I’m starting to recognize the weather based on our bags.  It’s October and getting cooler.  We’re seeing more greens again and the start of more winterish crops like potatoes, rutabagas and cabbage.

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

• 1 head either savoy green cabbage or red cabbage (smaller heads)
• 1 bunch kale
• 1 to 2 rutabagas with tops, depending on size (some are rather large)
• 3# bag red Norland potatoes
• Approx. 1# onion
• 1 head cauliflower
• 1 8 oz. piece goat gouda
• 1 lb. Spelt Flour and Rosemary Linguini
• 2# Roma tomatoes
• 1 bunch Swiss chard
• 1 package sirloin pork chops, approx. 1.5#
• 1 carving pumpkin or bag of corn chips

It’s definitely the end of tomato season.  These are the “good” side of these Romas.  I have a couple that aren’t going to be usable.  We’ll be making mashed rutabaga/potatoes or creamy soup with those ingredients.

We ate the cauliflower for dinner with the pasta.  It was tasty.  It had one bad spot so I wanted to wash, cook and eat it quickly.

I’m a little behind on cooking our cabbage.  This will be a 2 head consumption week!

I’ll chop and add the onion to the “unstuffed cabbage recipe I hope to put in the crockpot tomorrow.  The small sweet peppers were a nice surprise.  I might stuff them with the red pepper Havarti from last week and roast them in the oven.

We had a choice between pumpkins and chips.  We took the chips since we already have a pumpkin.  If I could find some mild black bean and corn salsa from Blaze, we’d be all set.  The pork will probably get baked for a meal this weekend.

I’m not sure what to use the Gouda for.  It’s probably going to be enjoyed in its own so we can taste the flavors.  I don’t think I’ve ever had goat Gouda before.  We also have more greens this week.  Swiss chard and kale.  I’m pretty sure the Swiss chard will go into the Andouille sausage/sweet potato dish similar to what we made last week.

I haven’t decided on a use for the kale yet.  We may have another quiche in the cue for this week.  That’s one of my go to dishes when I don’t know what to do with a green.

It’s hard to believe that next week is the last week for summer.  I’m glad there no break before the winter CSA starts!  I’m also starting to think about getting a turkey.  We don’t host Thanksgiving at our house, but last year I bought a package anyway since we like many of the ingredients.  It was just a bit too much food at our house all at once.  If I buy a turkey, I’d cut it up and freezer the parts and probably also make some turkey sausage.  I need to decide soon.  Turkey deliveries are three and a half weeks away.

Dark overview photo:

I think the only thing the photo really shows is how big a large share is.  I’m continually impressed with a what we receive for our value each week.

Here’s what we received:

• 1 bunch Cylindra beets
• 1 quart whole milk yogurt
• 1 acorn squash
• 1 pint blackberries
• 1 bag mixed peppers
• 1 lb. red fortune plums
• 2 lbs. Roma tomatoes
• 1 kohlrabi
• 1 bunch collards
• 6 ears sweet corn
• 1 ball fresh mozzarella cheese
• 2 frozen pizza dough balls
• 1 pint heirloom tomato sauce
• A handful hot Hungarian peppers
• Approx. 1.5 lbs. heirloom tomatoes
• concord grapes

Originally, we were going to get a spaghetti squash and not have grapes.  You can’t argue with mother nature.  We’ll see squash soon.

This is a crazy week for us as we are leaving town for a few days tomorrow.  So, all of our food needs to be cooked, eaten, froze, or packed so that we don’t lose any of our items.

I have some beets already in the fridge.  I’m going to make Harvard beets and freeze them.  I’ve never frozen that recipe before, but a quick Google search tells me that it’s possible.

We love the yogurt and are fully stocked.  I’m glad it has good dates.  I’ll be taking one container with us in our cooler.

I love winter squash season as much as melon season.  I’ll roast this acorn squash, make puree and freeze it.  It would probably last if I just waited until we got home from our trip, but I’d rather just take care of it now.

The plums and blackberries will come with us on our trip if they last that long.  I’m going to freeze the peppers, tomatoes, collards and corn.  I’ll blanch and chop as needed.  I’m hoping to make the grapes into a usable concentrate for sorbet.  Then, I’ll freeze it.

I’ll use the pizza dough, sauce and cheese to make some pizza for lunch tomorrow and maybe dinner on the road.  The dough was already thawing before I got to it, so I need to use it up.

Whew!  I need to get busy.  We’re leaving at 12:30pm tomorrow and I still need to pack too.

It’s still tough to get a large in one photo.  This one is missing the cherry tomatoes, but they wouldn’t have fit anyway.

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

• 1 bag of oats, 1.5 lbs.
• 1 bunch red Russian kale
• Either 1 bag (approx. 1 lb.) mixed sweet and hot baby peppers or 2 ct. zucchini/squash
• 1 lb. beans
• 1 bunch French Breakfast radishes
• 1 pint blackberries or 1 cantaloupe
• 1-2 Candy onions, depending on size
• 2 green peppers
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes
• 1 package (1.25 lbs.) green onion bratwursts, made from Berkshire pork
• 1 piece grass-fed Swiss cheese from Heritage Grass Farms (12 oz.)
• 2.5 lbs. San Marzano Roma tomatoes
• 1 bunch carrots with tops
• 1-2 cucumbers depending on size

I’m probably going to make some sort of kale sausage ragout from the newsletter with the leek, brats, zucchini, garlic, kale and tomatoes.  Some of these ingredients we just picked up and others I have left in my fridge.  I have some beans ready to go in the freezer and will pull them out tonight.

Carrots and beans will make good side dishes to go with our brats.  I’ll probably pickle the radishes.

I’m going to chop and freeze some peppers and dehydrate some of the others.  The plums were a nice surprise, I’m sure they’ll disappear quickly.

The cherry tomatoes will be weekend snacking for Stephen and Nick.

I will probably use the cheese with a quiche.  I have some eggs to use soon.  We eat oats everyday for breakfast, so these will disappear quickly.

I’ll probably make a few more pickles with the cucumbers since we are short on lettuce.

The photo doesn’t do the cantaloupe justice.  It’s the size of a watermelon!

All in all, it’s another great week with Fresh Fork.  We love not going to the grocery store much.  Our list for our last trip to Heinen’s was yellow bananas, buns for brats and a cookie treat for the kids.  I can’t wait to see what’s in the bag next week!

Here’s what we received:

Let’s take a closer look.

Zucchini, cucumber

Eggplant, cabbage

Onion, yellow squash

Tomatoes, cauliflower

Blackberries, cherry tomatoes

Hot peppers, Roma tomatoes

Basil, lettuce

Lettuce

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!