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Fresh Fork Winter CSA–week 1

Nov 032011

Today was the first winter pick up for our Fresh Fork CSA. Generally, we’ll be picking up every other week, but the first few pick ups are off schedule due to the upcoming holidays.

We are still picking up at Beachwood High School on Thursdays. The pick up times are a tighter with our pick up scheduled between 4PM and 6PM. We still have the option of picking up in Cleveland Heights later if we ever get in a jam.

Thursday is our extra busy day since Nick has a swim lesson at 4:30PM. It’s conveniently just down the street from Beachwood High School, so we just picked up our CSA on our way home.

For the winter CSA, there is not an option for small, large, vegetarian or vegan. Everyone gets the same package.

Here’s what we were expecting this week:

1 Boston Butt Roast, 5-6 lbs.
1 bunch cylindra beets with tops
1 pint cherry tomatoes
1 head cauliflower
2-3 green peppers
8 oz. mixed salad greens
2 bulbs hardneck garlic
2 ct. seasoned pizza dough balls
8 oz. fresh mozzarella cheese

Here’s a group shot:

We had our choice between a boneless or bone-in roast. We chose the bone-in. It came frozen and will become pulled pork in a couple of weeks. I saw an appetizer that used shredded pork in a wonton wrapper that I would like to try. I just need to find whole wheat wrappers or make my own.

We haven’t had Harvard beets for a few weeks. So, these will go into that dish.

I’m thinking we might be having delicious pizza this week. We got green peppers, spinach, fresh mozzarella, garlic (1 large bulb), and bread dough. The spinach was a “veggie choice” selection. Instead of the tomatoes, we got to pick between spinach, onions, potatoes or tomatoes. I love the spinach!

The mixed greens aren’t my favorite, but I know they are good for us. They’ll go well with the pizza. We haven’t had cauliflower lately and it’s a family favorite, so it will make a nice side dish over the next couple of days.

Extra are still available at the back of the truck. We picked up another yogurt ($5). I haven’t decided how much we really use in a week, but it’s more than one. Also, my banana bread recipe uses it and I feel like baking soon. This winter, I want to try making my own yogurt, but I’m not sure we’ll ever get away from buying it.

The winter CSA is a bit more low key than in the summer and we didn’t have any line when we arrived just before 5:30PM. I hope that trend continues as it starts to snow soon!

Fresh Fork CSA–week 21

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Oct 202011

It was 45 degrees and raining when we picked up week 21 of our Fresh Fork CSA today. The tent had blown around so much, that by the time we arrived around 5:30PM, they were just all working from the truck. I think the winter pick ups have better weather than what we had today. Robert and his crew are awesome!

Here’s what we were expecting to receive this week:

Small CSA:

1 dz. pasture raised chicken eggs
1 lb. breakfast patties
3 lbs. Yukon gold potatoes
1.5 lb. bag untoasted organic oats
1 bunch beets with tops
1 lb. fingerling potatoes
3 lbs. turnips
Quarter peck Melrose Apples

Here’s a group shot:

The tomatoes are from the missing ones last week. Nick was glad to see them. I actually had to buy eggs at the store this week, so I was happy to get them. I see some pumpkin bread and waffles in our new future.

We were low on apples this week too. I actually picked some up at the store. I’m hoping to go picking one more time, but the weather has not been cooperating. Since at least 2 members of our household eat oats for breakfast everyday, these will be gone in no time.

We have a good stash of potatoes going at the moment since we’ve gotten them in both CSAs and from our garden. I want to make a couple of new dishes, but I haven’t decided what. The breakfast patties (part bacon and part sausage) look delicious. Maybe we’ll have them for dinner with pumpkin waffles soon!

We’ll probably make soup with the turnips. My first thought was 3 pounds is a large amount of turnips. But, we can work with it. It’s not as familiar because we don’t get them often.

We have beets from our other CSA this week also. We really like Harvard beets and don’t usually make them any other way.

It’s been a great season. Next week is the last pick up for the summer CSA.

Geauga Family Farms CSA–week 19

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Oct 182011

Today, we picked up week 19 of our Geauga Family Farms CSA. It’s hard to believe that next week is the last week. This was our worst pick up ever. It really had nothing to do with the CSA. Sally decided to run from the café area all the way to the parking lot without any regard to cars or traffic. There weren’t cars and she’s ok and I’m ok, but it was rough. Nick tried to grab her hood twice. It slowed her down enough for me to catch up with her. There was another adult near her, so I think she would have intervened if necessary. But, you never know! Sally’s now in the cart or holding my hand at all times. Usually, we do that in the parking lot and approaching parking lots, but we never needed to do it leaving the café the other weeks.

Some of the photos are dark this week. I blame it on the time of year. It’s so dark early right now that we don’t have natural light. Anyway, we picked up lots of yummy looking produce, so let’s take a look:

Tomatoes, lettuce

Beets and either beets or radishes. I don’t think I’ll know about the ones on the right until we taste them or cook them. I have gotten them mixed up in the past. I thought they were beets until I dug further in the boxes and found the beets on the left. Hmmmmmm….

Bell peppers, butternut squash

Bok choy, apples

Onions, garlic

Green beans, spinach

By the end of the season, I really feel like I have the hang of this. The tomatoes will go into a cabbage dish. We’re still working on 2 heads that we got from our other CSA last week. We’ll also use some onion, bell pepper and garlic in that dish.

The green beans have been fantastic lately. They will be a plain side dish. I’ve been using the spinach in pasta dishes. It adds flavor and color.

The lettuce and possibly bok choy will go in salads. Otherwise, I’ll make a stir fry with the bok choy. We were actually out of apples, so these will go in my coleslaw and my oatmeal.

Winter squash will get baked and eaten for lunch a couple of days.

That leaves the beets and radishes or beets as the case may be. My favorite recipe for beets is to make Harvard beets. I’ve been using radishes in salads or pickling them. These will probably go in salad.

Geauga Family Farms–week 11

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Aug 232011

Wow, we had pick up #11 today for the Geauga Family Farms CSA. We had 14 different items!

Here’s what we received:

Let’s take a closer look.

Green bell peppers, onions

Hot pepper, yellow squash

Pickling cucumbers, peaches

Yellow beans, basil

Beets, watermelon

Tomatoes, cherry tomatoes

Eggplant, cabbage

We didn’t do too badly last week, but we had company this weekend and I feel a little bit behind. It’s really because of peach and tomato picking, not the CSA items. I finally canned the tomatoes yesterday and I’m finishing the peaches now.

With this week’s CSA items, I see some coleslaw in our future since we got cabbage today and we are getting apples on Thursday. I’ll make some pasta sauce with the tomatoes, basil, eggplant and squash and we’ll have that with pasta for a meal. I’ll probably add that hot pepper too.

I’ll also be making some more pickles. I think we ate all of the ones from the last batch, so that’s timely.

I think this week is easy, especially since we don’t have any meals out planned.

Fresh Fork CSA–week 12

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Aug 182011

Originally, we were going to be “on vacation” from week 12 of our Fresh Fork CSA. But, our plans changed and we were able to cancel our vacation and pick up our share. Next, I’ll need to place an extra order to use the funds from our week 10 vacation.

Here’s what we were expecting to receive this week:

Small CSA:

1 pint blackberries
1 quart yogurt
1 lb. nitrate free bacon from Berkshire hogs
Approx. 1.5 lbs.slicing tomatoes
1 head leaf lettuce
3 lbs. new potatoes, red norland or yukon gold variety
1 bunch swiss chard or 1 bunch chiogga beets (candy cane striped beets)
1 pint heirloom cherry tomatoes
Approx. 1.5 lbs. peaches

Here’s a group shot:

We picked 1 bushel of tomatoes today, so these will get added to that bounty for canning. This is a “fluffy” variety of lettuce and looks extra fresh. I can’t wait to have it on a salad tomorrow.

When I left for Mom’s Night Out, Nick was asking for more blackberries. I haven’t checked the fridge to see if they made it past dinner. This yogurt is turning into a family favorite. And, we had been having cottage cheese this week, so it’s nice to have more yogurt in the house. We’ve been sweetening it up with a bit of homemade jam. I also use it in my overnight oats.

I just finished processing my peaches from the peck that we picked on Saturday. I still have to make the jam with the peaches that I skinned this morning. These peaches will soften up in a day or two and be great as a snack or in my oatmeal. We are stocked with cherry tomatoes at the moment. We got a pint at our pick up on Tuesday and it’s one of the items that has survived in our garden. I’m not a fan of the texture of raw tomatoes, but Nick and my husband both like them. I just need to remember to serve them!

We haven’t really had potatoes much lately. I can’t decide between mashed potatoes to go with some Fresh Fork pork that is thawing in the fridge or German Potato Salad. We have some other beets in the fridge, so I will combine them and probably make our standard Harvard Beets. I think there was a choice between beets and Swiss Chard and I asked for beets so we could make a decent amount for a dinner side one night.

Lastly, we got bacon. So, this week was themed BLTs, but I’m not sure if they will appear on our menu or not. I did recently read about cooking bacon in the over on a rack and I just might have to try that with this bacon.

I think this is an easy week for us and that the items are easy to use and store. It’s a good thing because we have a few other items from Tuesday to use up and have a busy weekend coming up.

Geauga Family Farms–week 9

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Aug 092011

Today was the 9th pick up for the Geauga Family Farms CSA. It’s hard to believe that we are almost half way through the season. Today’s bounty was heavy! The season’s first watermelons have arrived.

Here’s a group photo of what we received:

Let’s take a closer look.

Cherry tomatoes, slicing tomatoes

Peaches, beets

Green peppers, hot peppers

Eggplant, yellow squash

Cucumber, lettuce

Lettuce, yellow wax beans

Parsley, watermelon

I think we have entered my favorite part of the season. I love melons! I was glad to see lettuce since we were almost out. I’ve put my parsley in water. I think some parsley potatoes or salad dressing may be in order. The squash, cucumber and peppers will probably go into a wheat or rye berry cold salad for dinner tomorrow night. We eat at Wade Oval near the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and it’s challenging to make cold CSA food. I’m getting better as the season progresses.

I’m going to remove the skins from the peaches, slice and freeze them for oatmeal. One of my favorite ways to have oatmeal is with peaches. I’ll be sure to save a couple of peaches for Thursday. I’m expecting basil in my CSA pick on Thursday and I want to try my version of this dressing recipe from The Chubby Cook. I’m going to make the same recipe, but use an extra peach. I sampled it at Whole Foods on Sunday and it was tasty.

I haven’t found any great ways to use hot peppers since I don’t care for spicy dishes and I like the kids to be able to eat anything that I prepare. Usually, they get chopped and frozen and I use them sparingly as I make taco meat, pulled pork and chili throughout the winter.

I usually make Harvard beets whenever we get beets. At dinner tonight, my son was content to eat beets and watermelon for dinner. That made me very happy!

All in all, it should be a great week!

Geauga Family Farms–week 7

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Jul 262011

Today, we had the week 7 pick up for the Geauga Family Farms CSA. Since it was the 4th Tuesday and there was a farm visit this evening, my husband picked up our share. Even though we had the list of what could be in our share earlier today, it’s really a surprise when you actually see it.

Here’s what we received today:

Let’s take a closer look.

Tomatoes, beets

Lettuce, kohlrabi

Swiss chard, onion

Green beans, cherry tomatoes

Radishes, cucumbers

Yellow squash, patty pan squash (Most of the patty pan squash that I have seen before is more flat and scalloped, but I am pretty sure this is patty pan squash.)

Zucchini, honey (add on order)

New this year, we can place orders though the website for some additional items. There are things available like honey, maple syrup, eggs, etc. I ordered some honey for this week. We didn’t really need honey at the moment, but I wanted to try out the ordering system. Pay with paypal and pick up with the share. It was easy!

I’m still thinking about the bounty that we received and haven’t made any specific plans for it, but we’ll be busy eating our veggies this week for sure!

Geauga Family Farms CSA–week 5

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Jul 122011

Today was our 5th pick up for the Geauga Family Farms CSA. I think we have entered the heart of the growing season. Based on what we received today, it looks like the crops are doing well despite such a wet spring.

Here’s what we received in our family share (not pictured are raspberries):

Let’s take a closer look.

Red raspberries, green leaf lettuce

Red leaf lettuce, large onion

Yellow squash, zucchini

Tomatoes, broccoli

Pickling cucumbers, beets

Green onions, kohlrabi

Potatoes, sugar snap peas

Cucumbers

This looks like a pretty easy week to use everything. I may freeze the onions, but I suspect everything else will be used as we prepare meals this week.

Food Log for Friday

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Jul 082011

Breakfast

overnight oats w/peanut butter, cherries, cinnamon, milk

Lunch

pasta w/ laughing cow cheese

cole slaw

Dinner

pork roast w/ bbq sauce and onions

quinoa

roasted veggies (kolhrabi, beets, carrots, radishes)

Late Snack

now the ice cream (didn't happen yesterday)

homemade cherry ice cream - yummy

Geauga Family Farms–week 4

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Jul 052011

Today was our 4th pick up for the Geauga Family Farms CSA. As usual, our pick up items were a surprise. I was happy that we received lettuce since we were out. Between our two CSAs we are getting tons of lettuce and not letting it go to waste. The bounty did not disappoint and we received two types of lettuce.

They are taking applications for partial season shares that will start in a couple of weeks. If you are interested in getting a CSA, let me know and I can send you the application.

Here’s what we received in our family share:

Let’s take a closer look.

One large onion with greens, bunch of radishes.

green onions, cherry tomatoes

tomato, yellow squash

zucchini, rhubarb

kohlrabi, collard greens

2 types of lettuce

beets, snow peas (eat whole in the pod, usually used in stir fry recipes)

We did well with our shares last week. I can say that I had summer squash fritters 3 times for lunch and I’ll probably be having more of them this week. Today, before I picked up our GFF share, I only had some cabbage and cucumber left from last week’s shares.

This week, I’ll be making a tofu stir fry to use the peas along with some of the cabbage from my other share last week. We’ll probably try roasting the kohlrabi, radishes and beets this time. I’ll have to think about the collards. I’m guessing I’ll probably sauté them for lunch one day. I froze some rhubarb last week, so I’ll add this to that bag. I think I’ll end up making a rhubarb dessert soon. The cherry tomatoes are already half gone thanks to Stephen and Nick.

It should be a great week!

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