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Delicious suggestions!

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.”) Continue Reading »

10/20 Late, late summer

What month is it again?

  • sweet corn
  • green beans
  • zucchini

I’m going to serve green beans, corn on the cob, and fried okra tomorrow for a late, late summer meal. Continue Reading »

Next Saturday, Farmers Fresh is hosting an art exhibition. Turns out many local farmers are also artists!

And even if you’re not all about art, there will be more to do at FarmArt:

  • Impromptu farmers’ market – chat with farmers, buy yummy and interesting stuff!
  • Yoga demonstrations!
  • Other local merchants and their wares!
  • Live music!

And the Farmers’ Fresh store will be open, too. (Hint: stuff’s cheaper at the actual store than it is online. No cost to deliver. So it’s a great chance to stock up on stuff like meat, seafood, cheese, etc.)

So come to downtown Carrollton next Saturday, October 23rd between 8 am and 2 pm.

See you there!

10/13 Fun with Fordhooks

  • cheeses!
  • hydroponic lettuce
  • apples
  • butternut squash
  • spinach
  • eggs
  • butter beans
  • okra
  • Shiitakes
  • basil

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. Continue Reading »

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. Continue Reading »

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. Continue Reading »

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.

  • garlic
  • slicer tomato
  • okra
  • muscadines
  • arugula
  • hydroponic lettuce
  • apples
  • eggs
  • sweet potatoes
  • coffee
  • radishes
  • rosemary nut mix
  • chocolate nut mix (not pictured – already eaten!)

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.


Continue Reading »

9/29 Back in business!

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. Continue Reading »

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!

Continue Reading »

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.

  • garlic
  • okra
  • Asian eggplant

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.

  • blueberries
  • apples
  • eggs

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. Continue Reading »