Dark overview photo:

I think the only thing the photo really shows is how big a large share is.  I’m continually impressed with a what we receive for our value each week.

Here’s what we received:

• 1 bunch Cylindra beets
• 1 quart whole milk yogurt
• 1 acorn squash
• 1 pint blackberries
• 1 bag mixed peppers
• 1 lb. red fortune plums
• 2 lbs. Roma tomatoes
• 1 kohlrabi
• 1 bunch collards
• 6 ears sweet corn
• 1 ball fresh mozzarella cheese
• 2 frozen pizza dough balls
• 1 pint heirloom tomato sauce
• A handful hot Hungarian peppers
• Approx. 1.5 lbs. heirloom tomatoes
• concord grapes

Originally, we were going to get a spaghetti squash and not have grapes.  You can’t argue with mother nature.  We’ll see squash soon.

This is a crazy week for us as we are leaving town for a few days tomorrow.  So, all of our food needs to be cooked, eaten, froze, or packed so that we don’t lose any of our items.

I have some beets already in the fridge.  I’m going to make Harvard beets and freeze them.  I’ve never frozen that recipe before, but a quick Google search tells me that it’s possible.

We love the yogurt and are fully stocked.  I’m glad it has good dates.  I’ll be taking one container with us in our cooler.

I love winter squash season as much as melon season.  I’ll roast this acorn squash, make puree and freeze it.  It would probably last if I just waited until we got home from our trip, but I’d rather just take care of it now.

The plums and blackberries will come with us on our trip if they last that long.  I’m going to freeze the peppers, tomatoes, collards and corn.  I’ll blanch and chop as needed.  I’m hoping to make the grapes into a usable concentrate for sorbet.  Then, I’ll freeze it.

I’ll use the pizza dough, sauce and cheese to make some pizza for lunch tomorrow and maybe dinner on the road.  The dough was already thawing before I got to it, so I need to use it up.

Whew!  I need to get busy.  We’re leaving at 12:30pm tomorrow and I still need to pack too.

Here is what we received in this week’s Geauga Family Farms CSA small share.

First up are the tomatoes, in regular size and cherry. In fact, some of these cherry tomatoes are so small that they may count as the “grape” variety.

Next, some onions and a bell pepper. The onions are strong. I could smell them as soon as I opened the bag.

Corn and cabbage…

And finally, a head of lettuce and a medium watermelon.

The forecast is for a break from this unusually cool August now that these peppers have arrived to heat things up…

I love this time of year!

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

• 1 pack pork loin chops
• 1 bag corn crackers
• 2 lb. black turtle beans
• 1 pint salsa
• 1 bag mixed salad greens
• 1 pint sorghum syrup
• 1 dozen eggs
• 1 lb. assorted sausage
• 1 lb. sweet corn
• 1 lb. kale, bunched

Here’s a group shot:

We’ll use the beans in a combination of a Mexican casserole and also black bean burgers.  The ground pork will also go in our casserole.

The pork chops are the best.  We’ll probably just season them and bake them in the oven.  The corn was frozen last summer and it’s been delicious.  We’ll add it to our Mexican dish or use it as a side.

The sorghum syrup was a head scratcher last year.  We ended up using it in a bbq glaze type of sauce that we put over ham loaf.  It was delicious.  I have no idea how we made the sauce, so we’ll be experimenting once again.  I’m thinking of using it as the main sweetener in some homemade sauce.  So far, tomato sauce, vinegar, spices, onion, peppers and syrup come to mind.  I’m not a huge fan of this type of greens, but we do our best to eat it in salads.

I’ll be putting the kale and salsa in our casserole as well.

Everyone in our house loves these chips.  If they don’t get eaten first, they’d be a nice addition to our Mexican meal.  Eggs are so easy for us to use.  I just saw a recipe for some muffin casserole bites that are egg based.  I think I’ll try it this week.

We picked up a few extras as well.  Krispie treat granola ($5) and 2 yogurts ($5 each).

I’m excited for this week because I can do just a little cooking and have several meals.  Sometimes I like being a lazy cook.