CSAbc's

the coldest winter ....

noreply@blogger.com (CSAbc's) — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 23:18:00 +0000

you know how it goes.

it's been in the 50s and misty all week here. my muscles are even too cold to use capital letters, apparently. cold, fog & summer vegetables - they seemingly don't mix. thankfully the french have a solution for this!

Soupe au Pistou

1. Make yourself a batch of pesto, without the parmesan cheese (what makes it french).
2. Do you have some chicken stock made from your last roast chicken or butterflied chicken's back? Great. You'll need that.
3. Have a bunch of lovely vegetables from your CSA? Grab 1-2 each of those. Chop them small - about 1/2 inch dice.
4. Saute some onion and garlic, slowly.
5. Add the rest of your vegetables.
6. Add the warmed stock. Bring to a tiny simmer. Let it cook for a while - until the hardest veg in your soup is cooked.
7. Don't forget salt & pepper! (I never season my stock when I make it. I wait until I use it in a recipe.)
8. Serve in bowls, with the pistou on the side. Let people add as much/little as they wish.
9. Always better with parmesan, crusty bread and olive oil.

Veg I had around: red potatoes, green beans, carrots, zucchini, tomato.

-Michelle

We're Still Here!

noreply@blogger.com (Miche) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 19:22:00 +0000

Our poor little blog-that-could has been completely neglected. Having kids in kindergarten has really thrown us for a loop this year!! Who knew how busy a family could get just by being part of the school system? More on that, later...

Some updates:
-You will notice there is a Twitter feed on the right. I have jumped on the Twitter bandwagon, as I am able to update it from my office during the day. It's mostly my updates at this point, but hopefully Ruth will get the urge to 'tweet' something now and then. I have to admit that I often find myself with something to say, but not anything that would warrant an entire blog post. I'm finding Twitter useful, and I hope you do, as well. It's also a great way to connect with other people and exchange ideas.

-My household has been a single-income household since November. The 'elitist' tag that gets thrown on buying organic has definitely hit home. However, we are still getting our CSA and still doing our best to eat 'well'. In order to keep our costs down, we have just become more vegetarian! We eat red meat maybe once a week or less, and other meat consumption has also declined.

-Now that both of our eldest children have entered the public school system, we have both jumped into the burgeoning movement to 'fix' the school food situation in our respective districts. It's a daunting project, to say the least. Did you know that elementary school kitchens were removed in the 80s? Elementary schools could not prepare lunch on-site, even if they were willing and able. High schools arre a different, and more optimistic story, but where are tastes and food habits formed? In elementary school. Did you know that, at least in California, the prepared, frozen school lunch is shipped from Chicago? Even though the ingredients are sourced right here? Sounds silly, right? There are (crazy) reasons for this. The solutions are out there, but involve a lot of time, effort, creativity and ...... money.

That is where we are at, in a nutshell. There may be more updates about the school food 'movement' here in the future. For me, the goal is about getting the students access to more nutritionally-dense food, which means sourcing it locally and eating it fresh. And, hey, isn't that what having a CSA is all about?

Thanks for reading!

Food Costs

noreply@blogger.com (Ruth) — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 21:37:00 +0000

If I had anything resembling free-time in my life, this blog would have regular, daily posts. I think about food A LOT, and I have a lot to say about it, probably more than anyone wants to hear. But I have small children, a small business, a busy life, and I cook three meals a day. The time-cost for putting real food on the table isn't small, and there have been moments in the past months where I've wondered if the pop tarts would really kill us. (Not that I could swallow a piece of chemical-flavored cardboard...)

But this prompted me to post:

It's a young couple, who lived on a $1 a day for food for one month. They went as healthy as they could, oatmeal, peanut butter, beans, rice... but they couldn't afford produce more than a couple times during the experiment. They drank Tang for the vitamin C.

This makes me think a million things, about the people who really do it, about the cheap calories that are available in junk food, about how the looming health care crisis, obesity epidemic, and countless medical conditions could be wiped out with decent nutrition.

Then I wondered what our produce costs us each day. A $27 weekly box of produce feeds a family of four for $0.96 a day per person. I supplement fruit and kid-friendly vegetables (they just won't eat collards and mustard greens 7 days a week, darnit!) to get a greater variety and quantity, from a small local grocery that sources organic and pesticide-free produce from California farms. A typical week means another $25 in produce from this store, which would bring our total to just under $2 a day per person.

It doesn't sound outrageous, and it's certainly cheaper than the produce we ate a few years ago before starting the CSA box. Those days when I bought over-priced, warehouse-aged, hot-ticket items like fresh berries year-round. Now I haven't seen a berry in months (well, I did, encased in Jell-O, somewhere in the American middle-west but that's another story...), and won't until late Spring. Instead we're eating apples, oranges, persimmons and pomegranates. It is in all ways cheaper, healthier and better to eat seasonal produce; we know that. But what is to be done when the cheapest is too expensive?

There are stunning grassroots answers to this question in community gardens, backyards and rooftops,

she has never steered me wrong

noreply@blogger.com (CSAbc's) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 22:35:00 +0000

I am not a turnip fan. My first winter with Eatwell, I dutifully gave them a shot by roasting them in the oven...but I just couldn't get past the funky, turnipy smell.

All winter long, I gave them away to the French babysitter, who couldn't understand what I didn't like about them, but gladly took them and fed them to my daughter and the other kids.

Last week, Ruth sent me an email about making a soup out of the turnips. Even though she said they were 'out of this world', I was still dubious. However, I had to try it because A/ it was an Alice recipe and B/ the turnips don't have a second home as I no longer use the babysitter on a regular basis and C/ Ruth has NEVER been wrong about food. EVER.

I made the soup last night and had two bowls. And the kids ate it. And I brought it for lunch today. I think one could say that I have been converted!

2 lbs of small, fresh turnips with leaves
1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp of fresh thyme, chopped
1 bay leaf (I had a fresh one from the farm! woohoo!)
1 piece of prosciutto or smoked bacon (I used pancetta)
8 cups stock...chicken, vegetable or even water (I used leftover turkey stock)

Thinly slice the onion and garlic and saute in a large, non-reactive pot with the oil and butter and a tablespoon of water. Cover and gently cook until the onions are transparent.

Meanwhile, thinly slice the turnips. Reserve the greens.

Add the turnips, cover and stew a little bit.
Add the herbs, pork product ;) and stock. Bring to a simmer and cook low for 1/2 hour.

Towards the end, add the reserved greens, that have been washed and cut into 1/2 slices. Cook until wilted. Season with salt and pepper. Add a few slices of shaved parmesan. The end ;)

-Miche

gourd city

noreply@blogger.com (Miche) — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 03:58:00 +0000

I counted 3 squash sitting on my counter by Friday. One kabocha from two weeks ago, a butternut from last week and a fresh one from this week.

Supposedly, squash gets sweeter as it's left to mature...so, you know...that was all in the plan... ;)

I saw a recipe in Sunset magazine that seemed like a good way to use the squash somewhat in disguise. My kids love a lot of fruits and vegetables, but squash unfortunately isn't one of them. Having some time this Sunday afternoon, I made a batch of squash gnocchi. Some for tonight and the rest for the freezer.

The basic recipe is like this:

Cook a butternut squash. You can roast it, steam it or microwave it. I did the latter - poke holes all over and put it in the microwave on high for 10 minutes. (Mine needed a bit more cooking afterwards).
Scoop out the flesh and mash. You need 2 cups.
Season: salt, pepper, nutmeg, sage/marjoram/thyme. You could have fun and add Indian spices - that would be yum.
Add flour, 1 cup at a time. Now, I used King Arthur's white whole wheat flour. The recipe calls for 3.5 cups + dusting. My squash took at least all of that...maybe even a bit more!
Roll out into 'snakes', cut into 1/2" pieces.
Boil in salted water just until they float - no longer.

That's it! I tossed ours with melted butter, parsley and lemon juice and topped with parmesan.

Beware: the dough remains a bit sticky. I tried to do the Italian nonna thing by rolling each little gnoccho down a fork to get the grooves. It didn't work so well...I do not recommend. Just leave them in their little pillow form and enjoy.

Prop 2

noreply@blogger.com (CSAbc's) — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 21:57:00 +0000

radio silence

noreply@blogger.com (Miche) — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 01:59:00 +0000

One month since the last post? Oops. For me, there hasn't been much to say about summer produce. What can I possibly elaborate on when it comes to tomatoes, basil and zucchini?

Let me fill you in:

Zucchini? Adore. Especially when it is so fresh and downright creamy. I just saute them with onions. For me, that's how they are at their best. I don't need lots of recipes or ways to jazz them up.

Tomatoes: It was an interesting season here in California. All of the wild fires turned the sky smoky which in turn slowed down the ripening of the tomatoes. We got our real first batch sometime in mid-late August. I guess the smoke acted like a protective shade. According to Eatwell, it's the best season they've ever had. I have to confess that, while I enjoy a good heirloom, there is nothing like an amazing roma or cooking tomato! I have been keeping them as close to their natural state as possible by making lots of panzanella or quick marinara.

Basil: not a huge fan of Eatwell's basil, to tell you the truth. The leaves are pretty small and it is definitely on the spicy, not sweet, side. It makes a good pesto, though.

So, why the long time between posts? I haven't been doing much cooking. It's been sliced tomatoes in burgers or panzanella or tabbouleh. I miss spinach. Kale. Squash. Is that weird? Summer's bounty is here and all I can do is think about what is missing from my box. I almost even miss swiss chard...

Double Double

noreply@blogger.com (Ruth) — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 14:40:00 +0000

After being on vacation a couple weeks, I went to pick up my Eatwell box with great anticipation. The bounty was playing over in my mind, and a week's worth of fresh local vegetables seemed the perfect antidote to traveling and eating out.

Imagine my profound disappointment as I begin unpacking the box and constructing the night's dinner only to realize that after our simple summer supper, the balance of produce will consist of a few cherry tomatoes, a couple peaches, and since I was using 4 of our rationed 1/2 dozen eggs, only 2 eggs.

The time and energy I spend sourcing our food is for another post, but if we don't get enough in our Eatwell box, I'm relegated to Whole Foods produce the rest of the week because the Farmer's markets are in direct conflict with my work schedule. I know. Gasp. One could have it so bad. But that's not the point. The point is supporting a local food economy.

I fumed while preparing the vegetables. Even formulated a plan for my own garden next summer, which I must say is not such a shabby outcome. That's the direction to be heading, anyway, right?

Then. Then. I make this dish. It's from an old issue of Saveur, and it involves a very simple preparation of sauteed zucchini, onions and peppers with eggs cracked over the top. It's warm and flavorful and comforting. The then part comes in when I crack the first egg. Double yolk. Wow. THEN, I crack the second egg. Another double yolk. Something in the universe is directing me back to a little bit of gratitude.

Gearing up: Slow Food Nation

noreply@blogger.com (Miche) — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 19:16:00 +0000

You may or may not have read about the Slow Food Nation event that is set to take place here in San Francisco over Labor Day weekend. I have put some of their icons here on the blog (on the right - there are actually two of them there. I can see both from my mac, but only one from a PC...).

I have started, and deleted, about 3 different paragraphs that try to sum up what the event is all about - but I basically end up totally quoting the Slow Food website. I'm taking the lazy way out - go on over there and read all about it!

One of the reasons I'm bringing it up is to share my excitement. I signed up to volunteer for anything on any day, because I'm just so darn happy this is happening and that it's happening here! Well.....drumroll please.....I have been assigned to the SPIRITS table in the Taste Pavilion. I swear to you that this was a completely random assignment! Perhaps the managers had a sixth sense about me or something... ;)

I will be at the table from 5-10 on Friday night, August 29. Anyone else planning on attending?

Tip: Herb storage

noreply@blogger.com (CSAbc's) — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 02:47:00 +0000

The next time you have a bunch of fresh herbs, put them in water that has a good splash of hydrogen peroxide in it. The kind you buy at the drugstore. Tent the herbs with a plastic bag, store in the fridge. I have bunches of basil that have lasted more than 2 weeks like this!!!

PS: Ruth...yes...that is your St. Benoit jar that I have hijacked... ;)

It's really catching on

noreply@blogger.com (Miche) — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 17:09:00 +0000

Supermarket Chains Narrow Their Sights

By MARIAN BURROS

Published: August 6, 2008

Supermarkets are beginning to compete with farm stands and farmers’ markets for a wider variety of fresh fruits and vegetables.

Super easy stovetop summer meal

noreply@blogger.com (Miche) — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 01:30:00 +0000

It's the beginning of August - so most of you are sweltering somewhere. Not me, but we are pretending that we are and made an easy stove-top dinner using this week's cherry tomatoes (all of them orange). We saw Lydia make this a week or two ago and couldn't wait for our next batch of cherry tomatoes so that we could replicate it. It's a perfect weeknight meal - it whizzes up in like 5 minutes.

Spaghetti and Pesto Trapanese

1.5 pints of cherry tomatoes

large handful of almonds, slightly toasted (I think walnuts would also be good?)

1 clove garlic

handful of basil leaves

salt

pepperoncino

olive oil

In a food processor - whizz all of these ingredients. I like to put the garlic in first, to be sure it chops up fine. On her show, she added the almonds before the tomatoes, but the recipe I use said to put the tomatoes in first. I don't think it matters. Add the olive oil last in a steady stream - to your taste. Lydia always puts in way too much oil for me!

Toss with spaghetti. Sprinkle with parmesan. Done.

You could also get sneaky-mom and toss in other veg in here, I'm sure. Zucchini? Carrots?

Restaurant review: Blue Hill NYC

noreply@blogger.com (Miche) — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 21:24:00 +0000

My husband made reservations for us to celebrate our anniversary by dining at Blue Hill in Greenwich Village. The restaurant has been open since 2000 and prides itself on sourcing their ingredients locally and as much as possible from their own farm, Stone Barns, which is about 20 miles north of Manhattan. We stopped at Stone Barns last year on our way from the Adirondacks to New Jersey. I think I spent most of the day walking around with my jaw hanging open out of sheer awe over it's beauty and functionality.

That might quite an impression on us, so we were looking forward to our meal in the city. We made it there just before our reservation (The plan was to be there much earlier to grab a drink. Thanks a lot, Holland Tunnel.) and were seated not in the main restaurant but in the back or what they called their 'garden section'. Uh huh. Sometimes I wonder when we are placed in these 'special' areas it is because one of us has the wrong kind of shoes on or something. Well, the back room was really lovely and was not so dark like the main dining room. We were able to enjoy our meal with the lingering natural sunlight.

To recap the meal from memory (average-joe style and not restaurant critic style):
Appetizer: corn ravioli in a corn broth with celtuse (cross btw lettuce & celery) and roasted cherry tomatoes. The ravioli were so delicate and tender and you could tell by the deep yellow color that there was either a substantial amount of eggs and that they were fresh from the farm.

Entree: I had poached hake (I asked if it was an Atlantic fish, as I was unfamiliar with it, and the server said 'Long Island Sound??' and shrugged his shoulders, not knowing if that was the Atlantic Ocean or not. Wow. And he had been working there for 6 years...) in a vegetable pistou and my husband had farro with lamb shank and pork belly, fresh vegetables also played - asparagus and ...? I forget since it wasn't my dish!

Side: blanched haricots verts in a vinaigrette. SO simple. SO delicious. Something we wouldn't think of making for some reason. Maybe because I am no good at dicing shallot into a brunoise. They have to really be itty bitty for this to work, in my opinion.

Dessert: Strawberry granita served over farm-fresh yogurt, blueberries, strawberries. MMM. It was way better than it seemed it would be.

What I found so charming at first, and laughable later, were our amuse-bouche and mignardises...if you could call them that! Before our dinner, a server brought out a wooden block that was spiked with these long needles in the shape of a long 'S'. On either end of the S were two cherry tomatoes. Our server elegantly placed them in front of us with a: 'fresh from the farm. enjoy.' Oooookkkk. Pop into the mouth,...yes they are good....but come on. If anything, at least give me a whole bowl of them! After dinner was over, we were given a dish with two, small sugar plums. Cute. And yes, they were good, but again...not as special as the restaurant thought they were? Maybe if I was living in Manhattan I would be oohing and ahhing over the farm fresh goods, but even NYC has a farmer's market. So, I wasn't buying it.

All in all, everything was very good...although we both found each dish to be almost too salty. They took it right to the edge with the salt before going overboard. I like to taste salt, but every few bites it was getting in the way. Would I go back? If I lived nearby, it would be fun to go once a season. I would especially like to see how they deal with what produce comes from their greenhouse in February :)

eating 'local'

noreply@blogger.com (Miche) — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 03:48:00 +0000

I had to be on the east coast last week and made sure to take advantage of the local specialties. There is a great farm stand in Old Bridge, NJ that sells Jersey corn, tomatoes, greens, etc. If you are not from NJ...maybe you have no idea what kind of glorious produce New Jersey can produce? The state is most famous for it's corn, tomatoes and blueberries.

I got some corn. WHOA. The kernels were seriously jumping off the cob with freshness and they were so incredibly sweet. Not organic, though! Hmph. They were so good, I packed a half dozen into my luggage and we ate them tonight. So, I flew them back myself, that must count for something as we try to eat locally.

[The Jersey tomatoes were 2.99/lb and the 'other' tomatoes were 1.99/lb. Uh huh. I know. What gives, food system?!?]

Oh no!

noreply@blogger.com (Miche) — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 03:41:00 +0000

What? We're out of vegetables already?? This is the 'curse' of summer produce from the farm - it's much more evenly divided between fruits and vegetables.

We do still have a few radishes and some half-portions kicking around, but everything else is history. That's what stir-fry and pizzas are for - using up the leftovers!

PS: Summer is officially here. We have received tomatoes AND basil. This week will be the real start of tomato season as the heirlooms are on their way.

PPS: I have started a new blogroll category called 'Farm Life' to keep track of the new, beautiful, enviable blogs that are originating from farms these days.

PPS: On the farm note, there is a beautiful photo spread in last Sunday's NY Times magazine profiling female farmers. Enjoy.

Summer is ALMOST here

noreply@blogger.com (Miche) — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 20:43:00 +0000

I think everyone would agree that you can declare the arrival of summer with the first, ripe tomato. Right? (We're still waiting...patiently...)

Or would a nice bunch of BASIL count? Or would you need both of them together? ;)

Reading the newsletter from the farm the other day, I was shocked to learn that they plan on sending us tomatoes right up until November!! I think the same thing happened last year, but my memory is notoriously short.

This week's box contained:

Potatoes Yukon gold

Strawberries 'Albion' If you ever see these for purchase - BUY THEM. The perfume is unreal

Turnips Shoot - forgot to give them away...I should really pickle them

Stir Fry Mix A total misnomer - these greens are not good in a stir-fry. They are basically a mix of swiss chard, kale, collard greens and spinach. You will notice that they all cook at different times. After a year of trying to eat them cooked, I realize that raw is the way to go.

Arugula Hooray - can't get enough

Zucchini Ditto - not sick of them yet (ie: haven't made a loaf of zucchini bread yet...)

Onions Little, red ones. Adorable

BASIL Need I say more???

Apricots The cutest little jewel of a fruit! Almost too cute to eat.

Cherries We are getting 3 lbs of cherries a week, now, thanks to our fruit CSA subscription. 2 lbs of Rainiers and 1 lb of 'Stellas'. The latter are really meaty and bursting with juice!

Speaking of the fruit CSA...this week we got:

Royal Blenheim Apricots

Stella Cherries

Rainier Cherries

Peaches (I forget which kind)

Santa Rosa Plums (when I bite into these...I literally exclaim "WHOA" as the juice drips down my arm)

I'm Proud to be a Farmer's Granddaughter

noreply@blogger.com (Ruth) — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 22:58:00 +0000

That's me, summer of '76. Wearing my pride for my maternal grandparents, dairy farmers in rural Minnesota. My "What I'm Going to Be" list when I grew up included farmer, along side of cheerleader and stewardess. As I grew, my pride waned, and farmer because as suspect to a budding feminist intellectual wannabe as "stewardess." If it ever came up in conversation that my mother grew up on a farm, I was quick to point out that both my grandparents were college educated, and that their children left the farm to do other - subtext, more important/non-farming - things.

When I read Barbara Kingsolver write in Animal Vegetable Miracle that farming was seen as unintellectual and bumpkinish, I was guilty as charged.

But awakening to the realities of a seriously damaged and degraded food supply over the past several years has made me marvel at my roots in local eats, and at how far we could stray over the course of a generation.

My grandparents raised their own food. Almost all of it. They had milking cows, providing raw cream and milk, and belonged to a dairy cooperative in town for which they were credited butter, yogurt, buttermilk and ice-cream. They had pigs and chickens, raised for meat and eggs, and each year they'd butcher a few of their cows.

My grandmother had a vegetable garden, the size of which still overwhelms me. She raised their fruits and vegetables, berries, carrots, peas, lettuces, onions, tomatoes, asparagus, etc... trading with the neighbors for this variety or that. She canned fruits and vegetables, until she upgraded to a chest freezer, and then she preserved her bounty by freezing.

There was an apple orchard out their front door. They foraged for food, too: berries, game, fish. If I make it sounds romantic, which I think I'm doing, I know it was more like never-ending, backbreaking labor. Up at dawn to milk the cows, working until dusk, seven days a week, year and in out, decade after decade. In the summer, things might slow down enough to take a day and go fishing, but even that was food gathering.

This was no organic farm, either. My mother remembers slathering their screen doors with DDT. It, and other post-war left-overs, were in use on the crops. But it was a small-scale family farm, the kind that disappeared in the 70s and 80s; self-sustaining and diverse. Crop rotation vs. mono-culture.

I remember when the neighbors, shirt-tail relatives, buckled to planting a soy crop. They had one of those Scandinavian names like Bergerborgstrom, that sounded particularly comic when hissed in phrases like "The Bergerborgstroms are growing poison in their fields! People try to pass it off as a milk product!." I was trained to detect soy in ice cream. Later, of course, I grew up and became a vegetarian, bought the soy hype, and couldn't figure out why my grandparents didn't see it for the wonder protein it was. I've come full circle now, realizing that soy really wasn't meant to be digested by the human body - or by ruminants for that matter - unless in a fermented form. I also see what they saw; how mono-crops threatened their way of life on the family farm. Their ancient red Farmall tractors maybe looked shabby in comparison to the fancy green John Deers, purchased through debt and subsidy, but they supported a family of 6, and retired and sold the farm with money in the bank.

They were lucky. Most family farms went under. But I know they felt the loss of their way of life. I know they wanted their children to inherit and to continue farming. Getting out intact was not what they labored for all those years.

I wonder what my grandmother, the woman I spent countless hours with baking daily bread, preparing jams and jellies, canning pickles, I wonder what she would think of her granddaughter trying to find her way back to food sources from small, sustainable farms? My pride isn't in question, or even the issue. What matters now is can I find food that would make her proud of the life she lived? Proud to be a farmer? There are three small farms in my life, giving me produce, meat and grains. I believe in them for their sustainable farming practices, and buy from them because I know this is the food economy we need to adopt for the future. I'm constantly looking for more sources. But it's not just about organic foods, traveling short distances to my plate, it's about a way of life well worth the living.

Inspiring

noreply@blogger.com (Miche) — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 14:29:00 +0000

If they can do it in a parking lot in Syracuse, NY....I can certainly do it in the fog...

a strange month of produce

noreply@blogger.com (CSAbc's) — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 05:54:00 +0000

As spring turns to summer, hopefully you are enjoying all the new products that have been coming to your local market. We have just started to get zucchini, which for me has been the first welcome sign of summer! This last month of produce has been a bit odd. The fruit has been great - we've been getting a steady stream of strawberries, apricots and cherries. The vegetables are full of old stand-bys like swiss chard, lettuce, stir-fry mix (fancy term for mixed kale/chard/collard greens) and carrots. That's just fine, but I'm ready to mix it up a bit and lose the swiss chard just for a week or two... I have to admit this is kind of a let-down after the bountiful months of March (green garlic, artichokes) and April (fava beans, snap peas).

I'm ready for a fresh, vine-ripened, probably-heirloom, salmonella-free TOMATO.

*I started writing this post entitled 'The Next Step' - all about meat. In the past 15 months, we have gone from doing all of our food shopping at the grocery store, to about 30 % of it. That's a pretty big change and one that we are very proud of. We have started buying much of our meat at the farmer's market, and soon through a local meat CSA. I want to explore this further in a separate post.

Whassup, hyssop?

noreply@blogger.com (Miche) — Sat, 31 May 2008 23:08:00 +0000

When we received our newsletter from the farm last week notifying us what they expected to put in the next week's box, I saw hyssop and went right away to a new screen and googled it.

I guess it is most famous for being mentioned in the New Testament during the crucifixion - they say that a sponge soaked in vinegar was placed on a branch of hyssop and given to Christ before he died.

A/ that's gross - couldn't they give him some water? and

B/ it must have been a different species of hyssop because what I received is only about 8-10" long.

I prefer to remember it as a crucial ingredient of Chartreuse and Absinthe :)

Suggestions from the farm were to use it in a homemade blend of herbes de provence, or to use sparingly in a meat marinade or as stew. I guess it has a kind of anise-y, minty, bitter flavor.

Here you see it drying beneath some heads of garlic - it feels so witchy doing this - I love it.

Mmmmm, greasy!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Ruth) — Thu, 29 May 2008 22:11:00 +0000

Last night I'd thawed chorizo sausage from Deck for dinner without really thinking it through. Bold move for a girl from the Midwest. The thing I did know about chorizo, is that it's really more of an ingredient than a dish on it's own.

There was nothing, nothing in the house to work that sausage. It was already a day past being thawed, it was late, we were hungry.

So I cracked open the Eatwell box, and voila: sweet potatoes. Out of storage. Special treat!

Only one thing to do: chorizo sweet potato hash. I've never really hashed sweet potatoes before, but I must say everyone should be preparing them this way much more often! Buttery, toothy, caramelized sweet potatoes?? It was the perfect match for spicy/smoky sausage.

Thanks Eatwell!

Organizing the loot

noreply@blogger.com (Miche) — Fri, 23 May 2008 04:06:00 +0000

Organization is a large part of being a CSA member, and part of the reason why Ruth and I wanted to start this blog. It might seem really daunting to have to 'deal with' fresh-with-dirt veg and de-stemming and chopping and drying, etc. I remember when I was thinking about signing up - I would grill Ruth about how much washing and salad spinning was involved and whether there was dirt caked on to every little thing. It's not bad. Trust me. We both have kids, we both work a lot - but we can still make this work.

Here we go - box contents and what I did with them and what I plan to do with them for the week:

1. Beets. They come with their tops on which are not only incredibly tasty and healthy - they turn to slime in like 36 hours. I separated the tops from the root. Roots went into a ziploc and the greens (snipped off with kitchen scissors - $2 at Ikea) went into a plastic bag and into the crisper. We'll make them tomorrow and either eat them right away or I'll use them in a lentil salad (awesome combo - lentils & beet greens). The next time I have the oven on, I'll roast the beets and we'll use them in salads.

2. Stir-fry mix. A mix of chard, kale, collard greens. I'll wash it right before eating. That entails putting in the salad spinner. Soaking. Removing from water w/o spinning - the water helps the saute/steam process. We will probably cook this with the beet greens.

3. Spinach. To eat sauteed one night with loads of fresh garlic (see below). Will wash right before eating. The spinach takes about 3 water changes. It's really not a big deal as I'm in the kitchen doing other stuff, I swish it, dump the water, repeat.

4. Swiss Chard. See stir-fry mix.

5. Asparagus. Nothing to do until I'm about to cook them. My favorite way is roasting. Snap off the bottoms, peel the stalks (these are thick) and throw into a hot oven after tossing with salt, pepper and olive oil.

6. Radishes. The bunch we got this week is BIG. The leaves are no good - they get composted right away and the radishes go into a bowl in the fridge. I basically eat these on my own, with bread, butter and salt as an appetizer almost every night. I really look forward to this simple pleasure!

7. Garlic. Nothing to do except eat them. :)

8. Cherries. See garlic.

9. Strawberries. See cherries.

10. Mint. Place in jar with a little water. Covered with a plastic bag. Put in fridge. Will use for tea, fava bean spread, in dessert, mojitos, ...

11. Lettuce. I keep it in the bag until I'm ready to use it - then I wash and spin it. It takes about 2 rinses.

Tonight I spent about 30 minutes total disassembling the box and putting things away. All while dinner was getting made. Pretty painless!

Fava Bean City

noreply@blogger.com (Miche) — Wed, 14 May 2008 04:54:00 +0000

Part of the deal with our CSA, and maybe with others, is that there is a 'trade' area where you can leave stuff you don't want and ideally trade it for something else. This week's deposit was a whole bag of fava beans, which I promptly snatched up. I'll leave something another day...

I got home and realized I had like 3 lbs of fava beans. I didn't think it would be so many since the yield is so low after the shucking and peeling. Ha - the joke was on me! I had a HUGE bowl of fava beans!

What I've done with them:

1. Shucked, blanched, peeled. Required for anything else I'd want to do, anyway.

2. Made a 'ragout' using instructions from Alice Water's 'Vegetables' book (just cover with half water/half olive oil, salt/pepper, garlic, rosemary - cook for 5-8 minutes). Eh - they were good. Not mind blowing.

3. Whizzed remaining ragout-ed favas with some pecorino and voila - a spread for toast.

4. Mixed in with a lentil salad.

5. Tossed with pasta.

I think I'm almost sick of fava beans. The season is just about over, anyway.

check this out

noreply@blogger.com (Miche) — Sat, 03 May 2008 15:32:00 +0000

San Francisco Victory Garden

I just found out about this yesterday and got so excited! I am going to send in an application for our family. Cross your fingers that we get accepted!

The city of San Francisco is going to choose 15 households that represent the 'diversity of San Francisco' to be part of this pilot program. They issue you a kit AND will help you set up a food garden in whatever space you have available, no matter which microclimate you live in. Our microclimate just happens to be the fog belt, which is one of the reasons I have never put much effort into growing food. The other reason? I *suck* at gardening. Completely and totally suck. I don't even know where to start.

If we don't get chosen, I would like to get the kit anyway on a small scale. This would be a great thing to do with the kids. We are currently trying to grow sunflowers, which is going better than expected (I know,...sunflowers in the fog? Well, it's not foggy, yet.)

At first I was taken aback by the city using the term 'Victory Garden'. But, if you think about it, having a food garden thrive in your backyard/patio/deck is a huge victory for you and your family's health, the health of the environment...not to mention your budget!

Readers - do you have a food garden? Where do you live and what do you grow?

a CSA confession

noreply@blogger.com (Miche) — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 21:42:00 +0000

It's Thursday, the day I pick up our new box of fruits & veg from Eatwell.

I still have lettuce, spinach, leeks AND some snow peas leftover from last week. oops!

(everything has held up really well)