thoughtful consumption

I found my camera!

Here’s the picture I took of last week’s delivery four days after the fact. It’s short some corn, black rice, grape tomatoes, arugula, squash, carrots, and muffins because we were hungry those four days.

Blackberries

I flash froze the blackberries, and they’re waiting in the freezer with the others. We eat them as part of our frozen berry snacks. I like blackberries best as frozen treats, but you can also make an easy blackberry crumble like described here.

Summertime Suppers (lots of corn and tomatoes)

Here’s Saturday’s supper.

The corn, black rice, grape tomatoes, beets, goat cheese, and dill are from the CSA. We also had a little side salads of arugula. The black rice has a nutty, almost chocolate, taste.

Sunday I blanched what was left of last week’s arugula and put it in a chicken creamy pasta dish.

Here’s tonight’s supper.

The cabbage is the Cabbage for Those who Dislike Cabbage recipe. Next to the cabbage is a folded tortilla and some cheese. The tomatoes and carrots are just cut up, and the corn was microwaved in the husk. It’s very easy: a minute for each ear, turn, one more minute per ear, and you’re done.

The squash is sautéed for a minute with some onion and then steamed and tossed with fresh herbs. I used parcel, tarragon, and some of the dill seeds. The dill seeds are strong, so I added the goat cheese on top at the last minute. (Not that you need an excuse to put goat cheese on top of anything!) We decided we prefer our traditional stir-fried squash, but I was happy to use some herbs and try something different.

I guess we’ve had delicious corn and tomatoes every meal this week. Except for last Friday night. Friday night we had blueberry pancakes for supper. It was soooo much fun! We used the three-grain pancake mix and massive quantities of blueberries. We’ve got some leftovers we’re having for dessert tonight, and I’m going to order more mix for next week!

Herb storage

I’ve followed Fran’s advice for the past couple of weeks: keep your herbs in water. It’s like having a bouquet of flowers. If you’re like me and don’t get out much.

The herbs are lasting a lot longer than when I left them in the bag in the crisper.

I’ve been keeping my herb bouquet in the fridge rather than on the counter. But then I haven’t had any basil. Basil doesn’t like being in the fridge; I found that out the hard way. I cover the arrangement with a plastic bag and change the water every couple of days. And when I change the water, I turn the bag inside out. It’s always wetter on the inside. Not sure if that helps, but it amuses me to think it does.

Candied pecans on the horizon

My new nutcracker arrived this week.

I don't think the melons are scared.

I’m looking forward to cracking the rest of my pecans. Well, not really. But I’m looking forward to making and eating candied pecans. It’s been a long time, and we’ve been very good.

New soap!

I finished up a blue goat milk soap from my Member’s Pack sampler and pulled out a new one. I get really excited about little things like that sometimes. I feel kind of silly, but I’m too old to change now. So…

Hey! Look at my new soap! This one’s green!