Fresh Fork Winter CSA–week 14

CSA No Responses »
Apr 262012
 

It’s week 14 of the Fresh Fork CSA winter subscription.  It’s hard to believe that the summer season starts on June 6th.  I also read this week that local strawberries are about 4 weeks out.  It seems crazy that we’ll have strawberries before the CSA starts.

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

  • 1 package chicken brats
  • 4 oz. feta cheese
  • 1/2 lb. mixed salad greens
  • 1/4 lb. ramps
  • 1 lb. fresh ramp pasta
  • 1 bag/bunch of kale or chard, depending on what the farmers harvest
  • 1 quart yogurt
  • 1 quarter peck Fuji apples
  • 2 lbs. butter, salted or unsalted

Here’s a group shot:

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We’ll put the chicken brats in the freezer.  They will make a good meal one day this week.  I’ll use the Swiss chard to make a quick side dish.

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We’ll use the feta cheese and mixed greens in salads.

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Last time, we used the ramps in meatloaf that worked pretty well.  I’m thinking of putting them into ham loaf or a frittata.  I think the ramp pasta will go well with the leftover sauce from yesterday’s dinner.

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I bought some apples yesterday to tie us over until today’s pickup.  We love putting them in our oatmeal.  We still have some butter frozen that I’ve been using up.  Since I’d like to rotate my stock, I’ll be freezing this butter.  We chose the unsalted butter.  I can’t remember the last time I used salted butter.

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Getting yogurt in the bag just means I buy less extra ones. It’s always welcome. I wish it came in a gallon size. The big restaurant size is something like a 3 gallon container and it won’t fit in our fridge.  So, we got one in our package this week and I purchased 3 extra.

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The bag this week is great, but I’m looking forward to more photogenic produce.  I miss the weeks were we had so many colors of the rainbow.

Fresh Fork Winter CSA–week 10

CSA No Responses »
Mar 012012
 

Today was a crazy day.  We ran errands before our trip the gym.  Then, we had an indoor picnic before heading home.  Sally napped for a short time.  Nick napped for a short time after I decided that driving them around in the car was my best bet for some quiet time.  Then, it was off to swimming.  While Nick took his lesson, Sally and I swam.  By the time we made it to pick up our CSA, I was pretty done.  I was glad that they weren’t busy and we were able to do a rare drive thru pick up.  Thanks to Eric and Robert for having bags all ready to go.  It was great with the tired kids!

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

  • 1 pork roast
  • 1 half pint raspberry jalapeno jam
  • 1/2 lb. mixed salad greens
  • 1 pt. pickled banana peppers, hot or medium
  • Frozen fruit (cantaloupe or watermelon, great for smoothies)
  • 1 head cabbage
  • 2 lbs. turnips
  • 1 lb. cracked black pepper linguini
  • quarter peck Fuji apples

Here’s a group shot:

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Apples are always welcome for snacking and oatmeal.  I’ll probably do the roast in a crockpot recipe this week.   I’m trying to use the crock pot more so we can enjoy dinner without last minute prep and cooking.  It really helps with the dishes if we only have to do the ones we used to actually eat after dinner time.

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I’m at a loss with the peppers.  We don’t really eat much hot food.  These are supposed to be mild so maybe they will appear in some fajitas or chili soon.  I’m hoping the jam is more sweet than hot and that the jalapeno adds more flavor than bite.  I’ll have to let you know.

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The greens are pretty standard.  They aren’t really my favorite this time of year.  The frozen fruit will be lucky to be in our freezer by this time tomorrow.  The kids are excited about smoothies.

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The Fresh Fork CSA staff has been giving us lots of ideas for the turnips.  I haven’t decided which recipe to go with, but I want to use them tomorrow or Saturday. I popped the pasta in the freezer.  It will make a quick meal one day this week.

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I’ve been making unstuffed cabbage with much of our cabbage this winter.  It’s easy and I can make it in the crockpot.  I suspect that will appear on our table this week.

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Even with the drive thru pickup, we still had our $3.50 ready just in case Robert had some corn chips.  Everyone was hungry after swimming and these kept everyone entertained for the drive home.

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I really like the variety of staple and storage items that we get to try out during the winter CSA, but I’m glad it’s March.  I hope the spring weather treats the farmers well.  I’m really getting in the mood for summer fresh produce.