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Fresh Fork Market Winter CSA–week 1

Nov 082012

Today was the first pick up for the winter program with our Fresh Fork CSA. It was also our first pick up in the dark. Since we are on to the winter program, Mayfield is no longer a pick up site, so we pick up in Beachwood. Thursdays, Nick and Sally have swim lessons, so we pick up on the late side around 5:30PM. Stephen is a great help and set up the lights for me so I could take decent photos.

Here’s what we were expecting this week:

Winter Week 1:

1 whole pasture raised chicken, approx. 5 lbs.
2 spaghetti squash (unless we have a few enormous ones)
1 half gallon apple cider
1 quarter peck Winesap apples
1 handful sweet peppers (all of them are sweet, even though some look hot)
1 bunch turnip greens
1 bunch kale
1 head cauliflower
1 dozen eggs
1 bunch beets with tops
1 stalk Brussels sprouts
1/2 lb. bag stir fry mix

And, it’s exactly what we received.

I was excited to see the Brussels sprouts. I’ve been eyeing this recipe from my pal Katie. I’m thawing my bacon for it now. I have all of the other ingredients on hand. We were out of eggs, so I was glad to get them in my bag this week. I’ve made the butternut squash custard drink a couple of times now and don’t want to be out of eggs just in case I want to make it again.

These are the turnip greens. We don’t get them too often. My go to recipe for greens that I don’t know what to do with is quiche. So, I’ll probably make one of them this week. It will include some leftover chicken and turnip greens. And, it’s another reason that I’m glad we got eggs this week (although I also have some eggs frozen that I could use). I like cooking the whole chickens. We had them a lot growing up, so they never intimidated me. I like making stock and using all of the pieces.

The different colors of cauliflower have been fun. I’ll make this as a side dish and maybe serve them mashed. The stir fry mix will go into a stir fry. Wasn’t that an original idea. I may combine it with some spaghetti squash and serve it Asian style.

My family isn’t a big fan of the spaghetti squash with tomato squash. I need to investigate some additional recipes for it. The peppers will go into chili that I am making tomorrow.

I’ll probably just sauté the kale. I don’t have anything specific in mind. I’ll make Harvard beets and use the greens in some eggs this week.

Apples almost always go in oatmeal and for snacks. These will be no exception. I don’t like apple cider. I may decide to try it again some day, but it always has given me a headache. That being said, Stephen, Nick and Sally all like it so they will enjoy it this week.

So, our winter season is off and running. Three weeks in a row and then we go to every other week until May. I love the CSAs, but I am also looking forward to a break in the action so we can use some of our preserved food. I also need to start cooking some of the lamb soon.

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.

Fresh Fork Market 2012 Summer CSA–week 15

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Sep 132012

We have plans tomorrow evening, so we picked up our CSA in Beachwood today. There was quite a line when we arrived, but it moved quickly.

I love the colors this week!

Here’s what we were expecting:

1 bunch golden beets
Approx. 2.5 lbs. San Marzano Roma Tomatoes
Either heirloom tomatoes or 1 pint grape tomatoes
1 pint yummy pepper mix (all sweet peppers)
1 lb. Berkshire bacon
1/2 lb. mixed baby greens (chard, kale, arugula, mizuna, and more)
1 head cabbage
1 quarter peck Gala apples
1 head broccoli
8 oz. grass-fed smoked cheddar cheese
1 half pint of either Pappy’s pepper butter (like a sweet and tangy homemade mustard) or 1 half pint of Pappy’s Candied Jalapeños (semi-hot jalapeños in a honey syrup)
A handful of colored peppers (red long peppers probably early week and purple peppers later week)

I’m not sure what happened, but we ended up with eggs and spaghetti squash. We didn’t get broccoli. I can see the switch with broccoli and squash – but eggs? We also got lettuce, but I think that was a deliberate attempt at BLT ingredients.

I have two spaghetti squashes. I’m thinking about making it Italian style and serving it like spaghetti. I think everyone in the house will eat it like that (especially with cheese on it). The head of cabbage is pretty small. I think I’ll keep it a few days and then make some of my coleslaw.

We’ll be eating apples in our oatmeal. Also, I ordered a new dehydrator and I’m anxious to try fruit rolls, so some puree might be in order. These are really good paste tomatoes, so they’ll end up in sauce at some point. For now, the freezer will be their home, along with the heirloom tomatoes. We have an over abundance of tomatoes this year, but we aren’t getting them all at once, so it’s harder to make and can sauce.

The Pappy’s Pepper Butter is medium hot. I’m not a fan of hot things, but I’m determined to try this and a few other things that are on our shelf soon. My goal is to eat from our house as much as possible.

Delicious bacon never goes to waste around here. I didn’t get it in the freezer right away, so it’s thawing in the fridge. We’ll probably have it on Saturday or Sunday. I wasn’t expecting eggs and we have an overabundance. I’m going to gift a dozen to my mom since she’s helping with the kids tomorrow.

I don’t think I’ve ever tried this cheese, but there are very few that I don’t like. All of the peppers this week should be sweet (not hot!) and I’m happy about that.

We also got some mixed greens. This batch looks pretty good to me, so I’m going to have a big salad for lunch tomorrow. I’ve gotten away from lunch salads and need to get back to them since they are delicious.

We still have some beets from the other week, so I am going cook all of them all of them tonight or tomorrow. I’ll probably make a big batch of Harvard beets since we haven’t had them for a while. The lettuce looks very tasty and will be good in salads or maybe a BLT.

There’s 7 weeks left and I’m already getting sad that the season will be ending soon. It’s a good think there’s a winter program starting sometime in November.

Fresh Fork Market 2012 Summer CSA–week 10

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Aug 102012

We picked up our bag at Mayfield this week. It was the heaviest bag ever. I had to split it into two bags to carry it to the car.

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

1 dz. eggs
1 piece gouda cheese
A handful of hot Hungarian peppers
Approx. 2 to 3 green peppers, depending on size
1 head cabbage (most will be green)
Either 1 pint mixed color cherry tomatoes or about 1.5 lbs. heirloom tomatoes
1 lb. green filet beans
2 ct. cucumbers
1 pint blackberries or approx. 1.5 lbs. peaches
1.5 lbs. spelt berries
1 bunch beets
1 lb. chorizo
1 head broccoli
2 ct. patty pan squash
6 ears sweet corn

I’m going to be preserving peppers and squash tonight. We have enough of both to can or freeze. I’m also going to make a small batch of pickles with my cucumbers since I have a few.

We ate the sweet corn for dinner. This is one of the weeks when dinner was determined bulkiness.

We’ll be having beans with lunch tomorrow. I’m not sure about the tomatoes, but they might just get pureed and frozen for later.

The cheese will keep a few days. The peaches won’t be ready to eat for a couple of days, but will go great in our oatmeal.

The carrots will make a side dish for dinner tomorrow. These peppers are hot and that is my least favorite Fresh Fork item. I’ll probably just freeze them for chili this winter.

We have an abundance of eggs and I’m going to make some custard tomorrow. I’m also going to hard boil some to have for snacks. The chorizo was partially thawed, so it will become part of lunch tomorrow.

The spelt berries are in the pantry. The beets will get used tomorrow. I’ll probably make Harvard beets again. It’s a household favorite.

The cauliflower was dinner. I made it “mac and cheese” style. I used the cauliflower (received instead of broccoli) as the pasta and made a white cheese sauce that used Mayfield Road creamery Smoked Gouda. It was delicious. I don’t have plans for the cabbage yet.

I’m leaving town on Sunday and will be back late on Wednesday. I should have taken a vacation week with Fresh Fork, but I wasn’t really thinking. I’m going to prepare and preserve as much as possible before I leave. My goal is for Stephen to have food for while the kids and I are gone, but not be overwhelmed when he tries to find something in the fridge. I did sign up for vacation next week. That will give me a few days of recovery when I get back. Our freezer is pretty full right now. I just need a couple of days to make some jam and get a bit organized. I’m hoping to make time for that next weekend.

Wholesome Valley Farm: Foraging for Eggs, Produce Picking and More Fun for the Kids.

Adventures with Nick and Sally, CSA No Responses »

Aug 082012

Here’s the last installment from our day at Wholesome Valley Farm. First, here’s an overview photo of the barn, parking and main area. If you look closely, you can see the bounce house. Our kids had lots of fun in it, but I never took any photos of them jumping.

One of the first thing that the kids did was this cart ride. They loved it. It’s a bit strange to send your 2 and 4 year olds off with kids that aren’t all that much older, but they were never totally out of sight and had a blast!

In addition to the bounce house, the kids loved the corn box. Here’s Sally sitting in the corn. She spent lots of time in the box. The next photo is of the chicken house. The chickens can come and go as they please. It was fun to check them out.

Two of the Amish boys help us gather eggs. The kids (and I) thought it was great. One of the eggs was still warm. Eggs don’t get any fresher.

After gathering eggs, the kids got to check out the 2 day old chicks. The expressions were hard to capture, but were priceless.

Last up was produce picking. It was super fun for Nick and Sally to pick a few items from the fields. They ended up with patty pan squash, onions, carrots, and tomatoes. The produce picking came with a ride in the golf cart which was also fun for the kids.

It was such a fun day and the weather was great. The kids are still talking about it. Thanks to the 2 Amish boys especially. They were super nice to Nick and Sally and really made them feel special.

Fresh Fork Market 2012 Summer CSA–week 7

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Jul 202012

We picked up our bag in Beachwood yesterday. Some weeks, it’s just more convenient for us. I love the colors in this week’s bag.

Here’s what we were expecting to receive:

1 dozen pasture raised chicken eggs
1 piece Havarti from Mayfield Road Creamery (8 oz.)
2 ct. zucchini or squash
1 bunch carrots or 1 bunch beets (switching from last week)
1 lb. whole wheat linguini
6 ears sweet corn
1 lb green beans
1-2 bulb onions depending on size
1 lb. apricots
2 lbs. peaches
Approx. 1.5 lbs. tomatoes
1 pint mixed color cherry tomatoes
1 pint blueberries

We were missing our blueberries. I’m hoping to stop by Mayfield today and pick them up. We are a bit overstocked on eggs at the moment. My niece and nephew are coming next week and they love eggs, so I think it will all even out. I packed some of the tomatoes in Stephen’s lunch this morning. I doubt any will be left by tomorrow.

I’m actually keeping up with onions. These are the only two that we have in our fridge. I’m guessing they will just be used in regular cooking this week. I’m hoping to grill zucchini for dinner tomorrow.

These tomatoes will probably be made into tomato béchamel sauce for our pasta. It’s convenient that we received carrots this week too.

Peaches and apricots disappear around here quickly. Nick likes to do a magic trick where the apricot turns into a pit. If there are any left tomorrow, we’ll grill some with our zucchini.

Everyone in our house loves cheese, so there’s never a need to figure out a plan. The pasta will be an easy meal for lunch on Sunday with the sauce.

The beans will make a good side dish for dinner tonight, along with the corn.

I’ve also been buying yogurt and milk from the truck. Between the CSA and the extras, our fridge is packed today. It sure beats shopping at the grocery store.

Fresh Fork Market 2012 Summer CSA – week 3

CSA 1 Response »

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 Winter CSA–week 13

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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:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 11

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Mar 152012

It’s hard to believe that it’s week 11 already. It’s also the middle of March. It won’t be long until we are picking strawberries! We arrived at Beachwood High School to find Trevor manning the truck this week. Also, due to baseball practice, the truck was in a different part of the parking lot. I had that strange feeling that I was there on the wrong day for just a second. Once we circled around the lot, Nick noticed the green bags and all was well.

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.

Fresh Fork Winter CSA–week 8

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Feb 022012

Today was our week 8 pick up for our Fresh Fork CSA. We got there about 5PM and didn’t have any wait at all. It’s nice when the kids can just run around for a minute or two.

Here’s what we were expecting this week:

1 stewing chicken, approximately 2.5 lbs.
1 bag dried egg noodles
1 pint fig vinegar roasted cherry tomatoes
1 lb. egg linguini
1 lb. bacon
1 bag spinach or mixed greens
1 8-oz. piece of cheese
1 dozen eggs
2 lbs. cornmeal
1 quarter peck apples
3 lbs. sweet potatoes (please keep refrigerated)

Here’s a group shot:

We were notified early today that there wasn’t going to be spinach. The yield wasn’t as the farmer had hoped.

I was glad to see apples today. We love having them in our oatmeal. I don’t think I’ve ever cooked a stewing chicken. From reading, it sounds like it will make great stock. I have some carrots and celery in the fridge to add to it. I’ll probably also add the noodles.

We had our choice of beer or cheddar cheese. I chose beer cheese since it sounded more fun.

Our kids call the Ohio City linguini “spider web pasta”. It’s always welcome in our house in any flavor. Maybe we’ll top it with the roasted cherry tomatoes for dinner one night.

I don’t feel like we use a ton of eggs in our house, but we always seem to use them up. Baked oatmeal, muffins, pancakes, and such all use an egg or two at a time and it adds ups. I’ve been leaving the bacon frozen and cutting it across the width for smaller pieces of bacon as flavoring in dishes. It works well since I don’t need to thaw all of it at once and it last longer for us.

I’m hoping to have the sweet potato / chorizo type of hash that Stephen made for us before using the potatoes. I think we have all of the ingredients in house. Our kids eat corn muffins like they are going out of style. I also want to try some pancakes made out of corn meal soon.

We also picked up a bag of corn chips ($3.5) from the back of the truck.

All in all, this is a pretty easy week. I’m glad to have a chance to use up more from our freezer stash. We have two small freezers in the basement and one needs to be defrosted soon. I’m hoping to tackle that in the next 2-3 weeks.

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