Posted in Farmers Markets on November 19, 2010| 1 Comment »
Yesterday was the official opening of the Douglasville Farmers’ Market hosted by Crossroads Church at 5960 Stewart Parkway, Douglasville, GA 30135. The market’s founders, Marie Crowe and Lynn Hagerup, came up with the idea on one of their walks.
Lynn's on the left; Marie's on the right.
Both are devoted to eating more local and healthy food and decided they were tired of leaving Douglasville to find it. (more…)
Posted in Farmers Markets on November 18, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Just got an email about a Farmers’ Market in Douglasville…
Even though I’m swimming in produce right now, I’m going to check it out for future reference.
Posted in CSA reports, Farmers Fresh CSA on November 18, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Here’s the produce that came in my CSA box this week.
Fuyu persimmons and apples
The persimmons look like tomatoes, don’t they? They’re a firm persimmon with a texture kind of like an apple and a tart, slightly spicy flavor. While, they can be eaten raw like apples, the texture wasn’t enough apple-like for me to eat a whole one raw. (Clearly, I did have a slice, though.)
Instead, I made persimmon mini-cobblers. The idea was solid. The only problem was that two persimmons makes about 1 ½ cups of diced fruit – about half of what I needed. I should have made half a dozen cobblers, but I spread the fruit thin and went with the whole dozen.
It’s tasty as cobbler, but the cobbler part completely overwhelms the persimmon part. (more…)
Posted in CSA notes on November 16, 2010| 1 Comment »
For lunch today, we had a themed lo mein – stems!
Chopped arugula stems, beet stems, broccoli stems, and garlic
I cooked this with four beautiful CSA eggs, noodles, and Annie Chun marinade. It was delicious, nutritious, and in no way compromised by consisting of veggie parts of lesser charisma.
This dish would have been even nicer with thinly-sliced beef. Next time.
If you need a lo mein recipe, here’s Rachel Ray’s. It calls for hoisin sauce, but could use any stir fry sauce you like (or find on sale). Or you can make your own. This site has some great details on how.
Stems also work with fried rice. If you’re more into fried rice, here’s a good place to start.
Posted in Squash and Pumpkin on November 13, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Thought I’d trot out the adventures of Squash and Pumpkin again. Hope you get a giggle out of their antics.
More fun with Squash and Pumpkin
Even more fun with Squash and Pumpkin
Squash and Pumpkin ride again!
Squash and Pumpkin keep it real
From the files of Squash and Pumpkin
Enjoy your food!
Posted in Recipes on November 13, 2010| Leave a Comment »
So storing the basil in water on the counter hasn’t worked so well for me.
My leaves never perked up as this site suggested they would. Explanations for failure include 1) I didn’t trim the stems the first time before putting them in water, and 2) it’s chilly in my house because we’ve held off turning on the heat.
The bad news is I have to use up the basil in the next few days. The good news is I have to use up the basil in the next few days.
About half of the basil, we had in tomato-basil pasta for lunch. Here’s the basic recipe for two.
Tomato-basil-Parmesan pasta
Posted in CSA reports, Farmers Fresh CSA on November 11, 2010| Leave a Comment »
two big, beautiful apples
…
hydroponic lettuce and broccoli
The head of lettuce is very dense. It yields more salad servings than you might imagine. Also, don’t sweat the brown/yellow color on the broccoli. It’s from cold weather and doesn’t affect the taste. Steamed broccoli became the vegetable of choice at so many restaurants that I got tired of it. Local broccoli right out of the ground, however, brings the romance back. (more…)
Posted in CSA reports, Farmers Fresh CSA on November 4, 2010| 3 Comments »
Amazingly enough, some summer veggies have lasted into November:
grape tomatoes and Asian eggplant
Last week, I made a yummy, simple pasta dish with these tomatoes. First, I heated olive oil with a crushed clove of garlic on low until the clove was just brown.
While the garlic was heating, I tore over to Lucy’s herb garden for some fresh thyme. Thankfully, the garlic takes a long time to cook on low.
Then I chopped the little tomatoes in halves and quarters and added them, the thyme, and some salt to the pan.
Looks like I removed the garlic clove, too.
At some point, I added a little red wine and let in bubble. (more…)
Posted in CSA notes on November 4, 2010| 1 Comment »
For the past couple of days, I’ve been with cold – sneezes, coughing, the works. I’m not sure I had a single cold last year, so I’m out of practice.
If there’s a good part to colds, it’s coming up with new theories of cold-handling while you’re shuffling around all bundled up. A few years ago, I swore by Airborne, the tablet that dissolves in water with lots of herbs to stimulate your immune system.
This year I’m of the mind that stimulating your immune system is like when your boss hires a consultant to help you finish a big project. You don’t need an outsider peddling advice. You need money, manpower, coffee, and pizza. You need tools.
So I decided that my immune system needs only basic tools: fluids, salt, and rest. I’m doing pretty well with the first two.
Fluids are coming almost entirely from lemon verbena tea from Fran. Lemon verbena tea with generous amounts of honey is like a liquid cough drop. Very nice.
Hey, that's a local mug, too, made by Helen Helwig in Carrollton!
Salt comes from ramen noodles. (The extra fluids are a bonus.) Something about hot, salty broth makes me feel better. I dress up regular ramen with a couple of local eggs beaten and then gently stirred in for the last few minutes of simmering.
The results are delicious and fortifying. Of course, if I were awesome, I’d discard the packet and use homemade chicken stock made with local chicken scraps. But I am not awesome and have no stock.
One thing I’m pretty sure of is I caught this cold after consuming entirely too much sugar on Halloween. Lucy sent me home with four iced, sprinkled sugar cookies, and I sat down and ate them all as soon as I got home. First, the rush, then the crash, and a day later, the cold. I don’t think it’s coincidence. Back to good, local produce for me! Or at least only one iced sugar cookie per day.
thoughtful consumption 