Posted in CSA reports, Farmers Fresh CSA on October 20, 2010| 1 Comment »
Lo mein is my current favorite “clean out the fridge” meal. (When you’re doing your meal planning, always leave room for at least one of these meals. Chef salads, vegetable soup, fried rice, and meaty or cheesy casseroles also work.)
This last minute lo mein was inspired by a forgotten zucchini at the bottom of my crisper.
Starring pac choi, eggs, radishes, garlic, frozen lemongrass stems, and one aging zucchini
Here’s how it went down. (more…)
Posted in CSA reports, Farmers Fresh CSA on October 20, 2010| 3 Comments »
This week I’ve made two great things from suggestions left by fellow bloggers.
…
Grilled cheese with arugula and muscadine jelly
Jenna at Jenna’s Cupcakes explained how to make muscadine jelly and then offered this tasty recipe. I used arugula and multi-grain bread from the CSA and Fontina cheese from Sam’s.
Take some nice rich bread (2 slices), slather with butter, grill in a pan butter side down. (Totally had me at “slather with butter.”) (more…)
Posted in CSA reports, Farmers Fresh CSA on October 20, 2010| Leave a Comment »
What month is it again?
I’m going to serve green beans, corn on the cob, and fried okra tomorrow for a late, late summer meal. (more…)
Posted in CSA reports, Farmers Fresh CSA on October 15, 2010| 2 Comments »
Check out the cheeses!
That’s queso blanco, fromage blanc, and some early cheddar that some mouse got into. (Just kidding, it was me.) The cheddar has a very delicate cheddar taste if you can imagine. It’s nice and soft, too.
The queso blanco reminded me of the tomatillo sauce I bought from Farmers’ Fresh a few weeks ago. I’m going to defrost some turkey thighs and make turkey enchiladas this week.
Fromage blanc tastes like a cross between goat cheese and crème fraiche. (more…)
Posted in CSA reports, Farmers Fresh CSA on October 11, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Last night Chris and I ate well. We had shrimp poached in lemon cream sauce with handmade egg linguine; an arugula salad with toasted walnuts, goat cheese, and muscadine vinaigrette dressing; and a bottle of Proseco.
The handmade pasta was a gift from my neighbor Lucy.
Read Lucy’s account of its creation here.
The shrimp, crème fraiche, garlic, arugula, and muscadines were from Farmers’ Fresh. The goat cheese was local, too, from Decimal Place Farm. Very nice stuff. The walnuts were from Planters via Amazon. The olive oil and Proseco were from Trader Joe’s. I think that’s about everything. (more…)
Posted in CSA reports, Farmers Fresh CSA on October 10, 2010| 6 Comments »
One good thing about semi-public whining is it forces you to do something or look silly. After all, I’m the one that preaches about CSA subscriptions making us try new things and eat a wider variety of produce. Put up or shut up, right?
Since I was all pathetic about muscadines in my last post, I made some muscadine jelly Saturday. It wasn’t that scary. I went with the guidelines Jenna suggested: “Juice the muscadines. Use Pomona’s Pectin and a little honey and make the BEST muscadine jelly EVER.”
I started with a pint of green muscadines.
First, they got crushed in the blender.
Then they cooked on the stove for about 10 minutes.
At this point, I was entranced by the aroma. It was winy and earthy and very interesting. (more…)
Posted in CSA reports, Farmers Fresh CSA on October 6, 2010| 2 Comments »
The lighting for photos is better on my counter, but I have to take pictures in shifts because there’s not enough space. So this week, I’ve returned to the scene of my kitchen table. It’s much more fun to spread everything out on the table.
I also ordered sourdough bread and lemon verbena from the online store.
On the other hand, scrapping radish greens is a relatively guilt-free activity.
Posted in CSA reports, Farmers Fresh CSA on October 1, 2010| Leave a Comment »
I’ve missed a couple of weeks reporting on my CSA subscription due to vacation and getting James ready to go back to school. It’s nice to be getting back in the swing of things just in time for this beautiful fall weather.
First, the non-perishables.
popping corn, pancake mix, and jam
Next, the herbs.
spearmint, hyssop, and Pennsylvania Dutch Tea Thyme – all excellent for herbal tea!
The lemongrass was so unruly that it got its own shot.
I’m going to mince and freeze the stalks for use in stir-fries in the coming months. Here’s more info on freezing lemongrass.
The leaves I’ve been using for tea. Basically I tear off the last few inches of a few of the leaves, ball them up, and add it to the steeping tea. Makes for a nice lemony lift. The last time I had a bunch of lemongrass leaves, they dried nicely in the fridge and provided lemony tea all winter long. Here’s hoping for more of the same. (more…)
Posted in CSA reports, Farmers Fresh CSA on September 9, 2010| Leave a Comment »
This week’s take
nectarines, peaches, Asian pears, apples, and muscadines
zucchini, tomatoes, and basil
shelled field peas!
hydroponic lettuce
almond and peanut butter bars!
Posted in CSA reports, Farmers Fresh CSA on September 1, 2010| 1 Comment »
How about this weather, huh? Summer crops have been a little disappointing with the heat and bugs (except for the fruit!), so that just gives us another reason to look forward to fall.
Here’s what I got this week.
Last night I had an encounter with non-Asian eggplant. Even though I purged the slices, they still were gushy. I think it’s the diameter of the fruit. The fatter an eggplant, the larger the seedy parts. When I get a bite that’s mostly seedy parts, it makes me gag. So I’m happy to have this lovely, svelte Asian eggplant. I’ll broil some slices and maybe fry some, too.
What an incredible blueberry year it’s been! Whenever I feel like mourning the lack of fresh tomatoes this summer, I eat a few blueberries. It really helps. (more…)
thoughtful consumption 