak of flavor to use in winter dishes. Here is the seasonal produce list. Information from https://snaped.fns.usda.gov/seasonal-produce-guide.