IT IS GROWING SEASON!!!!

YES!  I AM YELLING THAT!  Do you know why???  Because I ate the first of many Heirloom tomatoes from my CSA Membership with farmthisway this week.  I tossed them in a salad, which also included lettuce picked from my farmthisway lettuce bowl planter.  And I have patio tomatoes growing on my deck (that I haven't killed yet!).  And flowers!  LOTS of flowers!! 

We have had two distributions so far.  The first on May 22rd, included 2 beautiful large hanging flower baskets (we got to choose two from their wonderful selection), a patio tomato plant, a lettuce bowl planter, and 1/2 dozen brown eggs.

Week two, May 29th, included a dozen citronella geranium plants, 1 porch planter, a flat of annuals, a pint of delicious little heirloom tomatoes, a bunch of green onions, and another 1/2 dozen brown eggs. 

The hens haven't been cooperating too much, but  Marty is currently deep in negotiations with the chickens to get them to produce more eggs.   The hens haven't given their further demands yet, but I am confident an agreement will be reached soon. Click here to view Egg Negotiations in progress

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Wednesdays during the distribution season!    Now even more so as I get to help out by working at the Farmer's Market in Blasdell on Wednesdays to distribute the weekly bushels of happiness and meet some of the other CSA Members as well as those who just stop by the farmthisway tent to peruse the vast variety of flowers and soon produce that Marty and Carolyn work so hard to produce. 

Remembering Grandma with a Recipe

I don't think we ever understand the impact that losing someone in our life will have on us, until it has already happened.  Even if we know everyone is going to pass away some day, we are still never truly aware of the gap that will be left.  Recently, with Easter approaching, I was thinking of the beautiful magenta pickled beets and eggs that my Grandmother, Rozella Stewart Goss, used to make. I remember thinking how cool these were as a kid, even when I didn't love beets as much as I do today.  Just the vibrant color of the eggs seemed to make them a standout at the holidays at Gramma's house.

I wish that I had her recipe, that I could call her up and ask her, but sadly, it has been more than 10 years now that she is gone.  It occurred to me after I searched the internet for a recipe and made them, that perhaps my mom or one of her sisters has the recipe. But, I made them anyhow.

I paid a visit to our farmer friends at farmthisway out in Brant, and picked up some eggs last week (among other goodies).  Some of them got hard boiled to make these.  When beets are in season, I will also can my own to use in this recipe, but for now, I used canned, store bought beets.

The recipe was pretty simple.

2 - 15 oz cans of beets (with juice reserved)1 dozen hard boiled eggs, 1 cup of apple cider vinegar, 1 cup of water, and 1 cup of sugar.  There were other recipes that called for onion as well, but I don't remember there being onion in my grandma's recipe so I didn't use one of those.  


I spread the eggs and beets between 2 1 Quart glass jars, and then everything else went into a pot on the stove.  Bring it to a boil, pour it in the jar over the eggs and beets, cool, then cover and refrigerate for at least 24 hours.

I just had some for breakfast this morning, after they sat for about a day and a half, and for a moment, I closed my eyes and imagined I was sitting in the kitchen of my grandparents' farm house in Pennsylvania.  It is funny how simple things can take us back to happy memories.

Thanks for the memories, Gramma.


**And before I close this post, I will let you know that I LOVE social media!  Before I started this post, I put this picture below on Facebook.  I said that I wished I had my Grandmother's recipe, but these would have to do.  Before I could finish typing this blog post, a cousin of mine had messaged me to say that she had our Grandmother's recipe and sent it to me!  Thanks Michele!!!  Next time I will use her recipe.  =)

Pickled beets and eggs bring me back to childhood visits to my grandparents' farm in Pennsylvania.

Spring Is In The Air

This may sound like a strange statement if you step outside of your door in Western NY today.  It was 27 degrees when I drove my two oldest to school early this morning for chorus rehearsals.  However, when I check out the farm page on farmthisway 's website, I see recent videos of hens laying eggs, of cabbage being seeded and of our favorite farmers, Marty and Carolyn out working this past weekend at the Health Expo at the Hamburg Fair Grounds.  It makes me think of Spring.  It reminds me that just about a year ago, at Hamburg Middle School's Health Fair, we met Marty and Carolyn, coincidentally, a day after my husband, Tom, and I had decided to start looking for a farm share or CSA program.  We tasted some of the goodies they had brought along, and we chatted with them for quite a while about the program, about farming and about why we felt we needed to make the switch to farm fresh for our family.

The seeding of early cabbage video makes me think of the many recipes I used last summer.   A favorite here in our house is Colcannon.  It is a pretty basic Irish dish and tasty.  All 5 of us enjoy this greatly, which is saying something, since before we signed up for the farmthisway CSA we really didn't eat a lot of cabbage.  But, mix that cabbage in with some ham or bacon, mashed potatoes and scallions?  Divine!  I even ventured into making and canning homemade sauerkraut, which we served on New Year's Day with our pork roast.

A couple of weeks ago, we paid a visit to the farm to renew our 24 week membership for this year.  The kids got to meet the hens (who were only 4 weeks old at the time) who will be laying our eggs for the season.  We saw Carolyn doling out a whole lot of dirt in the greenhouse and the kids got to pick some young radishes and carrots there in the greenhouse as well.  It all smelled like Spring to me.  Now don't get me wrong, I love a good Winter as well.  The ice skating, the sledding, the skiing, the snowmen and snowball fights.  But being out at the farm got my brain thinking Spring.  It is kind of hard not to think Spring when you see cute little baby chicks and smell the moist dirt.

So with 24 weeks of great stuff coming our way starting in May, I am already thinking of new ways to use our fresh veggies.  My kids help me seek out recipes on the internet and by watching cooking shows on TV and tell me what they think would taste great.  They look forward to our rides out to Brant to pick up our weekly distribution, and they often help with the preparing of the foods as well.  Somehow the food is far more exciting when they know where it comes from.

So, while I still have a lawn patchy with snow and a frozen pond in the backyard, and while there are still several large patches of ice in my driveway, I am feeling the Spring in the air!

*******
If you are interested in checking out the options for membership at farmthisway click here to see their 10, 15 and 24 week membership options.  farmthisway CSA membership offerings  or check this link out to see the OUR BUSHEL page and see a selection of their offerings.

Blast from the Past

So...Every year since I started doing The Dempsey Challenge, my year has a pretty noticeable pattern.  I train all year, getting ready for the big ride, which is in October.  Not so coincidentally, October is also when I am generally at my ideal weight for the year.   I come home from the weekend, and take some time off for good behavior, biking only when the conditions are PERFECT and eating whatever I feel like.  Before I know it, Thanksgiving has rolled around and then my son's birthday, and then Christmas.  Well...Let's just say, I usually gain quite a bit of weight between my return from Maine and the time the kids go back to school after Christmas break.  So, every year, when they go back, I get my chubbier than usual ass on the training bike in my TV room, and start getting in shape for that year's Dempsey Challenge ride, or just so I don't have to go buy any bigger clothes to stuff myself into.

That leads us to today.  I did my first ride yesterday, and my second today.  I decided to see how far I can get through the whole Grey's Anatomy Series while riding, before it is time to switch to the outside bike again.  For those who don't know, I live near Buffalo, NY and I do NOT ride outside in the snow.  Go ahead call me a pansy.  I don't care.  It is cold and wet and I really can't afford proper winter riding gear and snow tires.  So, from the time it gets uncomfortably cold (under 40 generally) until it clears up in Spring, I do most of my riding in my TV room.  But, that is neither here nor there....

Suffice to say, I am riding during the day while my 3 kids are at school and the hubby is at work.  I start out riding 1 episode per school day, but will work up to probably 3 per ride by March.  So, yesterday I started with Season 1 Episode 1.  I remembered why I fell in love with this show.  Actually though, I didn't start watching until Season 3.  I think it was "Some kind of Miracle" one of the Meredith Drowning episodes, I can't remember which.  I was flipping channels one night when I couldn't sleep, and there was Patrick Dempsey (you know, that guy from Can't Buy Me Love!) all grown up and sitting on a floor of a hospital crying.  I stopped channel surfing and watched intently as these doctor's tried to save the woman he apparently loved.  The next day I called my friend, Carmen, and asked her if she knew about this show.  She said she had been watching it since it started and just never thought to tell me about it because, as a rule, I don't watch much TV.  At that point, I had a 1 year old, a 6 year old, and a 7 year old, so if it wasn't food network or PBS/Disney, this was correct.    But I was sucked in immediately.  However I was confused, as I had obviously missed some VERY important stuff in the early seasons.  Shortly thereafter I ordered seasons 1 and 2 on DVD and watched them in a marathon of evenings in the basement when everyone else was asleep.  Season 3 was pre-ordered from Amazon.  Soon enough I was all caught up on the episodes I had missed.  And I had a new guilty pleasure.

Back to today.  Today was season 1 episode 2.  "The First Cut is the Deepest".  As a scene with the Fab 5 interns sitting in the back hallway discussing their days came on, I got a feeling of nostalgia.  That "Aww, I miss the old Grey's" twinge that I read so much about on Twitter.  I am still surprised people yelling at Shonda Rhimes because she has "ruined" HER characters or killed them off, or that Grey's isn't what it used to be.  Then I started thinking.  Yes, I do miss those days of Grey's.  And I also realize that it is a TV show that Shonda Rhimes and her team of really smart folks came up with that has kept me busy MANY a Thursday night.  But I also realized, that as much as I miss those days on the Fab 5 hanging out, as much as I miss George and Izzie and Burke, as much as I hate some of the newer characters that came to Seattle Grace (especially April), well...although this is a TV show, it also mirrors life.  People die, people break up, move away, and new people come into our lives that we may not love, but they are there anyhow!  I mean hell, I reminisce about the good old days of college, partying, friends, not a whole lot of responsibility.  It was FUN.  A lot of it.  I remember those times fondly, but you know what?  That time has passed.  I can't go back.  I really wouldn't want to.  I can replay it in my mind, look at pictures, etc. But my life has moved on.  Some people from that part of my life are still in my life today, in different roles.  Life never really stays the same for too long.  Kids grow up, jobs change, we get older, we lose people we never dreamed would leave our side, and people show up that we never expected to meet.  TV sometimes resembles real life after all.  I mean the interns are no longer interns.  I am sure the characters would remember those times somewhat fondly, if they were real, but even they have grown up and changed.  Loved, lost, found things and people they never expected to find.  So, I guess what I am saying, is maybe Shonda isn't doing any of this to torture the viewers, or because she hates certain "ships".  Maybe, just maybe, she is trying to give us all something entertaining that resembles real life.  A reminder to enjoy the things we love about today, because perhaps tomorrow you won't be able to enjoy the same things.  

I don't know Ms. Rhimes personally.  I have never met her.  I have gotten a couple of tweet responses from her, and once had my question chosen to be answered on a pod cast.  But, aside from those small blips of interaction, what I read in interviews, or have seen in her podcasts, I don't know her any better than I know the Queen of England (which is not at all).  However, I highly doubt that she hates her characters, even the ones we are meant to hate.  They all came from her head.  I also doubt she wants to purposely piss off the fan base of Grey's.  And I have many many Thursday nights of entertainment to thank her for.  Friendships that were actually formed based on a mutual love of the show.  And sometimes even, for making me look upon my own life with new eyes.  Generally my best thinking happens either on my bike or in the shower.  Two of my favorite places to be alone with my thoughts.  Today, watching old Grey's made my bike ride a very thoughtful one.  My mind was racing almost as fast as my feet.

Today's ride made me realize I am thankful for the good times in the past, and look forward to good times in the future.  Both in my real world and in the imaginary land of good looking doctors who tend to get in the way of buses or thrown under planes, when they aren't steaming up the on call room or an elevator.  It made me think of people who have come and gone from my life and look back on how far I have come from the me that I was 10 years ago, or 20 years ago.  So thanks to all who are responsible for that.  There are too many to name.  And thanks to those who are yet to come.

Farm Fresh Food Fun

We get an assortment of veggies from our CSA (community Supported Agriculture) every week. I pay them to grow stuff for me because no matter how good my intentions are, I kill plants, it is just what happens.  I LOVE that we joined a CSA though!  It is fabulous.  Although I don't know what exactly will be in the coming week's distribution (all depends on mother nature) I have SO much fun experimenting with new ways to use the abundance of veggies that we receive.  Usually I end up canning or freezing some to help get us through the winter, and then we eat as much as we can fresh!  This week I had two particularly lovely experiences.

The first was with Eggplant.  Yep, there is always the old standby Eggplant Parmesan, and I have put it into a tomato based sauce with zucchini, summer squash and other veggies, but this week I went outside the box, and made a variation of a Caprese Salad.  I started with a bed of Arugula, sprinkled in some basil, and then of course, the fresh mozzarella.  Then I used a BEAUTIFUL large heirloom tomato (called a Mr. Stripy) and threw in some chopped Asian pear for good measure, I love pear in a salad.  What about the eggplant you might ask?  Well, I took that, and cut it into strips.  Dredging the strips first in flour, then egg, then Panko breadcrumbs, and pan frying them in some light olive oil.  I let them rest a bit when they were done cooking, on a paper towel covered cooling rack, and then put them on top of my salad, and drizzled the whole thing with a very nice vanilla fig balsamic that I had in my cupboard.  There is a great olive oil and vinegar store in the Village of Hamburg where you can get almost any flavor you want!  I highly recommend checking them out and playing with flavors! This one paired wonderfully with the salad.  It was a delicious take on the typical Caprese salad, which my family needed a break from, and I will certainly make that again!

My second experience came with the Acorn Squash.  I love squash.  Baked and straight out of the shell, mashed or pureed with honey or brown sugar, you name it, I will eat it if it is squash.  However, today, I was in the mood for risotto.  So, I incorporated that into my lunch planning.  First I grabbed half an onion and a couple of cloves of garlic (also from my CSA) and sauteed them in butter and olive oil.  Threw in a handful of mushrooms as well, a few chopped up basil leaves, and about 1/2 cup of white wine with the arborio rice.  After the wine evaporated. I added in the first cup of chicken stock, and stirred often, and in between, put a halved and seeded acorn squash face down in some water and microwaved for about 12 minutes.  Once the first cup of stock was absorbed, I put another cup in and stirred again until it was gone.  2 cups wasn't quite enough, so I added another 1/2 cup.  That gave the rice the right consistency.  It was ready for the finishing touches.  I scooped out the squash and pureed it in my food processor, then added it to my pot, with a little heavy cream (just a splash I promise!) and about a half cup of grated Parmesan cheese.  When I fed it to my kids for lunch, my oldest daughter (12) told me that "this doesn't belong on a lunch plate at our house, it belongs in a 5 star restaurant!"   I guess I wasn't the only one who loved the way this turned out!

Well, now that my tummy is full, and my blog post is written, I am off to decorate a cake and head to a birthday party!

Catch you later!  Eat well my friends!

Hot stuff

I realize I have fallen WAY out of touch with my blog posting.  However, my recent experiences with all of the lovely produce from our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) has made me want to share some of what I have been doing with it.

Our farmer, and now friend, Marty (whose lovely wife, Carolyn also helps grow our garden goodies) was mentioning that a lot of folks don't want the hot peppers in our weekly distribution.  And when they say HOT they mean it.  These peppers look harmless, but they are Hungarian Wax Peppers, and can bring tears to my eyes after just a bite or two. I love to stuff them with cream cheese, panko and cheddar, but, even I have to admit that they pack a WALLOP, and usually I leave behind about 1/2 of the pepper to save my taste buds, throat etc.

BUT....I have done my research, and found another very easy and yummy use for these peppers.  Today I took a couple dozen of these beauties, and put them on my grill until they were charred (about 15 minutes, flipping halfway through).  After I charred them, I placed them in airtight containers, wrapped in wet paper towels and let them self steam a bit (about 3 hours actually while I ran some errands and dealt with some other veggies that were over populating my kitchen.)....When I returned to them, I peeled the now loose charred skins off of the peppers, split them open, and used a knife blade to gently scrap out the veins and seeds. I then placed them in zip top snack sized bags (1 or 2 peppers to a bag dependent on size), and put the whole lot of bags inside one big Ziploc Freezer bag, being careful to remove excess air from the individual bags as well as the big bag to help avoid freezer burn.

Now what, you ask?  Well, I did a trial run of this recipe the other day with just a few peppers.  And the results were fabulous.  Most of these bad boys are probably destined for some batches of Chili in the Winter, or perhaps a Mexican rice dish, or even nachos.  The test batch has proved to be DELICIOUS in scrambled eggs, and the beauty of it is that during the process of charring, peeling and cleaning out the innards, the heat level comes way down to a much more tolerable to the average palate.

So, bring on the HOT peppers, I have learned to tame them!

Here's hoping you're eating as well as we are this summer!

You Spin Me Right Round, Baby, Right Round...

So...This blog post has been in my head a lot lately.  I needed to write it down.   I have decided that my life has been in a spin a lot lately this past year, and also my body.  Now that life has calmed down, and I am once again settled into my own house, with all of my own stuff and relatively back to normal, whatever that means, I am also now back to Spin Class.

Something occurred to me about spin class.  It takes a special kind of crazy to be one of those people, who like myself, LOVES going to spin class.  It is almost masochistic if you will.  If you have a good instructor, you will come out of that spin room red in the face, sweating from every pore imaginable (and some you never knew existed) and absolutely grinning ear to ear.  It becomes something your body and mind crave.  Like chocolate, but much better for the hips.  Now, I am no Lance Armstrong .  Nor am I Ted King (although honestly I think the domestiques have way more balls than the GC riders for the most part, they sacrifice their whole ride to see their leader to the end).  However, I am a strong rider on a road bike.  I can climb some serious hills (my regular nemesis hill is a Cat 3 by Tour De France standards), and ride out a "better than your average bear" pace on a flat.  However, spin is a whole different world.  They do things on those bikes that, in all likelihood, would land me in a hospital if I attempted them while riding my Specialized Allez Dolce down the roads of Western NY.  And spin class is not for the meek.  At least not my spin class. The teacher plays the music LOUD!  And we sing along, and she shouts out to us and asks for answers.  She doesn't beat you with a paddle if you don't answer or anything, but we all answer because if it came down to it, I am fairly certain she could take EVERY SINGLE ONE of us in a brawl. 

This brings me to my next point.  While it takes a special kind of crazy to love spin class, it takes a REALLY REALLY special kind of crazy to properly teach a spin class.  I have had at least a dozen different instructors in spin classes.  Trish, my Monday and Wednesday morning gal, she ROCKS.  Despite her gleaming smile and mildly, but not annoyingly, perky demeanor, she means business.  Her class is not a casual ride.  Usually it is 13-15 songs, ranging from AC/DC to Lady Gaga to Andrea Bocelli.  You never know what you will be listening to, but it is always appropriate for the task at hand.  When we climb, she cranks up her tension and climbs right along with us.  And she sweats her ass off too.  I hate when I see an instructor walk out of class looking like they just came from freshening up.  She works with us.  And also, she doesn't use a McDonald's headset to bark orders at us.  Nope.  She just yells right out over the top of the very loud music or waits until in between songs and tells us what to expect next song.  She is that REALLY REALLY special kind of crazy, and I mean that in the most loving way ever.  You see, after the first spin class I ever went to, I swore I would NEVER do that again.  Turns out I just didn't like the instructor, because apparently I AM a special kind of crazy, and I DO love spin class!

So, back to life.  Even when my world seems to be spinning so fast that I am just hanging on for dear life, I have found spinning wheels is a great relief.  Be it in spin class, on my road bike or just on the trainer while watching some old seasons of Grey's Anatomy on DVD, the high you can get from spinning those wheels is far better than whatever drugs people take to escape their realities.  It is far healthier too.   And maybe you don't think you are the special kind of crazy, and maybe you aren't, but there is only one way to find out.  As Freddie Mercury once put it in the illustrious Fat Bottomed Girls song......"Get on your bikes and RIDE!"