Don’t get me wrong, I love most of the items on the list.  But, many of them are either things we’ve been getting all summer or items that are just starting to appear.  The only item that would have been new and fun would have been the mini Mira sweet corn.  Maybe I’ll get lucky and still be able to obtain some of it.

I hope everyone enjoys their share this week.  I’m hoping for lots of winter squash in the upcoming weeks.

Here’s what the large share is scheduled to receive this week:

• 1 whole pasture raised chicken
• 3 lbs. Yukon gold potatoes
• 1 bunch kale or 1 pint mixed color baby sweet peppers
• 2 ct. eggplant (1 if they are really large)
• 2 ct. red bell peppers
• 1 head green leaf lettuce
• 1-2 onions, depending on size
• 1 lb. dragon-tongue beans
• 2 ct. zucchini
• 6 ears mini Mira sweet corn
• 3 lbs. sweet potatoes
• 1-2 leeks
• A handful Poblano peppers

Enjoy the change from summer to winter this weekend.

Here’s an overview of what we received (minus the watermelon):

Here’s what we were expecting:

• 1 large watermelon
• 1 head green leaf lettuce
• Approx. 2 eggplant
• 1 bunch carrots with tops
• 1 pint grape tomatoes or Approx. 1.5 lbs. heirloom tomatoes
• 1 quart concord grapes
• Approx. 1 lb. red slicing tomatoes
• 1-2 onions depending on size
• 1 bulb garlic
• 1 lb. beans
• 1 lb. roasted red pepper linguini
• Red peppers
• 1 lb. bacon breakfast patties
• 1 bunch leeks
• 3 lb. bag potatoes

The green beans are dark and rich in color.  I think I’ll pull a roast out of the freezer for Sunday and serve them as a side dish.  I’m tired of tomato season.  It’s nice that farmers are figuring out ways to grow them longer during the growing season using hoop houses and such, but I don’t really care for tomatoes and I’ve been spending my energy elsewhere, so I have tons of frozen tomatoes in the freezer for chili, soup and other dishes and I’m looking forward to the end of adding to it.

I froze the grapes from last week in hopes that we would get them again.  I’m going to make grape sorbet or jam with them.

Onion and garlic is status quo at this point.  They’ll end up in soup or fajitas this week.

I’ll probably use the carrot and leek in our tomato soup.  Nick had fun making it last time, so I thought I’d let him cut up veggies for it again.

I’m going to roast the peppers and add them into a white sauce to serve over the pasta.  It’s red pepper linguini, so that should mesh nicely.

I’ll be cooking the breakfast patties soon since we let them thaw when we were out this evening.  I’m always at a loss for egg plant.  I’ll probably roast it with onions, beets and other veggies tomorrow and see if something else inspires me.

The potatoes will go great with our roast.  The lettuce will make a couple of good salads.

I’m glad to see that melon season isn’t quite over.  This will be great to have around this weekend.  It’s on the larger size, but I suspect it will be gone by Monday.

I’m hoping to cook at home a lot this weekend.  We have lots of great looking stuff to use this week.

Since I was in Utah earlier in the week, I opted to take a vacation week this week.  Occasionally, I take a vacation week when we are having busy week or if I feel behind on veggies even if I am actually in town on pick up day..  Then, I usually hold my breath and hope that Trevor doesn’t send out the “best bag of the season” list two days later since vacation requests are due on Saturday and the list usually comes out on Monday.

Here’s what folks received in their bags this week:

• 3# bag red Norland potatoes
• 1/2 dozen sweet corn
• 1 bunch leeks (may be 1 leek depending on size)
• 1 bulb fennel
• Approx. 1.5 lbs. heirloom tomatoes
• 2 oz basil
• Approx. 2 lbs. slicing tomatoes
• 1 lb. grass-fed ground beef
• Approx. 2 lbs. peaches
• 1-2 eggplant, depending on size
• 2 zucchini or squash
• 1-2 onions
• 2-3 “Italian frier” peppers (red sweet stuffing peppers)
• 1 melon – choice of cantaloupe or watermelon
• 1/2 lb. Swiss chard
• 1 bulb garlic
• 1 piece Havarti cheese

I’ve been hearing from other people who do CSAs that they have too much food or are too busy to get it all used.  I can’t say that we are perfect in our house, but we are pretty good at blanching, chopping and freezing items to make sure we don’t waste food when we are particular busy or have an over abundance.

Almost all of the above items could be froze with little effort.  I love pulling items out of the freezer in the middle of winter and getting a taste of fresh local food.

I think every bag is outstanding, but this is a bag that has lots of items that we get on a fairly regular basis.  I am happy with my decision to be on vacation.  With a little luck, I’ll get a photo of a large share tomorrow and add a photo to my post.

Here’s what we were expecting this week:

• 1 half gallon apple cider
• 1 quarter peck of Mutsu apples (very large, tart apples)
• 1 lb. nitrate free bacon
• 1 dozen pasture raised chicken eggs
• 1.5 lbs. white spelt flour
• 1 large white stem bok choy
• 1 bunch medium leeks
• 1 bag, half lb., of young mustard green mix
• 2 lbs. butter, salted or unsalted
• 1 lb. pumpkin sage linguini
• 1 head cabbage
• 1 head cauliflower

Here’s a group shot:

We ate the pumpkin sage linguini for dinner tonight.  There’s one serving left and I’m hoping to have it for lunch tomorrow.  We’ve been out of fresh apples for oatmeal the last few days, so these are welcome.

I put the bacon in the freezer.  Soon, I’ll make a version of my uncle’s stuffing and it will use the bacon.  The spelt flour came as whole wheat.  This is fine with us since we use whole wheat flour all of the time.

I was happy to get unsalted butter this time.  We don’t usually buy salted butter.  I’m looking forward to trying it.  I never know what to do with leeks.  I’ll probably chop them up in an Asian stir fry for Stephen along with the bok choy.

We’ll have our standard sautéed greens with balsamic, garlic, salt and pepper with these greens.

Personally, apple cider is too sweet, but my husband and kids love it, so it’s always welcome.  Behind all of these leaves is a head of cauliflower.  Everyone in our house likes cauliflower, so it will go quickly.

Cabbage is used in the stuffing recipe that I’d like to make in the next few days.  I may freeze the cabbage by blanching it just to give me time to use some of our other items up.  We were almost out of eggs.  I need them for my sweet potato recipe and for waffles this weekend.

We got the granola that was owed to use from the last pickup and purchased some more yogurt ($10).

We also picked up a Thanksgiving package.  I’ll show it to you tomorrow!  It’s late and there are still dishes left in the kitchen.

Here’s the list of what we were expecting:

Small CSA:

• 1 half gallon apple cider
• 1/2 lb. leaf spinach
• 1 bunch Swiss chard
• 1 bunch leeks
• 1 head broccoli
• 4 oz. piece brie
• 1 head kohlrabi
• 2 ct. winter squash
• Quarter peck pears (4-5 depending on size)

Here’s a group shot:

I love winter squash.  Spaghetti squash is not my favorite, but we’ll cook it and eat it with pasta sauce this week.  My husband already opened the cider.  I’m sure it will disappear easily.

This is the biggest kohlrabi that I ever saw.  The leaves are edible and in great shape, so I’ll probably make a au gratin dish with it.  The broccoli looks tasty and will make an easy side dish in the next day or two.

My friend Chaya mentioned honey mustard roasted leeks.  We didn’t get very many, but I still might try fixing them roasted style.  We have Swiss chard from both CSAs this week, so I’ll cook it together with some sausage for a meal this weekend.

I’m still working through the 2 bushels of pears that I picked up this week.  This won’t be ready to eat for a few days and I’m ok with that.  We’ll enjoy them early next week.  The spinach and brie cheese will go into a tasty pasta dish.

Dare I say that I think I’m starting to get the hang of these CSAs.  It’s a good thing because I just signed us up for both winter ones.

Here’s what we would have received last week:

Small CSA:

• 1 lb mild Italian sausage, ground
• 8 oz grassfed Gouda cheese from Mayfield Road Creamery
• 1 bunch of leeks
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes
• Approx a quart of hot hungarian peppers (6-8)
• 2 Patty Pan Squash
• 1.5 lbs slicing tomatoes
• 1 pint blueberries
• 1.5 lb peaches

In my opinion, it wasn’t a bad week to miss.  We love the sausage and cheese, but can easily get that on a special order or buy it from the back of the truck.  This time of year, we get tons of tomatoes, and our freezer is well stocked with blueberries.  I picked up some local peaches at Whole Foods over the weekend.  I have a hard time using hot peppers.  I’ve successfully used leeks before, but I’m fine without them.  I really liked the Patty Pan squash a couple of weeks ago.  It made the best veggie lasagna.

Now for this week:

Small CSA:

• 1 4-oz. package goat chevre cheese from Lucky Penny Farm
• 1 watermelon or 1 pint of blackberries
• 6 ears corn
• 1 pint heirloom cherry tomatoes (multi-color)
• 2 ct. zucchini (dark green, light green, or golden…we have a good mix this week)
• 2 ct. yellow summer squash
• Approx. 1.5 lbs red slicing tomatoes
• Quarter-lb. basil
• 2 green bell peppers
• 1 large black opal eggplant
• 1 large candy onion

Here’s a group shot:

We bought 3 watermelons on sale this past Sunday.  We also got a watermelon on Tuesday in our CSA pick up.  We’ve eaten almost 2 watermelons so far.  We may end up freezing some for a watermelon frosty or two.

I think I’m going to use the tomatoes (along with the ones from Tuesday) and make some sauce to use in some eggplant/squash lasagna.  I think we have everything we need except cottage cheese.

I love the color on the golden zucchini.  I’m not sure I’ve ever had this variety.  I’m excited to try it.

I saw a recipe for corn fritters this week.  I think I’m going to combine that idea with my squash fritter recipe for a new fritter this week.

I’m sure the Cheve cheese will be tasty.  We enjoyed the corn for dinner.

Usually, I end up freezing herbs like basil.  But, this week I wished I had some fresh more than once.  I currently have it in water on our kitchen table and I’m hoping it lasts for Peach Vinaigrette salad dressing and Lemon Basil Egg Salad.  I’m hoping to make both this week.

Due to more company next week, we have week 12 as a vacation day.  Then, I need to figure out the best way to spend our credits.  They are worth the full value for 4 weeks.

Meanwhile, our fridge is well stocked and we have plenty of watermelon!