Fresh Fork Market Winter CSA–week 1

CSA 1 Response »
Nov 082012
 

Today was the first pick up for the winter program with our Fresh Fork CSA.  It was also our first pick up in the dark.  Since we are on to the winter program, Mayfield is no longer a pick up site, so we pick up in Beachwood.  Thursdays, Nick and Sally have swim lessons, so we pick up on the late side around 5:30PM.  Stephen is a great help and set up the lights for me so I could take decent photos.

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Here’s what we were expecting this week:

Winter Week 1:

  • 1 whole pasture raised chicken, approx. 5 lbs.
  • 2 spaghetti squash (unless we have a few enormous ones)
  • 1 half gallon apple cider
  • 1 quarter peck Winesap apples
  • 1 handful sweet peppers (all of them are sweet, even though some look hot)
  • 1 bunch turnip greens
  • 1 bunch kale
  • 1 head cauliflower
  • 1 dozen eggs
  • 1 bunch beets with tops
  • 1 stalk Brussels sprouts
  • 1/2 lb. bag stir fry mix

And, it’s exactly what we received.

I was excited to see the Brussels sprouts.  I’ve been eyeing this recipe from my pal Katie.  I’m thawing my bacon for it now.  I have all of the other ingredients on hand.  We were out of eggs, so I was glad to get them in my bag this week.  I’ve made the butternut squash custard drink a couple of times now and don’t want to be out of eggs just in case I want to make it again.

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These are the turnip greens.  We don’t get them too often.  My go to recipe for greens that I don’t know what to do with is quiche.  So, I’ll probably make one of them this week.  It will include some leftover chicken and turnip greens.  And, it’s another reason that I’m glad we got eggs this week (although I also have some eggs frozen that I could use).  I like cooking the whole chickens.  We had them a lot growing up, so they never intimidated me.  I like making stock and using all of the pieces.

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The different colors of cauliflower have been fun.  I’ll make this as a side dish and maybe serve them mashed.  The stir fry mix will go into a stir fry.  Wasn’t that an original idea.  I may combine it with some spaghetti squash and serve it Asian style.

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My family isn’t a big fan of the spaghetti squash with tomato squash.  I need to investigate some additional recipes for it.  The peppers will go into chili that I am making tomorrow.

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I’ll probably just sauté the kale.  I don’t have anything specific in mind.  I’ll make Harvard beets and use the greens in some eggs this week.

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Apples almost always go in oatmeal and for snacks.  These will be no exception.  I don’t like apple cider.  I may decide to try it again some day, but it always has given me a headache.  That being said, Stephen, Nick and Sally all like it so they will enjoy it this week.

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So, our winter season is off and running.  Three weeks in a row and then we go to every other week until May.  I love the CSAs, but I am also looking forward to a break in the action so we can use some of our preserved food.  I also need to start cooking some of the lamb soon.

Fresh Fork Market 2012 Summer CSA–week 15

CSA No Responses »
Sep 132012
 

We have plans tomorrow evening, so we picked up our CSA in Beachwood today.  There was quite a line when we arrived, but it moved quickly.

I love the colors this week!

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Here’s what we were expecting:

  • 1 bunch golden beets
  • Approx. 2.5 lbs. San Marzano Roma Tomatoes
  • Either heirloom tomatoes or 1 pint grape tomatoes
  • 1 pint yummy pepper mix (all sweet peppers)
  • 1 lb. Berkshire bacon
  • 1/2 lb. mixed baby greens (chard, kale, arugula, mizuna, and more)
  • 1 head cabbage
  • 1 quarter peck Gala apples
  • 1 head broccoli
  • 8 oz. grass-fed smoked cheddar cheese
  • 1 half pint of either Pappy’s pepper butter (like a sweet and tangy homemade mustard) or 1 half pint of Pappy’s Candied Jalapeños (semi-hot jalapeños in a honey syrup)
  • A handful of colored peppers (red long peppers probably early week and purple peppers later week)

I’m not sure what happened, but we ended up with eggs and spaghetti squash.  We didn’t get broccoli.  I can see the switch with broccoli and squash – but eggs?  We also got lettuce, but I think that was a deliberate attempt at BLT ingredients.

I have two spaghetti squashes.  I’m thinking about making it Italian style and serving it like spaghetti.  I think everyone in the house will eat it like that (especially with cheese on it).  The head of cabbage is pretty small.  I think I’ll keep it a few days and then make some of my coleslaw.

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We’ll be eating apples in our oatmeal.  Also, I ordered a new dehydrator and I’m anxious to try fruit rolls, so some puree might be in order.  These are really good paste tomatoes, so they’ll end up in sauce at some point.  For now, the freezer will be their home, along with the heirloom tomatoes.  We have an over abundance of tomatoes this year, but we aren’t getting them all at once, so it’s harder to make and can sauce.

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The Pappy’s Pepper Butter is medium hot.  I’m not a fan of hot things, but I’m determined to try this and a few other things that are on our shelf soon.  My goal is to eat from our house as much as possible.

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Delicious bacon never goes to waste around here.  I didn’t get it in the freezer right away, so it’s thawing in the fridge.  We’ll probably have it on Saturday or Sunday.  I wasn’t expecting eggs and we have an overabundance.  I’m going to gift a dozen to my mom since she’s helping with the kids tomorrow.

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I don’t think I’ve ever tried this cheese, but there are very few that I don’t like.  All of the peppers this week should be sweet (not hot!) and I’m happy about that.

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We also got some mixed greens.  This batch looks pretty good to me, so I’m going to have a big salad for lunch tomorrow.  I’ve gotten away from lunch salads and need to get back to them since they are delicious.

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We still have some beets from the other week, so I am going cook all of them all of them tonight or tomorrow.  I’ll probably make a big batch of Harvard beets since we haven’t had them for a while.  The lettuce looks very tasty and will be good in salads or maybe a BLT.

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There’s 7 weeks left and I’m already getting sad that the season will be ending soon.  It’s a good think there’s a winter program starting sometime in November.

Geauga Family Farms CSA–summer week 14

CSA No Responses »
Sep 042012
 

We picked up on share in the rain today.  It was pouring as we went into Whole Foods.  Luckily, it had calmed down a bit when we were leaving.  The store was in much better shape than last week, but they still have some work to be done.  I picked up some blue cheese, grass fed beef and sandwich buns.  I wasn’t sure what we’d have with the burgers until we picked up our share.

Here’s what we received:

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sweet snacking peppers, lettuce

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corn, green beans

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zucchini, bell peppers

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cherry tomatoes, slicing tomatoes

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eggplant

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So, we ended up having the corn and green beans with dinner.  They were easy to fix and are bulky in the fridge.

I’ll be making chili this week.  The peppers and slicing tomatoes will go into it.  The lettuce and snacking peppers will make a nice salad.  My husband and son will eat the cherry tomatoes. I have a recipe for pancakes that uses zucchini, so I’m going try it out with the squash.

It really comes down to the eggplant.  Last time I had eggplant, I cooked it with onion, olive oil and some garlic until it was mushy and made a dip.  I intend to use it as a layer in lasagna, but that hasn’t happened yet.  It’s currently frozen in my freezer.

I’m ready for tomato season to end and I’m missing fruit.  I’m happy with our share, but I am excited for winter squash and apple seasons to begin.

Fresh Fork CSA–week 13

CSA 1 Response »
Aug 252011
 

We picked up our Fresh Fork CSA today.  In addition to our regular “small”, we also picked up the items from our vacation credit.  We were off week 10.

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

Small CSA:

  • 1 yellow doll watermelon
  • 2 ct. eggplant, some mixed colors may be included
  • 1 quart hot Hungarian peppers
  • 1 lb. clover honey
  • 1 medium cantaloupe
  • Approx. 1 lb. heirloom tomatoes (about 1 large or 2 small)
  • 2 summer squash
  • 1 pint mixed baby sweet peppers
  • Quarter Peck Golden Supreme apples (about 5 to 6 apples, very crisp, yellow apple)
  • Approx. 1 lb. slicing tomatoes

Here’s a group shot:

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I’m going to make my favorite cole slaw recipe and it uses a couple of apples.  The rest will probably go into my oatmeal and/or be made into a quick applesauce for the kids.  We also got eggplant on Tuesday, so I think I’ll be making a veggie lasagna tomorrow.

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I’m not sure about the squash.  If it doesn’t end up in the lasagna, we’ll probably grill it.  All of the tomatoes are going into sauce since I have a stock of them from Tuesday’s CSA as well.

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The sweet peppers will get added to my sauce.  I’m never sure what to do with the hot ones.  I don’t like to make things that aren’t kid friendly (and Lyn friendly).

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I don’t cook with refined sugar, so we use lots of honey.  I’m excited to try the clover honey that we received.

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Yum!  We are certainly enjoying our local melon this year.  I’m curious to try the watermelon since it’s “yellow” and I’m not sure what to expect.

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In addition to our share above, we had $25 to spend on items from the on-line store since we were on a planned vacation a couple of weeks back.  I decided on lettuce ($2.75), 2 cantaloupes ($3.60 ea.), 2 packages of Chorizo sausage ($12.40) and 2 quarts of yogurt ($9.90).  The total was $28.65, so I paid Robert $3.65 at the truck.

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It was fun to stock up on Chorizo and yogurt since we were out of both.  Neither of my CSAs received lettuce this week, so I was glad to have it as well.  I love the vacation flexibility with Fresh Fork!