Fresh Fork Winter CSA–week 13

CSA No Responses »
Apr 122012
 

It’s April already and we’re nearing the end of our winter CSA.  In just a few short weeks, we’ll be talking about week 1 for the summer CSA season.  It will be interesting to see how the early warm weather impacts the crops.  Last year, we heard so much about the wet spring and how it negatively impacted the start of the CSA season.  But, let’s enjoy the rest of the winter CSA first.  This was definitely the week of meat!

Here’s what we were expecting today:

  • 1 meat choice (see above)
    • option 1: whole chicken, approximately 5 lbs.
    • option 2: Meatloaf pack, 1 lb. each of ground veal, ground pork, and ground lamb
    • option 3: 2 packs bone-in beef short ribs and one grass-fed beef round steak
    • option 4: 1 pack (4 patties, 1 lb.) turkey burgers (new) and 1 pack (1.25 lbs.) chicken bratwurst
  • 1 lb. breakfast patties
  • 1 dozen eggs
  • 1 piece (8 oz.) Havarti cheese
  • 1 pint maple syrup
  • 1 quarter peck apples
  • 1/4 lb. ramps

(earlier in the week, there was a possibility of greens, but I’ll take apples over greens most days)

Here’s a group shot:

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We decided to go with the meatloaf pack. I haven’t made meatloaf in a while and there’s a recipe for meatloaf that uses the ramps in this week’s newsletter. It’s more of a guide to meatloaf than a recipe, but I’m not a big recipe follower anyway, so I am happy to use the ideas and make my own meatloaf. I’m going to make muffin shaped loaves. I like using muffing tins for individual meatloaves.

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We had the breakfast patties before. They are flavorful, but a little on the salty side. We’ll probably pair them with some homemade sauce and pasta for a meal. We don’t usually cook meat to go with breakfast.

We bought a gallon of maple syrup this year. Having another pint is always welcome. We made several recipes on a regular basis that use maple syrup instead of sugar. Lucky for me, whole grain pancake mix was on sale this week so I stocked up. My kids love to have pancakes with blueberries and real maple syrup. We don’t even use the fake stuff in our house anymore.

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We haven’t had apples in a while, so they will be a nice addition for our morning oatmeal. We are nearing the end of our canned peaches and frozen blueberries.  Everyone in our house loves cheese. I’m sure the Havarti will be popular. Stephen and I are signed up for the cheese class on Saturday, so I suspect we will be stocking up on local cheeses this weekend.

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Eggs are never hard to get used up. We just naturally use them often in baked oatmeal, pancakes, French toast, muffins and other recipes. This week a few will go into meatloaf for sure.

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Finally, I picked up 4 yogurts this week.  We seem to use at least 2 a week at our house.  It’s $20 well spent.

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I’m having a Fresh Fork CSA week for sure.  Yesterday was the monthly happy hour.  Today was our pick up.  Saturday is the cheese class.  I love local!

Fresh Fork Winter CSA–week 5

CSA 1 Response »
Dec 212011
 

Today, we had another soggy Fresh Fork CSA pick up.  I think Trevor should invest in Gortex running gear for the crew, and maybe some sand bags for the tent.  It was really a smooth pick up.  The kids wanted to wait with me, so they ran around in the rain while I waited in line for our goodies.

Here’s what we were expecting this week:

  • 1 tub (4 oz.) goat milk feta
  • 8 oz. jar of brandied cherry preserves
  • 8 oz. mixed baby greens
  • 1 sleeve of leaf lettuce
  • 1 head of cabbage
  • 1 bag of Mrs. Miller’s dried egg noodles
  • 1.25 lb.s Andouille
  • 2 lbs. ground beef
  • 8 oz. pak choi
  • 2 lbs. onions
  • 1 lb. Brussels sprouts
  • 3 lbs. sweet potatoes
  • 1 24 oz. loaf of apple pound bread

Here’s a group shot:

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I don’t have any immediate plans for the sweet potatoes, but I’m glad that everyone in our house likes them.  I’m thinking of using the ground beef in a crock pot unstuffed cabbage tomorrow.  I only got one pack of beef and I’m checking on that.

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I’ve never used Andouille sausage in anything before.  For now, it’s in the freezer and I’ll think of something later.  My husband just found a sweet potato and Andouille recipe that sounds promising.  The goat cheese will disappear on crackers and toast.  Cheese never lasts long in our house.

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Greens disappear without much effort and these will be no exception.  We need to keep our veggie intake up to balance the cookies this week.

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I have all of the ingredients for French onion soup and will make it in the next day or two.

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The Brussels sprouts and pak choi will make good sides this weekend.

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Apple pound cake is a new one for us.  I’m sure it will be eaten quickly once we taste it.  The noodles will be in the cupboard for a few weeks since they aren’t perishable.  We still have turkey in the freezer, so some soup may be in order.

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We aren’t cooking a ham for Christmas, but I’m sure these preserves will be tasty no matter how we enjoy them.  I’m considering making homemade jelly doughnuts for Christmas.  Maybe they will have cherry filling.

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I also splurged on extras this week.  We were out of eggs and still wanting to do some baking this week.  The breakfast patties were so good when we had them before, so I couldn’t turn them down.  I wanted to try some local eggnog.  The bacon will be in the freezer for as needed in recipes.  The spinach pasta was dinner tonight.  I can’t remember the individual prices, but our total was $28.

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I’m excited for the holidays this week and hope to enjoy cooking a few meals at home.  Eating out really does get old, but sometimes it’s definitely the easy way out.

Fresh Fork CSA–week 21

CSA No Responses »
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:

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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.

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

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