thoughtful consumption

I’m leaving town for a week tomorrow, so it’s been a little hectic with the packing and the cooking and the eating around here. I think I gain weight before going on vacation. We eat more and larger meals trying to finish up our week’s food a few days early.

So what to do with this week’s food before vacation? Continue Reading »

Posted in CSA notes, CSA reports, Farmers Fresh CSA | 3 Comments »

4/14 This week’s delivery

April 15, 2010 by Susan

Here’s what we got yesterday.

leeks
lettuce
oyster mushrooms
spicy salad mix
honey flax wheat rolls

cilantro
celery
honey
granola
eggs

strawberries
baby spinach

I also bought three things from the store. Continue Reading »

Posted in CSA reports, Farmers Fresh CSA | 3 Comments »

Farm Day! Saturday, April 17th!

April 15, 2010 by Susan

Have you heard about Farm Day?

There’s nothing like seeing where it all happens. Especially if you have kids or still consider yourself one. Think about all the food you or your kids eat that’s associated with something – the Cheetos cheetah or the Checker’s jingle, “You gotta eat.” Here’s your big chance to make some associations with CSA food. Meet some farmers along with some goats and chickens. See some stuff growing. I promise it makes the food taste better! Or maybe just more fun. I do think part of my affection for my CSA food comes from knowing some of the farmers and having seen where the stuff gets packed up. It just brings out the C in CSA.

I’m going to be out of town, so I can’t go. 😦 I would so love to see all these different farms.

So far, my CSA farm experiences have all been with Nancy and Jacque Garry of Red Hott Tomatoes. Their farm is so cool! (Just search for “Red Hott” to find some posts about my visits.) And Nancy and Jacque have started a new website at http://thegarryfarm.webs.com. Check it out even if you don’t make it to Farm Day.

Posted in CSA notes | 2 Comments »

4/7 Spring delivery #4

April 8, 2010 by Susan

This week’s delivery

romaine
seven-pepper chevre
white carrots?
chervil, oregano, and chives
broccoli

The seven-pepper chevre is great. I’m not super-fond of hot foods, but the heat of the pepper plus the creamy, cool goat cheese is really nice.

Heard any reports of vampire rabbits rampaging through carrot patches? These pale vegetables definitely taste like carrots, but they look kind of spooky. At least they’re not parsnips. That would be really scary.

And the broccoli is delicious. Even the skinny stems are yummy raw.

popping corn
strawberries
cabbage
sweet potatoes

Always happy to see more popping corn. Try making it in the microwave.

The strawberries are already cut up and flash frozen. This batch looked a little rough; I wonder if we’re getting to the end of Florida strawberry season. And I wonder if we’ll even have a Georgia strawberry season this year, given the lack of spring sun until recently.

spicy salad mix
spinach
eggs

So Far

I’ve made a couple of meals so far with my stuff. Wednesday’s supper was chopped up Roma tomatoes from last week cooked with garlic, onion, olive oil, chives, and oregano.

There was supposed to be shrimp in there, too, but I left the defrosted shrimp in the fridge too long. It might have been okay – it didn’t smell horrible – but I tossed it in the woods anyway. I expect to be immortalized in raccoon song.

Instead, I added most of the seven-pepper chevre. It made a rich, creamy sauce, and we enjoyed it very much.

I served it over pasta and with a salad made of the romaine and these toppings:

Tonight we had some Easter leftovers with steamed veggies.

I steamed the broccoli, a white carrot, and some onions and then topped them with some chervil and dill. Pretty yummy except the onions were too strong.

I also made a large pot of Pioneer Porridge last night. This is definitely the way to go with the porridge. It takes so long to get to the right consistency that it makes more sense to make a big batch. Plus, it heats up fine in the microwave. I use half milk and half water to make it a little creamier.

Looking forward to more strawberries tonight and popcorn tomorrow!

Posted in CSA reports, Farmers Fresh CSA | Leave a Comment »

Tofu joins the ranks of foods that aren’t that bad

April 8, 2010 by Susan

I made the tofu from last week’s delivery a few nights ago and was pretty happy with it. Here’s what I did.

To prepare it for cooking, I squeezed it a little as described in How to Cook Everything. I cut the brick in half at the equator to get two thinner bricks. Then I placed them between some paper towels on a cutting board, put a cast-iron skillet on top, and left it there for 10 minutes. This removed a lot of moisture.

I made a peanut sauce based on one from How to Cook Everything. I sautéed some garlic and onion in some peanut oil and then added about half a cup of peanut butter, half a cup of soy sauce, and maybe a quarter-cup lime juice. After it had all combined, I tossed the tofu in and let it sit while I heated more oil in a pan for stir-frying.

I stir-fried the tofu and stir-fried it some more and waited for it to get crispy, as described in the recipe I posted here. But it never did. Eventually the peanut sauce got a little burned, but it was still good.

We ate it with kale, raisins, and pine nuts and an excellent sweet potato.

So, overall, I’m pleased with my first foray into tofu cooking. I’m also happy to have an easy peanut sauce recipe for future stir-fries – with or without tofu.

Posted in CSA reports, Farmers Fresh CSA, Recipes | 1 Comment »

Microwave popcorn!

April 8, 2010 by Susan

Have you tried any of the ears of popping corn? It’s really easy to turn them into a delicious treat. Amaze your family and friends with magical popcorn.

Easy CSA Microwave popcorn

Put a cob in a paper bag and fold it over.
Microwave for about 90 seconds. (Just like with store-bought microwave popcorn, listen for the popping to slow to about 1 per second and err on the side of less time.)
Carefully remove and top with salt, butter, or other seasonings.

Before, I popped the kernels off of the cob and then popped them on the stove in oil. But the microwave method is easier. If you want to make it on the stove, though, here’s how. (This post also includes a recipe for making caramel corn.)

We just sent my step-son, who’s off at a college, a care package that included a cob, a paper bag, and some salt. (He’ll have to find his own butter.)

Posted in Recipes | 3 Comments »

3/31 lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumber – oh, my!

March 31, 2010 by Susan

First, let’s start off with salad stuff.

Roma tomatoes
sorrel
lettuce
spinach
carrots
cucumber

Now I normally wouldn’t put Romas in salad, but it’s just too cool to have local lettuce and tomatoes at the same time. So this salad will have lettuce, sliced tomatoes, and sliced cucumbers. Wow! There’s not a lot of lettuce, so we’ll also have a spinach salad. And I’ll probably scarf down all the sorrel leaves while I’m making these salads. Chris doesn’t really like sorrel anyway.

Here’s more stuff…