thoughtful consumption

It’s preseason!

Preseason is fun, but it’s strategically different from the peak of summer. The winter produce lasts longer, and you have two weeks to use it. Here’s what we got in our first Dinner for 2 preseason 2012 box.

Brussels sprouts, Jerusalem artichokes, and sweet potatoes

I’ve never had Jerusalem artichokes. All the recipes I’m seeing seem to treat them like sort of like potatoes. You peel and boil them and then bake or sauté the slices. I’m thinking of making a tiny sliced sunchoke sauté to be topped with sour cream.

I never liked Brussels sprouts till I got them fresh and tasty. Most recipes call for removing the unfurled leaves before cooking sprouts. And you definitely should. Just don’t toss them. Keep them around for a fast stir-fry. For the sprouts, chop them in half and sauté them in some olive oil and butter with a little garlic and salt and a lot of pepper. Remove them before they get too mushy. Mushy sprouts are not yummy. Continue Reading »

I love preseason. Having two weeks to work through a box is easier. And there’s usually cheese.

Check out last year’s pre-season deliveries:

Week 1

Week 2

And from 2010…

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

This preseason is four deliveries and comes in two sizes: dinner for two at $188 and family at $248. The boxes are larger than regular weekly deliveries. There’s more information on the Farmers Fresh CSA Sign-Up page.

In order to participate in preseason or a regular season CSA starting in March, you have to join as a member for 2012, too. It’s $100 if you’re new and $60 to renew. Membership includes a member pack (which is usually a box of interesting non-perishable stuff like honey and grains) and a discount on store purchases both online and in person at the Carrollton store.

2010 renewal member pack

2009 member pack

Here’s what arrived this week from Farmers’ Fresh:

Carrots and cabbage

Asian turnips and pretty radishes

So I now have a root cellar (aka a plastic bag in my crisper)

Continue Reading »

Here’s everything all together from last week’s CSA delivery:

• Italian parsley
• eggs
• delicious apples!
• potatoes
• coffee
• Bordeaux spinach
• pumpkin
• arugula
• butternut squash soup with topping
• field lettuce
• fava beans!
• broccoli

The apples are so sweet! Who needs Christmas candy with these around? Continue Reading »

Here’s what arrived in last week’s box:

Swiss chard!

a very photogenic vegetable

Winter veggies!

carrots, kohlrabi, and cauliflower

Tomatoes, lettuce, and garlic Continue Reading »

Here’s this week’s haul from Farmers’ Fresh:

par-cel, cilantro, and winter savory

Big, Beautiful, Bordeaux spinach

yummy lettuce!

Fall-appropriate vegetables!

Continue Reading »

Last week, I got some dandelion greens from our CSA subscription. We used them in two meals.

The tops

This late supper was tasty. The greens cooked down and awful lot, though. I followed one of our favorite recipes (Kale with Raisins and Pinenuts) and swapped in the dandelion greens and chopped walnuts.

The bread was a multi-grain loaf courtesy of my freezer. I toasted some slices and topped them with olive oil and some incredible goat cheese from Capra Gia. Continue Reading »

Woo-hoo! Good to be back. I left my camera on vacation last month. (It begged and begged and finally I relented and left it to live out its natural life at Daytona Beach. You like my story?)

So I got a new camera. Then I accidently erased more than two weeks of veggie photos. But I think I’ve got my new camera all figured out now. (Knockknockknockknockknock.)

Here’s what came in my CSA box o’ goodness yesterday:

Dandelion greens!

These are dandelion greens, so all I can think is how big those dandelions would be. Like basketballs!

It’s a green kind of week. In addition to the dandelion greens, I also got Continue Reading »