What a week it has been in the Highlands.  The careful stockpiling of farmers market meat I imagined would last me through cozy cold-weather meals beef stews and braised chicken became, instead, a source of anxiety when I realized that the power outage wasn't one of those typical Highlands transformer pops but a full-blown electrical crisis.

Is crisis too strong a word? Maybe for all of us but those unfortunate families who've lost relatives. The weather has been gorgeous; heavenly. And after work there's nothing to stand in the way of a long walk on a beautiful fall evening.

The other positive fallout is that every walk is like a stroll through the farmers market – an opportunity to see friends you otherwise might not see, who are outside cleaning up debris from their yards, or supervising children who are outside on scooters and bikes because the TV and computers don't work. And because there's no electricity at home, there's nothing to rush home to, so we enjoy the luxury of standing and talking.

But power is coming back, little by little and every day a few more of us return to our normal lives.  Soup and cornbread can both be cooked on top of the stove if you have gas, even if you don't have electricity. For the rest of us, it will just be a few more days.

White bean vegetable soup

If you're spending a Sunday afternoon in the kitchen, consider making this. It requires some chopping but is a cinch to make otherwise. And it pegs the meter of good nutrition. Another asset: it freezes beautifully.

Collards might be the mildest of all the greens, which is why some people like to add mustard to them – perk them up a little. They work well in this hearty vegetable soup, but so would kale. How much is a bunch? In soup, it doesn't really matter.

1 pound bulk pork sausage (chorizo, breakfast, Italian etc)

1/4 cup (80 ml) olive oil

2 onions, diced

1 carrot, diced

3 large cloves garlic, minced,about a tablespoon

1 jalapeno, minced

2 cups (about 1 pound) dry white beans (or 4 cups cooked white beans)

1 teaspoon salt, plus additional to taste

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 bunch collards or kale

Put the sausage in a deep, wide pan (like a Dutch oven) set over medium high heat and cook, breaking it up into small pieces. When the sausage is done, remove it to a paper towel.  Pour olive oil into the pan and add onion and carrot as you prepare them. Cook over medium high heat, stirring occasionally, until they are quite reduced in size, about 10 minutes.  Add garlic and jalapeno, if using, and cook 5 minutes more.
Add beans, salt, pepper and sausage to the pan along with 8 cups water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook about an hour. 

Wash the greens and remove the tough stems. Roll or bunch the leaves and cut across them to create thin ribbons. Add them to the pot as you do. Stir and cook the soup another hour, or until beans and greens are tender.If you'd like thicker body to your soup, put 4 cups of soup in a blender and blend a few seconds and add it back to the soup. Add water as desired to get the consistency you like.Serves 8.  Serve with cornmeal pancakes

Cornmeal pancakes

1 egg
1 tablespoon vegetable oil (plus a little more for the skillet)
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt

Beat egg in a medium bowl. Add oil and beat again. Beat in milk. Add the dry ingredients and stir to moisten.

Put a heavy skillet over medium-high heat and add a little oil. When the skillet is hot, add a serving-spoon full of batter.  Cook until medium brown on the bottom and bubbles dot the batter side – the edges of the cake should look dry. Flip the cake and cook a minute or so. Serve hot with butter. Serves 4.

This tomato pie recipe has made the rounds of women's magazines for what must be decades, and it ran even in Gourmet a few years ago.  It is an amazing indulgence, and everyone's summer deserves a piece. I have had it made with low-fat mayonnaise.  Guess what! It doesn't taste as good!

The crust is essentially a biscuit recipe, but it's rolled thin enough that it isn't puffy like a biscuit.

Depending on how juicy your tomatoes are, this pie may exude tons of juice. Those huge juice-laden heirlooms may cause this condition. You are perfectly within your rights to sprinkle a teaspoon of flour over each layer or tomatoes. Allowing the hot pie to stand 10 minutes before you slice it will mitigate the juiciness somewhat, if you want to. And you can pour off excess juice if you like.

Tomato pie

Crust:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon (freshly ground) pepper
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup milk

Filling:

2 to 3 pounds ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and sliced thickly
1/4 cup fresh chopped basil
2 cups grated Cheddar cheese (or cheese of your choice)
2/3 cup real mayonnaise

Crust: Combine flour, pepper, salt and baking powder in a bowl. Use 2 knives or a pastry blender to cut the butter into the flour mixture to make a mealy looking mixture.

Add milk and stir to gently blend well. The dough should be soft and just a little sticky. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead the dough by folding it over a few times.

Chill for 10 minutes. Divide the dough in half and roll out half of it to fit a 10-inch deep-dish pie plate (or whatever size pie pan you have). Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Filling: To peel the tomatoes, dip them in boiling water for 10 seconds. Core them with a small knife, then slip the peels off.

Cut the tomatoes in half horizontally. Scoop the seeds out of the seed pockets with your index finger. Don't be too obsessive about getting every seed - one scoop per seed pocket will generally do the trick.

Slice the tomatoes thickly and place a layer in the pie. Sprinkle with a little salt and some basil, then layer with more tomatoes, repeating the process until all the tomatoes are used. Use just enough tomatoes to fill the pie generously - you may need more or less depending on how deep and wide your pie pan is.

Top with grated cheese, then spread the mayonnaise over the top (this isn't a particularly tidy process).

Roll out the remaining dough and cover the pie, crimping the edges to seal them. Cut several slits in the top of the pie and brush it with milk or cream (you can sprinkle the top with a little coarse salt or Parmesan cheese if desired).

Bake 25 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes before slicing.

Serves 6 to 8 people. Serve with green beans.