Goodbye Farmer's Market, plus a recipe for whole wheat hot pockets

Yesterday my daughter and I headed for the last farmer's market of this year. Apparently we weren't the only ones! Despite an ever-shrinking number of vendors, there were more shoppers than I have ever seen at a Yakima farmer's market. We circled for almost a half hour looking for a parking space within half a mile (I was planning to buy pumpkins and squash, so proximity was important) before finally giving up. We'll have to make do with last week's vegetables, the dwindling fruits of our frost-bitten tomato plants and apple trees, and some pumpkins from a roadside stand in the neighboring town of Wapato. The culinary theme of this week will be pumpkins: pumpkin soup, pumpkin fettuccine, pumpkin muffins, and the ubiquitous jack-o-lantern.

The farmer's market has been a staple of our family life this year, a solid appointment to anchor the unformed summer week. Its end will leave a two-hour hole in our Sundays. Autumn erupts from pale, jaundiced summer in such a flurry of color that we forget that it is a time of goodbyes: goodbye to flowers and gardens, vacations and visits, long days in the sun. Winter is creeping in, inching ever closer like the high tide. Already I am greeted by frost and a heavy white cloud of breath every morning; soon the frost will turn to solid ice and the children will rush to their windows every morning hoping for snow.

If you aren't already baking, check back to see some of my recipes and ideas. If you are baking, well, check back anyway! Here is today's masterpiece, so simple that it requires not a recipe, but a short description.

Better Than Hot Pockets

1. Make one batch of your favorite biscuit dough--I made simple whole wheat dough from WW flour, salt, baking powder, and butter.
2. Instead of rolling and cutting, separate into balls about the size of your palm. Then, roll out as you would pizza dough, into circles
3. Top with your desired filling, then pull the edges together and seal. I formed mine so they were little squares and baked them with the ends underneath them. It really doesn't matter as long as the filling is contained.

Today I filled our pockets with ham and cheddar, plus a tiny amount of stoneground mustard, and my children made me promise to make another batch tomorrow. I think we'll try spinach, mozzarella, and tomato. These pockets are as frugal and healthy as you want to make them. I use organic and/or natural ingredients, making them a healthy choice for your child's diet.

Tomorrow is baking day, and I plan to make whole wheat pumpkin muffins and experiment with a whole wheat pie crust. I may even try a crust made an alternative grain to surprise a friend who has gluten issues. I'll let you know how these came out, plus print the recipes if they are worth sharing.