Leaves

Today is a day that I look forward to all year. It is the first day of leaf harvest here at the Cabin. We are especially thankful this year because we had a long, wet spring and mild summer, resulting in a bountiful crop of leaves. As much as I would like to just leave the leaves, I cannot let any leaf go unturned until there are no leaves left. The dogs drag them into the house, one by one, and as rakish as it may sound, Pat won't appreciate it if I drive the shredder vac on the new carpet in the family room.

So what will we do with all of those leaves? We will eat some fresh, of course. (I like them raw, plucked fresh from the lawn.) And we will can some, freeze dry some, store some in the storm cellar, take a couple loads to the elevator, sort and sell the best ones at the farmers' market, and send a semi-truck load to the leaf-starved residents of the high plains Sands Hills in Nebraska, where many ranch hands will enjoy a once a year leafy salad. We will make leaf pies and leaf crisp. We will have leaf soup and leaf bone stew. We will bake it, and broil it, grill it, smoke it, poach it. Leaf stuffing makes a Thanksgiving dinner unforgettable. And what could be more notebook-worthy than to start a winter day with a tall stack of loose leaf pancakes?