The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

A s with every autumn, our summer flower and vegeta- ble gardens fade and the job of turning and replenish- ing the soil with fresh, rich, crumbly-as-chocolatecake organic compost takes place. Hopefully, you'll be using your own homemade compost.

If you haven't created homemade compost before, first you need a compost bin. There are many kinds of bins avail- able in gardening catalogs and your garden supply, but you can build your own compost bin like I did using five "free" wooden pallets from your local hardware store. Simply bolt four pallets ends together making two open stalls. Through- out the year toss daily kitchen scraps and yard waste into the bins, turning materials bi-weekly.

As far as the best compost recipe: the only combination of raw materials I know that works consistently is a combina- tion of carbon-rich brown material (dry leaves, plant stalks, pine needles, small twigs, wood shavings and shredded newspaper) and nitrogen-rich green materials (fresh leaves, lawn clippings, fruit and vegetable scraps, egg shells, coffee grounds and tea bags).

Just how composting materials break down and become nurturing additives to the earth: carbon is the spark that ignites the composting process. Nitrogen fuels the micro-or- ganisms, decomposing the materials using three-part brown to one-part green materials and add no materials touched with herbicide, pesticides or inorganic materials. Note: with winter approaching, don't be concerned if your compost ma- terials freeze; it will decompose with the thaw, turn and use.

After a long day working in the yard, sit down and enjoy an early autumn meal that includes the sweet potato recipe below, paired with a bottle of Walla Walla Village Winery's 2005 Winter White Chardonnay; a spicy, well balanced, 100% French oak, a citron splash wrapped in whole cluster press, puddled on the tongue. Walla Walla Village Winery, 107 South 3rd Avenue, Downtown Walla Walla. 509-525- 9463.

Cozy Cabin Orange & Cinnamon Sweet Potatoes

A recipe from Judith's "Cozy Cabin Casseroles - Salads For A Crowd" cookbook

Serves 4

1 ½-pounds peeled ¼-inch thick sliced sweet potatoes

3/4-cup butter

½-cup brown sugar1 ½-cinnamon stick

¼-teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg

½-teaspoon kosher salt

1-orange sliced rounds with skin

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a non-greased 1 ½-quart pan compose a single layering of overlapped potato slices. In a sauce pan, over low heat melt butter, brown sugar, cin- namon, nutmeg, salt and orange slices; stir well, pour over potatoes, arrange sticks and oranges evenly. Cover pan in foil and bake for 20-minutes, remove foil, bake for 25-minutes more until top is lightly browned and glazed; rest 10-minutes before serving. Pairing suggestions might be pork roast, white fish or grass fed meatloaf and a bottle of

Walla Walla Village Winery 205 Winter White Chardon- nay, chiiled just 20-minutes.

Readers, until next week, "Eat Art, Drink Imagination!" For more recipes, food photos and Moveable Feast Cater- ing ideas see: www.chefjudithhenderson.com.