Double Share, Pickup 7

Pickup 7 was another double share pickup which equals two weeks worth of vegetables.  24 pounds to be exact!  It is really a lot.  I forget how much 24 pounds actually is... I kept having to add more and more! I can't say how much of everything I got since I was just focused on getting up to 24 pounds, but we got a whole bunch of...


Assorted Potatoes (love these!)
Delicata Squash
Sweet Dumpling Squash
Red and Yellow Onions
Carrots
Celeriac Root
Assorted Winter Beets
Red Rose Radishes

There are 3 more scheduled pick ups this season; a double share every other week in January.  Other pickups will be announced at a later date.  It's storage time!

Recipe ideas coming soon!

Winter Share, Weeks 4-6

We've been getting 8-12 pounds of root vegetables each week, the amount depending on whether or not greens are available for the week.  Sometimes we've been able to substitute a poundage of roots for a bunch of greens, sometimes not.  And of course the root vegetables that you take home are mostly your choice (sometimes there is a featured root that you have to take).  Here is what we have picked up the past few weeks...

Week 4

2 pounds Japanese Turnips (featured root)
3 pounds carrots
4 yellow onions
2 sweet dumpling squash
1 kabocha squash
2.5 pounds assorted potatoes
2.5 pounds assorted apples


Week 5

2 bunches bok choy
2 red onions
5 pounds assorted apples
1.5 pounds carrots
1 sweet dumpling squash


Week 6

1 large red cabbage (5 pounds)
4 small crispin apples (for Logan)
3 pounds of carrots
1 pound red potatoes
4 yellow onions
1 sweet dumpling squash
1 bag of assorted lettuce

Thanksgiving!

We have Thanksgiving at our house.  It's my favorite holiday, and I love cooking so I don't mind.   Every year (this is our 4th year) I try to perfect the process.   The first year was horrible.  I came home from work on Wednesday afternoon, my mom came over for a visit (Nick was working the dreaded afternoon shift) and I finally got to work on all the prepping around 8pm.  Needless to say, when Nick got home at 11:30pm, I was still working, and we finished at about 3am! LOL.  Then in a rush to finish the sweet potatoes (I had misread the recipe and it needed more time to cook), we decided to microwave them.  I steam-burned my hand taking them out and sat through my first Thanksgiving dinner without enjoying any of it.  Each year has gotten better, as I've learned to simplify things and relax.  This is what is on my menu this year... Some things are easy, others more complicated...

Stuffed Mushrooms (appetizer)

Turkey with Sage and Lemon Butter Sauce
Stuffing
Mashed Potatoes 
Gravy
Roasted Assorted Squash 
Shoepeg White Corn
Holiday Carrots with Pineapple
Salad
Parmesan Pull-Aparts

And of course pumpkin pie-(secret family recipe!)

I've actually retired two side dishes at least for this year (sweet potatoes and broccoli).  I am trying to make it simple, but still have variety.  I usually try to stick with some family traditions (shoepeg corn, mashed potatoes and gravy for example) and also add something new (this year the carrots, stuffed mushrooms and pull apart bread are new).   Sometimes my changes stick, sometimes they fail miserably.  Last year I introduced turnips to my family...epic fail...they will not be appearing on our table this year as you can tell.  However, last year I also changed the squash from pureed to roasted, and that seemed to go over well. :)

For those of you reading this, what are some of your family Thanksgiving food traditions?  What are you trying new this year?

Review:  I probably won't make the stuffed mushrooms or parmesan pull-aparts again. The holiday carrots weren't bad, just really sweet.  The turkey recipe was okay (I'm not a big fan of Turkey).  BUT the potato recipe was a KEEPER!  Awesome and great for Thanksgiving in the prep department.

Week 3-Double Share!

This week's pickup was a double share because of Thanksgiving next week.  Wow.  I forget how much you get with a double share.  It's overwhelming.  Here is what we picked up:

2 butternut squash
1 leek
2 green cabbages
2 bunches bok choy
1 bunch collard greens

 AND 12 lbs root veggies of your choice...I chose:

2 sweet dumpling squash (we love these!)
1 kabocha squash (a Japanese squash, new to us!)
2 red onions
4 yellow onions
3 pounds carrots
3.5 pounds assorted potatoes (yum!)

The first group of veggies were either featured veggies that you had to take or structured choices-similar to how the summer share is set up.  The second group is typical of the winter share where its a free for all-you pick what you would like.  Later in the winter when the greens are gone or scarce, we usually pick up 24 pounds of root vegetables at a double share pick up :)

Recipes to come...!

Celeriac (and carrot) Soup!

I've made a few different versions of celeriac soup.  And this one is my favorite!  The celeriac and carrot flavors mesh so well together.  Its comfort in a bowl. A really nice fall and winter soup!  At least that's what I think.  My mom says we eat weird things LOL.  Celeriac is a root vegetable, that I never heard of until becoming a shareholder and I had to read up and try a bunch of different recipes.  It taste just like celery, except you have to cook it before eating.  I've realized that I only like it in soup.  I've tried sauteing and roasting, but not my cup of tea.  But it gives a distinct flavor to soups.

The recipe I used is really for 1 person.  So you should probably at least double it.  We liked it so much  that next time I will quadruple the recipe.  Doubling it was one meal for us.  I used just a dash of cream and had to add more broth after pureeing to get to the consistency I was looking to get.  Also I didn't use parsley oil that the recipe calls.

Enjoy!

Celeriac Soup

2nd Winter Share

Like I said before, after being acquainted with the winter share last year, we know what we like or prefer to pick up.  And I usually have an idea at pick up what I'm going to cook for the week.  Last year we just took a little of this, a little of that, so I had no idea how much of everything I had.  This year, we are choosing to get 3 pounds this, 3 pounds of that ect, ect.  This past week we picked up...

2 pounds carrots
2 pounds yellow potatoes
2 pounds red potatoes
1 napa cabbage
1 bunch dino kale
1 bunch bok choy

Carrots are gone, half of the potatoes are gone and the bok choy is gone.  We like roasting the potatoes with some olive oil, garlic and an herb (this is where my frozen herbs come in handy).  We made stir fry with the bok choy (yum!) and used some of the napa cabbage for tacos (couldn't tell that it wasn't lettuce!).  I might make some soups with the rest of the napa cabbage and dino kale!

First Winter Share!

I get excited for the winter share.  Not that I'm that fond of winter, I just like the foods that winter brings and the change in foods (when you eat seasonally).  During the winter share you have more choice in what you bring home.  You get a poundage of root vegetables and greens that they grow in their greenhouse while they are available.  To give you a true picture of the winter share, when we went on Thursday we were able to pick up 6 pounds of root veggies, 3 greens and a featured squash.  But you could also substitute 1 green for 2 pounds of roots and vice versa.  So this is what we picked out:

(10 pounds of root vegetables:)
about 3 pounds carrots
about 3.5 pounds apples
4 yellow onions
3 small celeriac roots

1 bunch red and green swiss chard (I've grown to love this!)

1 sweet dumpling squash

***They had other root veggies that you could choose like black radishes, turnips, red onion, assorted squash and diakon (similar to radish) but we chose what I listed above.  Last year we tried to try everything.  Every variety of squash, every kind of radish and turnip ect.  But this year we know what we like, so were sticking with it!

What will we do with it?  Well the carrots and apples will just be eaten (apples are already gone as I type) and I will make celeriac soup with the celeriac, onion and some carrots.  We've already used the swiss chard to make Creamy Swiss Chard Pasta and we'll probably roast the squash. :)

Week 22-Last Summer Share

Our last summer share looked similar to a winter share pickup.

1 bunch cilantro
1 bunch tat soi
1 pie pumpkin
1 acorn squash
1 leek
3 sweet peppers
2 lbs carrots
2 lbs potatoes

I'm happy to say we have used everything but the clilantro.  I'm planning on making salsa with it.  And unfortunately the pie pumpkin went bad before we could make a pumpkin pie with it.  Otherwise, we're looking good!  I used the tat soi and peppers in salad, roasted the acorn squash the traditional way with some butter and brown sugar (yum!), used the leek and potatoes to make potato leek soup (recipe already posted) and Nick took the carrots to work as always (I sometimes use them in recipes, but usually they are for work).

We're ready for the winter share!

Potato Leek Soup

This is a really good, comfort food/winter soup. The recipe is from the blog Pinch My Salt. I did add some minced garlic and extra chicken broth to create the consistency I wanted, but other than that this recipe is perfect.  I also sometimes vary the ratio of leeks and onions I use, based on what I have on hand (for example, last time I used 3 onions and 1 leek instead of 3 leeks and 1 onion).

Enjoy!

Potato Leek Soup

Creamy Pasta with Leeks, Peas and Parmesan

This is a version of white macaroni and peas.  I found it in Woman's Day magazine.  I actually saw it on the cover standing in line at Wegmans, and thought it looked good.  So I googled it, and decided to try it last year.  I usually make it when we get leeks with the share.  I left out the tarragon since I didn't have any and used bow tie pasta.  Quick and yummy!

]*Leeks needs to be cut and soaked/rinsed in a bowl of water to remove dirt from the inside!!!

Creamy Pasta with Leeks, Peas and Parmesan

Southwestern Spaghetti Squash

This is a pretty good spaghetti squash recipe.  I left out the "stuffing" and "boil with cheese" part and just served in as a side dish.

Southwestern Spaghetti Squash

Quince

Quince could possibly be the forbidden fruit...the apple Eve gave Adam!  Apparently quince has long been associated with romance.  Haha...here is an interesting article about the history of quince.

The trouble with quince is that it's a fruit that you have to cook before eating.  They look similar to apples or pears and are yellow in color.  It's fun to have it once a year, but I couldn't deal with it more than that.  They have a perfume scent to them that make you want to eat them.  I poach them with a little cinnamon and sugar, and serve them warm with some whipped cream.  Logan had them today for a little Halloween lunch treat!  He ate them all up too! They have a texture similar to a canned/poached pear.  You could also put them in pies or applesauce to give a different flavor. Here is a recipe for poached quince from Native Offerings:

Poached Quince

Week 20 & 21 and Winter Share Coming Soon!

Thursday will be our last summer share pickup (the summer share is 22 weeks long).  We will then move on to the "winter share."  For those of you who are interested, the winter share consists mostly of root vegetables and squash that are harvested in the fall and distributed to the shareholders through January or February.  We sometimes get greens and cabbages that are grown and harvested in their greenhouse.  Last year we picked up 12 pounds of root veggies every week.  Sometimes our schedule changed, and we picked up the share every other week (in that case we picked up 24 pounds of root vegetables).  For us, 24 pounds every other week is a lot!!!   But root veggies store a long time so its sort of like stocking up for winter in our house.  Last year I think the root veggies lasted us about a month past the last share pickup.   What I liked about how they organized the winter share last year (and I hope they do it this way again), is that shareholders were able to pick out 24 pounds of whatever veggies they liked.  This is completely different from the summer share where you are given a specific list of what to pick up for that day (substitutions are sometimes offered).  During the winter share, you could pick up 24 pounds of potatoes if you wanted!  Our favorites include potatoes, squash, onions, radishes, carrots, parsnips, apples and cabbage (when it's available). I am definitely looking forward to the winter share :)

Anyway, I would highly recommend for anyone to become a shareholder next year.  It has changed the way we eat and exposed us to a variety of different foods we probably wouldn't have eaten otherwise. And I feel good about supporting a local farm and knowing where my food comes from.

Here is what we picked up the last two weeks:

Week 20

2 red peppers
2 green peppers
1 leek (love these!)
1 spaghetti squash
2 pounds carrots
1 bunch radishes with greens
5.5 pounds apples
1.5 pounds quince (type of fruit that you cook before eating)

*** This was the last week for our fruit share.  We subscribe to a fruit share (20 weeks), summer vegetable share (22 weeks) and winter share which starts in November and will continue through January or February depending on the harvest and how much the farm decides to distribute each week. So we are on our own with fruits and veggies for 2-3 months out of the year.

Week 21

1 red onion
3 green peppers
1 acorn squash
1 bunch tat soi (we like this in salad)
1 bunch tuscan greens (this is new to me!)
2 pounds carrots
1 bunch thyme

Recipes to come!

Harvest Soup!

I found this recipe in Parent's Magazine!  It's a very good fall soup.  I doubled the recipe (I had a 3 pound butternut squash), used butter instead of olive oil and added some minced garlic (because we like garlic here) and a bit of cream.  You'll need a food processor or blender since it's a creamy soup.  Doubling the recipe gave me about 3 meals for my small family.

Harvest Soup

Week 19!

Just 3 weeks left in the summer share! I'm getting excited for root veggies.  I'll explain how that works later this month...Anyway this week we picked up...

1 pound tomatoes
2 pounds carrots
1 onion
2 red peppers
1 bunch Thyme
1 bunch of red radishes with greens
7 pounds assorted apples :)

We also went apple picking with friends Sam and Leah, and picked about 20 more pounds of apples and purchased a 3 pound butternut squash.  We probably have about half the apples left.  Nick made an apple pancake for breakfast one day, which was pretty good.  We also made some apple chips and Harvest Soup-which included the butternut squash, some apples, onion and some of the carrots.  I will post that recipe soon:)

Plans for the rest of the apples includes eating them of course, but perhaps some apple crisp and applesauce?  As for the rest of the veggies...They will most likely be used in salads (I know, boring right?).  I may make some radish leaf pesto.  I'm really not sure what I want to do with those pesky radish greens.

I love salads and the simplicity that summer veggies bring, but I think I'm ready for the tastes of the winter share!

Pickup 16-18

So it's been a while since I've posted, but I do want to document what we get this year for at least my sake.  It's hard to remember what we get when.  Unfortunately, I have to remember the last three weeks to the best of my ability.  I wrote down what we picked up, but I think I threw out the paper by accident.  Oh well...Here is a pretty good idea of what we got... Only 4 more weeks of the "summer share".

Week 16

1 bunch arugula
1 head lettuce (not sure what type)
2 sweet peppers
2 large summer squash
1.5 pounds tomatoes
1 pound green beans
1 pound carrots
4 pounds apples
3 pounds plums

Week 17

1 onion
2 pounds tomatoes
1 red pepper
1 head red leaf lettuce
1 pound green beans
1 pound carrots
4 small summer squash
7 pounds apples

Week 18

1 onion
1 bunch rosemary
1.5 pounds tomatoes
1 bunch red radishes with greens
1 pound carrots
4 small summer squash
2 red peppers
4 pounds apples
1 quart organic red raspberries


I think I may forget what we get easier during the summer and early fall because we tend to eat everything up right away.  Everything is easy to cook and a no brainer (ex: green beans, squash, lettuce and tomatoes).  During the spring, I have to be more creative with the greens so I tend to remember what I used/had.  Anyway, we have been doing really well with keeping up.  I think we just have a few tomatoes, the radishes, an onion and some parsley that I have to freeze from a few weeks ago..  This week the summer squash went bad right away.  That was a bummer.  I think summer squash is done for the year.  I think we're ready for winter squash!  I don't have any new ideas to share :(  The second half of the summer share brings quicker, less interesting meals.  I usually just grill or steam and season (garlic is my best friend).  And the fruit disappears like there's no tomorrow (except plums-we don't like plums!).

Zucchini & Cabbage Soup Simplified

Here is a more simplified recipe for zucchini& cabbage soup. You can also add other veggies to make it more of a white minestrone soup.  The other recipe I posted makes it seem complicated, but it really isn't.  Here's my version:

1 T butter
1 T olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 small head green or napa cabbage, chopped
2 ounces romano cheese rind
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 large zucchini/summer squash, chopped
1 T basil
1 T parsley
1 bay leaf
1 gallon chicken broth (more or less depending on how much broth you like)
salt and pepper
2 ounces parmesan/romano cheese
splash of cream (optional)

Optional Veggies/Add ins:  carrots, celery & potatoes

1.  Saute onion and garlic in olive oil and butter until soft.  (If you would like to add carrots and celery, saute them now with the onion and garlic until tender).

2.  Add cabbage, zucchini, parsley and basil.  Saute until veggies are soft.

3.  Add chicken broth, bay leaf and romano cheese rind.  (If you you would like to add potatoes, add them now).  Simmer 20-30 minutes to heat soup/until potatoes are tender.

4.  Add a splash of cream if you would like; mix in parmesan cheese.

5.  Serve and enjoy!

Honey Lime Chicken Skewers

This was a great recipe I found on Pinterest!  I recipe is basically a marinade for the chicken.  I let the chicken marinade for half a day...it turned out delicious!  Definitely a keeper!  I didn't have siracha sauce, so I substituted salsa, and I used olive oil instead of vegetable oil.  Enjoy!

Honey Lime Chicken Skewers

Scallion Dressing

Scallion Sauce/Dressing

I made this a few weeks back for our salad.  It was very good!  I used red pepper flakes for spice, and basil for my herb.  I also added a couple tablespoons of olive oil and lemon juice to make it my own. Because that's what I do. :)  The original recipe is from the Native Offerings blog.

Pickup 13-15!

I've been slacking, I know.  We've been busy, its easy to get behind. But, I'm determined to document what we get this year with the CSA and compiling a bunch of recipes so without further a due.. listed below is what we've picked up the last few weeks!

Week 13

1 bunch lettuce
4 green peppers
1 pound cherry tomatoes!
2 pounds carrots
2 sweet onions
2 large zucchini
4 pounds peaches/pears
2 pounds plums

Week 14

2 pounds carrots
2 red peppers
1.5 pounds green beans
2 pounds tomatoes
1 bunch arugula
1 bunch cilantro
4 pounds peaches
2 pounds plums

Week 15

1 bunch tat soi
2 pounds tomatoes
1 green pepper
2 large zucchini/squash
1 pound green beans
1 bunch flat leaf parsley
1 quart red raspberries!
4 pounds apples!

We have been doing an excellent job with keeping up with everything.   Currently as I write this we have the carrots from week 14, a few tomatoes, 2 zucchini, some apples, some cilantro and the parsley in our fridge.  And we have 4 days left until the next pickup! I do have a couple of good recipes to share so lookout the next couple of days.

Anyone reading this have any good recipes for cilantro?  I've made salsa and chicken with it, and froze a whole bunch, but I'm looking for other ideas.  I was thinking maybe cilantro pesto, but I wasn't sure.

Pickup 12

We have been doing surprisingly really well with eating all of our fruits and veggies up!  We only have 2 summer squash from last week and some herbs left.  And somehow we, well Nick and Logan ate 33 plums (I don't really like them). Logan also enjoys peaches and he often "helps himself" to a peach at the share pickup site.  We just weigh the peaches and then take one out in exchange for the one Logan takes.

Yesterday we picked up:

1 head lettuce
1.25 pounds tomatoes
1 bunch large purple scallions!
1 bunch carrots
1 very large bunch of basil!
1 bunch swiss chard
2 large zucchini/squash
5 pounds peaches/nectarines
2 pounds plums

Looks like salad, chard pasta (a new favorite), margarita pizza, tomato-basil pesto, maybe some basil salad dressing and zucchini on the grill!

Short and sweet post today, but I do have a really good scallion dressing recipe to share with you in another post!

Zucchini and Cabbage Soup (yum!)

Okay, this is one of my best recipes, and I'm giving it out!  Alright, it's actually not mine, but I found it and use it a lot during the fall and winter.  The actual recipe is called "Minestrone Soup like Carrabba's".  So  it's actually a white minestone soup.  Wow, I'm using the words actually and actual a lot, aren't I? Anyway, it's good.  So good, that my grandma always asks for us to "save" her some.  And my grandma is a picky eater (sorry Grandma!).  It calls for a variety of veggies, but I always make it with different ones based on what I have etc.  Although I always put green cabbage in it.  Last week we got some green cabbage with our share and had a ton of zucchini to use, so zucchini and cabbage soup is was... Plus the weather has been on the cooler side.  Some times I add the beans, this time I did not.  I also never use the prosciutto ham, but you could if you wanted.  But the secret is in the romano cheese rind.  You have to use this for flavor.  I made it once without it, and it wasn't as good.  You can get it in the specialty cheese section.  It's not really expensive; the rinds put me back 90 cents.  And for some reason we only find it at Wegmans.  It also calls for a bay leaf.  So after the soup is done simmering, you have to fish out the cheese rinds and bay leaf before serving.  I also like to add a splash of cream, just because.  But just a splash.  Enjoy!

White Minestrone Soup

Parsley Pesto

Another one for the freezer...these days I'm just cooking to keep up with the vegetables.  It will be nice later on when I just take something out of the freezer and walah!  I think Zucchini and Cabbage Soup is up on deck!

This recipe is actually Parley-Walnut Pesto, but I used almonds:

Parsley Pesto

Garlic Parsley Butter

I just made this and froze it for later to use as a vegetable butter... I did a double batch and only made a small dent in the parsley I had!

Garlic-Parsley Butter

Pick up 11

Yesterday was pickup number 11 of the season!  We are halfway through the summer share already!  I really have to get cooking. We haven't had a lot of time to just cook lately due to a variety of reasons.   I have a ton a zucchini to eat from both the share and our garden.  It's time to start making big batches of stuff to freeze for the winter.  I'll get to that a little later... Anyway here is what we got...

1 head red leaf lettuce
2 heads cabbage
1 sweet red pepper
hot red peppers
1 bunch carrots
1.5 pounds potatoes (weird for summer, but we'll take them!)
4 tomatoes (yay for tomatoes!)
2 large zucchini/squash
2.5 pounds peaches
5 pounds assorted plums (this equals 33 plums!)


As I mentioned we also have a ton more zucchini, some corn, herbs, scallions and some endive.  I plan on making salsa, zucchini and cabbage soup, zucchini with tomatoes and peppers in big batches.  Plus just eating the other stuff for dinners..I feel like I'm being attacked with zucchini! Oh well, let's get cooking!

Pickup 10!

Here we are ten weeks into our summer share! I can't believe it!   Next week will be at the halfway point for the summer-then on the to winter share!  But let's not think about that yet....

This week we picked up...

3/4 pound purple, yes purple green beans!!!
1 head endive
1 bunch cilantro (told ya I liked cilantro!)
6 ears corn
4 summer squash/zucchini
1 bunch carrots
1 bunch scallions
5 pounds peaches -yay for doughnut peaches, my favorite!
2 pounds nectarines

Ideas:  salads, peach salsa, scallion dressing and maybe stuffed zucchini?

Creamy Swiss Chard Pasta

I've been looking for a good recipe for swiss chard.  This was excellent.  It calls for sour cream or greek yogurt and some milk instead of cream, so it's a little on the lower fat side.  I used sour cream. It's very creamy and actually heats up really well.  I used up two bunches of swiss chard I had in my fridge so it also served that purpose!

Swiss Chard Pasta

Vegetable Frittata

This was pretty good...I used cheddar instead of asiago since that's what I had.


Frittata

Cilantro Lime Chicken Tacos-Crock Pot Style!

This was very good.  And it was so easy!  Add ingredients to the crock pot, let the crock pot do its job, enjoy the aroma in your house, shred chicken and enjoy! The chicken was so tender that shredding was barely any work.  I used my homemade salsa recipe too.

Cilantro Lime Chicken

Homemade Salsa

Share Pickup 8 & 9

I know, I've been slacking!  Here's a recap of the last couple weeks:

Pickup 8:
1 pound green beans!
2 heads lettuce
1 bunch scallions
1 bunch cilantro (I love cilantro!!!)
2 large zucchini/squash
1 bunch carrots
3 pounds apricots/plums
4 pounds peaches!


Pickup 9:
1 pound green beans
1 bunch chard
1 bunch sage
6 ears sweet corn
4 large zucchini/summer squash
1 bunch escarole
1 bunch carrots
4 pounds peaches
3 pounds nectarines

I have a few good recipes to share from these last couple of weeks..I'll share those a little later!  We were doing pretty well keeping up with everything, but then we harvested a whole bunch of basil, lettuce and zucchini from our own garden...plus my mom bought us 12 ears of corn which overwhelmed us a little.  Nick's been eating the greens beans and carrots raw at work.  As of right now, we have some herbs in our fridge and well as scallions, zucchini, corn, lettuce/escarole and some peaches and nectarines...And we are picking up our share TOMORROW! If it weren't for having our own garden, we would only have herbs, scallions, escarole and some fruit left. Oh well, let's enjoy the fruits of summer while it's here! I might make some peach salsa since we can't keep up with the peaches/nectarines. Other ideas include garlic parsley butter (I still have parsley to use from a few weeks ago), pork chops with sage/butter sauce, stuffed zucchini and breaded zucchini.

Veggie Chips

Beet Chips

I have to perfect the amount of time needed for the desired crunch level.  But these were good, and if my son will eat them as a side or snack...wonderful!

Parmesan Kale Chips

I plan on making these very soon!

Pickup 7

For all of you who are interested...

The Share:
1 bunch carrots!
1 bunch chard
1 bunch curly parsley
2 large zucchini!
2 heads lettuce (red leaf and iceberg type)
1 pound apricots and plums
1 pound white cherries
1 pint black raspberries

And you guessed it...still some stuff in the fridge.  We would have done better but we had dinner with family two nights.  We still have a bunch of bok choy, 2 heads of lettuce, some radishes, beet greens, spinach and red kale.

I made beet chips last night, and my toddler acted like they were candy!  This year I will take advantage of when there are beets and not avoid them! I also froze a ton of dill!  Looks like homemade dill dip all year round!

Plans this week include kale chips, grilled radicchio, bok choy with honey & garlic glaze, salads of course, spinach/artichoke dip, maybe a quiche or something, black raspberry pancakes, garlic/parsley butter, maybe parsley pesto, and grilled zucchini!

Buttermilk Dill Dressing

I made this last year too.  I use it to dress of salad of cucumber, tomato and onion...


Buttermilk Dill Dressing

Share Pickup #6

On Thursday we picked up...

1 pound spinach
1 bunch golden beets with greens
1 bunch red kale
2 heads lettuce (red leaf and raddicchio)
1 bunch bok choy
1 quart blueberries
1.5 pounds assorted cherries

Plus we still have 2 other heads of lettuce, 1 bunch komatsuna, 2 bunches bok choy, 1 bunch swiss chard and some radishes and scallions in our fridge... ahh can't catch up!  (Oh and dill..1 bunch lasts forever!) I cooked a whole bunch of spinach the other day and put it in a baked tortellini dish I made (like baked ziti).  The fruit on the other hand goes quick...blueberries are already gone and cherries will be gone very soon.  I'm thinking we will move onto blackberries/raspberries within the next week or so with our share.

Plans include garlic and ginger bok choy, grilled raddicchio (interesting recipe from Native Offerings blog), salads, spinach and artichoke dip, maybe garlic bread to use some greens, beet chips, cucumber and tomato salad and Chocolate Beet Cupcakes! We do not like directly eating beets, although they are supposed to be nature's multi-vitamin.  Last year we avoided beets like the plaque, but we were "forced" to have them this year. So we will see how these beet recipes go!  I'll be sure to let you know!!

Dill

I love fresh dill...

Creamy Chicken Salad 
This is my own creation.  I took leftover chicken, chopped it up, and mixed it with sour cream, fresh dill, scallions, garlic salt and pepper.  I served it in a pita with lettuce, tomato and shredded cheddar cheese.  It was a hit!

Creamy Dill Dip

We blended it in our new food processor.  You really need to blend it somehow (hand mixer, stand mixer, food processor) to get it creamy and smooth.  Really, really yummy.

Pesto!

I've learned that you can make pesto with a variety of different greens (and nuts, too!).  So far I've made basil pesto, arugula pesto, parsley pesto and edamame pesto.  I've made pestos with pine nuts, walnuts and almonds...

I recently found out that you can make radish leaf pesto too!  I've been meaning to take the two bunches that were in the fridge and make it.  Yesterday I was all set to go, when I found one bunch yellow and wilted and the other bunch frozen from being in our fridge.  Oh well, next time.  (Radish greens go bad quickly, so use them right away!)  Next time we get a bunch of radishes, I'm going to make the pesto right away.  Here is the recipe I am planning on using (it's from Chocolate & Zucchini)...

Radish Leaf Pesto

So...I made kale pesto instead! After thinking about this and searching for a recipe, I found one I liked. It's a variation of a Rachael Ray recipe.  I ended up using almonds though, because that is what I had on hand.  I made two batches and put them in the freezer for a later date. After having a hard time with my tiny food chopper thingy and transferring the kale to my blender (which doesn't work that great either and smells like its burning when I use it), we decided to buy a food processor finally!  We are really excited and already used it last night to chop some veggies! (Oh the things that make up happy these days...)  Without further a due...
Kale Pesto

Pasta with greens of course!

Pasta with alfredo sauce, greens, onions and tomatoes!  This is a good creamy dish.  I made it last with tortellini which added a dimension.  I make my own alfredo sauce with heavy cream, parmesan chesse, a little butter and garlic.  I sometimes add a little nutmeg and/or breadcrumbs as well!

Spaghetti with argula, tomatoes, parmesan cheese, italian spices, red pepper flakes and olive oil!  My friend Sara made this, and it was really good!  I'm not sure exactly how she made it, or if I left out any ingredients, but it's definitely worth a try!

Strawberry Sorbet

I made this last year, it was really good.  The strawberries didn't last long enough in our house, so I didnt' make it this year.  I used heavy cream and sugar.  It's from Native Offering's blog!

Strawberry Sorbet

Herbs

Just a note about fresh herbs...I like to freeze some of my herbs for later use.  It's nice to have fresh herbs during the winter, for pasta sauce, soup, roasting vegetables, ect!.  I chop the herbs up or pick off the leaves (depending on the herb), put the pieces in an ice cube tray, add water and freeze.  When the cubes are frozen, I transfer them to a freezer bag and label!

Homemade Salsa

I made this salsa the other day with fresh cilantro from our share.  It's really yummy.  I altered the recipe a little based on what I had on hand and to suit my taste- I used 2 cloves of garlic, 1/2 medium onion, 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice instead of lime, just a pinch of sugar, some cayenne pepper instead of fresh jalapeno (the amount depends on how spicy you like your salsa...I like spicy, and I did maybe about 10 shakes of cayenne pepper), 1 can of plain diced tomatoes and 1 can of Rotel with chiles (instead of 2 cans Rotel).  It makes a big batch- I filled 4 small  sized canning jars. Compliments of The Pioneer Woman!

Restaurant Style Salsa

Catching up...

I'm slacking on my posts but for anyone who is interested last week we picked up...

1 bunch radishes (with greens)
1 bunch red russian kale
1 bunch swiss chard
2 bunches bok choy (love this stuff!)
1 bunch basil!
2 pounds cherries!
1 quart strawberries

I hate to say it but everything is still in our fridge except for the cherries/strawberries and some of the radishes...we were trying to catch up on the previous week's share...I have plans to make pesto with the basil and stick it in the freezer for later and probably saute/stir fry the bok choy, but I haven't a clue of what I'm doing with the other 3 bunches of greens!  On top of that we still have a bunch of Komatsuna greens, some spinach and cilantro from the previous week.  Oh boy, we're in for it.  And we are always eating greens!

Today we picked up less leafy, cooking greens so that is GREAT!!!  Here is what we got...

2 heads lettuce (they are green, not sure what they are called)
1 bunch scallions!!!
1 bunch bok choy
1 pound spinach
1 bunch dill
1 bunch radishes (with greens)
3.5 pounds assorted cherries

This week's share will basically be used for making salads and stir fry, so that will give us a chance to eat up our greens.  I have a few recipes and ideas to share so stayed tuned this week!

Macaroni and Peas!

Since we had peas from the share, we made macaroni and peas!  My mom used to make it a lot when I was a kid.  It's a quick, easy and cheap dinner.  It consists basically of canned peas, canned tomatoes and pasta (we like to use Ditalini).  But since we had fresh peas, we used those!  I have come to find that there are two versions: a red version (what my mom makes) and a white version (what my mom's neighbor makes).  I found  recipes for both versions on one of my favorite food blogs called My Italian Grandmother.

Red Macaroni and Peas

White Macaroni and Peas

We had the white version last week.  It was really tasty.  I added some cream to the "sauce" though to make it my own.  I recommend trying both versions!

Tuscan Chicken Stew

This is one of those McCormick spice packets where they give you the dry spices and the recipe...it was pretty good, except I would make it on my own next time and add my own spices.  It was a little too much in the spice department for us.  Anyway the idea is good, chicken, spinach, onion, cannellini beans, diced tomatoes, olive oil and spices.... Here is the link:

Tuscan Chicken Stew

Eat Your Greens!

I really need to "catch up" and add some recipes to this blog. It's been so nice out lately that I haven't had a chance to write. But what I've realized is this blog actually helps me organize my ideas and plan my week in relation to what we are eating for dinner and what I am doing with all those greens!! I feel like we are up to our ears in greens!! As summer has officially started, I think we will see a subtle change in what we pick up (less greens/different veggies like tomatoes and zucchini-yum!). I love the greens, but sometimes you can only take so much and you have to hurry up and use them before they go bad.

Here are two ways to eat your greens:

Homemade Garlic Bread (with greens of course!)

It's simple, really. I get some nice french bread and cut it in half the long way. Slather on some butter and garlic (I like to use fresh minced garlic) on both sides of the bread. Add a nice layer of whatever cooked greens you like or want to use up on one side, and a nice layer of mozzarella cheese (you could also use provolone) on the other side. I also like to add some parmesan cheese as well. Put the two halves together, cover in foil and bake it about 15 minutes or until the cheese has melted. There is also another version on Native Offerings' blog called Baked Italian Sandwich with includes sausage and doesn't use butter so it is more of a sandwich than a garlic bread.

Baked Italian Sandwich

Homemade White Pizza

Take some pizza dough (we make our own dough) and spread it out onto a pan or baking dish. Spread some olive oil over the dough (enough to cover) as well as some minced garlic. Cover with mozzarella cheese, and then some uncooked greens (we've done arugula and radish greens so far), tomato and onion. Top with a drizzle of olive oil, parmesan cheese and italian seasoning. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. Cut and serve! Very yummy!

Italian Dishes and Such!

So you may have noticed (for all my avid readers out there lol) that I changed the name of the blog. Fresh from the Farm seemed well...fresh :) Let me know what you think of it!

In other news, some highlights this week were homemade white pizza, creamy tortellini with tomatoes, onions and greens, garlic bread with greens, Tuscan Chicken Stew and Strawberry Honey Butter-from Native Offerings'blog:

http://nativeofferings.com/recipes/?p=6253

I guess we like Italian dishes in this house! That seems to be what we do with greens a lot I guess since we can't just eat them cooked-straight up! I'll explain more about these recipes later!

Yesterday we picked up our share for the week:

1.5 pounds spinach
1 bunch radishes with their greens
1 bunch komatsuna
2 heads lettuce (one green leaf, one romaine)
1 pound peas!
3 quarts strawberries

Although I think I, I mean we, are doing a pretty good job keeping up each week, we still have some stuff left from last week as well: Rapini, some spinach, radish greens, tat soi and cilantro. But really there were only two days out of the week that we didn't eat from the share. They were of course Saturday and Sunday when we were busy with family and friends!

Plans for this week include stir fry, strawberry sorbet, salsa, Italian pasta salad, stromboli and salads of course! Oh and Spring Tartines-something I found in a magazine! Details to come later when I actually make it!


For those of you in a CSA-what are you doing?

Share Pickup

We just LOVE picking up our share. It's actually a big family event for us (I know, I know!). We look forward to seeing what we will get and sometimes even make a stop at our local Tim Hortons to feed my Iced Capp addition! It's also nice to see the volunteers whom we have gotten to know so well! And it's fun having Logan try to "help" this year, now that he is able. Today he was picking out spinach for us to take home :) We are excited to have Logan grow up eating this way!

Today we picked up-

2 heads lettuce (one red leaf, one bibb)
1 bunch rapini
1 bunch tat soi
1 bunch radishes with their greens (love these summer radishes!)
1 bunch cilantro
1 pound spinach
3 quarts strawberries (yum!)

We still have some greens to use from last week as well...those greens are pesky, but we'll take 'em! This week they offered a substitution, so we subbed the bunch of cilantro for 1 bunch of greens...Like I said, we need to catch up on eating ours greens! Maybe some homemade salsa?

Japanese Turnips

Ahhh...Turnips! This was a new vegetable introduced to us last year through the CSA. We really like a recipe from The Pioneer Woman : Turnips Au Gratin. It's actually really yummy! The turnips just melt in your mouth! I highly recommend you try this recipe!

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/11/turnip-gratin/

The recipe was even featured in Ladies Home Journal:

http://www.lhj.com/recipes/the-dish/the-pioneer-womans-turnip-gratin/

A Couple of Notes about Turnips...

One thing we realized about turnips is that while we really like the young Japanese Turnips that you get during the spring and summer, we are NOT fond of the turnips that we get during the fall/winter. I actually tried making Turnips Au Gratin for Thanksgiving (thinking everyone would LOVE them), but they weren't a hit, since they weren't the right kind. Also, I wouldn't skip on the butter... I learned that the hard way during that same Thanksgiving dish debut... Believe me, the butter is really necessary in creating a creamy base for this dish!

Anyone have any great recipes for turnips?

First Share and Stir Fry!!!!

We picked up our first share of the season yesterday! According to the farm, it was a modest share. We thought it was a pretty good amount! But I guess last year was a bad year for crops, so if this is a good year, we are going to get a lot!!! Here is what we picked up:

1 pound asparagus
1 bunch collard greens
1 bunch mustard greens
1 bunch arugula
1 bunch Japanese turnips with greens
1 bunch red komatsuna greens
1 bunch green komatuna greens
3 quarts strawberries! (so yummy btw!)


Yes, spring brings lots of greens! Out of all the veggies we get from the share, the greens are the most difficult for us to use. We don't like just eating them by themselves (unless they are salad greens), so we try to incorporate them in a variety of dishes. We have found that the best way for us to store them is by putting them in a plastic grocery bag with a wet paper towel. This method seems to keep them fresh and crisp for a while.


So last night we made a tasty stir fry. We love stir fry. Chicken, mushrooms, peppers, onions and green Komatsuna greens of course! I cook the chicken and the other veggies first and then add in the greens at the end and cook them until wilted. It's amazing how you grow to love those greens! I use just a little vegetable oil and soy sauce to cook and serve it over brown rice!


Now we must get creative and think of what to do with the rest of the greens! We're thinking of doing a white pizza this week and adding some greens..maybe arugula or turnip greens?

Honey Garlic Pork Chops

This recipe was pretty good. I found it on Pinterest, of course.. The pork chop marinade consists of three simple ingredients mixed together: honey, garlic and soy sauce! I ended up using my raw honey that I had purchased at my share pick up a while back, so I was pretty excited to use it! Raw honey has a consistency sort of like wax, so I ended up heating the ingredients together in a sauce pan, and of course, adding a couple pats of butter to thin the sauce out. I think it might be a really good stir fry sauce to use this summer (we make a lot of stir fry with all of our share veggies)! Anyway, we can't wait for our summer share to start, hopefully another week and a half!

http://pinterest.com/pin/1337074859670110/

Zucchini with Tomatoes and Peppers!

This recipe is originally from my grandma. She used to make this when her neighbor would give her zucchini and hot peppers from his garden. It's a really nice summer recipe for when zucchini is really in season. I like to serve it over pasta with some parmesan cheese and some garlic bread! Anyway this is another thing I made last summer and stuck in my freezer for later. It makes me excited for zucchini this summer, and boy, do we get a LOT of zucchini with the share! Anyway, here is what I do: Slice up some zucchini, green pepper, onion and if you like, hot pepper, depending on how hot you like things. Cook the veggies in crushed tomatoes (you could also use diced,whole or tomato puree if you like or even adjust the consistency with tomato paste or water). Oh and don't forget the minced garlic!!!! Cook until the veggies are tender- it doesn't take very long! Enjoy!

Potato, Green Bean and Radish Salad

Side Note: So the other day we had the arugula pesto pasta. It was yummy! I did add some lemon juice when making the pesto, and then I added (just for fun) some sauteed tomatoes and onion. Yum!

Potato, Green Bean and Radish Salad! Oh my!

This is what's for dinner tonight, alongside some grilled chicken. We have about 5 pounds of potatoes and some radishes left from our last winter share, and this recipe is a favorite of mine. You can leave out the green beans if you want, It's really simple...

Roast (or grill) the veggies until they are tender. I also like to add some minced garlic at the end for flavor. You will want to put the potatoes in first since they take longer, then add the other veggies and garlic if you choose, a little later. Once they are done, toss the veggies in a bowl and add some sour cream, lemon juice (yes, lemon juice is a staple in my house!!), salt and pepper! That's it!

Cauliflower Soup

Nothing really related to the share, but I like this recipe and want to remember it for next winter... I love soup as well, Pioneer Woman...

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/01/cauliflower-soup/

Arugula Ideas

So here are my ideas for arugula so far:

Arugula salad with mandarin oranges, feta, almonds and some type of vinaigrette (italian, raspberry etc)

Arugula Pesto:
-Use as a bread dip with olive oil
-Use as a pasta sauce (add heavy cream and butter just like basil pesto pasta)
-Toss roasted potatoes with the pesto

I am going to use this recipe to make the pesto:

http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/condiments/arugula-pesto-4/

Arugula?

Speaking of pesto, we had a random "winter" share pickup yesterday. It is the last share pickup until the beginning of June, when we start the summer share. Well, since it is actually spring, this "winter" share was half spring greens and half root veggies. So we got almost 2 pounds -yes pounds- of argula!!! What the heck do you do with all that arugula? One of the volunteers suggested making and freezing arugula pesto...so that is what I will be doing along with eating lots of arugula salads!! While all of this arugula may seem annoying, this is what I like about the share: You are forced to be creative!

If anyone has any ideas for arugula, I would LOVE to know!!!

Basil!

So one of my favorite things about this CSA is basil. I never knew how much I liked it. During the summer share and beginning of the winter share, we sometimes get herbs, one of them being basil. Basil is one of those things that you sort of have to use up right away or it will wilt and start to brown. So, last summer I made some basil pesto with it and put it in the freezer for a rainy, what-should-we-eat-kind-of-day. Well since our winter share ended at the end of February and the summer share doesn't start until June, we've been having those days. So I took it out, and it made a very yummy, quick dinner! Add a little heavy cream and butter and parmesan cheese to the pesto and you have a creamy pesto pasta sauce compliments of The Pioneer Woman....

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/06/pasta-with-pesto-cream-sauce/

Why not a blog?

So Nick, Logan and I are gearing up for our second year of CSA: Community Shared Agriculture! We're really excited for round two! For those of you who don't know about CSAs, it's basically a food share that we purchase from a local farm. We pay one price each year, and for 9-10 months out of the year, we pick up a LARGE amount of fresh vegetables and fruit each week. And I mean sometimes it's hard to keep up! And you can't go to your local grocery store and pick up two full reusable bags of produce for the same price-no way!

Anyway, after being on a wait list for a couple years (yes, it's popular), we finally we're able to become shareholders just after Logan was born. So last year, we ventured in this CSA thing and ended up loving it. It has changed the way we eat! And I can say with confidence that I have become a cook as a result. Cooking now is my outlet, and I am always looking for new recipes, especially since we have been introduced to vegetables I have never ate before, much less knew existed! We feel better too-it's amazing!

Not only am I excited for another year, but having been "introduced" last year, we now know what to expect, how to store certain things and have a good idea of what to do with all the stuff. Last year, Logan was just beginning to eat baby food when we started, so I did try to use some of the stuff to make him food, but he wasn't fond of my homemade purees! This year he can really eat what we eat, so I am glad we are able to introduce him to a variety of foods so early!

So what's the point to this blog? Well, I want someway to store all of my recipes and ideas and share food ideas with others. We have a couple of friends who have just started the CSA or will be, so I hope this blog with help them with their new adventure as well.