tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521164888328380962024-11-01T04:12:45.720-07:00Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172740013661415218noreply@blogger.comBlogger123125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-352116488832838096.post-50762281912937299072010-05-17T16:49:00.000-07:002010-05-17T16:55:38.091-07:00

The Vicarious Farmer is moving!I've decided to broaden the focus of my blog a bit. I'm still interested in food, cooking, and our CSA farm. But I'd like to have room to explore other issues related to food and eating, including the decision-making process behind the meals and foods I offer to my family every day. So the Vicarious Farmer is now...Feeding My Family.The new blog url is: http://

Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172740013661415218noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-352116488832838096.post-72010984516385353092010-05-16T18:30:00.000-07:002010-05-16T18:51:11.420-07:00

I've had a mini-cold for a week and am pretty sleep deprived thanks to the baby, who thinks it's cool to wake up with the neighborhood "dawn chorus" of birds at 5 A.M. each day. Days like this call for an easy meal- easy to prepare, easy to clean up.So here's what we tried: Liar's Soup. What? Yep, Liar's Soup. This recipe's been around on the internet for a while; I think it originated in

Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172740013661415218noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-352116488832838096.post-18790236863971282212010-05-15T10:17:00.000-07:002010-05-15T10:36:54.841-07:00

Woo hoo! The farm is open for the season! After a morning trip to the dentist and two newly filled cavities (boo), Ryan and I headed out to Honey Brook. Beautiful day, too- sunny, breezy, warm but not hot.Our share today was small- arugula, lettuce, and just 1/2 pint of strawberries- but it's always exciting to get out there and see all the plants that are just getting started for the season.

Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172740013661415218noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-352116488832838096.post-73522738572016405642010-04-02T17:19:00.000-07:002010-04-02T17:43:35.367-07:00

(Well, hello there! Long time no blog. I'll be back soon to talk about my plans for this spring and onward...)So! After several weeks of rain, rain, more rain and a few puddles in our basement (ugh), the sun finally showed up to dry things out and warm us up! Today was beautiful, and at first opportunity I herded the boys outside so that the fresh spring air could work its magic on them and

Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172740013661415218noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-352116488832838096.post-84767155824506222622009-06-03T18:07:00.000-07:002009-06-03T19:01:51.410-07:00

The first week of this year's CSA was a little crazy- Jason was unexpectedly out of town for a funeral, and I found myself trying to figure out how to manage a trip to the farm with Ryan and Aiden in tow. In the end, I decided to have our sitter come over for a few hours to give me a break, and I headed out to the farm by myself. This turned out to be a good plan, as the pick-your-own fields

Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172740013661415218noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-352116488832838096.post-14256290823070659952009-05-25T18:11:00.000-07:002009-05-25T18:33:22.897-07:00

Well, apropos of nothing related to my purported blog theme anyway. Nope, nothing homegrown or locally grown or even vaguely organic here. But...but...this s'mores pie did do a fabulous job of heralding the unofficial start of summer this Memorial Day, and it was so good I wanted to share it. We'll call it "seasonal" fare.The recipe, from Gourmet magazine via Smitten Kitchen, stays faithful to

Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172740013661415218noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-352116488832838096.post-28007999374337577782009-05-25T18:10:00.000-07:002009-05-26T09:47:39.870-07:00

I've been making this one for years. Now that Jersey asparagus is in the market, it was time to dust off the recipe yet again. Penne is tossed in a silky sauce made from the pureed asparagus stalks, olive oil, lemon zest, parmesan and some of the asparagus cooking water. The tender tips are reserved for topping the pasta. Simple and delicious- a great and different way to enjoy asparagus.The

Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172740013661415218noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-352116488832838096.post-34564348624587097052009-05-21T16:59:00.000-07:002009-05-21T17:04:39.548-07:00

Our CSA farm opens for the season this week- hurrah! Sounds like it will be lettuce and strawberries for the first week. There's a yummy-looking strawberry pie in Everyday Food this month- I think I'll put that first on my list of ways to use all the strawberry goodness that will be coming our way. Can't wait....

Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172740013661415218noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-352116488832838096.post-71021730809168643632009-05-11T17:14:00.000-07:002009-05-11T17:58:11.324-07:00

I'm always tearing recipes out of magazines and setting them aside to try later. And then more magazines arrive in the mail and I tear out more recipes... and I'll never catch up. But every once in a while I do sift through the ever-growing stack of torn-out pages and select something to make.Tonight's dinner comes from the January issue of Everyday Food, a magazine that is quickly becoming a

Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172740013661415218noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-352116488832838096.post-25992518871118705692009-05-05T18:21:00.000-07:002009-05-05T18:21:00.289-07:00

I always like asparagus and goat cheese together, so when I saw this recipe in the May issue of Bon Appetit, it went straight onto our menu. It's a white pizza- no tomato sauce here. The crust is brushed with garlicky olive oil, sprinkled with sliced scallions, and scattered with shredded mozzarella. Thinly sliced potatoes and slivers of asparagus come next. Goat cheese is crumbled over the

Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172740013661415218noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-352116488832838096.post-24613479363554218002009-05-04T18:21:00.000-07:002009-05-04T18:31:08.387-07:00

We're continuing to excavate the freezer, finding all sorts of delicious odds and ends left over from last year's harvest. Most recently, I found a small container of pesto made with one of the many bunches of cilantro we received over the course of the summer. It contains herbs and nuts just like basil pesto, but also lime juice, sesame oil and soy sauce (the original recipe called for fish

Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172740013661415218noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-352116488832838096.post-4567751738815615662009-04-21T12:11:00.000-07:002009-04-22T14:26:00.137-07:00

Last week, one of Jason's colleagues gave us a nice little surprise- a packet of Ramapo tomato seeds. Ramapo is a hybrid variety developed by Rutgers scientists in the 1960s that supposedly exemplifies Jersey tomato flavor. What does a "real" Jersey tomato taste like, you ask? Well, I'm not entirely sure. Our CSA farm grew Ramapos last year, but I don't know whether any made their way into

Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172740013661415218noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-352116488832838096.post-49614943056053787812009-04-16T18:13:00.000-07:002009-04-16T18:15:28.016-07:00

Last summer I admitted to being patty-impaired. And last fall I even failed at making falafel from a boxed mix- somehow the uncooked falafel balls disintegrated in the hot oil, and I ended up with a frying pan full of sludge. Very frustrating. But tonight... tonight I scored a fritterific victory!I made a pot of Yellow Indian Woman Beans for dinner last night. This was the first time I'd

Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172740013661415218noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-352116488832838096.post-44771759675808167202009-04-13T17:09:00.000-07:002009-04-13T17:27:11.762-07:00

As a vegetarian who's not fond of eating eggs, planning an Easter meal presents some challenges. My mom's traditional family meal involved ham and potato salad with hard-boiled eggs. So I'm not exactly keen on carrying on that tradition here. This year, it was just the four of us for Easter, and one of us doesn't eat solid foods. I wanted to keep it simple.We had a late breakfast of homemade

Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172740013661415218noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-352116488832838096.post-33435242154527033102009-04-11T10:44:00.000-07:002009-04-11T11:09:57.882-07:00

...so no yardwork today (though Jason did pick the mower up from the repair shop; that counts for something, I think). Can't do any planting, but I've done more digging around in the freezer to see what's left from last season. A few good finds:1. Eight individual-size shortcakes. I'd pureed the last of the 2008 CSA strawberries into a smoothie just a few days before, but there were

Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172740013661415218noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-352116488832838096.post-9432794083419792862009-04-06T11:40:00.000-07:002009-04-06T11:49:07.204-07:00

Here's the newest CSA farm member- Aiden was born 2.5.09, weighing 9 lbs. 4 oz. Must've been all that good fresh organic produce that made him such a big healthy boy!Yesterday was the nicest spring day yet. Mom and Ryan were outside for hours. I put together some new outdoor toys for Ryan, and Mom did some of my garden chores for me. She gave me a head start on clearing debris from several

Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172740013661415218noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-352116488832838096.post-73450748391092613972009-04-02T12:15:00.000-07:002009-04-02T12:27:51.688-07:00

Well, I didn't quite meet my goal of blogging the *entire* 2008 CSA farm season, but I came close. Things petered out pretty quickly. We did eventually see carrots, squash, pumpkin, and cauliflower, ableit in small amounts. And then it was November, and time to call it a year.In November and December, my thoughts turned to stocking our basement freezer in anticipation of our new baby, due in

Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172740013661415218noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-352116488832838096.post-59925265472054583982008-09-29T09:00:00.000-07:002008-09-29T09:00:04.277-07:00

It's about this time of year that I begin to wonder when our last farm pickup will be. Last year, our final pickup was the Saturday before Thanksgiving. We haven't yet seen any carrots, pumpkins or winter squash, so I know (or at least hope) there are still some good things to come.It's been a cool rainy week here, and our dinner on Saturday night reflected the change of seasons. I had half a

Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172740013661415218noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-352116488832838096.post-42330788578923824052008-09-28T12:48:00.000-07:002008-09-28T13:12:25.485-07:00

Yesterday was rainy and Ryan was cranky, so he stayed home with Jason and I went to the farm by myself. Probably a good thing as the playground was too wet to use, and the fields were super-muddy.Did I remember to take a picture? No. Did I remember to write down what was in our share? No. But I think I've got a pretty complete list below.1 quart green beans15 hot peppers1 1/2 quarts sauce

Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172740013661415218noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-352116488832838096.post-55987421780987762572008-09-23T06:47:00.000-07:002008-09-23T06:54:46.738-07:00

Ryan and I were away on farm day last weekend, so Jason did the honors by himself. No photos, but here's what we got:1 1/2 lbs. heirloom tomatoes2 1/2 lbs. slicing tomatoes4 eggplant (2 of which are tiny "international" eggplant)1 bunch kale1 head bok choy1 bunch cilantro1/4 lb. swiss chard2 peppers14 hot peppers1/8 lb. arugula1/2 pint cherry and currant tomatoes1 pint raspberries1 quart green

Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172740013661415218noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-352116488832838096.post-56359154996995742762008-09-17T07:56:00.001-07:002008-09-17T08:07:16.296-07:00

Last month's issue of Bon Appetit included, in Molly Wizenberg's always interesting and enjoyable column, a recipe for Pomodori al Forno- essentially, tomatoes baked with oil and herbs until their flavors are deeply concentrated, then marinated in oil, garlic, and more herbs until they become truly glorious creatures. These are SO GOOD. You must make some. Go on, right now. Get some plum

Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172740013661415218noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-352116488832838096.post-76474167389640666772008-09-16T08:50:00.000-07:002008-09-16T08:56:01.330-07:00

Whoops- I forgot to post our share for this week. And I forgot to take a photo, too.1 bunch basil1 bunch cilantro1 quart green beans10 hot peppers (assorted- I think Jason chose some scotch bonnets- yikes!)2 bell peppers1 summer squash1 1/2 lbs. heirloom tomatoes1 1/2 lbs. slicing tomatoes1/4 lb. chard1 head garlic1/2 pint raspberries1 quart sauce tomatoes2 heads lettuce1 bunch kaleThe

Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172740013661415218noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-352116488832838096.post-48125423630561382082008-09-11T04:52:00.000-07:002008-09-11T05:02:00.040-07:00

I've got a very nice stash of pesto in the freezer now, and I've turned my thoughts to other ways to preserve some of my weekly bunch of basil. Last year, I experimented with freezing basil and was pleased with the results. Can't remember where I read this tip, but thank you to whomever shared it with me!Wash and chop the basil. Take a clean ice cube tray and distribute the chopped basil

Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172740013661415218noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-352116488832838096.post-17966485897111507072008-09-10T10:05:00.000-07:002008-09-10T10:15:42.789-07:00

I've been making this recipe for a long time. It comes from one of the Silver Palate cookbooks, and typical of Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukin's recipes from that era, it's pretty decadent. But it's also pretty darn good, and the amount of oil can absolutely be scaled back. You want enough to really marry the flavors of the tomato, basil and brie, and to allow the brie to melt into a creamy sauce

Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172740013661415218noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-352116488832838096.post-30141344346665588662008-09-06T10:40:00.000-07:002008-09-06T10:52:36.659-07:00

Here we are, week 15 already! We probably have another 2 months of produce to go- should see some fall lettuce and broccoli crops along with winter squash and pumpkins as we head into autumn.This week's photo is complete with chubby hand sneaking in to the shot for a ripe raspberry!Here's what we brought home:1/2 lb. chard1 quart green beans1 1/2 lbs slicing tomatoes1 lb. heirloom tomatoes1/4 lb

Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01172740013661415218noreply@blogger.com0