Time to think SPRING

Yeah, yeah...I know what Punxatawny Phil said about another 6 weeks of winter, but even so, now is a great time to think about Spring.  And think about where you will get your food this year.  For me, I know I am all set for another year of CSA Membership with farmthisway .  They have different programs to suit many different family sizes/needs. 

I am actually still eating canned and frozen items from my 2013 membership.  There is something very comforting about knowing where my family's food (or at least a good bit of it) comes from!  You can see what kinds of things we got over the past two years (the CSA is entering its 3rd year!)....FARMTHISWAY CSA BUSHELS 2012 & 2013

It is a great time of year to sign up, as I know we, like many others are just getting our tax returns and what a great way to spend some of that money, supporting local farmers and providing yourself and your family with wonderful farm fresh produce and MORE! 

Winding Down

Well, it always has to happen...the end of the farmthisway CSA season.  Almost...Week 23 arrived yesterday, with cold wind, and stinging rain (and some hail too) to remind us that winter is on the way.  For us 24 week members, that means just one more distribution.  It comes in the form of a wreath and a bushel of hard squash for the winter. 

This year, that last distribution will arrive on November 16th.  Marty and Carolyn, our beloved farmers, are hosting an end of the year gathering so that all of the members can get to know one another, and enjoy a meal together.  Everyone will bring a dish to pass, and there will even be live entertainment, in the form of a folk musician.  The Fall setting in the barn seems a perfect way to end the season. 

This week we had our decorations distribution, but that's not all.  Besides a hay bale, corn stalks, Indian corn, pumpkins, and another beautiful mum, we also got an 8 qt basket of tomatoes, some squash (acorn and butternut) cabbage, and our farm fresh eggs. 

I look forward to some Butternut Squash Soup but also would like to attempt to make some more Butternut Squash Ravioli.  The last time I made the ravioli, they came out OK, good even, but I know I can do better, particularly in my pasta quality. 

As for the cabbage, that is bound for sauerkraut to have with my New Year's pork dinner.  Something my family always has on New Year's day is pork and sauerkraut.  I am not sure why, but I usually stick to that menu.  I used  Alton Brown's Sauerkraut Recipe last year, and it worked great.  Very easy, not a lot of attention needed, and it was tasty. 

Well, I am signing off for the season..sort of.  I may pop up over the winter with some new squash recipes just for fun, or when I pull some canned or frozen veggies from my CSA distributions out to use.  Year 2 of our membership with farmthisway CSA has again been fantastic and we look forward to seeing Marty and Carolyn continue to grow the membership!  If you are looking for a way to get your veggies and more from people you know, go out and meet Marty and Carolyn at the farm.  It's a great program and we will be back again next year!

Fall Harvest = Good eating!

A fabulous week of beautiful Fall weather brought us another WONDERFUL farmthisway CSA distribution.   8 quarts of tomatoes, 2 quarts of baby heirlooms, 2 quarts of delicious concord grapes, 10 heads of broccoli, 4 heads of cauliflower, 16 apples (half Macintosh, half Cortland) 2 heads of green cabbage, 1 of purple cabbage, 6 mini acorn squash, 2 pie pumpkins, and farm fresh brown eggs.  Today I will be processing some of this for the winter, but we will also be eating some more of it fresh.  I had an heirloom tomato and cheddar sandwich this morning for breakfast, and my kids all took some fresh fruits and veggies in their lunches.  Dinner tonight will include this recipe I found for Roasted Broccoli and Cauliflower to go with our roasted chicken and mashed potatoes.   There will be a salad as well, with baby heirlooms, and some baby cukes picked up at the farmthisway stand at the Farmer's Market as well.  For dessert, we are going to take a page from Rachel Ray's book and have Super Stuffed Baked Apples a la Mode.  Yum.

In the time between now and dinner however, I need to blanch some broccoli and cauliflower for freezing (always nice to have my freezer stocked for winter) and make a couple of quarts of  tomato sauce as well.  The acorn squash will hold up well until we've had time to make a couple of meals out of it, so no need to process that.  Maybe I will rake the leaves so the kids can jump in them after school as well. 

Then, onto pie pumpkins.  I promised my 13 year old that if she had all of her homework done early enough today, she could help me get the pie pumpkins ready to bake with.  I am thinking there will be enough for a few pies, some muffins and pumpkin raisin cookies (we still have 3 pie pumpkins from our previous distribution). 

OK, time to log off.  As I read this, it appears I have a LOT to do today!  Happy Fall!  Enjoy the tail end of growing season and the beautiful weather outdoors.  Autumn is my favorite season! 

Fall is in the Air, Squash is everywhere

With a chill in the air and some squash in our farmthisway distribution, it really feels like Fall is starting to settle in.  The beginning of Fall is probably one of my favorite times of year.  I love cooking soup and the colors of fall, the smell of Fall and all of the cool things that there are to do.

I love to ride my bike with the smell of crisp leaves in the air.  The almost sickly sweet smell of apples fallen on the road as you ride by, or if you're really lucky, the smell of grapes on the vines.  I had a great ride out to farmthisway the other day on my bike.  Helped to pack up some heirloom tomatoes, which are THE BEST and then headed back home on the bike.  It was a glorious day.  Seriously, go buy some heirlooms...Tops has them.

But, back to my FALL obsession.  With half a bushel of acorn squash, which is part of our distribution this weel, you can make it several ways.  I'm fond of squash soup.  You can find a ton of recipes on line, and pick one that you think sounds best to you.  I sometimes like to pick one that has apple in it as well.   They make a great flavor combo.  You can roast the acorn squash tossed with olive oil, some shallots, or onions, and garlic, and whatever else you care to throw in (like dried cranberries) or for a simple and sweet side, you can split the squash in half, clean out the stringy and seedy bits, and then brush the insides with butter and sprinkle with a little salt.  A tablespoon of brown sugar sprinkled in each half, and some maple syrup.  Pop them in the oven for about an hour to an hour and 15 minutes (don't forget to put about a half an inch of water on the bottom of the pan to keep the squash from drying out and the skin from burning onto your baking dish) at 400 and the kids will almost think it is dessert instead of their veggies!

You say To-MAY-To, I say To-MAH-To

This week brought a lot of tomatoes.  Of course, in my house, this means SAUCE time!  I like to can my sauce when the tomatoes are fresh and then have it all winter long.  Last year I made enough that I had my homemade sauce all the way through early March.  I am hoping to do the same this year, even with the tomatoes ripening later than last year.

I have also just received the gift of a Foley Food Mill.  Hand grind style.  It is wonderful and it means that all of my sauce will NOT be chunky style this year.  Last year it was, and I like it chunky, but some things work better with a smooth, chunk free sauce, so I will probably make mine half and half this year.

I like to throw other veggies in my sauce, like chunks of green peppers (which we also got in the @farmthisway distribution) and onion (ditto), to give the sauce some texture.  Some of my batches last year got squash and/or zucchini added to them as well.

If you like a little spice to your sauce, you can add one or two of the hot banana peppers as well.


Other than sauce, we have found other ideas for our tomatoes.  One of my 13 year old daughter's favorites this week has been to hollow out a tomato a little bit with a grapefruit spoon, and then fill it with cottage cheese and eat it that way.

There are also plenty of nice slicing tomatoes in the box, so some will go toward our Caprese Salad addiction.  We just pull the basil from the back deck, slice the tomato and pair with fresh mozzerella.  Reminds us that it is still Summer, despite the fact that the kids are back at school.

Fried Green tomatoes are on the menu again this week, and eggplant parm casserole as well.

Happy canning, and happy eating, from my kitchen to yours!

All Hail, Glorious Kale

I've had several people ask about the kale in our farmthisway distributions.  What can I do with this?  There are several great things you can do with kale, but first, how about some information on this green powerhouse.  I have pulled some information on kale from various resources.  Here is the low down on the queen of green.

Kale is low in calorie, high in fiber and has zero fat. One cup of kale has only 36 calories, 5 grams of fiber and 0 grams of fat.  It’s also filled with many nutrients, vitamins, folate and magnesium as well as having iron, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin K and calcium. 

A leafy green, kale is available in curly, ornamental, or dinosaur varieties. It belongs to the Brassica family that includes cruciferous vegetables such as cabbage, collards, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts.

In summer, vegetable choices abound. But during the cooler months, there are fewer in-season choices -- with the exception of kale and other dark, leafy greens that thrive in cooler weather.

To find the freshest kale, look for firm, deeply colored leaves with hardy stems. Smaller leaves will be more tender and milder in flavor. Leaves range from dark green to purple to deep red in color.  

Store kale, unwashed, in an air-tight zipped plastic bag for up to five days in the refrigerator.

NOW you may ask...what should I DO with my kale....

Well, steam it, sautee it, use it as you would cabbage in cooked meals, or shred it up very tiny and you can use it in salads as well.  Baby kale works best for salads, but if you chop the full sized stuff small enough, it is great too.  You can shred some kale and put in in almost any soup.  I searched some creative recipes for kale, and while I am fairly certain I am not up for chocolate kale fudge pops, I may try to make this Kale-onaise

And if you have any potatos left from last week's distribution, sautee up some kale and mix with either mashed or diced, pan fried potatoes for a boost to your potato.  

Soup's On!

I know, I know, it is still Summer and you don't normally want to think about soup until Fall, but I LOVE soup and eat it year round.  I turn the Air Conditioning a degree or two colder and it is time to cook and eat a meal in a bowl.  This week with our farmthisway distribution, we received all of the makings of a delicious potato leek soup.  Or Leek Potato Soup as Alton Brown calls it.  Whatever it is, it is a favorite in my family and for that reason, I doubled the recipe and invited my parents over as well.  I served it up with some of the farmthisway fresh white corn (OH MY GOSH!  THIS IS SO GOOD!!!) and accompanied by crab cakes.  For these I used some lump crab meat, panko bread crumbs, and some onion (left from a previous distribution), green pepper (we have half a bushel this week), and garlic (also from past distribution).   Dinner was a hit with everyone. 

Now, what to do with all of those green peppers.  Well this morning is SALSA morning.  No, you won't find me dancing to Spanish music around my kitchen, I will be taking some onion, farmthisway heriloom tomatoes, green peppers, jalapenos (from last week) and a lime, and mixing them up for a lovely home made chunky chip topping.  I will make too much, so I will can some as well.  Then I will have fresh tasting salsa in the coming months.  But, that won't use them all, so I found this.  Roasted Green Pepper Soup recipe to try.  I love red bell pepper soup, so why not the green pepper?  And like I said, I love soup year round, so a new recipe to add to my repertoire will be a welcome friend, especially in the coming cold months!  The recipe calls for roasted jalapenos but I may use some of the roasted/frozen farmthisway hot banana peppers that are in my freezer for the heat component on this one. 

And I cannot say enough about that white corn.  Part of me wants to put some in the freezer for winter, but most of me wants to eat it ALL, right now.  Since I already have one of my 4 freezer compartments almost filled with my earlier in the summer veggies, sweet corn and green beans mostly, I feel like this special treat will be gone by tonight....Just too good to save for later, though I might scrape an ear or two into my salsa as I make it, that always gives it just a little extra crunch and sweetness to cut the bite from the jalapeno a little bit.

Enjoy your week folks!  Have fun in the kitchen!