Week 8
It was barely light this morning when I woke up. The days are getting noticeably shorter. As much as I love the long days of summer, the earlier sunsets provide us with a bit of relief. We ate dinner early enough last night that I actually spent a few minutes reading before going to bed. I collect old cookbooks and a friend picked me up a McCormick Spice cookbook from the 1920s at a yard sale last weekend. I know you will be as excited as I am to make the endive, banana and pimento salad. Yikes! It makes for fun fun reading and I love the glimpse into the past. Each page has either a quote on the top of it or some statement about the purity of McCormick spices. The following one is on the first page.
Good Food is necessary for good health. Use only the best of everything. It is the cheapest in the end.
Of course, I am choosing which wisdom to include based on my personal biases. But including the bit about how if more women took pride in their profession (housework) there would be no need for divorce seems a bit out of date!
We hope you enjoy your vegetables and the meals you prepare with them this week.
Rainbow Carrots
Lettuce
Summer Squash
Sweet Onions
Garlic
Wax and Green Bean Medley
Cukes
Beets
Broccoli - Large Only
Salad Mix - Large Only
Zucchini/Summer Squash Bites
Since there are no bananas in the box today I will skip the banana recipe I mentioned above and include one for summer squash instead. I don't usually include recipes I haven't tried but a customer gave me this one on Saturday and it looks simple and fun. She said they reminded her of tater tots which I will admit that if we didn't have a closet full of potatoes every winter I might be tempted to buy them. You will need a mini muffin pan for these. I imagine they would come out fine but a bit different if you made mini pancakes in a skillet.
1 cup grated Summer Squash
1/4 cup diced onion
1/4 cup grated cheddar or parmesan
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1 egg
salt and pepper
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and grease the muffin tin.
Put the squash in a clean dish towel and twist to squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Use a dish rag you don't care about because sometimes it can stain a little.
Mix every thing together and divide between muffin cups
Bake about 15-18 minutes until browned
Roasted Beans with Garlic and Anchovy
I don't find the anchovy flavor to be strong but I also really like anchovies. You might want to use a little less.
1 pound trimmed beans
3 smashed garlic cloves
3 mashed anchovy fillets
Finely chopped zest from one lemon
Squeeze of lemon
Olive Oil
Preheat oven to 450 degrees
Toss beans with oil, garlic and thyme and spread on a large baking dish. It is best if they are in a single layer. Roast, stirring occasionally for 12- 15 minutes until they are done.
Remove the thyme and toss in a bowl with the zest, lemon juice and anchovies.
Monday, July 30, 2012
Monday, July 23, 2012
Week 7
We started picking green beans, cucumbers and tomatoes out of the field this week. The cukes and the beans are out of the gate with a bang, enough for everyone. The tomatoes are a little slower to start and there aren't many of them. We have over 200 cherry tomatoes planted so there will be plenty for everyone very soon.
Lettuce - Romaine
Salad Mix - Large Only
Cucumbers
Carrots
Green Beans
Bunched Pearl Onions
Potatoes
Flat Leaf Parsley
Cherry Tomatoes - Large Only
Bell Pepper - The variety is Flavorburst. It starts out light green and turns to yellow. The catalog claims it has a slight citrus taste. Either they are just trying to sell seed or our tastes buds are not refined enough to detect citrus. Regardless, it is early and sets a lot of fruit and is one of our favorites to grow.
Green Bean Recipe
Scooter's Grilled Green Beans with Blue Cheese
This recipe came from a customer. I never would have thought to mix blue cheese and beans but it is delicious.
Green Beans
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
Crumbled Blue Cheese
On a piece of aluminum foil toss the green beans with olive oil, salt and pepper. Set foil on a medium hot grill. Turn frequently with tongs until green beans have softened and browned a bit. Top beans with crumbled cheese and remove from heat as soon a cheese begins to soften, almost immediately.
We started picking green beans, cucumbers and tomatoes out of the field this week. The cukes and the beans are out of the gate with a bang, enough for everyone. The tomatoes are a little slower to start and there aren't many of them. We have over 200 cherry tomatoes planted so there will be plenty for everyone very soon.
Lettuce - Romaine
Salad Mix - Large Only
Cucumbers
Carrots
Green Beans
Bunched Pearl Onions
Potatoes
Flat Leaf Parsley
Cherry Tomatoes - Large Only
Bell Pepper - The variety is Flavorburst. It starts out light green and turns to yellow. The catalog claims it has a slight citrus taste. Either they are just trying to sell seed or our tastes buds are not refined enough to detect citrus. Regardless, it is early and sets a lot of fruit and is one of our favorites to grow.
Green Bean Recipe
Scooter's Grilled Green Beans with Blue Cheese
This recipe came from a customer. I never would have thought to mix blue cheese and beans but it is delicious.
Green Beans
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
Crumbled Blue Cheese
On a piece of aluminum foil toss the green beans with olive oil, salt and pepper. Set foil on a medium hot grill. Turn frequently with tongs until green beans have softened and browned a bit. Top beans with crumbled cheese and remove from heat as soon a cheese begins to soften, almost immediately.
Monday, July 16, 2012
Week 6
I read two good articles on certified organic products and vegetables recently. The first in the New York Times is fairly critical of the certified organic label. The other in Mother Jones defends it. I don't know how many of you make a point to buy products labeled organic but if you have never given a whole lot of thought to what the label means you will find the articles interesting.
New York Times article
Mother Jones article in response
Your box if filled with beautiful vegetables today although you might notice a little hail damage on your lettuce. We have had some trouble growing nice lettuce this year. It is not uncommon for us to have some downy mildew in our lettuce in the spring. However, this year it was worse than usual. Last Wednesday we officially ended the lettuce drought. We started harvesting from a planting that looked beautiful. The lettuces were big with no trace of mildew, had a great texture and good taste. And then hail the size of marbles fell on us on Friday! I am happy the damage wasn't worse. It could have been devastating.
Zucchini
Garlic
Green Cabbage
Head Lettuce
Carrots
Beets
Raspberries - maybe the last of the season
Snow Peas
Potatoes - Large Only
Choice of Herbs (Dill, Cilantro, Parsley or Basil) - Large Only
Cabbage Recipe
Curtido - El Salavadoran Cabbage Slaw
I heard a story about a food truck in Seattle that serves pupusas and it gave me some dinner inspiration the other day. With or with out the pupusas, the El Salvadoran "cole slaw" that is served with them is great. Traditionally it is lightly fermented but I didn't have time for that. Here is my quick version. I used a bit more cumin and oregano than I wrote but Kelly thought the oregano was bit strong.
1/2 head green caggabe shredded
2 carrots grated
1 small onion or scallions finely chopped
1/2 cup apple cider or white vinegar
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon mexican oregano (regular oregano would be fine)
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon sugar
Mix everything in a large bowl. If you don't have time to let it sit you can squeeze it a few times with your hands. That will give it more of a traditional texture. Taste and adjust seasoning to your preference.
Coming soon....
I read two good articles on certified organic products and vegetables recently. The first in the New York Times is fairly critical of the certified organic label. The other in Mother Jones defends it. I don't know how many of you make a point to buy products labeled organic but if you have never given a whole lot of thought to what the label means you will find the articles interesting.
New York Times article
Mother Jones article in response
Your box if filled with beautiful vegetables today although you might notice a little hail damage on your lettuce. We have had some trouble growing nice lettuce this year. It is not uncommon for us to have some downy mildew in our lettuce in the spring. However, this year it was worse than usual. Last Wednesday we officially ended the lettuce drought. We started harvesting from a planting that looked beautiful. The lettuces were big with no trace of mildew, had a great texture and good taste. And then hail the size of marbles fell on us on Friday! I am happy the damage wasn't worse. It could have been devastating.
Zucchini
Garlic
Green Cabbage
Head Lettuce
Carrots
Beets
Raspberries - maybe the last of the season
Snow Peas
Potatoes - Large Only
Choice of Herbs (Dill, Cilantro, Parsley or Basil) - Large Only
Cabbage Recipe
Curtido - El Salavadoran Cabbage Slaw
I heard a story about a food truck in Seattle that serves pupusas and it gave me some dinner inspiration the other day. With or with out the pupusas, the El Salvadoran "cole slaw" that is served with them is great. Traditionally it is lightly fermented but I didn't have time for that. Here is my quick version. I used a bit more cumin and oregano than I wrote but Kelly thought the oregano was bit strong.
1/2 head green caggabe shredded
2 carrots grated
1 small onion or scallions finely chopped
1/2 cup apple cider or white vinegar
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon mexican oregano (regular oregano would be fine)
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon sugar
Mix everything in a large bowl. If you don't have time to let it sit you can squeeze it a few times with your hands. That will give it more of a traditional texture. Taste and adjust seasoning to your preference.
Coming soon....
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| Cherry Tomatoes |
 |
| Green Beans |
 |
| Tropea Onions |
Monday, July 9, 2012
Week 5
It has been a busy week. I commented to Kelly that we were getting a bit behind on laundry and his response was that we were a bit behind on life. It made me laugh. It is true. Everywhere I look, whether it is at the farm or at the house, there is something that should have been done yesterday. July is here and it is kicking our butts. We do have some great help this year. Wes and Claire have helped our sanity immensely, but with more help we just try to do even more. I imagine it will always be that way.
We started pulling garlic yesterday to hang and dry. It looks awesome. If the rest of the varieties do as well as the one we pulled yesterday we will be relieved and excited to have one crop down that sometimes gives us problems. The onions look promising and should be showing up in your boxes soon. As you have probably noticed we are having a great pea year. Snap peas are back again this week. Hopefully that makes you all happy. With this fantastic hot weather we will be saying good bye to the peas soon and making room for zukes, cukes and peppers.
We hope your week is filled with amazing meals.
Head Lettuce
Carrots
Potatoes - The variety this week is Red Gold. It is our favorite potato to dig as a new potato.
Kohlrabi - If there is one veggie that might not look familiar to you it will be the kohlrabi. Sometimes called the apple of the cabbage family it has a mild flavor. It can be cooked but it is great raw as well. The bottom should be sliced off and the skin peeled. If you are feeling adventurous you can eat the leaves. Cook them the way you would cook collard greens.
Snap Peas
Cauliflower or Broccoli
Raspberries
Cucumber
Kale - Large Only
Scallions - Large Only
Dill - Large Only
Mexican Street Snacks - Spicy Cucumbers and Kohlrabi
I will admit I have never had a kohlrabi in Mexico nor do I think I have ever seen one in a market. However, I love eating the street food. Often included with the mango and pineapple are cucumbers and jicama. Kohlrabi has almost the same texture as jicama so it is what I use when I make these at home. They are a great afternoon snack on a hot day or a nice bit of crunch to go with a Mexican dinner.
Cucumber - Sliced or cut into wedges
Kohlrabi - Sliced into thick slices and then cut in thirds
Chile Powder
Salt
Lime
Sprinkle with salt and chile powder and squeeze the lime over the top.
It has been a busy week. I commented to Kelly that we were getting a bit behind on laundry and his response was that we were a bit behind on life. It made me laugh. It is true. Everywhere I look, whether it is at the farm or at the house, there is something that should have been done yesterday. July is here and it is kicking our butts. We do have some great help this year. Wes and Claire have helped our sanity immensely, but with more help we just try to do even more. I imagine it will always be that way.
We started pulling garlic yesterday to hang and dry. It looks awesome. If the rest of the varieties do as well as the one we pulled yesterday we will be relieved and excited to have one crop down that sometimes gives us problems. The onions look promising and should be showing up in your boxes soon. As you have probably noticed we are having a great pea year. Snap peas are back again this week. Hopefully that makes you all happy. With this fantastic hot weather we will be saying good bye to the peas soon and making room for zukes, cukes and peppers.
We hope your week is filled with amazing meals.
Head Lettuce
Carrots
Potatoes - The variety this week is Red Gold. It is our favorite potato to dig as a new potato.
Kohlrabi - If there is one veggie that might not look familiar to you it will be the kohlrabi. Sometimes called the apple of the cabbage family it has a mild flavor. It can be cooked but it is great raw as well. The bottom should be sliced off and the skin peeled. If you are feeling adventurous you can eat the leaves. Cook them the way you would cook collard greens.
Snap Peas
Cauliflower or Broccoli
Raspberries
Cucumber
Kale - Large Only
Scallions - Large Only
Dill - Large Only
Mexican Street Snacks - Spicy Cucumbers and Kohlrabi
I will admit I have never had a kohlrabi in Mexico nor do I think I have ever seen one in a market. However, I love eating the street food. Often included with the mango and pineapple are cucumbers and jicama. Kohlrabi has almost the same texture as jicama so it is what I use when I make these at home. They are a great afternoon snack on a hot day or a nice bit of crunch to go with a Mexican dinner.
Cucumber - Sliced or cut into wedges
Kohlrabi - Sliced into thick slices and then cut in thirds
Chile Powder
Salt
Lime
Sprinkle with salt and chile powder and squeeze the lime over the top.
Monday, July 2, 2012
Week 4
Lettuce - A nice assortment of baby head lettuces
Carrots - We started pulling carrots from our second planting of carrots this week. We seed carrots seven times during the summer to make sure we have them until we close the stand in November. You will notice they are a bit smaller than last week's carrots.
Radishes - Pink beauty is the variety.
Cilantro - If you detest cilantro we will have some flat leaf parsley on hand for you instead.
Snow Peas - A mix of green and yellow - most people think snow peas taste best cooked.
Strawberries
Raspberries
Garlic - This garlic has not been cured. Use it the same way you use cured garlic but you need to make sure you keep it out on the counter or some place where there is a bit of air circulation. It has so much moisture in it that it might mold otherwise.
Cauliflower or Broccoli - Kelly is cutting these right now so we will see how it works out. The plan is that if you receive broccoli this week you will get cauliflower next week and vice versa.
Basil - Large Share Only
Summer Turnip - Large Share Only
Let us know what you think of the yellow snow peas. We both have an opinion (we always do) about how it looks, how it picks, how it tastes and how it compares to the green one but your opinion counts too. Your feedback will help us decide if we should grow it again.
 |
| Surprise! When we picked the yellow snow peas we discovered one purple snow pea plant in with the yellow snow peas. We are going to let the pods mature so we can save the seed. |
Lettuce - A nice assortment of baby head lettuces
Carrots - We started pulling carrots from our second planting of carrots this week. We seed carrots seven times during the summer to make sure we have them until we close the stand in November. You will notice they are a bit smaller than last week's carrots.
Radishes - Pink beauty is the variety.
Cilantro - If you detest cilantro we will have some flat leaf parsley on hand for you instead.
Snow Peas - A mix of green and yellow - most people think snow peas taste best cooked.
Strawberries
Raspberries
Garlic - This garlic has not been cured. Use it the same way you use cured garlic but you need to make sure you keep it out on the counter or some place where there is a bit of air circulation. It has so much moisture in it that it might mold otherwise.
Cauliflower or Broccoli - Kelly is cutting these right now so we will see how it works out. The plan is that if you receive broccoli this week you will get cauliflower next week and vice versa.
Basil - Large Share Only
Summer Turnip - Large Share Only
Let us know what you think of the yellow snow peas. We both have an opinion (we always do) about how it looks, how it picks, how it tastes and how it compares to the green one but your opinion counts too. Your feedback will help us decide if we should grow it again.
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