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Geauga Family Farms–summer week 8

Jul 242012

Today, I took 4 kids with me to pick up the Geauga Family Farms CSA at Whole Foods. Since my niece and nephew are here, we had two extra with us. It was not our smoothest pick up because Aunt Lyn / mommy camp is really wearing out the kids. Everyone was tired and grumpy.

Here’s what we received in our single share:

lettuce, patty pan squash

green pepper, onion

cherry tomatoes, potatoes

green beans, fennel

I was quite happy to see lettuce in the share this week. We’ve been out since Saturday. We’ll roast the patty pan squash and stuff it for lunch one day soon. I like to use some sausage, rice or egg and veggies in a stuffing.

The green pepper will go into our salad and also be used for snacking. I’m going to probably just chop up the onion and freeze it. The cherry tomatoes will go to lunch with Stephen the next couple of days. I’ll probably make some mashed potatoes and green beans for dinner tomorrow.

In 4 years of doing different CSA programs, I received fennel for the first time today. I’m anxious to read a little about it and pick out a good recipe or two. I’m hoping that I can find something with ingredients that I already have on hand so I can use it tomorrow!

Other than the fennel, this is a pretty straight forward week. I’m hoping for fruit next week!

Geauga Family Farms CSA–summer week 7

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Jul 172012

It’s week 7 of our Geauga Family Farms CSA. We made our pick up at Whole Foods and headed home as quickly as possible since it’s 97 degrees outside.

Here’s what we received in our small share this week:

tomatoes, pickling cucumbers

onions, cucumbers

zucchini, cherry tomatoes

beets, lettuce

green beans

I think we’ve passed the heavy greens part of the season with all of the heat lately. I suspect, we’ll see more greens when the weather cools toward the end of the CSA season. The tomatoes will be great for salads. Stephen and Nick like them. Sally and I do not. If anyone has any tips on learning to like the texture of tomatoes, please let me know.

I’m going to make refrigerator pickles with both types of cucumbers this week. I need to slice the onion for a cabbage dish that I am going to make. I used the reserved onions in tonight’s dinner, so I need to replenish. I had some squash grilled at an event this past weekend, so I decided to just make zucchini straight up tonight. I’m not sure what I don’t eat it like that more often. This week’s zucchini will be eaten with minimal preparation.

I’m going to venture out of my comfort zone on the beets and try to use one raw on some salad. I may also use some on a quesadilla of sorts. I’ll let you know how it turns out. The beet greens weren’t worth keeping this week.

The lettuce will go to salad and the beans will be a great side dish in the next day or two. I was sad that we didn’t receive any fruit this week. I was expecting blueberries. The ones we received the last couple of weeks were so good. I have plans to go picking on Thursday, so I’ll be able to replenish our supply then.

With all of my preparations over the weekend, I feel very caught up in the kitchen and ready to tackle this week’s share.

Geauga Family Farms CSA–summer week 6

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Jul 102012

Today, we had pick up number 6 for our Geauga Family Farms CSA. The Whole Food pick up has been different this year. There’s not one person from Whole Foods manning the pick up. It’s more of a self serve in the back room and stop at the desk to check off your name. It’s fine in the back room, the kids and I miss seeing Andrew.

Here’s what we received this week:

cherry tomatoes, blueberries

tomato, squash (yellow squash and zucchini)

cucumber, onion

lettuce, cauliflower

green beans, basil

Stephen and Nick will probably eat all of the cherry tomatoes tomorrow. I’m glad that’s one item that I never have to worry about. We are also going to get some out of our garden this year. We’re psyched about that. The blueberries made me smile. I picked 7 pounds of blueberries today, so this container doesn’t seem like much to me. I froze most of what I picked already. These will be used on cereal at breakfast or snacks tomorrow. Nick is in camp this week and has to pack a snack and lunch. I’ve been trying to give him as many good local items as possible.

I’m going to try squash chips with the squash this week. I’ve read a few recipes on line and will create my own version of them. I hope that I can get enough moisture out of them to make them crunchy. The tomato and lettuce will go in salads. The cucumber will be chopped up for snacks.

We have quite a bit of onion at the moment. I’ll try to make fajitas this week. We still have pepper strips frozen that need used up anyway. I’m in the mood for homemade whole wheat tortillas so that will work out well.

We’ll have the cauliflower as a side dish one day this week. We had the beans with dinner tonight. They were absolutely delicious and there’s just enough left to put a few in Stephen’s lunch tomorrow.

The basil looks a bit tired, but I’m sure it will be tasty. I’m going to make a vinaigrette dressing with it.

I haven’t really tried many actual recipes lately. I’m planning to carve out some more time for cooking in the next couple of weeks. I feel like I’m still adjusting from being away on vacation. I’m already looking forward to next week’s share.

Geauga Family Farms CSA-summer week 3

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Jun 192012

Today was the third week for the Geauga Family Farms CSA. It was a crazy evening for me (husband Stephen) to pick up the CSA,but I made it to Whole Foods in time to buy a bit of dinner (sushi and tomato bisque soup – a truly international combination) before picking up the CSA. Then it was off to the day’s next event…

Here is what I found in this week’s share:

First up was some good-looking lettuce and some bunching onions.

Tomatoes and peas. Yum! I’m not sure if these are garden or sugar snap peas. I’ll have to try one or two to find out.

Garlic scapes and zucchini.

Last, but not least, some cherry tomatoes.

We also ordered a dozen eggs as an extra item.

Geauga Family Farms–Winter CSA week 6

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Dec 172011

It’s hard to believe that this was the last Geauga Family Farms CSA pick up for the winter. Once again, Stephen and the kids went to St. Noel to pick up our share. I had a scheduled hike that began at 10AM in Ashtabula County.

Here’s a group shot of what we received:

Let’s take a closer look:

Wheat bread (not 100%), Swiss chard

Radishes, very large sweet potato

Lettuce, spinach

Cabbage, turnip

Beets

We were getting pretty low on produce. Before this pick up we had a small head of cabbage and a little bit of lettuce left. Most of these items are quite welcome in our fridge.

We’ve had many meals out this week, but I’m happy to say that after tonight, I don’t have any meals planned out this entire week. Eating at home will make it very easy to use our veggies.

I’ll probably make unstuffed cabbage again. It’s easy and freezes well. Stephen sliced the bread so we could freeze it. I’ll make Harvard beets again. It’s an easy recipe and everyone likes them.

I never know what to do with the turnip, but last time I made some turnip and potato soup that turned out well, so I am guessing that will make an encore appearance.

The spinach will get used in a pasta dish or quiche this week. We’ve been cooking the chard with some onion, spice and Balsamic vinegar.

I’m looking forward to cooking a few local fresh meals at home.

Geauga Family Farms–Winter CSA week 5

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Dec 102011

The kids and Stephen went up to St. Noel’s today to pick up week 5 of our Geauga Family Farms CSA. Next week is the last pickup for the winter share. Today’s pickup was particularly great.

Here’s a group shot of what we received:

Let’s take a closer look:

Butternut squash, sweet potatoes

Eggs (Yeah!), garlic

Broccoli, carrots

Red cabbage, beets

Two kinds of lettuce

Wheat bread

We have quite a few squash right now. I will be baking most of them tomorrow and making squash puree for the freezer. We also have quite a few sweet potatoes. The kids really like the baked sweet potato slices, so we’ll be making them again soon.

Eggs we use in everyday cooking and they are always welcome. We have quite a bit of garlic frozen, but this is our only fresh piece. I’ll be putting it in chili this week.

The broccoli and carrots both went into Shepherd’s pie tonight. It was delicious. I used local butter, potatoes, ground beef, broccoli, cauliflower and carrots.

I don’t have any immediate plans for the cabbage, but something will come to me soon. The beets will be combined with some others in the fridge for Harvard beets.

We had some of the lettuce in salad today and will probably use the rest in a day or two. The wheat bread is almost 1/2 gone. It made nice peanut butter and apple butter toast for snacks today.

I’ll be sad to see this CSA end next week.

Geauga Family Farms–Winter CSA week 3

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Nov 192011

Today was our pick up for week 3 of the winter Geauga Family Farms CSA. The truck was 45 minutes late! We had a full morning packed and had to rearrange our schedule due to the delay. The truck is supposed to get there at 8:30AM and pick up time is from 8:45AM until 10:15AM. The truck arrived at 9:15AM. I had gotten there at 8:45AM. I had a nice chat with the St. Noel volunteer Kathy. It’s a great pick up site, but I really miss my Tuesday pick up. We are just so busy on the weekends that we don’t have much flexibility.

Here’s a group shot of what we received:

Let’s take a closer look:

Small pumpkin roll, daikon radish

Pie pumpkin, parsley

Sweet potatoes, oak leaf lettuce

Leaf lettuce, broccoli

We enjoyed part of the pumpkin roll today. That will disappear quickly. I’m not sure what we are going to do with the daikon radish. I think I’ll make some pumpkin puree for smoothies and pancakes with the pie pumpkin. I’m going to try to make parsley potatoes with the parsley.

We were out of lettuce, so a few salads are in order. The broccoli will get used as a side with leftover chicken tomorrow. We still have a few sweet potatoes left, but we’ll be making sweet potato fries this week.

With the exception of the daikon radish, everything is common and will be very easy for us to use up. It’s a good thing since we get a regular and a Thanksgiving package pick up on Tuesday with our other CSA. I miss the eggs. The winter CSA was supposed to have eggs each week, but there’s been a shortage. Hopefully, we’ll get some eggs in the last couple of weeks. The Geauga Family Farms CSA runs for 6 weeks and we are half way done already. It goes so fast.

Geauga Family Farms Winter CSA–week 2

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Nov 122011

Today was our pick up for week 2 of the winter Geauga Family Farms CSA. We had a full schedule for today and I just ran up to St. Noel without the kids to pick it up first thing this morning.

Here’s a group shot of what we received:

Potatoes, bok choy

Radishes, beets

Acorn squash, apples

1/2 dozen eggs, 2 small heads of lettuce

Dozen of chocolate chip cookies

We have quite a supply of potatoes at the moment. I’ll be rotating these into our storage and trying to make a couple of potato recipes this week. I’m thinking that some kind of Shepard’s pie may be in order. The last time we got bok choy, I cooked it in the crock pot with Asian spices (ginger and sesame oil) and served it to my husband with soba noodles and pork. He liked it. The rest of the family isn’t big on the sesame flavor.

We’re going to roast radishes this week. We’re also going to make Harvard beets. I think I have 2 bunches of both in the fridge right now.

Acorn squash is one of my favorite squash. I’ve been making a rue and adding squash puree and seasonings for use over whole wheat pasta. It will be lunch a couple of days this week.

We’re still using apples in our oatmeal everyday while the season is still here.

We were out of eggs and I’m cooking my dish ahead for Thanksgiving tomorrow so the eggs will disappear quickly. The lettuce will be eaten with salad.

The cookies are GONE!

Looks like another week of great, fresh, local food!

Geauga Family Farms Winter CSA–week 1

CSA 2 Responses »

Nov 052011

Today was our first pickup for our winter Geauga Family Farms CSA. For the 6 week winter program, our pick up is on Saturday at St. Noel church in Willoughby. For the most part, this works well for us although there is the occasional time when we have other plans on Saturday and would prefer not to bother.

Here’s a group shot of what we received:

2 types of lettuce

Sweet potatoes, green onions

Lacinato blue kale, wheat bread

Daikon radish, green bell pepper

Cabbage, acorn squash

We’ll enjoy the lettuce in salads this week. We have some other salad greens as well and they will mix nicely together. We can’t get enough sweet potatoes. Lately, I’ve just been slicing and baking them. We have been using the onions and pepper in unstuffed cabbage and will make that again this week.

By the way, I had no idea we had lacinato blue kale. I was able to check with the farm reps and get a speedy reply! I’ll probably cook it like my other greens. I usually saute them with garlic, onions, peppers and a splash of balsamic vinegar.

The Daikon radish always stumps me. We’ve made “chips” and soup before. I’ll have to see what strikes me this week.

I was surprised that we didn’t get eggs. I thought we were going to get a dozen eggs and a baked good each week. I’m guessing that with the abundance of other items still available that we will get eggs some of the future weeks. I’ve been enjoying the local eggs, but I wasn’t out yet.

It looks like a great week!

Geauga Family Farms CSA–week 20–the final week

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Oct 252011

Today was our last visit to Whole Foods to pick up our 2011 summer CSA. Just about every week, we were greeted by Andrew. He usually works in the kitchen in the morning, but somehow ended up with the Tuesday afternoon CSA gig most of the summer. He was super nice to everyone, especially Nick and Sally.

The photos are dark again this week. Maybe I can figure out some evening lighting for next year. Here’s the group shot for this week.

Let’s take a closer look:

Green onions, green beans

Red Russian Kale, bell peppers

Butternut squash, lettuce

Radishes, apples

Sweet potatoes, tomatoes

Garlic

We’ve been going through a ton of apples this year. Between morning oats, snacks and applesauce, I can’t keep them in the house. We went picking for the last time this year, but I was still glad to see apples in our pick up today.

I still have some cabbage in our fridge. I’ll be making another batch of unstuffed cabbage in the crockpot Thursday. It will use the garlic, tomatoes, bell peppers, and green onion. I love having a recipe that uses many CSA ingredients and is also flexible.

My kids have been asking for sweet potatoes the last couple of days. I usually slice them, season them and bake them. They disappear quickly with a bit of ketchup for dipping.

Lettuce and some radishes will go in lunch salads. The rest of the radishes will go into turnip soup. The green beans make an easy side dish.

I’m not quite sure about the squash yet. I’m thinking about making some butternut squash soup, but I’m not sure of the timing since I need to make turnip soup first.

It’s supposed to get cold this week. I’m glad we have some hearty items that go well with ovens and soup. It’s been a fun season. I’m already excited about the winter CSA.

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