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Fresh Fork Winter CSA–week 4

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.

A Fresh Fork Market Thanksgiving Package

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Nov 232011

While I picked up my regular share yesterday, I also picked up a Thanksgiving package from my Fresh Fork CSA. There were 3 to pick from and I choose package number 1. I debated whether to get a package since we don’t usually cook Thanksgiving dinner. We go to my uncle’s house. I discussed it with my husband and we decided to try it out. Let’s just say we will be eating well for a couple of weeks.

Here’s a group shot of what we received. It was hard to get everything in one photo!

We were expecting the following:

Package 1 Contents:

Tom Turkey
Apple Pie
Sweet Potato Pie
Beets
Carrots
Candy Onions
Sweet Potatoes
Red Norland Potatoes
Shallots
Garlic
Dinner Rolls
Turnips
Cauliflower
Lettuce
Bread for Stuffing
Eggs
Winter Squash Mix
Cornmeal
Pie Pumpkin
Frozen Ohio Sweet Corn
Bacon
Braising Greens
Apple Cider
Apples
White Spelt Flour

Let’s take a closer look.

The pies look awesome. The apple pie is made with Ohio apples and came from Humble Pie Baking. It came with instructions for a little bit of additional baking time before serving. We are taking it with us to my uncle’s house. The sweet potato pie came from Lucky’s Café. We didn’t need the pie at my uncle’s house and I didn’t need a whole pie here. So, I sent it to work with my husband this morning sans a piece. The kids and I shared a piece with lunch. It is one of the best pies that I ever tasted! I’m extra glad that it went to work with my husband today.

We hardly ever by grocery store eggs. The farm fresh ones are so good. We also like knowing where they came from. We were almost out of eggs until our delivery. We’ll use some in our waffles this weekend, my sweet potatoes for tomorrow, hard boil some and use some for regular everyday cooking. The frozen corn is a new item. This corn was frozen this summer when it was in season. I just popped it in our freezer. We probably won’t try it for a week or two as we make our way through our fresh items.

The bacon is always great. I just put it in the freezer. We’ll use some with our stuffing recipe and some with our greens. If there is any left, we’ll crumble it on our salad. We were out of apples and already have eaten some on our oatmeal for breakfast. These won’t last long in our house.

We received whole wheat flour instead of spelt. Either is fine with us. We use almost all whole wheat flour in our house, so the change was welcome. We tried a couple of rolls with dinner last night. They were very tasty and buttery. We put the rest in the freezer. My kids love bread and these will be easy to give them with lunches.

Winter squash is one of my favorite foods. It’s so versatile and delicious. These should store well and are not on my immediate radar to use up. This bread looks great. It’s intended for stuffing, but I have a feeling it may become French toast or squash inspired bread pudding instead. For now, it’s in the freezer.

The lettuce is super fresh. Some went to work for my husband’s lunch. The rest will probably be served with dinner. These heads of garlic are HUGE! We are in garlic overload this year. I’m not sure why we have so much, but if I can’t get it used soon, I’ll chop and freeze it. I mostly just need to remember to put it into dishes.

I enjoy cooking with shallots. They have a milder flavor than onions and compliment other flavors well. For now, these are being stored in our basement. Turnips will probably go into soup. I don’t have a great go to recipe for them yet.

Our local, pasture raised turkey came to us fresh from Martha’s farm. This bird weighed in at 22.8 pounds. They were just processed on Monday. Since we aren’t cooking Thanksgiving dinner and I’m interested in trying a turkey sausage recipe, we are freezing our bird in several pieces. I’ll be making some of it for dinner tonight and we’ll get many meals out of this big bird. The braising greens will get sautéed as a side in the next couple of days.

The corn meal is a great pantry item. Nick loves corn muffins and we haven’t made them much lately. They’ll be a great use for some of this corn meal, eggs and whole wheat flour. The carrots look super fresh. Everyone in our house likes carrots and we’re having them for dinner tonight.

Cauliflower is so easy for us to use. Everyone likes it. I usually do it plain, with a few seasoning or in a simple au gratin recipe. With a head here and in our regular pickup, maybe we’ll have it three different ways this week. With the beets, I’ll make a small batch of Harvard beets.

We’ll be having our fill of mashed sweet potato casserole tomorrow, so these will probably get baked into fries for lunch one day next week. The kids love them with Ozark blend and cinnamon spices.

After I got home and sorted out all of our goodies,

I realized that we were missing or short on a few items. We were missing onions, potatoes, pie pumpkin and apple cider. We were short some apples and cornmeal. A quick email to the great guys at Fresh Fork and they’ll remedy it at the next pickup. I was given an option to pick it up at another site today, but I’m in no rush. We have plenty to last us for a while.

Our pick up was not the best yesterday. It was extra busy with the regular shares, holiday packages, turkeys, pies and LOTS OF RAIN. We had to wait for a while, but everyone in line was chatting and taking it in stride. Even the kids just liked running around in the rain.

The food always tastes amazing and the people who work the truck are super nice. I already can’t wait to see what they offer for Christmas. Berkshire ham anyone?

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.

Fresh Fork Winter CSA–week 1

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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 20 (double up!)

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Oct 132011

Today, we picked up week 20 our of Fresh Fork CSA. Unlike last week, we had a great pick up. Both kids were in a good mood. The weather was great and everything was smooth. To make up for one of our vacation weeks, we did a double up this week. Basically, we picked up 2 small shares this week.

Here’s what we were expecting to receive this week (times two):

Small CSA:

1 lb. ground veal
1 lb. ground pork
1 pint grape tomatoes
1 large head of cabbage
1 bunch collard greens
1 head cauliflower
2 ct. bell peppers
2 ct. eggplant

Here’s a group shot (of one set, you can imagine it double):

Since we have 4 eggplant, I am planning a vegetable lasagna with mostly eggplant and whole wheat noodles. We haven’t had much cauliflower this year. We’ll be making a cauliflower au gratin dish that uses parmesan cheese and bread crumbs for a crumbly topping over the steamed cauliflower.

Both heads of cabbage are huge! We’ll be making stuffed cabbage of some sort. Usually, I end up making unstuffed cabbage since I’m not that great of actually making the rolls. We’ll also probably make some cabbage soup and some coleslaw. Last week, I made collard wraps with our collards. They turned out pretty good so maybe I’ll make them again and change up the filling. These collards and cabbage look especially good and fresh.

We put some bell pepper in our cabbage dish and freeze the rest. We also have 2 packages of ground pork and veal. I think Stephen is going to make meatloaf and the rest of the meat will go in our cabbage dish.

We also purchased 2 of the yogurts. We still had $1.50 to use from our week 17 vacation and we were out of yogurt, so I picked up two and paid the $8.50 balance.

I was disappointed that we didn’t get grape tomatoes in either share. I thought I saw some at the truck, but the weeks are starting to run together. I’ve emailed Fresh Fork about them.

We did sign up for the winter CSA and also for a Thanksgiving share. We’ll have plenty of good eats on the horizon after the summer season ends in two weeks.

Geauga Family Farms–week 8

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Aug 022011

Today was the 8th pick up for the Geauga Family Farms CSA.

Here’s what we received:

Let’s take a closer look.

Zucchini, cucumber

Eggplant, cabbage

Onion, yellow squash

Tomatoes, cauliflower

Blackberries, cherry tomatoes

Hot peppers, Roma tomatoes

Basil, lettuce

Lettuce

I’m thinking that a gluten free chili mac dish might be in order when my in laws visit this weekend. I saw all of the tomatoes and immediately thought chili or sauce. With the chili route, I could use the onion, peppers and tomatoes in one shot. The basil will be dried or frozen for use in sauce in the upcoming weeks. We were almost out of lettuce, so it’s nice to be stocked up for salads. The cabbage will go into cole slaw along with the head I have from our other CSA. The cauliflower will get eaten for lunch tomorrow. I’m not sure about the other ingredients. We will make an effort to use or preserve everything by Friday night as we have company for the weekend and we don’t want anything to go bad!

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