'Tis the Season to Be Jolly

No, I am not talking about the winter season; I am talking about the harvest season going now right now here in the NW.  

In fact, it is this season that makes me a bit giddy carrying home fresh, organic veggies from my father's garden.  Love you, dad!    I am especially giddy because I get it all for free.   I get to reap what I didn't sow.  Or fertilize.  Or water.   Or did other things (that I have no knowledge of how to do) that need to be done in order to have seed turn into a fruit, eventually.  I know, spoiled is exactly the way I feel this time of the year.  Hey, it only lasts for a couple of weeks, plus, all this produce is super good for my baby boy (my neglect of posting makes this old news new for some of you).  See, I am not the only one spoiled.  My whole family gets to be :) .  

Anyhow, the above picture is from last week.  Whats missing from that picture is that we also get to enjoy zucchini, lots more tomatoes, parsley, dill, onion, and grapes.   So, somebody has not been doing a whole lot of grocery shopping and is not planning to for a couple of weeks.   

Having so many fall vegetables at hand, I decided to make this side dish that I always enjoy at Russian weddings.  I don't know the origin of it, but the main ingredient there is eggplant, which unfortunately is most enjoyed by only one member of my family--me, thus the reason I've waited so long for making this.  

Most of the ingredients came from dad's garden (again, love you, dad!).    Eggplant, carrots, tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, and onions need to be sliced and sauteed separately adding about a tablespoon of oil before each vegetable.  Tomato sauce, garlic and parsley is then added to a quart size stove top dish and simmered for about 10 minutes.    This dish could be enjoyed hot or cold.  This is not exactly a detailed recipe because I am assuming most of my Russian speaking readers know how to make this.  There might be also another way to prepare this.   

Anyway, I've got to run and feed my love this goodness and hopefully convince him that eggplant should be his friend.  In the meantime, hope you are being jolly as well this season while reaping yours or someone else's harvest :)