And here’s what I bought from the store. Continue Reading »
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Sunday night
I’ve never been happy with my stir-fries. In the spring and fall, we get all these wonderful veggies that say, “Stir-fry me!” It seems like such a great way to use fresh vegetables. But mine always end up mushy or burned.
Finally, I had some success Sunday night. The first key was the Annie Chun’s Stir Fry Sauce I splurged on at Kroger. The second key was rereading the stir-fry section of How to Cook Everything more carefully.
It turns out that I wasn’t adding enough liquid as the veggies cooked.
So here’s what I started with Sunday evening:
green onions, broccoli florets, watermelon radish, and onions and garlic
I had planned to have some shrimp, too, but I got forgot to defrost it. And we had a big lunch, so veggies were enough for supper.
Here’s how it turned out. I was very pleased, and we ate it all up.
Monday night
Since we skipped the shrimp Sunday night, I made scampi instead Monday. I started with “The Simplest and Best Shrimp” recipe from How to Cook Everything. It calls for warming the olive oil over low heat before slowing cooking the garlic. It takes so long to warm the olive oil! But at least I was prepared this time and brought a book to the kitchen. The wait was worth it.
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I love fall food. Lettuce, onions, and mushrooms! Oh, my! 
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Thanksgiving was great!
My mom bought a turkey from Nancy and Jacque at Red Hott Tomatoes, and it was sooo good! I’ve always preferred dark meat, but this white meat was dreamy. All soft and melty and not a bit dry.
Our contributions to Thanksgiving were sweet potato pie and the butternut squash arugula salad that Natalie recommended. Continue Reading »
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Saturday I went to a holiday market in Carrollton. There were crafts and other gifts, but I’m a food girl. And I’m starting to think it’s good that I don’t get to go to a farmers’ market very often – at least for my wallet’s sake. Everything looked so pretty and interesting! I wanted it all!
Here’s what I got. 
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This Saturday (11/21) there is a farmers’ market and holiday gift extravaganza at the Carrollton Ag Center from 9-3. Here’s the flyer…. Continue Reading »
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Feeling greens
Tuesday I blanched kale and turnip and radish greens. From what I can figure, about 5 cups of roughly chopped leaves cooks down to about a cup of cooked greens. And that was the kale, which I only boiled a minute. The other greens I boiled for nearly five minutes. Their ratio of fresh to cooked was even higher.
The good thing about blanching en masse is you can reuse the water. I had one pot of boiling water and one bowl of ice water for three rounds of blanching.
Cooked turnip greens feel like velvet! They’re so soft. I just wish they tasted a little better. Continue Reading »
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Got enough to get through Thanksgiving?
We won’t get vegetables the week of Thanksgiving, so if you need to stock up or get extra for Thanksgiving dinner, it’s time to visit the store.
Patricia usually updates the store with the latest stuff available by noon Sunday. The cutoff to make the coming week’s delivery is Monday at noon. Continue Reading »
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Fried rice is the traditional vegetable vacuum in my kitchen. But now there’s a new contender: shepherd’s pie!
Shepherd’s Pie
I made this Thursday night and served it with an arugula and lettuce salad. Chris and I ate the whole thing!
And when it was all gone, Chris licked the serving spoon clean.
Here’s what was in it.
I sautéed the turnip, radish, and garlic in the butter. Once they were soft, I added the beef and cooked it until it was no longer pink. Then I added the green onions, Worchestershire, mustard, and bouillon. After it cooked down a little bit, I scooped it into a baking dish and topped it with the mashed potatoes.
(The mashed potatoes I had frozen weeks before. I mixed in an egg and then flash froze them in muffin tins to get serving size portions. I defrosted five of them in the microwave for this dish.)
Then the dish baked at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes until the potatoes were brown.
This recipe idea came from Elise at SimplyRecipes.com.
Future Pies
I’m sure there are lots of other veggies that could go in here. Maybe even some of those turnip greens blanched and chopped. Or the peas, Brussels sprouts, and various green beans in my freezer.
And I read that beef actually makes “Cottage Pie” and lamb makes “Shepherd’s Pie.” So now I have a good excuse to try some ground lamb from Gum Creek.
Between Pioneer Porridge and Shepherd’s Pie, I think we might be able to make it through the CSA off season!
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thoughtful consumption 