Geauga Family Farms–week 13

CSA No Responses »
Sep 062011
 

Today, we picked up our Geauga Family Farms CSA.  I was glad that we remembered it was Tuesday.  It feels like a Monday since yesterday was the Labor Day Holiday.  It’s week 13 already.  I think we have 20 weeks total.

Here’s what we received:

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Let’s take a closer look.

Cabbage, sweet corn

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Potatoes, yummy SWEET oranges peppers

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Swiss chard, watermelon!

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2 varieties of leaf lettuce

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Tomatoes, yellow squash

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Carrots, green peppers

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This week looks superb!  Everything was vibrant, fresh, and we had a rainbow of colors in our box.

I’m hoping that we get apples from our other CSA this week and I can make my coleslaw recipe with the cabbage.  I have all of the other ingredients on hand.  I’ll be cooking the sweet corn tomorrow or Thursday.

After juicing 100 pounds of Roma tomatoes for sauce over the weekend, this amount of tomatoes doesn’t seem like very many to me.  I’ll probably just use a couple in salad and juice the rest for some ketchup or BBQ sauce.

I don’t really have specific plans for the other items, but we’ll be eating well this week!

PS – Yes, we got another watermelon.  Yes, I am HAPPY about it!

Fresh Fork CSA–week 14

CSA No Responses »
Sep 012011
 

We picked up our Fresh Fork CSA today.

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

Small CSA:

  • 6 ears super sweet Miria 301 corn
  • 3 lbs. Yukon gold potatoes
  • 1 lb. grass fed ground beef
  • 2 ct. green bell peppers
  • 1 lb. green beans
  • Approx. 1.5 lbs. Flaming Fury Lucky 13 and John Boy peaches (freestone peaches)
  • 2 ct. cucumbers
  • 2 ct. yellow summer squash (probably last of the summer already)
  • 8 oz. bag or bunch of kale
  • 1 pint heirloom cherry tomatoes

Here’s a group shot:

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Our beef was partially thawed by the time we got home, so I am going to cook it tomorrow.  We’ll probably make potato salad for the holiday weekend with the potatoes.

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We have these 6 ears of corn, plus a few left from our Tuesday pick up, so we will be having corn tomorrow.  I have a local steak to cook also.  The peaches are still firm, but will be quite nice in my oats.

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The tomatoes will disappear into Stephen’s lunch.  I’m in the process of cutting and freezing lots of peppers since we went picking yesterday.  I’ll add these to the bag.

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Looks like we received zucchini instead of yellow squash.  It’s very similar and doesn’t make a difference in my uses.  I think we’ll make squash fritters.  I haven’t had them in a couple of weeks.  We’ll use the cucumbers in salads.

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I may try the kale in vegetable lasagna this weekend.  I’ve enjoyed making a lasagna and having it for a few meals during the week to help with planning and cooking.  We’ll enjoy the green beans when we grill out on Sunday.

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The yogurt ($5) was an add on for us this week.  We like this yogurt and are trying to stay away from the high sugar varieties.  For this yogurt, we’ve been adding homemade jam sweetened with honey to taste.

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I think we’ll do ok this week.  I need to prep some items in our fridge and keep close tabs on our produce use since we have a few meals planned away with the holiday this weekend.

Geauga Family Farms–week 12

CSA 3 Responses »
Aug 302011
 

Pick up #12 for the Geauga Family Farms CSA was today.  We pick up at our local Whole Foods.  Nick calls it the little Whole Foods because it’s so much smaller than the Cedar Location and doesn’t have a waterfall.

Today’s box was overflowing!

Here’s what we received:

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Let’s take a closer look.

Green beans, watermelon (hmmm.. these photos are not to scale)

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Lettuce, eggplant

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Cherry tomatoes, slicing tomatoes

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Peaches, bell peppers

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Cantaloupe, dozen sweet corn

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Hot peppers, patty pan squash

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We got 3 fruits again this week.  In our house that is a good thing.  I actually used frozen peaches in today’s oatmeal, so I am excited for the peaches.  We have lots of melon since we got extras in our other CSA on Thursday, but we are eating it at a good clip so I don’t think we’ll have a problem.  Our biggest challenge is having to take the seeds out of the watermelon for our 22 month old daughter.

We ate 1/2 the corn for dinner tonight and we are getting another 1/2 dozen on Thursday.  I’ll probably cook and take the rest of this batch off of the cobs for a wheat berry, corn, bean salad of sorts.  We need to pack dinner for our Wednesday outing at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.

I’m going to chop and freeze the peppers.  I’m assuming the non-bell peppers are hot.  They seem to always be hot and I’m not taking chances with them.  The bell peppers will go into tomato sauce.  I’ll save the hot ones for chili and salsa.

I just read a blog post about mini lasagnas that were made in muffin tins.  I may use the eggplant and squash for my own version of that.

The remaining few items will easily be eaten as part of our meals.  We need to stay on top of our game this week since we have several meals planned out over the holiday weekend.  Friday, I need to blanch/chop/freeze anything that we haven’t used so we don’t have waste.

Fresh Fork CSA–week 10 and 11

CSA No Responses »
Aug 112011
 

Last week, we took a vacation from our Fresh Fork CSA.  There is a generous vacation plan.  In a nutshell, you can miss up to 4 weeks as long as you give advance notice.  When you return, you can double up a week or place a la carte orders for the dollar value.

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:

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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.

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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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!

Howe Meadow Farmers’ Market (take 2)

Farmer's Market No Responses »
Aug 072011
 

Today, we once again visited the Countryside Farmers’ Market , which is held in Howe Meadow (Cuyahoga Valley National Park) on summer Saturdays. We had Stephen’s brother and parents in town and we were on our way to Hale Farm.  It seemed like a great place to stop.  It’s hard for me to turn down a market full of fresh and local items.

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It’s so nice to look at the pristine produce displays.

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There was music and dancing!

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We bought local cheese – aged cheddar ($5), Munster ($5) and aged gouda ($6).

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I stocked up on honey ($22).  So far, the honey from the Schmidt Family Farm in Medina is my favorite.  The first time we were at this market, they didn’t have any crystallized honey, but we were able to buy some this time.  She sold us the wholesale size in a mason jar ($10) with the stipulation that we bring her a jar!  We also picked up some honey on the comb ($10).  I asked Susan if we could come see the farm sometime.  She was definitely open to that.  I’ll be calling to schedule a visit.  I’m very interested in the honey process and I am sure that Nick would enjoy seeing it as well.  We had plans to grill local chicken brats for dinner and picked up some sweet corn to go along with it.  I was glad that it was $5 for a baker’s dozen.

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The item below is called a Kabocha (Japanese pumpkin).  I’m always game to pick up something new at the market.  It’s a squash.  It was $5 and it’s about the size of a pie pumpkin.

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Our guests bought a couple of items to take back to Delaware for friends and everyone had a great time.

Fresh Fork CSA–week 9

CSA No Responses »
Jul 282011
 

Today was week number 9 for our Fresh Fork CSA.  Robert who works at the truck was back today.  He seems to be going better.  It was nice and smooth to have him in his usual position.  There was only one person ahead of us and everything was smooth at pick up.

As usual, we received our list of contents on Tuesday.  It’s nice to know what we have to work with between our CSAs by Tuesday night.

Here’s what we were expecting:

Small CSA:

  • 1 package Mild Italian Sausage links, 4 to a pack
  • 1.5 lbs apricots
  • 1.5 lbs Red Haven peaches
  • 1 dozen pasture raised chicken eggs
  • 6 ears Mira 301 Super Sweet corn
  • 1 candy onion
  • 1 head leaf lettuce
  • 1 lb green beans
  • 1 bunch kale, either Curly or Black Tuscan

Here’s a group shot:

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Apparently, the Italian sausage is really good.  I don’t think we’ve had it yet.  Always happy to see peaches.

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We still have onions to chop and freeze and the corn is already gone.

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We were almost out of lettuce, so I see a couple of salads in our future.  I don’t think I’ve ever had fresh apricots and certainly not local ones.  I’m looking forward to having one at breakfast.

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Curly kale might make for another batch of kale chips,  The last batch was ok, but I’ve read a few other variations lately and may have to experiment again this weekend.  I’m in love with local eggs and just used our last two yesterday, so these were especially nice to get.

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Everyone in our house likes green beans.

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In addition to our small, we purchased 2 packages of chicken brats.  These were $7 each.  They were amazing when we had them in our box a few weeks back.  We’re having company next weekend and I stuck these in the freezer for grilling.  We also paid for our cream cheese ($5) that we picked up 2 weeks ago.

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I’m happy that we had a week off of squash and tomatoes.  I still have some to use up from our Tuesday CSA pickup.  Next week we are “on vacation” from Fresh Fork and I hope that gives us a little extra time to regroup and make sure we are caught up in the fridge.

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