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Thursday, June 30, 2011

GREENS!!!!!!!

This weeks theme seems to be GREENS!  We have Swiss chard, spinach, beautiful beet greens (and if you have been reading for long, you know I LOVE beet greens) and kale this week.  I am slowly learning how to cook the heartier greens in this bunch (kale and chard), but beet greens are so much easier and so beautiful with their red stems.  Tonight, I was in the mood for quinoa, so I searched the net for ideas.  Here is a recipe I adapted from another blog: Food52

One Pot Beet Greens and Quinoa Pilaf
Adapted from http://www.food52.com/recipes/2434_one_pot_kale_and_quinoa_pilaf
    • 2 cups salted water
    • 1 cup quinoa
    • 1 bunch beet greens*
    • 1 meyer lemon, zested and juiced
    • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
    • 3 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
    • 1/4 cup quark*
    • salt and pepper


    If your beet greens are attached to beets, cut them about 1" above the roots.  Place in a large bowl and soak for about 5 minutes.  Drain and rinse, making sure all sand is removed.  Cut off stems and store for other uses.  Cut greens into bite-sized pieces.

    Bring the water to a boil in a covered pot. Add the quinoa, cover, and lower the heat until it is just enough to maintain a simmer. Let simmer for 10 minutes, then top with the beet greens and re-cover. Simmer another 5 minutes, then turn off the heat and allow to steam for 5 more minutes.

    While the quinoa is cooking, take a large serving bowl and combine half of the lemon juice (reserving the other half), all of the lemon zest, scallions, olive oil, pine nuts, and goat cheese. 
    Check the quinoa and greens when the cooking time has completed -- the water should have absorbed, and the quinoa will be tender but firm, and the greens tender and bright green. If the quinoa still has a hard white center, you can steam a bit longer (adding more water if needed). When the quinoa and greens are done, fluff the pilaf, and tip it into the waiting bowl with the remaining ingredients. As the hot quinoa hits the scallions and lemon it should smell lovely. Toss to combine, seasoning with salt and pepper, and the remaining lemon juice if needed.  Makes 2 to 4 servings.


    *CSA ingredients

      Tuesday, June 28, 2011

      Wk 5: Ready for the Fourth of July!

      This week with Independence Day around the corner we will feature some picnic-friendly items.  For the newsletter, we'll have some great recipes for beets, all derived from the Beet Beet Revolution event we had at the Grovewood Tavern earlier in the month. 
      This week's contents are:

      Small CSA:
      1 bunch beets with tops (Betsy)
      1 bunch carrots with tops (Leland)
      1 head cabbage
      2 ct zucchini (split)
      2 ct squash (split)
      1-2 cucumbers depending on size (split?)
      1 quart yogurt (split since I ordered an extra quart)
      1 head bibb lettuce (Betsy)
      Approx 1.5 lbs tomatoes (split)
      Approx 2 lbs sweet black cherries (split)
      1 lb grassfed ground beef

      Large CSA:  the small package plus the items below
      1 bunch kale (Betsy)
      1 bunch spinach (Leland)
      1 bunch swiss chard (Betsy)
      1 rack pork spareribs (approx 2.5 lbs) (Leland)
      1 lb Chorizo sausage links (Leland)

      We ordered 2 6" Strawberry Rhubarb pies (split) this week and are still waiting on beef short ribs (Betsy), canadian bacon (Betsy) and whole wheat pizza dough (split).  The parenthesis indicate how I think we will split the bag this time.  There are a couple items (cabbage and ground beef) that we will have to decide later.  Although, looks like the makings of stuffed cabbage possibly?

      But this looks like an exciting share.  I will have to come up with yet another new way to cook all that wonderful squash (I love summer squash!).  Pickup on Thursday!

      Sunday, June 26, 2011

      Noodle-less Veggie lasagna

      So today's adventure starts with two medium zucchini's.  I have both zucchini and yellow squash, some beautiful tomatoes and swiss chard.  Since I have never worked with swiss chard and I have always wanted to try lasagna with zucchini "noodles", I decided to try and use all of these items and throw together a lasagna.

      Swiss Chard Tomato Lasagna with Zucchini Noodles
      • 1 bunch Swiss chard*
      • 3 large tomatoes*
      • 2 medium zucchini*
      • 2 Tbsp olive oil
      • 3 garlic cloves
      • 1 tsp dried oregano
      • 1 tbsp dried basil (I would use fresh, but I don't have any)
      • 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
      • 1 (15-oz) container part skim ricotta
      • 1 large egg*
      • 2 cups part-skim mozzarella, split
      • 1/2 cup grated parmesan, split
      Wash chard and remove stems; coarsely chop.  Fill a large Dutch oven with water; bring to a boil.  Add chard to water and simmer for 1 minute (after returns to boil).  Quickly remove with a slotted spoon to a bowl of ice water.  Squeeze water from the chard and lay out on paper towels; set aside. 

      Wash and cut and X into bottom of tomatoes.  Bring water to boil in same Dutch oven.  Carefully put tomatoes into boiling water.  Allow to boil for 1 minute or until skin starts to pull away from flesh.  Remove to ice water.  Peel tomatoes, remove cores and dice into 1/2 inch dice.  Heat oil in large skillet.  Add garlic and saute until fragrant.  Add tomatoes and spices.  Bring to a simmer and cook 15 minutes.  Add Swiss chard and cook until heated through.

      Wash zucchini, cut ends off, then thinly slice lengthwise (1/4 inch slices).  Boil water, add slices to water and then simmer for 2 minutes (after water boils again).  Remove to ice water, then layd out on paper towels to dry a bit.

      In a medium bowl, beat egg.  Add ricotta cheese, 1/2 cup mmozzarella and 1/4 cup parmesan; mix well. Heat oven to 350F.

      To assemble lasagna, spray large baking dish with cooking spray.  Place a layer of zucchini "noodles in bottom of pan.  Spread 1/2 cheese mixture over "noodles".  Spread 1/2 tomato chard mixture over cheese. Repeat layers.  Add third layer of zucchini noodles and sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and parmesan.  Bake, uncovered, for 45 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and brown.  Makes 8 servings.


      Note: because there is no starch, this is a very wet lasagna.  Serve in a bowl with a spoon.  The liquid could be drained to make it easier to serve, but I find it very tasty and serve it with the lasagna.

      *CSA ingredients

      Saturday, June 25, 2011

      And For Dessert - Fresh Raspberries

      I know this is technically not CSA because we grew them ourselves, but my husband brought me some beautiful fresh raspberries last night.  While we were at the grocery store, I found some beautiful buttermilk biscuits and decided we would have strawberry raspberry shortcakes tonight for dessert.  Then I remembered that I also had a new batch of farm-fresh yogurt.

      Strawberry Raspberry Shortcakes with Fresh Yogurt
      • 2 Buttermilk biscuits (bakery or your favorite recipe)
      • 1 cup fresh raspberries
      • 1 cup fresh strawberries, sliced*
      • 1/2 cup farm-fresh plain yogurt*
      For one serving, cut one biscuit in half.  Using half of the strawberries and raspberries, put half between the halves.  Put rest of fruit on top of biscuit.  Spoon 1/2 the yogurt over the biscuit and fruit. Makes 2 servings.

      *CSA ingredients

      Exploring Greek Cooking

      I had purchased another beautiful eggplant this week and wanted to do something different with it tonight.  With the ground veal (grass-fed "free range") I had received last week, I decided to try my hand at Eggplant Moussaka.  I found a recipe that looked easy enough on Allrecipes.com.  When I read the commets, I found complaints about the seasoning and greasiness.  So I adapted the recipe to try and deal with both of those complaints.

      Veal & Eggplant Moussaka
      Adapted from Allrecipes.com (http://allrecipes.com/recipe/veal-and-eggplant-moussaka/detail.aspx)
      • 2 large eggplant, thinly sliced
      • 2 tablespoons butter
      • 1 large onion, chopped
      • 1 garlic scape, thinly sliced*
      • 1 tsp oregano
      • 1 tsp cinnamon
      • 1 pound ground veal*
      • salt and pepper to taste
      • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
      • 1/2 cup beef stock
      • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
      • 2 tablespoons butter
      • 1 egg yolk, beaten*
      • 1 cup milk*
      • 1/2 cup feta cheese
      1. Preheat your oven to 450F. Spray a 13X9X2" inch baking dish.
      2. Place slices in baking pan, spraying each layer with cooking spray.  Roast 15 minutes, flip slices and roast another 10 minutes.
      3. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions, garlic, oregano and cinnamon; cook and stir until softened. Crumble in the veal, and cook until evenly browned. Season with salt and pepper, and stir in the tomato paste and beef stock. Simmer over low heat for 15 minutes. 
      4. Melt the remaining butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the flour until smooth, then gradually stir in the milk so that no lumps form. Simmer, stirring constantly, until thickened. Remove from the heat and whisk in the egg yolk.
      5. Place a layer of eggplant on the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Top with half of the veal mixture, and half of the feta cheese. Repeat the layers, then place remaining eggplant in a layer on top. Pour the sauce over all, and sprinkle with reserved bread crumbs.
      6. Bake for 45 minutes, uncovered, in the preheated oven, or until browned and bubbly.
      *CSA ingredients

      Note: I am asking myself why I have waited so long to try making this.  The only answer I can come up with is that I hate making bechemal sauce.  However, now that I have tried it and tasted the results, I believe I may be more willing to try things like this in the future.  The changes gave it a very "Greek" flavor and with the right eggplant (remember, if you press your thumb in and the indetation stays, you will need to salt the eggplant to pull out the bitter taste), it has a very nice sweetness.

      Thursday, June 23, 2011

      An "Executive Decision" Yields Beets!!!!!

      We started to put together our order this week and found that not only was there not anything new (you would think that vegetables would be added as they become available), but also things had been removed, we placed a call to Trevor.  We really thought it would be better to be able to choose half of our share, but the choices left a lot to be desired.  AND we were not able to get a lot of the items that came in the large share (beets, for instance).  After talking it over with Trevor, we made the decision to switch our share to the large share.  We will still have a credit to either spend or get refunded.  I am thinking we will continue to take a look at what is available week to week.  Especially since we are both looking forward to having strawberry rhubarb pies next week!

      So, when I got the share home and started unpacking, I found that the bunch of beets had 5 very small red beets, however, it also had the most beautiful bunch of beet greens I have seen in a long time.  My husband's family loves beet greens in their borscht and despite the fact that there wouldn't be a lot of beets in it, the greens will more than make up for it.  I know that I have posted this recipe before, but I will post what I did with this particular bunch:

      Simple Borscht with Greens
      • 1 bunch small beets with greens*
      • 6 cups water
      • 3 mushroom soup cubes
      Cut the greens off the beets about 1 inch above the beet.  Wash greens; set aside.  Carefully wash the beets; place in large Dutch oven with water.  Bring to a simmer and then simmer for 20 minutes.  Remove beets to ice water; reserve cooking water.  When cool enough, peel with a paper towel and dice into 1/2" pieces.  Slice the beet greens and stems; chop leaves to bite-size pieces.  Add beets and greens to water in Dutch oven.  Break mushroom soup cubes up into the water and stir well.  Return to simmer and cook until stems are cooked.  Serve with a tablespoon of plain yogurt or sour cream.

      *CSA ingredients

      Monday, June 20, 2011

      Ratatouille variations!

      We received zucchini and tomatoes in our share this week and it's the beginning of summer.....so, it's time for ratatouille!  While I was out running errands this weekend, I stopped and picked up 2 small eggplant.  Combining that with the zucchini, tomatoes, some onion and peppers, I made ratatouille!  I chose to do a roasted version this time, but I am going to post the recipe I use most often as well.

      Roasted Ratatouille
      • 2 small eggplant
      • 1 med zucchini*
      • 2 med tomatoes*
      • 1 cup mixed sweet peppers
      • 1 lg onion
      • 3 cloves garlic
      • 2 Tbsp olive oil
      • salt & pepper
      • 1 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
      Preheat oven to 450F.  Dice tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini and peppers; set aside.  Mince garlic and place in a medium bowl.  Place eggplant, zucchini, peppers and onions into prepared jelly roll pan (or 13X9X2" baking pan).  Mix garlic with oil and salt and pepper.  Drizzle over vegetables; roast at 450 for 20-25 minutes, stirring once.  Add tomatoes and lemon juice and mix well.  Continue roasting 10-15 minutes until tomatoes are soft and their juice has begun to run.  Serve over fresh foccocia or whole grain pasta.  For a meal, add chicken or shrimp.



      Stovetop Ratatouille
      • 4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, split
      • 1 lg globe eggplant
      • 1 sm zucchini*
      • 1 sm yellow squash
      • 2 med tomatoes*
      • 1 lg onion
      • 3 cloves garlic
      • 1 8-oz can tomato sauce
      • 2 sweet bell peppers (I prefer red and yellow)
      • Salt & Pepper to taste
      Thinly slice onion. Mince garlic.  Cut eggplant into a 1/2 inch dice.  Cut zucchini and yellow squash in half longwise; thinly slice both.  Cut tomatoes into thin wedges (approx 8 per tomato).  In a large Dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat.  Add onions and peppers and saute until just transleucent.  Add garlic and continue sauteeing until fragrent.  Add eggplant and drizzle with more oil; cook stirring until eggplant is about 3/4 cooked.  Add zucchini and yellow squash and cook until squash is about 1/2 done.  Add tomatoes, tomato sauce and salt and pepper to taste.  Bring to a boil; lower to a simmer and cook, covered, for 30-40 minutes, stirring frequently, until vegetables are done.  Serve as sauce over whole grain pasta or as a stew.

      Ratatouille

      Photo by Betsy Pierce
      Published with Blogger-droid v1.7.1

      Tuesday, June 14, 2011

      Summer CSA Week 3!

      Okay, here we go!  Hopefully, I have learned my lesson and I will check everything before I leave the pick-up site this week.  List is printed and in my purse and I have asked Leland to remind me to check it this time.

      Small Share:
      -1 lb grassfed ground beef
      -1 qt organic strawberries
      -Approx 1.5 lbs slicing tomatoes
      -1 head leaf lettuce
      -1 bag (16 oz) corn chips
      -1 bunch green onions
      -1 bunch cilantro
      -1-2 zucchini (really hoping for 2!!!!)
      -1 bunch field grown spinach or swiss chard
      -1 dz eggs or 1 half gallon milk

      Our additional order:
      -strawberries
      -garlic scapes (can't wait to make more pesto!)
      -1 dz brown farm fresh eggs
      -2 lbs ground veal (grassfed...we both fell in love with this over the winter!)
      -grassfed short ribs
      -1 glass jar raw honey
      -traditional Chevre
      -Maple Crunch Granola
      -Canadian Style bacon
      -Whole wheat pizza dough (frozen)

      Since we had the experience we had last week, we are going to be more thorough.  And we can't wait to get the food....definitely LOVING the CSA!!!!!!!!

      Sunday, June 12, 2011

      Pesto Chicken

      The wonderful thing about pesto is all the things you can do with it!  I've used it this weekend as a sauce and as a seasoning for scrambled eggs so far.  Now, I have used it for roasted chicken:

      Roasted Pesto Chicken
      Dry chicken inside and out (to avoid steaming).  Latest wisdom indicates that it does not help (and may hurt) to wash the chicken anymore. 

      Preheat oven to 425F.  Carefully separate the skin from the breast and drumsticks.  Spread about 1/4 cup pesto between the skin and meat.  Spread remaining pesto over entire chicken.  Roast at 425F for 15 minutes.

      Baste chicken with fat rendered in the cooking.  Reduce heat to 350F and roast for 18-20 minutes per pound or until a meat thermometer inserted into thickest part of thigh reads 165F.

      Cover with vented foil for 15 minutes to temper meat (venting prevents skin from getting soft).

      *CSA ingredients

      Saturday, June 11, 2011

      Strawberries and Yogurt!

      In this week's share, we received Amish Honeyoye Strawberries and that wonderful farm fresh yogurt we have enjoyed for several shares now.  And what better thing to make with fresh berries and yogurt?  Smoothies, of course!  I have a Magic Bullet(R) blender and I love it because I just put everything together in the mug, screw on the blades and blend it directly.  Instant smoothie!

      Strawberry Yogurt Smoothie
      • 1 cup Honeyoye strawberries*
      • 1 1/2 cups fresh yogurt*
      Wash and hull the strawberries.  Pour yogurt into mug and place berries on top.  Screw on blades and invert onto Magic Bullet(R) base.  Process for 10 seconds.  Stop and shake mug to mix remaining yogurt.  Process for another 10-20 seconds or until smooth.  Remove blades and replace with mug ring; enjoy!

      Note: I like the freshness of berries and yogurts, however, Honeyoye strawberries are a bit on the tart side.  If you prefer your smoothies sweet, you can sweeten with whatever sweetener (sugar, honey, sucralose, etc) you prefer.  Also, this same smoothie may be made with traditional strawberries or any combination of other berries you have on hand.


      *CSA ingredients

      How to use Garlic Scape Pesto!

      So this morning, all I could think of was that batch of garlic scape pesto I made last night.  I wanted to incorporate that into my breakfast and what better way than to replace the garlic in my scrambled eggs?  Here is how I used the pesto and took advantage of the beautiful vegetables I received this week in my CSA share:

      Pesto eggs with Spinach & Tomatoes
      1) Wash spinach and coarsly chop; set aside.  Dice tomatoe; set aside.  Beat eggs and egg whites; set aside. 

      2) Spray a medium saute pan with cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat.  Add Pesto and cook until just fragrent.

      3) Add chopped spinach and saute until just wilted.


      4) Add tomatoes, eggs and shredded cheese.


      5) Cook until bottom of eggs are white, then continue cooking and stirring until eggs are just wet.
      

      Makes 2 servings.

      Notes: If you do not have garlic scape pesto, you can get the same flavor by mincing 1 or 2 garlic cloves and sauteeing them at the beginning.  Houtz cheese is a dry, strong cheese similar to parmesan.  You may substitute parmesan or romano for this cheese.

      *CSA ingredients

      Friday, June 10, 2011

      Garlic Scapes!!!

      One of the biggest perks of getting CSA shares is the variety of vegetables that you could receive.  This week we got garlic scapes, yet another first for me.  Garlic scapes are the green shoots that grown out of garlic cloves.  They are curly and may have flowers on them.  And there is a variety of things that you can make with them.  They can be sauteed and used in place of garlic and/or onions.  But what intrigued me most was the idea of making pesto with them.  This is where another first comes in.  I have never made pesto before.  Being a bit Italian, I love a good fresh pesto and this sounded like a great idea.  Besides, I picked up some pignolia when I was at the market earlier this week, so there's another reason to give it a try!

      The batch of scapes we received was less than what was called for in any recipe that I looked at (I like to look at many recipes and then create my own).  I also got a nice bunch of fresh spinach in my package, so I decided to supplement the scapes with spinach.  Here's what I came up with:

      Garlic Scape & Spinach Pesto
      • 1 bunch of garlic scapes (about 1/4 lb)*
      • 4 large leaves spinach (or 1 cup baby spinach)*
      • 3/4 C grated parmesan
      • 1/2 C fresh lemon juice
      • Olive oil
      • 1/3 C pine nuts
      Wash scapes and spinach; dry.  Cut garlic scapes into 4" pieces (including flowers); place in blender.  Break spinach leaves up into bite-sized pieces; place in blender.  Add parmesan cheese and lemon juice and begin blending.  Slowly add olive oil while blending until all vegetables have been pureed.  Add pine nuts and continue blending and adding olive oil until pine nuts are pureed and the pesto is a good consistancy.  Serving size 1-2 Tbsp.  May be used as spread on sandwiches, on pasta, or as a dip.



      * CSA ingredients


      This pesto has quite a bite to it, so it will probably be best used as a condiment, but not a bad first try at all!  Maybe I can find a way to use it with the chicken that is thawing in my refrigerator right now!

      Tuesday, June 7, 2011

      Summer CSA: Week 2

      Well, here it is: week 2.  This week, I am only going to list the small package, so I am not wanting what's on the large package:

      Week 2 CSA
      This week's feature product is Chorizo sausage from pasture raised, Berkshire hogs. Berkshire hogs are prized for their intra-muscular marbling.  They are fattier hogs...which means tastier!  These hogs are raised outside in the woods of Scott Boehmline's farm in Chardon, OH.  They live off of a diet of garden scraps, forage they find in the woods (roots, nuts, bugs, etc), and non-gmo grain mix.  Sometimes they get real lucky.  The hogs we are fattening out for July are getting cheese from Mayfield Road Creamery this week.  Actually, a lot of cheese.  About 500 lbs of it. 
      Susan at Mayfield Road had a batch of cheese go bad on her.  The excess rain had contaminated her well water and hence contaminated the cheese.  The bacteria from the well is harmless; however, it smells aweful and makes the cheese taste terrible.  It isn't fit for human consumption but is perfect for hogs! 
       This week we will also have whole wheat pasta from Ohio City Pasta.  On the grains side, we also have spelt berries. Spelt is an ancient grain that is extremely nutrient dense and gluten free. I'll include some instructions in the newsletter on what to do with spelt berries.
       Oh...and strawberries are here. 
       This week's contents are:
      Small CSA:
      • 1 lb Berkshire chorizo sausage
      • 2 lbs spelt berries
      • 1 lb whole wheat linguini
      • 1 bunch garlic scapes
      • 1 head assorted leaf lettuce
      • 1 quart strawberries
      • 2 lbs hoop house tomatoes
      • 1 dz brown eggs or 1 half gallon milk (depending on which stop you are at, then we will rotate next week)
      This week we also have the ordering system up!  Here is what we ordered:

      • Garlic Scapes (split)
      • Spinach (Betsy)
      • Jonagold Apples (split)
      • Strawberries (split)
      • Strawberry-Rhubarb pie - 6" (Betsy)
      • Mayfield Havarti (Leland)
      • Short Ribs (Betsy)
      • Garden Thyme Veggie Burgers (Leland)
      • Whole Wheat Pizza Dough (split)
      And we are still $18 ahead on our credits.  So room to play in later weeks!

      Monday, June 6, 2011

      Lentils and Chorizo

      I am starting to go through the meats that I have remaining from the winter.  Today, I had taken out a package of chorizo links.  I decided that a nice hearty lentil soup would be a great way to use them.

      Hearty Lentil & Chorizo Soup
      • 1 lb chorizo links*
      • 1 lb lentils
      • water
      • 2 small carrots
      • 3 small potatoes
      • 1 cup chopped sweet peppers
      • 1 tsp sea salt
      • 1 tsp tumeric
      • 1/2 tsp cayenne
      • 1 Tbsp garlic w/ herbs
      Pour lentils in a large Dutch oven.  Sort and remove any hard pieces.  Cover with 3" water and add chorizo links.  Place over high heat and bring to a boil.  Lower heat and simmer for 45 minutes.  Add water as needed.

      Peel carrots and cut into 1/2 inch pieces.  Dice potatoes in 1/2 inch dice.  Chop peppers, if needed (I used frozen that I had chopped at another time).  Remove sausage links from pan and cool.  Add vegetables to soup.  Season with sea salt, tumeric, cayenne and garlic.  Thinly slice links and return to pan.  Cook until vegetables are fork soft.  Makes 8 servings.



      *CSA ingredients

      Friday, June 3, 2011

      Lesson Learned

      So, I am a little sad and disappointed today.  We went to pick up the CSA share and I guess I can be just a little dense sometimes.  I had mentioned that we were not able to order our extra stuff because of a website problem.  Well, when I started splitting the share with Leland, I realized that I had only received the small share items.  When I went back to ask, another full share subscriber was questioning that as well.  The fact that the full share is written as small share plus whatever you order should have been a clue.  But still, splitting only a small share leaves very little for either person.

      As I said, because I already have a chicken from the last winter share in my freezer, I had Leland take the chicken.  We tried to split things as well as we could, although surprisingly, there was one cucumber (small) and one tomato in the bag.  We were so taken aback by the turn of things, the guys threw in another cucumber and tomato so we could at least share those.  We split the very generous bunch of radishes because it was more than Leland could handle.  Those will go to my husband because I cannot eat them.  So, ultimately, this is what I got out of the share:

      1 head leaf lettuce
      1 qt farm fresh yogurt (my take in place of the chicken)
      1/2 bunch radishes
      1 lb cornmeal
      1 sm cucumber
      1 med tomato

      Looks like salad this week.  I hope they can work out the website for next week or devise a way for us to order through email because these small packages split in half barely cover a couple days worth of side dishes.  I intended for these shares to be a majority of my groceries this summer and split the share because I had a hard time keeping up with winter.  If this continues, I will have spent a lot money for not much...it's a bit of a disappointment.

      Thursday, June 2, 2011

      Summer CSA!!!!!!! Week 1

      The summer CSA is finally here!  During the summer, we will be receiving shares every week.  Due to unseasonably cold, wet weather, farmers had a hard time getting crops in the field, so the programs had to be delayed a week, but I am excited to say that we will be picking up our share tonight!!!!  Leland and I will have "duke it out" to split the share this time because a computer glitch prevented us from being able to order extras.  Here is what we are expecting:

      Small CSA:
      1 whole pasture raised chicken, 4-5 lbs
      2 lbs organic cornmeal
      1 bunch cilantro
      1 bunch radishes with tops
      1 head assorted leaf lettuce (approx .5 lbs)
      2 hydroponic cucumbers
      1 quart farmstead yogurt

      Large CSA:  the small package plus the items below
      1 lb grassfed ground beef
      1 bunch bok choi (approx .5 lbs)
      1/2 lb mixed organic salad greens, including chives, lettuce, mizuna, and kale
      1 bunch swiss chard or 1/2 lb leaf spinach 
      Choice of 1 pickled product - hot hungarian slices (quarts), medium hungarian slices (quarts), or a pint of pepper butter (home-made mustard)

      Just as a reminder, we are sharing a Full share which includes the small CSA plus what we choose to add.  Since the website wasn't working, we will just get the Large CSA (which includes the small).  I still have the last chicken we received, so I am thinking that Leland can have this one and I will take the ground beef....who knows.  But I really want the bok choy!