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Fresh Fork Market 2012–Summer CSA–week 22

Nov 012012

Because of Sandy, our Trick or Treat was moved to tomorrow, so we decided to pick up our share today. I didn’t want to be in a rush to put it away, have dinner and have the kids ready. This is our last pick up for the summer season and also the coldest/wettest pick up. I planned a nice butternut squash soup for dinner from the freezer today. It’s a great day for soup.

Here’s a group shot of today’s pickup:

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

1 bunch carrots with tops
1 head jumbo white stem bok choy
1 lb. ground pork
1 lb. ground beef
1 head broccoli
1 butternut squash
2# turnips
1 bag salad mix, lettuce
2# bag of sauerkraut
1 quarter peck Empire apples
2 frozen pizza dough balls
1 package goat feta cheese
Baby Peppers (came in last week’s package)

The carrots will make a nice simple side dish. Everyone likes them in our house, so these won’t last long. The pork and beef is intended for meatloaf. Maybe Stephen will make his famous meatloaf this weekend. That would be delicious.

I’ve started looking at lamb recipes and found a Lamb and Feta Stuffed Cabbage recipe. I think the feta will go into that recipe soon.

We were almost out of apples again. Those will go into oatmeal. I can’t get enough winter squash. I’ll be roasting this along with pie pumpkins that I picked up today. Uses are endless.

For the first time, we received fresh sauerkraut. I’m excited to try it, but I am also glad that it will keep a while in the fridge, so there’s no hurry. This broccoli looks outstanding.

We’ll have it as a side along with pizza for dinner tomorrow. With Trick or Treat, we’ll need an easy to clean up meal. The lettuce will go into salads tomorrow or Saturday.

I’m not sure about the bok choy, but I am thinking a stir fry like we made with the Napa cabbage last week.

I don’t have any current plans for the turnips, but I am glad they will last a while. Maybe we’ll make soup later in the week.

I’ve enjoyed trying out the large package this year. I’d never go back to the small. I love the bag size for us. It worked really well. I’m not interested in the full access package. I like getting the variety in the large and then supplementing with extras as needed.

Fresh Fork Market 2012 Summer CSA–week 19

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Oct 122012

Today was a perfect autumn day for a CSA pickup. We had some logistical issues this week and at one point considered Solon, Mayfield, Beachwood, Hudson and Mentor as possible sites. We ended up making it to our normal spot at Mayfield. I was glad to visit with Kirsten and Robert for a bit during a slower time.

Here’s what we are expecting to receive:

1 dozen eggs
3# sweet potatoes
1 head cauliflower (some will be cheddar, purple, or green varieties)
1 head leaf lettuce
1 head baby Bok Choy
1 pint grape tomatoes
1 lb. chorizo sausage links
2# cornmeal
2 ct. red peppers
Red onion (s)
2 ct. zucchini
Approx. 1.5 lbs. tomatoes
2 ct. eggplant (or 1 if they are enormous)
1 lb. pumpkin sage linguini
1 quarter peck Cortland apples

They were out of slicing tomatoes. I was happy since I was offered spinach as a replacement. I have too many tomatoes in the freezer already. Everything else on the list was dead on!

I’m behind on egg use a bit. I see some hardboiled ones in our future. Maybe I’ll make a small batch of deviled eggs for Sunday’s pig roast. We’ll use the peppers in eggs and salads this week.

Last year, we found that either Andouille or Chorizo could be used in this recipe. So, it’s definitely on the agenda for this week. I remember it being extremely delicious.

I tossed the pumpkin sage linguini in the freezer since we have a busy few days ahead. I’m sure it will be tasty. I’ve never met an Ohio City pasta that I didn’t like.

I’m going to make a veggie lasagna this week. I’ll use the squash and eggplant in that dish.

We haven’t picked any tomatoes from our garden lately. I’m sure these will be welcome snacks.

I’ll sauté the Bok Choy for Stephen one day. He likes the Asian flavors. The apples will be great for our oatmeal. We made all of our other apples into sauce.

The lettuce will go for salads. The cauliflower will make a great side dish with some chicken we have ready to eat in the fridge.

To make make room for our 1/2 lamb, I’m making a pot of chili. Some cornbread will make a nice side to go with it.

I’m glad it’s cooler out and love cooking this time of year.

Geauga Family Farms CSA–summer week 16

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Sep 182012

We did a little shopping at Whole Foods before picking up our share today. I’m so glad that the store remodel is complete. Everything seems like it’s in its place. Now, we just need to learn where those places are.

Here’s what we received today:

Bok choy, lettuce

Apples, slicing tomatoes

Hot peppers, red onions

Bell peppers, red Russian kale

I’m going out of town on Thursday and won’t return until Sunday night. So, I’ll be prepping items for the freezer or cooking them for the family to eat while I am gone.

I now have two heads of bok choy. I’m going to sauté them with garlic, onion and sesame oil for Stephen. The lettuce will get eaten in salad. The apples have been popular in oatmeal and for snacking. The tomatoes are going straight to the freezer with the romas that I picked from our garden today. I’ll be making a batch of sauce for canning before our lamb comes in from the butcher at the beginning of October.

I have no desire to deal with the hot peppers, so I am sending them to work with Stephen in hopes that someone there will put them to good use. I wish we had a swap table at Whole Foods where you could take and item and leave and item. One of our other CSAs used to do that and it was great.

I’ll chop and freeze any pepper and onion left before I leave on my trip. I’m just going to blanch the kale for later use in soup. We have plenty of greens out in the fridge already.

Lately, I feel like I’m preserving more than we’re eating, but some weeks are just like that.

Geauga Family Farms CSA–summer week 15

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Sep 112012

Two crabby kids and I picked up our CSA today. Nick just started preschool and has a shortened schedule for the first few days. Nick’s so excited that he’s exhausted and Sally didn’t have a nap. It was a rough day. Surprising, our pick up was smooth, but I knew better than to shop for anything at Whole Foods today.

Here’s what we received:

apples, green beans

bell peppers, onions

cherry tomatoes, slicing tomatoes

yellow squash, bok choy

leaf lettuce

I’m so happy to see apples. We love apples in our house and I’ve been waiting for them to start showing up. Most of the local PYO is sparse this year. We’ll be enjoying them in oatmeal this week. The green beans will be a side dish for a meal tomorrow or Thursday.

I’m done with tomatoes, peppers and onions. We planted a community garden this year and our tomatoes are out of control – and I don’t like tomatoes. Actually, we’re ok on peppers since I didn’t pick them this year. We’ll be chopping and freezing them along with the onions. I love having local ones available throughout the winter. I’m mostly just freezing tomatoes right now. We have tons of sauce and I’m not sure what we’ll need next. I did make some great enchilada sauce this week. I don’t think I’ll ever buy store bought again.

One lonely squash will just get eaten in a stir fry with the bok choy and maybe some garlic and onion. Bok choy isn’t my favorite, but luckily Stephen likes the Asian flavors.

We’ll use the lettuce in salad. We might even have BLTs this week with some local bacon. I think everyone would like them as long as we hold the T for Sally and I.

I’m hoping for fewer tomatoes next week.

Fresh Fork Market 2012 Summer CSA–weeks 4&5

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Jul 062012

Last week, I was still on vacation for week 4, so I didn’t do a pick up. My friend Kelly was nice enough to send me a few photos. I was jealous when I received them on my phone, even though I was at the beach. I love her photos!

Here’s the list of items for the week:

1 quart of yogurt
1 pt of black raspberries
Assorted tree fruit
1 package Italian Sausage links, 1.25 lbs.
2 ct zucchini
1 bunch radishes
1 head green leaf lettuce
1 bunch kale
1 head kohlrabi
1 red bulb onion
1.5 lbs hoop house tomatoes
2 ct cucumbers
1 head broccoli or cauliflower, whichever comes in
1 jar strawberry balsamic sauce made from leftover week 1 strawberries

The highlights were the fruit. She received apricots, plums as an add on, raspberries, and Clark Pope Catering’s Roasted Strawberry Balsamic Sauce. Kelly mentioned that the plum were like heaven in a paper bag. Even though I wasn’t here last week, I was able to get a bottle of the sauce. I’m excited to try it out.

Now onto this week’s bag!

It was 95 degrees when we picked up our bag. This has been one hot day! I was glad to quickly get everything home and unloaded.

Here’s what we were expecting to receive:

1 whole chicken or pork roast
1 bunch beets
2 bulb onions
1 bunch carrots or 1 head kohlrabi
Approx. 2# tomatoes
1 baby bok choy
2 lbs. peaches
1 bunch spinach
1 lb. garlic scape and black pepper linguini
2 lbs. apricots
2 ct. cucumbers
2 ct. zucchini

We love the spinach. It’s quite versatile. We already used some in our white sauce tonight. I’m not a big tomato person. I think they are “guishy”. I’m such a texture eater. I’m not sure if I’ll ever like them. Some other Fresh Fork CSA folks were talking about having a tomato tasting party. I might be swayed to participate if that were to occur. For now, these will be eaten by Stephen and Nick or I’ll use them in sauce.

I have a total of 4 zucchini and I am making fritters for lunch tomorrow. I’m not sure why we got extra cucumbers, but they are great for snacking and salads. Since we don’t have any lettuce at the moment, I suspect these will become snacks for the weekend. I may try my hand at a quick relish.

Some of the onion will go into our pulled pork and coleslaw recipes. The rest will be chopped and frozen for future use. We ate almost all of the carrots at dinner. The leftover ones will be gone at lunch tomorrow.

Our apricots aren’t going to last long. They are very ripe. I’m thinking of making smoothies with them tomorrow since it’s going to be another scorcher. I contemplated an apricot dessert, but I’m not sure I want to turn on the oven. Maybe, I’ll get creative. We’ve been enjoying peaches in our oatmeal each morning. With 4 of us, these won’t last long.

Bok choy always stumps me. I just don’t have a great go to recipe for it. It usually just ends up in a stir fry for Stephen. I’m going to make pulled pork with the roast tomorrow. I am going to put the crock pot in the basement so our whole house doesn’t heat up while it cooks.

We’re going to grill the beets this week. We have a kohlrabi to use as well. We didn’t get our pasta when we picked up our bag. Since I was out anyway, I stopped back to get it on our way home from the spray ground. It went straight to boiling water for dinner and had already missed it’s photo opportunity.

I’m not going to say that every CSA week is easy, but I like feeling like I finally have the hang of it. I’m looking forward to eating fresh and local this weekend.

Fresh Fork Market 2012 Summer CSA – week 3

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Jun 232012

Normally, I would have picked up our large CSA yesterday in Mayfield. But, I’m on vacation. After a few days in Baltimore and Dover, we are all checked in at our beach house. My friend Kelly was kind enough to send me a photo of the large share. It looks amazing and I’m sad to miss it. But, I’m super happy that Fresh Fork has an awesome vacation policy.

Here’s the artistic photo from Kelly:

Here’s the list of contents that Fresh Fork sent us earlier in the week. Squash was subbed for the napa cabbage.

Small CSA Share

1 package boneless loin chops, 2 per pack
2 lbs spelt berries
1 bunch spinach
1 head white stem bok choy
1 dozen eggs
1 bunch swiss chard or 1 head baby bok choy (depending on route)
1 bunch beets with tops
1 lb snow peas
1 head chinese napa cabbage

Large CSA Share Small contents above plus:

1 bunch carrots
1 lb shelled peas
1 head leaf lettuce
1 extra bunch spinach
2 bunches red bulb green onions

I’m hoping that I’ll be able to get some pork chops when I return. It’s one of the best Fresh Fork items that we’ll get all summer. If I was in town, I’d be trying out the dry container on my new Vitamix. I like spelt berries, but I’m really anxious to try out making flour. For now, I’m going to try my best to eat some good local food while I’m on vacation. I visited a local market yesterday and have 2 Farmers’ markets on the schedule for the week.

Fresh Fork Market 2012 Summer CSA–week 2

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Jun 152012

Today, we had our second pick up at the new Mayfield location. Dan and Kyle were pretty busy when we arrived, so we didn’t get a chance to talk to them. Everything looked like it was running smoothly. I’m still getting used to reading the rest of the share list. Since this is our first time with a large, I keep forgetting to read past the “small CSA share” list.

Small CSA Share

2# black turtle beans
1 bag corn chips
1 # chorizo sausage
1 bunch green onions
1 bunch cilantro
1 head red leaf lettuce
1 head either baby bok choy or 1 bunch swiss chard (depends on stop)
1 head jumbo white stem bok choy
1.5# red slicing tomatoes (approximately 3 tomatoes)
1 lb. snow peas

Large CSA Share Small contents above plus:

1 head cauliflower
1 bunch red kale
1 lb. snow peas
2 ct. zucchini
1 package chicken brats

It’s hard to get a shot that shows all of the items in a large:

I’m getting ready to leave on vacation, so I’ll be prepping the lettuce for my husband to eat in salads. I’ll be cooking the cauliflower for a side dish tomorrow and/or for Stephen to eat while the kids and I are gone.

I’m going to make soup or a stir fry with the bok choy. I’ll use some of the peas and onions in that dish.

I put the meats in the freezer. I’ll probably cook up the chorizo tomorrow. I will probably make a cold salad with quinoa, chorizo, onions, cilantro, lime, etc. We’ll pack some for the road this weekend and leave the rest for Stephen to enjoy. The brats will magically disappear while I’m away with the kids or we’ll enjoy them in July. The last time I made the brats, I simmered them in beer on the stove. They were quite tasty.

I still had a couple of zucchini in the fridge, so I am making my fritters with them tomorrow.

I’m soaking the beans tonight so I can cook them tomorrow. I’ll use some of them and the cilantro in the quinoa salad and freezer the rest.

I haven’t decided on the kale yet. I just got a kale recipes book in the mail today, so maybe I’ll be inspired to cook something new with it. The beets were subbed for some of the peas. They are getting added to a few I have in the fridge for a pickled beets recipe that looked promising. I hope to make them tomorrow.

We often buy these corn chips as extras, so they will disappear quickly.

Once again, the truck didn’t have any of our favorite yogurt with them, but I was able to pick up some of our favorite granola and milk while we were at our stop.

I’m glad to be going on vacation, but I hate that I’ll miss all of the fun CSA contents for the next two weeks.

Fresh Fork Winter CSA–week 4

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Dec 082011

Today, we had a great Fresh Fork CSA pick up. It was not busy when we arrived and we were in and out in a flash. Robert even carried our stuff to the car. Also, it was DRY! There was an almost full moon and no precipitation.

Here’s what we were expecting this week:

1 bunch bok choy (approx. 8 oz.)
1 bunch leaf lettuce
1 bag mixed braising greens, approx. 0.75 lb.
3 count winter squash
2 lbs. onions
1 head broccoli
1 head cauliflower
1/2 lb. spinach or pak choy
1 bag corn chips
1 8-oz. wedge of Havarti or pepper Havarti from Mayfield Road Creamery
3 lbs potatoes, Yukon gold or Red Norland
Approx. 3# beef roast (we’ll have an assortment available)

Here’s a group shot:

Both the ground beef and the roast were frozen, so I just popped them in the freezer.

I really like caramelized onions and haven’t made them in a while. I think I’ll be having them soon. I’m also going to try a Shepard’s Pie with the potatoes.

We were supposed to get one head of cauliflower. I’m guessing we have two due to the size. They aren’t in the best shape, so I will be cooking them tomorrow. The winter squash look nice. We have an acorn, butternut and an orange Hubbard squash.

Bok choy has been being made Asian style for Stephen lately. I’m not sure if we will try something different or not.

The lettuce will go into taco salad. Fresh Fork posted a recipe on the braising greens. I think we’ll try it out this week. We get these weird mixed greens a lot during the winter.

These are two tiny heads of broccoli. I’m sure they are tasty and will disappear quickly. We had the return of the corn chips. We bought one extra bag ($3.5) not pictured.

This week’s share ended with local Harvarti cheese. All of the cheese from Mayfield Creamery has been great and I’m sure this will be no exception.

As you may recall, we we short a few items from our Thanksgiving package a couple of weeks ago. These items were delivered with our regular share today.

So, we have more of a few items and are glad to have apples back in stock. I’ll probably be cooking/freezing the winter squash and pumpkin in the next day or two to have for recipes in the winter.

The holiday ham and other package order form came out today. I’m not sure if we are going to order a ham this year. I’ll need to check with my folks to figure out our menu for Christmas.

I’m off to put the rest of our share away and clean the kitchen from dinner.

Geauga Family Farms–Winter CSA week 4

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Dec 032011

Today was the 4th pick up for the winter Geauga Family Farms CSA. Stephen took the kids for the pick up while I made a quick Kohl’s trip. We met up back at home where I quickly photographed before we headed to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Ironically, I had a class about sustainable eating and supporting the local food movement!

Here’s a group shot of what we received:

Let’s take a closer look:

Leaf lettuce, apples

Loaf of pumpkin bread, potatoes

Butternut squash, red leaf lettuce

Bok choy, collard greens

Beets

Aside for some mandarin oranges from yesterday’s Whole Food sale, a few potatoes and a couple of onions, we were out of everything fresh. So, today’s pick up was welcome in our fridge.

Both of the lettuces will go into salad. I’m thinking of using some leftover chorizo and beans and making some type of Mexican inspired salad. The apples will go into oatmeal. When we have apples available, we use them in our oatmeal. The rest of the time we use frozen or home-canned fruit.

Half of the pumpkin bread is already gone. It’s extremely good. We’ll have the potatoes as part of dinner one night this week. Since butternut squash is one that can be peeled, I’ll probably roast it in chunks with cinnamon, pepper and olive oil.

I’ve been making Asian bok choy for Stephen with garlic and sesame oil. He seems to like it and it gives him an Asian dish. Sesame is not really my thing.

I haven’t decided on a collards dish yet. We’ve tried several. It’s still hit or miss on whether we like the end product. Clearly, I need a consistent go to recipe for them.

We haven’t made Harvard beets lately, so I’ll be making them this week.

Originally, we were supposed to get eggs each week. They have new chickens and the production has not been as anticipated. I was surprised that we didn’t get them this week since we didn’t have a pick up last week. But, I have more than a dozen left from our other CSA, so we aren’t out yet.

We also placed an add on order for a half gallon of local maple syrup ($25). I’ve been reading up on making maple coated pecans and some eggnog type of beverages that used maple instead of sugar, so I thought we should stock up. It’s hard to believe that new maple syrup will be available in less than 4 months.

It’s nice to be stocked back up on fresh items. It’s hard to believe that there is only 2 weeks left of this short winter CSA.

Fresh Fork Winter CSA–week 3

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Nov 222011

Today, we had a rough Fresh Fork CSA pickup. It was extra busy because people were picking up Thanksgiving packages, regular shares, turkeys and a variety of other holiday items. It was also raining!

Here’s what we were expecting this week:

1 half gallon apple cider
1 quarter peck of Mutsu apples (very large, tart apples)
1 lb. nitrate free bacon
1 dozen pasture raised chicken eggs
1.5 lbs. white spelt flour
1 large white stem bok choy
1 bunch medium leeks
1 bag, half lb., of young mustard green mix
2 lbs. butter, salted or unsalted
1 lb. pumpkin sage linguini
1 head cabbage
1 head cauliflower

Here’s a group shot:

We ate the pumpkin sage linguini for dinner tonight. There’s one serving left and I’m hoping to have it for lunch tomorrow. We’ve been out of fresh apples for oatmeal the last few days, so these are welcome.

I put the bacon in the freezer. Soon, I’ll make a version of my uncle’s stuffing and it will use the bacon. The spelt flour came as whole wheat. This is fine with us since we use whole wheat flour all of the time.

I was happy to get unsalted butter this time. We don’t usually buy salted butter. I’m looking forward to trying it. I never know what to do with leeks. I’ll probably chop them up in an Asian stir fry for Stephen along with the bok choy.

We’ll have our standard sautéed greens with balsamic, garlic, salt and pepper with these greens.

Personally, apple cider is too sweet, but my husband and kids love it, so it’s always welcome. Behind all of these leaves is a head of cauliflower. Everyone in our house likes cauliflower, so it will go quickly.

Cabbage is used in the stuffing recipe that I’d like to make in the next few days. I may freeze the cabbage by blanching it just to give me time to use some of our other items up. We were almost out of eggs. I need them for my sweet potato recipe and for waffles this weekend.

We got the granola that was owed to use from the last pickup and purchased some more yogurt ($10).

We also picked up a Thanksgiving package. I’ll show it to you tomorrow! It’s late and there are still dishes left in the kitchen.

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