Fresh Fork CSA–week 15

CSA No Responses »
Sep 082011
 

Today, we picked up week 15 of our Fresh Fork CSA.

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

Small CSA:

  • 1 lb. pumpkin sage linguini
  • 2 lb. log of butter made from grass-grazed, organic milk
  • 2 ct. eggplant
  • 2 red peppers
  • 2 ct. winter squash (varieties include butternut, acorn, spaghetti, honey bear, heart of gold, and a few more)
  • Approx. 1.5 lbs. heirloom tomatoes
  • 1 lb. yellow wax beans
  • Quarter peck Gala apples
  • 1 head leaf lettuce

We received notice via our weekly newsletter that the heirloom tomatoes were not in and we could expect slicing tomatoes as a substitute.

Here’s a group shot:

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The lettuce will be easily eaten in salads.  We got two heads on Tuesday too.  I’ll miss lettuce season when it ends.  I’m not a big fan of yellow wax beans.  I think they might go in our vegetable soup.  I used to make vegetable soup often during the summer, but now that I know what items are and how to cook them, I hardly ever make it.  Since I’m going on vacation soon, I thought a batch of veggie soup would be good to leave in the freezer for my husband and father in law.

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I’m super excited that it’s winter squash season.  These acorn squash are beautiful!  I never got sick of winter squash.  I haven’t decided for sure about the eggplant.  I’m either going to make eggplant pizzas (sliced eggplant baked and then topped with spice, tomato sauce and cheese and baked until the eggplant is cooked and the cheese is melted) or another veggie lasagna.  The lasagna might be nice to have in the freezer for Stephen’s lunches while I’m away.

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We ate the pasta for dinner.  I made a basic white sauce (butter, whole wheat flour, pepper, milk, cheese), country sausage crumbles and red peppers to go with it.  It was delicious.  We’ve had this butter before.  It’s good and will last us awhile.

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I was glad to see apples.  We got cabbage from our other CSA and I like a coleslaw recipe that uses apples.  I already had the dressing ingredients, raisins and almonds that I needed for the recipe.  The rest of the apples will be eaten as snacks or my oatmeal.   The red peppers were used in tonight’s pasta dish.

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The tomatoes look terrible.  Two of them are moldy and I’ll ask for replacements next week.  I’m not sure if these are heirloom, slicing or what.  Either way, two of them are bad tomatoes.

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The object of the game this week is to stay ahead.  I’m leaving for vacation on the 19th and need to focus more on packing and prepping the household and less on veggies and the CSAs.  But, I still want to do my best not to waste anything.

Fresh Fork CSA–week 13

CSA 1 Response »
Aug 252011
 

We picked up our Fresh Fork CSA today.  In addition to our regular “small”, we also picked up the items from our vacation credit.  We were off week 10.

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

Small CSA:

  • 1 yellow doll watermelon
  • 2 ct. eggplant, some mixed colors may be included
  • 1 quart hot Hungarian peppers
  • 1 lb. clover honey
  • 1 medium cantaloupe
  • Approx. 1 lb. heirloom tomatoes (about 1 large or 2 small)
  • 2 summer squash
  • 1 pint mixed baby sweet peppers
  • Quarter Peck Golden Supreme apples (about 5 to 6 apples, very crisp, yellow apple)
  • Approx. 1 lb. slicing tomatoes

Here’s a group shot:

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I’m going to make my favorite cole slaw recipe and it uses a couple of apples.  The rest will probably go into my oatmeal and/or be made into a quick applesauce for the kids.  We also got eggplant on Tuesday, so I think I’ll be making a veggie lasagna tomorrow.

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I’m not sure about the squash.  If it doesn’t end up in the lasagna, we’ll probably grill it.  All of the tomatoes are going into sauce since I have a stock of them from Tuesday’s CSA as well.

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The sweet peppers will get added to my sauce.  I’m never sure what to do with the hot ones.  I don’t like to make things that aren’t kid friendly (and Lyn friendly).

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I don’t cook with refined sugar, so we use lots of honey.  I’m excited to try the clover honey that we received.

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Yum!  We are certainly enjoying our local melon this year.  I’m curious to try the watermelon since it’s “yellow” and I’m not sure what to expect.

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In addition to our share above, we had $25 to spend on items from the on-line store since we were on a planned vacation a couple of weeks back.  I decided on lettuce ($2.75), 2 cantaloupes ($3.60 ea.), 2 packages of Chorizo sausage ($12.40) and 2 quarts of yogurt ($9.90).  The total was $28.65, so I paid Robert $3.65 at the truck.

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It was fun to stock up on Chorizo and yogurt since we were out of both.  Neither of my CSAs received lettuce this week, so I was glad to have it as well.  I love the vacation flexibility with Fresh Fork!

Geauga Family Farms–week 11

CSA No Responses »
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:

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Let’s take a closer look.

Green bell peppers, onions

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Hot pepper, yellow squash

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Pickling cucumbers, peaches

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Yellow beans, basil

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Beets, watermelon

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Tomatoes, cherry tomatoes

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Eggplant, cabbage

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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.

Geauga Family Farms–week 10

CSA No Responses »
Aug 162011
 

Today was the 10th pick up for the Geauga Family Farms CSA.  This week’s share was similar to last week’s share.

Here’s what we received:

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Let’s take a closer look.

Cherry tomatoes, carrots

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Lettuce and more lettuce

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Watermelon, cantaloupe

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Green bell peppers, broccli

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Yellow squash, eggplant

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Cucumber, zucchini (yes it looks funny, but it is a variety of zucchini)

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HOT peppers, slicing tomatoes

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Peaches, green beans

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We got 3 different types of fruit.  That is pretty odd for our CSA, but we love fruit.  Most of the items this week will be easy to use.  The fruit will disappear in a couple of days.

One pepper and the cucumber will go into salad along with the lettuce.  We ate the broccoli for dinner tonight.  The beans will make a great side dish to our meal tomorrow.  Carrots, eggplant and squash feel like staples in our house, so we’ll be making a quiche or lasagna to use them up soon.

Then, there are the hot peppers.  If there is one item that I wish we didn’t get, it would be the hot peppers.  I just haven’t found a good use for them yet.  But, I am determined.  I’ll keep you all posted!

Geauga Family Farms–week 9

CSA No Responses »
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:

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Let’s take a closer look.

Cherry tomatoes, slicing tomatoes

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Peaches, beets

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Green peppers, hot peppers

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Eggplant, yellow squash

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Cucumber, lettuce

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Lettuce, yellow wax beans

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Parsley, watermelon

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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 8

CSA 2 Responses »
Aug 022011
 

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

Here’s what we received:

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Let’s take a closer look.

Zucchini, cucumber

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Eggplant, cabbage

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Onion, yellow squash

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Tomatoes, cauliflower

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Blackberries, cherry tomatoes

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Hot peppers, Roma tomatoes

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Basil, lettuce

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Lettuce

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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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