But, I’m sure, the upcoming cold months will go by much more quickly than I always expect they will. Especially this year, once our newest family member arrives in January. And from there it’s only a few more months until green springy things start popping up. We’ll make it; we always do. And until then, we’re going to eat really well.  Here’s what we’re cooking:

Plenty of Brussels Sprouts this week means we’ll be breakfasting on this delicious Winter Hash, and since we’ve got Turnips this week as well, I figure it only makes sense to sub them for the parsnips in this recipe.

This week’s Cabbage is destined to become Food52’s Okonomiyaki - a delicious, savory Japanese pancake.

Our Butternut Squash is going to get roasted up and tossed into this Wild Rice Pilaf with Roasted Butternut Squash. It’s nutty and sweet, full of squash and sage and some dried cranberries to boot. It’s pretty much the ultimate fall side dish.

We have so many peppers this week, both hot and sweet: Bell Peppers, Banana Peppers, Jalapeno, and Cayenne. One thing I know for sure is that when you have a whole bunch of peppers, you should probably make Homemade Hot Giardiniera; it’s basically the most wonderful condiment of all time.

All of our lovely Carrots this week are getting roasted up in this Sheet Pan Roasted Chicken and Carrots with Harissa Yogurt Sauce for a super easy and satisfying sheet pan dinner.

If you can believe it, our farmers are still managing to give us Tomatoes. It makes me so happy. I’ll cook this week’s down and use them in place of the inferior canned variety to make a big warming bowl of these Steamed  Mussels with Tomato, Fennel, and Saffron Broth. And I’ll top it all off with plenty of fresh Parsley. Sounds heavenly.

Leeks are always good in my book, but trust Yottam Ottolenghi to find ways to really make them shine. Things like his Braised Eggs with Leeks and Za’atar.

I normally tend to fry my Shallots to use as a crispy topping for everything, but this week I think I’ll take things in a different direction  and make David Lebovitz’s Shallot Marmalade. I think it’s going to be lovely with goat cheese on some crusty whole grain bread or crackers, don’t you?

We’ve got more Collard Greens, and plenty of Garlic, so I’m thinking we’ll get braising with them. The Kitchn’s Braised Collard Greens with Bacon sounds particularly good, especially atop a warm bowl of cheesy polenta or grits.

Cauliflower + loads of cheese sounds like exactly what I need right now, so Smitten Kitchen’s Cauliflower Gratin it is. We’ll probably throw some extra Collard Greens in there too just to counteract all of that cheese.

As I mentioned last week, we were able to procure a couple of bonus weeks of CSA veggies, so we’re still going strong in the fall produce department, which means no shortage of fall cooking going on. Our shares these last few weeks have been huge, but since most of it consists of roots and squash and other things that keep well, we’re not worried. We’ll be eating well for the foreseeable future, which sounds perfect to me. Here’s what we’ll be cooking:

There are a lot of great things one can do with a big head of Cauliflower. I’ve found that Food52’s Pasta with Slow Cooked Cauliflower, Anchovies, and Garlic is one of the best things.

This week’s Kale is destined for soup, whether it’s in the form of this Chicken, Kale, and Wild Rice Soup, or paired with this week’s Potatoes in this Portuguese Kale and Potato Soup from Epicurious.

I’m a brussels sprouts fiend, and since last week’s are already gone, I’m definitely planning to pick up some more from the farmers’ market this week, mainly to go with our CSA Lettuce and Garlic in Things I Made Today’s Brussels Sprout Salad with Creamy Garlic Dressing.

Our farmers are awesome, because somehow, despite the fact that there’s a possibility of snow flurries this week, we’re still getting Tomatoes. And let me just say that eating summery, in-season tomatoes is like a ray of sunshine on a cold, cloudy, fall day. I’ve been enjoing them on toast, and in scalloped tomato form, per usual, but when I’m up for some more cozy fall cooking, things like this Pork and Fennel Bolognese come to mind. With a good dose of tomatoes, well as Garlic and Onions (of which we have plenty), it makes for the perfect fall meal.

Shallots and Leeks this week means we pretty much have to make a batch of The Leek and The Carrot’s Caramelized Shallot and Leek Biscuits. And as an added bonus, we’ll make any leftover Tomatoes into the Tomato Balsamic Jam she recommends slathering said biscuits in. I can’t wait.

And any leftover Leeks and Potatoes we might have are definitely making their way into this Potato and Leek Frittata.

This week’s Bell Peppers are getting roasted and tossed with fresh mozzarella and plenty of crusty bread to make Smitten Kitchen’s Grilled Pepper and Torn Mozzarella Panzanella.

And of course, our Shishito Peppers this week are going to get blistered in a hot pan with lemon, sesame oil and sea salt. Because, why mess with the perfect snack?

Finally, we’ve got more Spaghetti Squash, which is kindof perfect since I’ve been wanting to try making some of this Spinach Artichoke Stuffed Spaghetti Squash from the Gourmet RD.

And so, we’ve been spared, for a couple of weeks anyway, from the inevitable end of our weekly CSA bounty. Since many of my favorite vegetables are cropping up this time of year, this makes me extra happy. We’ll be making the most of these few extra weeks of veggie goodness; here’s what we’ll be cooking this week:

Admittedly, I’m a total newbie when it comes to Spaghetti Squash, but I’m thinking this Lemongrass Shrimp Soup with Spaghetti Squash from Bon Appetit is sounding like a great way to use ours. And if we have extra, Food52’s or Spaghetti Squash with Chiles, Lime and Cilantro is sounding pretty amazing as well.

Since this week’s CSA box has a big Butternut Squash, lots of lovely Spinach, and a Red Onion, I’m going to take that as a sign that this Skillet Butternut Squash and Spinach with Toast was just destined to happen.

I’m always down for fritters, so thanks to this week’s Carrots and Leeks, and Thing’s I Made Today’s recipe, I’m sure we’re going to find ourselves feasting on Carrot and Leek Fritters.  

Our Red Cabbage is getting the low and slow treatment this week when we braise it with apples, red wine vinegar, and black currant jelly as in Food52’s Wintry Braised Red Cabbage.

Combining Cauliflower with caramelized Onion and copious amounts of cheese sounds absolutely heavenly, so we’re probably going to have to make some of Smitten Kitchen’s Cauliflower and Caramelized Onion Tart. It’d be silly not to really.

Broccoli, I’ve found, becomes amazingly crunchy and delicious once roasted. And it’s even better when said roasted broccoli finds its way into this Farfalle with Roasted Broccoli, Sun Dried Tomatoes, and Pine Nuts.

When faced with loads of sweet Bell Peppers, Tomatoes, and Garlic, the obvious thing to do is whip up a big pot of Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup, plus plenty of grilled cheese to go with.

And speaking of Tomatoes, I know we must be reaching the end of tomato season soon. While I’m slightly in denial about this, I’m starting to find myself oven drying and freezing of our late season tomatoes each week so we have something to look forward to this winter.

My favorite vegetable, Brussels Sprouts, are here at last! And honestly, I love them so much, I’m finding it a bit hard to decide between these Sambal Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Fish Sauce Vinaigrette and this Brussels Sprout and Ricotta Pizza. Truth is, I don’t think I could go wrong either way.

The trees may still be green, but at least I feel like we’re hitting our fall stride in the vegetable department. Here are the days of pumpkins and peppers and all of the best root vegetables. But also tomatoes, because, always tomatoes. Just thinking about it all has me itching to fire up the oven and get roasting; throw a pot on the stove and get braising, and eat lots of cozy fall food. And if the leaves never change, and just continue to fall, as green as ever, so be it. We’ll be eating like it’s fall, and that’s all that matters. Here’s what we’re cooking this week:

They may call it a Pie Pumpkin, but ours is destined for so much more than pie this week. I’m thinking a big old pot of this Pumpkin and Pork Chili with Roasted Pepitas, and probably a whole bunch of this Pumpkin Mac and Cheese for good measure.

I feel like we must be nearing the end of Tomato season, and as such, each week we get more tomatoes in our CSA box feels like something we need to take full advantage of. I’ve said it before, but Food52’s Scalloped Tomatoes will always rank high on my favorite things to do with tomatoes, so you can bet we’ll be making more this week. I’m also thinking some of Dishing Up the Dirt’s Cherry Tomato Confit is in order as well - we’ll eat it on toast, throw it on pizza, or just eat them straight up.

This week’s Red Onion and Sweet Potatoes are slated for this Chile Roasted Chicken with Sweet Potatoes and Cilantro Rice. And since we all know I’m a sucker for breakfast tacos, any leftover sweet potatoes will be finding their way into these Sweet Potato and Chorizo Breakfast Tacos.

I love all of the peppers this time of year - this week’s Bell Peppers  are getting roasted up with any leftover Tomatoes to make some of this Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup. We’ll probably throw our Cayenne Pepper in there too while we’re at it, since we all know I’m all about making my food as spicy as possible.

I realize that cooking Broccoli forever does not sound like the most appealing thing to do with broccoli, but please trust me when I say, this recipe from Food52 is amazing. Toss it into pasta with copious amounts of parm and maybe some of the aforementioned tomato confit, and I’m a happy camper.

Do we need an excuse to make Smitten Kitchen’s Parsley Pecorino Biscuits? Probably not, but I’ll take the big bunch of Parsley in this week’s CSA box as a sign that these biscuits definitely need to happen. Come to think of it, adding some caramelized Shallots to these biscuits would probably be in our best interest as well. Just sayin.

Sure they’re big and ugly and gnarly looking, but I can’t help that I’m a fan of Rutabagas. Especially when they’re cooked up in this Chicken and Root Vegetable Stew with Parmesan Biscuits.

Last year, I discovered that my all time favorite thing to do with Celeriac is to make it into Lucky Peach’s Kung Pao Celeries. It’s spicy, it’s flavorful, it’s exactly what we’re going to do with this week’s celeriac.

We kicked off this bout of glorious fall weather with a trip to Door County last weekend, and all in all, we had a great time. DC this time of year has lots of good fall vibes - fall foliage in spades, so many apple orchards, beautiful hiking - it was almost perfect, except for the fact that for some reason, Leo decided this trip would also be a good opportunity to see what would happen if he just completely gave up on sleeping. It was not great, but I can’t help but be amazed by the amount of energy this kid still has after only 3 hours of sleep in an entire night. Maybe someday he’ll share his secret. In the meantime, I’ll just continue to be exhausted.

Exhausted, but definitely well fed, since this week’s CSA box is once again full to bursting with more fall veggies. I can’t wait to get cooking with it all; here’s what we’re making this week:

Yay for more winter squash this week! This week’s giant Butternut Squash is most likely ending up as a big bowl of this Thai Butternut Squash and Peanut Soup, because I love all things spicy. And if we have enough squash left after that, Food52’s Butternut Sage Scones are definitely happening, which is good because we have lots of Sage this week too.

You can’t go to Door County without bringing home plenty of smoked whitefish (at least, I can’t). Luckily, plenty of Leeks and Potatoes in this week’s CSA box means we’ll definitely be making a big pot of Smoked Whitefish Chowder.

Tired all the Tomatoes yet? Yeah, me neither. Now that I feel like it’s cool enough to use my oven again, I’m thinking roasted tomatoes are the way to go, whether they’re cooked low and slow and used to top toast with a big dollop of ricotta, or gussied up in this Roasted Tomato Tart from Wild Greens and Sardines.  

I have no doubt in my mind that the best thing to do with our Bell Peppers this week is combine them with loads of Garlic to make Smitten Kitchen’s Piri Piri Chicken. And per her recommendation, we’ll serve it with some roasted Potatoes, and a simple Tomato salad.

This week’s big bunch of Collard Greens are getting sauteed up and tossed with pasta, parmesan, and italian sausage, as in Alexandra Cooks’ Orcchiette with Hot Italian Sausage and Wilted Greens.

The thing about Jalapenos in our house is that they never last long because I tend to put them on everything. This week’s will most likely get scrambled up with eggs, cheese, and Tomatoes to make for some seriously good breakfast tacos.

Our first Cabbage of the season arrived this week as well, and it’s sure to be gone in no time once I whip up a batch of this Indian Spiced Cabbage with Potatoes. Plus, this recipe is the perfect catchall for any leftover Onions, Garlic, Tomatoes, or Jalapeno peppers that somehow didn’t get eaten already.

In an attempt to be efficient, we had removed all of our house’s AC units a couple of weeks ago and put them into storage. We figured it was fall after all and there was no way it’d get hot enough for AC, but it turns our we were very wrong. This past weekend, we found ourselves busting our AC units back out again. So much for efficiency.

But it seems that at least now we have a respite from the heat, and that the fall weather I’ve been anticipating is on the horizon. As an added bonus, the heat wave helped ripen all manner of summery fruits and veggies, which have found their way into our CSA box this week. It’s a funny thing coming across tomatoes, raspberries, and cantaloupe in the same week as winter squash, but in a way, it also seems perfectly fitting. Here’s what we’ll be cooking this week:

So many more Tomatoes this week (I hope they never end). Now that it’s cool enough to turn the oven back on, I’m thinking this Tomato and Smoked Cheddar Galette is in order. And also, since we’ve got Onions this week, I’m pretty sure we can’t go wrong with a big batch of Pico de Gallo.  

This week’s Green Beans are going to make great lunches as The First Mess’s String Beans and Rice with Spicy Roasted Almond Salsa.

I’m always happy to get more Shishito Peppers; this week’s bounty is slated for Bon Appetit’s Grilled Rib Eye with Shishito Pepper Salsa (I seem to have salsa on the brain this week).

Lettuce has made a comeback, so our salad needs are set this week, whether we decide to go super simple with a basic balsamic vinaigrette, or a little more fancy, like this Tomato and Grilled Corn Salad with Basil Vinaigrette.  

Winter squash has arrived this week, and I couldn’t be more excited! And as soon as I came across Dishing Up The Dirt’s Maple Cayenne Roasted Acorn Squash recipe, I knew exactly what we'd be cooking with our Acorn Squash.

Delicata Squash  happens to be my favorite of all winter squashes, and luckily, with plenty of Bell Peppers this week to boot, we’re going to be eating plenty of it in these Chile Roasted Squash and Sweet Pepper Quesadillas. Probably topped with copious amounts of the aforementioned pico de gallo.

Eggplant and Bell Peppers, along with plenty of Parsley also mean that this week we’re probably going to have to make up a big batch of this Roasted Summer Vegetable Panzanella.

This week’s CSA box included a seriously giant Cantaloupe, and to be honest, we’ve already eaten almost half of it straight up because it’s that good. If we’re feeling fancy, we may just turn the rest into this Fresh Melon Bruschetta for snacking or breakfasting on this week.

This week’s Raspberries almost didn’t make it into the picture. Raspberries in general don’t last long in our house, but when we do have them on hand, I love mixing them into my morning yogurt and granola.

Sometimes, this means that after a day of putting out fires (but not literal fires, fortunately) I’m way too exhausted to do much in the cooking department. But we have so many lovely vegetables, we have to eat, and phoning it in and ordering Indian take-out is a backup plan I try to resort to only in emergency situations. For all those other days when I don’t feel like cooking, I try to take it easy and keep things simple. The good news is, with all this fresh local produce, keeping things simple isn't actually that hard. Here are the simple things we’re cooking this week:

Luckily, Tomatoes make for some of the easiest meals ever, and they just keep coming. We’ll be lunching on all manner of Tomato Sandwiches, we’ll be marinating them with herbs and eating them with cheese and crusty bread, we’ll be topping big slices with creamy burrata, fresh basil, olive oil and flaky salt, and we’ll be tossing them with fresh pesto and hot pasta for the simplest of suppers. Also probably a million other things. When it comes to lazy cooking, tomatoes are a godsend.

With this week’s Sweet Peppers and Onions, we’ll be making up a big batch of Serious Eats’ Peperonata, a southern Italian sauce of peppers cooked down in olive oil until they basically melt in your mouth. It’s incredibly simple to make, and will make a great topping for scrambled egg tacos, grilled chicken, and crusty bread rubbed with Garlic.

We’ll be going the main dish salad route this week with our Green Beans. I’ll give them a quick blanch, them toss them with Tomatoes, Slow Roasted Salmon, cubed crusty bread rubbed with Garlic, thinly sliced onion, and top it all with a drizzle of olive oil, a squeeze of lemon, and plenty of flaky salt. Boom.

It doesn’t take much to make a bunch of Kale into a simple delicious salad. Just slice it thin, massage it with plenty of olive oil, lemon and salt to soften it up a bit, and top with copious amounts of shaved parmesan. Perfection.

I’ve found that taking 10 minutes to pickle up a batch of Banana Peppers is a surefire way to ensure that any future sandwiches and pizzas we make attain maximum deliciousness.

Lettuce is back! Back in June when we were drowning in the stuff, I never thought I’d be so excited for more, but here I am in September craving salads doused in Goddess Dressing, and thick, overstuffed BLTs, so this lettuce is a welcome sight indeed.

The Tomatoes keep on coming and we’ll keep eating them as fast as they come in. Have I mentioned how absolutely obsessed I am with Food52’s Scalloped Tomatoes? We made them last week, and we’re going to be eating them again this week, and probably every week until tomato season ends. But of course, with all these tomatoes, we’ll also have plenty extra for things like this tomato, basil, and brie pasta, or Chews Local’s Heirloom Tomato Burrata Salad with Warm Marinated Olives.

If you know me, you know I can’t stand Beets, but after forcing myself to confront my beet hate during last year’s beet season, I determined that if you add enough fennel, walnuts, and goat cheese, they’re somewhat tolerable. If even a beet hater can get behind Things I Made Today’s Beet and Fennel Galette with Walnuts, you know it must be pretty darn good.

I love using this Soy Citrus Soba Noodle Salad as a blank canvas for whatever crunchy veggies I have on hand in a given week, and this week’s Radishes and Edamame seem like the perfect additions.

Of course, Edamame is also great on its own, boiled with a sprinkle of salt and a pair of chopsticks.

I always love a good Eggplant, especially when it teams up with Tomatoes, pasta and ricotta salata as in Bon Appetit’s Pasta alla Norma. But honestly, it’s also pretty great in Mapo Eggplant as well.

Potatoes and Leeks are a match made in heaven, which is why something like a Potato and Leek Frittata or just plain old mashed potatoes with leeks are so satisfyingly tasty.

Any extra Leeks though are going to find their way into The Leek and the Carrot’s Leek Apple Cornbread, because, yum.

This year, of course, we were obviously going. Leo, however, whose short attention span and zero tolerance policy on standing in lines would have rendered any trip to the fair with him short and probably filled with tantrums, instead ended up going up to his grandparents’ cabin where he swam, fished, and did not have to worry about getting sick on mini doughnuts or dropping his ice cream on the ground. Forrest and I, on the other hand, got to have a free pass to enjoy the fair to its fullest extent, and tack on some other fun activities in the Cities as well.

We decided to stay in downtown Minneapolis at the lovely Hewing Hotel (strategically located only a short walk from several great restaurants and Target Field). On Saturday, bright and early, we headed to the fair, where we spent the day eating, seeing the sights, and generally having an amazing time. After 7+ hours of walking though, we were glad to get back to our hotel for a quick nap before heading out again to catch a Twins game (the Twins absolutely trounced the KC Royals 17-0).

After such an action packed Saturday, we decided to spend most of Sunday focusing on trying some great restaurants in town; the kind of thing we keep meaning to do, but always find difficult when we’re in town for a short while with a toddler in tow. We managed to grab breakfast at Bachelor Farmer Cafe, and do some shopping in downtown, followed by lunch with my brother and sister at Revival. After an afternoon of relaxing, we made it over to Northeast Minneapolis for dinner at Young Joni, where we ate some amazing pizza and finished it all off with cookies and milk.

We headed back home on Monday to be reunited with Leo (who we were starting to miss terribly), but we made one last brunch stop at Birchwood Cafe before hitting the road. Suffice it to say, we had a great weekend, but were happy to get back to Leo and back home again. And after all that eating, we’re pretty happy to get back to our veggies too. We’re definitely going to need a lot of vegetables this week to counteract our food hangover from the long weekend, but luckily we’re covered, both from our CSA and our back garden. Here’s what we’ll be cooking this week:

Once again, we’re up to our eyeballs in Tomatoes, so we’ll probably be eating them every day for the foreseeable future. Things like this Tomato, Sweet Corn, and Feta Frittata, plenty of tomato and mayo sandwiches (the best!), and probably a big batch of Food52’s Scalloped Tomatoes to boot.

We’re also starting to see the start an influx of peppers. Between the sweet Bell Peppers in the CSA, and the Frying Peppers, Jalapenos, and Poblanos coming out of my garden, it seems to me that pepper season is off to a great start. And there’s no better way to kick things off than by roasting said peppers, whether in roasted red pepper and tomato soup (because we have no shortage of tomatoes) or charred over an open flame and added to salads, omelets, and breakfast tacos for the week.

There’s only one thing on my mind when it comes to the first CSA Shallots of the season, and that’s fried shallots. They’re crispy and crunchy and good on pretty much everything from soups to salads, but I also find them hard to resist for simply snacking on as well.

When it comes to Shishito Peppers, I’m usually a purist; blistering them in a hot pan and eating them with lemon, salt and sesame oil. But I have to admit, I’m also intrigued by Food52’s Shishito Feta Foccacia, so we may have to try something new this week.

I love Collard Greens, whether sauteed with smoked paprika and onions, or in a hearty salad like Bon Appetit’s Collard Greens Salad with Ginger and Spicy Seed Brittle.

This week’s Garlic and Parsley are getting pestofied, and we’ll be spooning it atop tomato toast, swirling into scrambled eggs, whisking it into vinaigrettes, and drizzling it over soup all week.

We’ll be making this week’s Green Beans into Bon Appetit’s refreshing Long Bean Salad because a.) it’s delicious and b.) it’s a perfect vehicle for those fried shallots I can’t stop thinking about.

After waiting impatiently for what felt like ages, our garden Eggplants were ready for harvest this week and they’re almost too pretty to eat. Just kidding, we’re going to be devouring them in the form of Things I Made Today’s Caponata as soon as possible.

And finally, as an added bonus, we have a cute little decorative Pumpkin from our CSA this week, an important reminder that yes, Decorative Gourd Season has in fact officially arrived.

Tomatoes, obviously. So many tomatoes. I’m thinking some Crispy Chicken Cutlets with Tomato Fennel Salad is definitely in order, as is a big pot of Bon Appetit’s Bruised Tomato and Bread Soup for the cooler evenings. We’ll also be eating loads of tomatoes on toast, the simplest, and in my opinion, the best way to eat tomatoes.

With lots of Thyme and Onions this week as well, this Sungold Tomato Tart is a given.

Here's hoping we have extra Onions, because I’ve been dying to make another batch of Smitten Kitchen’s Caramelized Onion and Gruyere Biscuits. Basically, french onion soup in biscuit form, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Especially served with a fresh salad and some super creamy soft scrambled eggs.

What’s a birthday week without cake? Since we’ve got plenty of Carrots on our hands, I feel like it’d be hard to do better than Deborah Madison’s Carrot Almond Cake with Ricotta Cream.

This week’s Garlic is getting roasted: cut the top off the garlic bulb, drizzle with some olive oil, wrap tightly in aluminum foil, and place over indirect heat on your grill. Close the lid of the grill and let garlic roast until soft and fragrant - about 30 minutes. Then it’s getting spread on crusty bread and topped with more Tomatoes. Because, tomato season.

When it comes to our Potatoes this week, I’m seriously torn between Dolly and Oatmeal’s Warm Potatoes with Garlic Turmeric Sauce, and a big pot of Epicurious’s Portuguese Kale and Potato Soup, seeing as how we have a big bunch of Kale on our hands this week. Decisions, decisions.

Any Kale that doesn’t end up as soup is going to become this Simple Kale Salad from Chef Steps.

And as a special treat this week, we received a lovely bottle of Honey in our CSA box, made from hives kept right on the farm. If this isn’t an excuse to make Food52’s Fried Goat Cheese with Honey and Black Pepper, I don’t know what is.

This is what peak Tomato season looks like, and I couldn’t be happier. I’m hoping to grill some of this week’s bounty, along with some Onion and Basil to make this Polenta with Italian Sausage and Grilled Tomato Sauce.

And since we’ll probably have extra Tomatoes, I’m thinking it’ll be hard to go wrong with a simple salad of said tomatoes with some Onion, Parsley, a good drizzle of olive oil, and plenty of salt and freshly ground pepper.

We’ve got Leeks for the first time this week, and while I love a good leek soup, I think I’ll save the soup for the cooler weather and opt to grill this week’s leeks with romesco sauce like Serious Eats does. And it seems only fitting, since we’ve got plenty of Peppers to make our romesco.

I’m also seriously excited about the Tomatillos that showed up this week. They’re going to make for some awesome Salsa Verde, or perhaps I’ll combine them with Banana Peppers and Jalapenos to make Bon Appetit’s Green Gazpacho.

With all the fixings for salsa making on hand, it seems like we’re probably going to need to make tacos this week. Thanks to some lovely Zucchini, these Grilled Summer Squash Tacos with Avocado Salsa are happening.

I’m thinking that this week’s Dragon Tongue Beans are going to make for a perfect vehicle for copious amounts of Whipped Feta Dip, don’t you?

Despite the sore throats and sniffles, we’re coping relatively well. I think spending plenty of time outdoors helps, as do big beautiful boxes of summer veggies fresh from the CSA. Our garden tomatoes are ripening like crazy, and we’ve been harvesting several per day. We may have colds, but we’re still going to be eating well this week thanks to all this late summer bounty. Here’s what we’ll be cooking:

You know we have plenty of Tomatoes this week, and along with a Cucumber and a Green Bell Pepper, I think we pretty much have to go the gazpacho route. This Summer Gazpacho recipe from Bon Appetit should be just what we need.

We’ve also got another Zucchini, which is fortunate given the fact that Smitten Kitchen just posted this recipe for Fried Rice with Zucchini, Tomatoes, and Parmesan. I think we can definitely make that happen.

I was so excited to see Eggplant make an appearance this week, and to celebrate, I think some of Epicurious’s Pasta Alla Norma is in order.

I’m also super excited to see Shishito Peppers in our CSA box this week, mostly because I’ve recently determined that shishito peppers, blistered in a hot pan with some sesame oil, coarse salt, and fresh lemon juice may just be one of the best summer snacks out there.

We’ve got lots of roots this week as well - Potatoes, Onions, and Garlic, all of which are going to make for some lovely breakfasts in the form of this Fingerling Potato and Zucchini Hash.

We also got a lovely, fragrant bunch of fresh Sage this week, and with our abundance of tomatoes, it was immediately obvious to me that The Leek and the Carrot’s Tomato Balsamic Jam with Biscuits and Honey Sage Butter needed to happen. And any sage that’s left over is getting dried and saved for future cooking.

But every once in awhile, there comes an exception, and when it comes to summer cooking, slow roasted salmon is it. Our grill is a charcoal grill, and while I love nearly everything about it, sometimes it feels a little silly to go through the process of firing it up only to cook a piece of fish that takes about 4 minutes. Instead, I slather the fish in olive oil and salt, throw it in a low temperature oven (the key here is low temperature, which makes it much more bearable, even on the hottest of days), and let it roast away.

The nice thing about fish is that it cooks so quickly, that even slow roasting - a technique that can set you back several hours if you’re cooking most other types of meat - only takes about 20-30 minutes for salmon. Plus, since it cooks slowly, you end up with a beautifully textured, falling apart, nearly impossible to overcook piece of fish; the kind of thing that’s going to go perfectly with a summery grain salad, and a nice glass of rosé (or so I hear, since I’ve still got approximately 22 weeks to go until this baby arrives, but who’s counting?). The point is, if there was ever a reason to use your oven in the summer, well this is it.

Slow Roasted Sockeye Salmon

Serves 3-4

• 1 lb sockeye salmon filet
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• ½ tsp salt
• Lemon wedges and fresh snipped chives for serving

1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees.

2. Spread ½ Tbsp olive oil on the bottom of a baking sheet, then top with the salmon, skin side down. Spread the remaining ½ Tbsp olive oil evenly over the top of the fish, and sprinkle evenly with the salt.

3. Place fish in oven, and bake at 275, until fish is cooked through and flakes apart easily, about 20-25 minutes (although this timing may vary depending on the thickness of your filet).

4. Remove fish from pan, break into serving-sized pieces (I find it’s hard to cut cleanly after slow roasting), and transfer to a serving plate. Squeeze the juice from a few lemon wedges over the fish and top with fresh chives before serving.

Summer Farro Salad

Serves 3-4 generously

I love the nuttiness of farro here, but admittedly, it does take awhile to cook. If you’re tight on time, you can easily swap out the farro for a quicker cooking grain such as quinoa or freekeh.

• 2 cups cooked farro (from about 1 cup uncooked)
• 2 cups chopped tomatoes
• 1 medium cucumber, chopped
• 3 oz feta cheese, crumbled
• ½ cup (loose packed) of basil, mint, parsley, or a mix, roughly chopped
• ¼ cup thinly sliced red onion
• ¼ cup olive oil
• Juice 1 lemon (about 2 Tbsp)
• Salt and pepper to taste.

1. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, and mix well. Season to taste with salt and pepper as needed.

The Tomatoes keep coming, and we’ll gladly keep eating them just as fast as they come in. In addition, our garden is contributing to our tomato bounty, so we’re extra happy these days. We’ll marinate this week’s tomatoes with herbs (hello Basil!) and Garlic, then eat it all with crusty bread and creamy baked ricotta.

We’ve got a lot of Zucchini on our hands, but that’s okay by me. Especially since we can layer them up with Garlic, Tomatoes, Basil, and Onions, top it all with breadcrumbs, and have ourselves a lovely Tomato and Summer Squash Gratin. And as a backup plan for any excess summer squash, Smitten Kitchen’s Pasta and Fried Zucchini Salad is looking mighty good.

We’ve also got plenty more Cucumbers, which means some of this refreshing Mango Chile Cucumber Salad is likely in order, which is pretty much the perfect accompaniment to any sort of grilled meat. And these days, I’ll take any excuse to grill.

The first of the Dragon Tongue Beans showed up this week, and I’m torn between keeping things simple with a quick blanch and a toss with some garlicky Basil pesto, or gussying them up a bit, as in Things I Made Today’s Dragon Tongue Beans with Pancetta and Mushrooms.

We’ve been seeing a lot of Carrots this season, something I’m totally fine with, since it seems to be the only vegetable every member of this family (dog included) actually looks forward to eating. Although, I find it’s hard to go wrong with any vegetable that’s been roasted and served with avocado buttermilk ranch dressing.

We’re also seeing plenty of peppers, as in the Green and Jalapeno Peppers from the CSA and the Poblanos and Jalapenos I’m harvesting from the garden. I love to chop them up, saute them and add them to omelets for breakfast. Or if I’m feeling extra fancy, I might go all out and make something like The Leek and the Carrot’s One Skillet Breakfast.

This year, our garden is looking amazing. I like to think it’s mostly to do with all the knowledge I’ve acquired from gardening over the past few years. In fact, I think a lot of it has to do with using beautiful, healthy transplants from Raleigh’s Hillside Farm, adding plenty of compost into the soil, lots of hot weather, and plenty of rain. Whatever the case may be, our garden this year looks absolutely lovely.

The tomato plants are practically weighed down with tomatoes, and I’m waiting eagerly for them to hurry up and ripen already. The fennel bulbs are enormous, there are plenty of peppers, both hot and sweet, and huge stalks of green leafy kale. Since most of these things ripen in late summer, we’ve not had much to harvest yet, until this week when our sungold tomatoes started exploding with ripe fruit.

Sungolds are my favorite kind of cherry tomatoes - they’re super sweet and beautifully orangey gold in color. They’re super prolific, meaning we’re picking handfuls of them every day, and those that aren’t eaten immediately are placed in a bowl on the counter and usually cooked within hours. With a full pint on my hands this week, I decided to make a summery tomato tart. Arranged atop flaky pastry with fresh thyme from the garden, sweet caramelized onions from our CSA, and plenty of fresh goat cheese, it tasted perfectly of sunshine and summer. Here’s to the start of a beautiful backyard garden harvest.

Sungold Tomato Tart

You can use any kind of cherry tomato here, but if you can get your hands on sungolds (I find they are readily available at farmers markets this time of year), you won’t regret it.

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp fresh thyme ( + more for topping)
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 8oz sheet puff pastry
• 4 oz goat cheese
• 1 pint sungold (or other cherry sized) tomatoes, halved
• Flaky sea salt for topping

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Once hot, add the onions, garlic, and thyme and cook, stirring often, until brown and caramelized (about 15-20 minutes). Once caramelized, stir in the salt and remove from heat.

3. Roll the puff pastry sheet out to an approximately 20” by 10” rectangle. Transfer pastry sheet to prepared baking sheet and use a fork to prick holes in the dough, leaving about a 1” border around the edges (this will keep the dough in the center from rising).

4. Crumble the goat cheese evenly over the pricked portion of the dough, followed by an even layer of the caramelized onions. Arrange the tomatoes, cut side up, on top of the onions. Fold the edges of the dough in to meet the filling (so you’ll end up with about ½” border of double thickness dough around the edges of the tart).

5. Bake tart until edges are puffed and golden, about 20-25 minutes. Cool tart slightly, then sprinkle the top with fresh thyme leaves and flaky sea salt. Serve warm or at room temperature.

August, however sneaky it may be, has got to be my favorite month. It’s the month I was born, the month I got married, the month when summer cooking is at its peak. It’s the last month before fall starts to roll in, which reminds us to make the most of what’s left of summer before it’s gone. We’ll be spending our August making the most of the hot weather, eating tomatoes by the bucketful, and soaking up the sun. And cooking of course. Here’s what we’ll be making with our veggies this week:

Of course we have more Tomatoes this week, for which I am insanely grateful. Our garden sungold tomatoes are producing as well, so tomato season is off to a great start. These days, I’m loving them on toast: good tomatoes (sliced fresh, or blistered in a hot pan), good toast (rubbed with garlic if I’m feeling fancy), a sprinkle of sea salt, fresh cracked black pepper, whatever fresh herbs I have on hand, and a drizzle of good olive oil. Any leftovers, along with this week’s Parsley, are going to find themselves in Wisconsin Fun Next Exit’s Tabouli with Cherry Tomatoes.

It seems that all the rain we’ve been getting lately has been responsible for a bumper crop of Cucumbers. I’m patting myself on the back for not planting any extras of my own, and enjoying this week’s supply in Things I Made Today's Summer Squash, Cucumbers, and Snap Peas with Miso Dressing. Also, since we seem to have plenty of Zucchini this week as well, this salad is exactly what we need.

And if we have extra Zucchini? Naturally Ella’s Zucchini Egg Skillet has got us covered.

Broccoli is back this week, and along with plenty of Basil to boot, I think we’ll be making something along the lines of The First Mess’s Sesame Garlic Noodles with Broccoli and Basil (but probably subbing crispy tofu for tempeh).

Along with our CSA Kale, we’re beginning to harvest lacinato kale from our garden as well, which means we have plenty to make Food52’s Potato, Egg, Kale, and Manchego Tart. It also doesn’t hurt that we have lots of Red Norland Potatoes to work with this week as well.

Another lovely head of Lettuce this week has me thinking we should probably be making some of this Grilled Corn and Tomato Salad with Basil Vinaigrette. It’s also going to ensure that we have absolutely no leftover Tomatoes or Basil this week.

This week’s Onions and Green Peppers are going to make the perfect quesadilla filling. I’m thinking we’ll just sub green peppers for the poblanos in these Poblano, Black Bean, and Shrimp Quesadillas and call it good.

Besides tomatoes, we found plenty of other summery goodies in the CSA box this week - the first of the peppers and potatoes, plenty of green beans, summer squash, and cucumbers. I can’t wait to get cooking with it all. Here’s what I’ll be making this week:

This season’s first Red Norland Potatoes are thin skinned and absolutely lovely. Also, I’ve found, they’re basically perfection when they’re grilled up with plenty of butter and fresh dill, a favorite side dish of mine with rainbow trout. Luckily, we’ve got some Dill to work with this week as well, so this is obviously happening.

This week, we’re seeing the first of the Green Peppers of the season, along with another beautiful Walla Walla Onion, both of which are getting sliced thin and used to top pizza. Grilled pizza, of course, because it’s summer.

The season’s first Tomatoes demand to be eaten outright, whether by the handful, or with some creamy burrata and plenty of fresh Basil.

I can think of nothing better to do with this week’s Green Beans (and Basil and Garlic) than to whip up some of Bowen Appetit’s Vietnamese Lamb and Green Bean Stir Fry.  

I’m basically obsessed with burrata these days, so why not eat it with our Carrots too, as in Food52’s Roasted Carrots with Carrot Top Pesto and Burrata.

We’ll be snacking on Cucumbers all week, most likely in the form of these Peanut Chile Cucumbers I’m thinking.

We’ve got loads of Zucchini and Yellow Summer Squash on our hands, which begs the question - do we go the savory with them and make The Leek and the Carrot’s Summer Vegetarian Cobbler? Or do we go sweet with Dishing Up the Dirt’s Zucchini Cardamom Bread? Here’s hoping we can make both happen.

Once Green Bean season rolls around, you know I’m going to be making copious amounts of Serious Eats’ Easy Sichuan Dry Fried Green Beans, because they’re seriously the best.

More Lettuce means there’s definitely going to be some salad eating this week,. As long as it involves this Thai Style Fried Egg Salad, I’m happy. 

The Carrots keep coming, so I’m thinking this week, we make Things I Made Today’s Pork Tenderloin with Carrot Romesco. Bonus points if we adapt this recipe for the grill (totally doable).

I’ve found that this super simple Mango Cucumber Chile Salad is a perfect use for Cucumbers. It’s also the perfect side dish for pretty much anything coming off the grill.  

I’m always looking for ways to get creative with Kohlrabi and these Marinated Kohlrabi in the Style of Artichoke Hearts from Food52 seems like just the ticket.

I’m a sucker for polenta, so when I stumbled across Dishing Up the Dirt’s Polenta Bowl with Garlicky Summer Squash and Kale, I knew it had to happen. Especially since we have Garlic, Zucchini, and Kale in this week’s CSA box. Coincidence? I think not.

Walla Walla Onions make for great caramelized onions, and what better place for them than in Smitten Kitchen’s Caramelized Onion and Gruyere Biscuits. These’ll likely be eaten with a side of soft scrambled eggs and salad, or perhaps alongside the aforementioned pork tenderloin. That is if we don’t devour them immediately after they come out of the oven.

I made it a point to pick up plenty of Blueberries from this week’s farmers’ market, which I couldn’t be more excited about. I obviously made them into Smitten Kitchen’s Blueberry Crumb Bars, which of course, were incredibly delicious (and eaten quickly).

I also managed to get my hands on plenty of farmers’ market Sweet Cherries, which are basically my favorite things ever. I’m thinking we’ll be making any cherries we don’t eat immediately into Roasted Sweet Cherry and Honey Ice Cream, because it’s always a good idea to have extra ice cream on hand.

Of course, being so close to Charleston, we had to make a stop there for a day before the end of our trip, because, I love Charleston. We explored the historic downtown area, ate plenty of great food, and took Leo to the aquarium, which he absolutely loved (the tank in the lobby alone occupied him for a good 20 minutes).

We had a blast in SC, but our travels were far from over. We arrived home, only to turn back around the next day and head up to northern Wisconsin for some cabin time over the 4th of July. As usual, the cabin involved plenty of boating, swimming, grilling out, fireworks (much to the dog’s dismay), and time spent outdoors. We’re finally back in town, which means we’re also finally back to our regular CSA boxes again, something I definitely missed while we were travelling (although I can say that our veggies went to a good home while we were gone). And so, without further ado, here’s what we’ll be cooking this week:

Last year, I planted cucumbers in my garden and ended up completely drowning in the sheer quantity my plants produced. This year, I’ve learned my lesson and am only getting cucumbers from the CSA, which means we have a much more manageable quantity on our hands. And in light of this week’s muggy summer weather, I’m thinking our CSA Cucumbers are going to end up as Bowen Appetit’s Cucumber Mint Agua Fresca.

Kohlrabi has made an appearance this week, and while I’m often tempted to go the slaw route when it comes to kohlrabi, this week, I think I’ll be following Dishing Up The Dirt’s example and make them into these Curried Kohlrabi Fries instead.

Over the past week, we discovered that our generally super picky eater of a son actually seems to like jerk chicken (maybe there’s hope for him yet?). So while we’re obviously going to be grilling up some jerk chicken this week, our Collard Greens and Walla Walla Onions are going to make for the perfect side dish.

I feel like hiding Zucchini inside grilled cheese is something I should have thought of ages ago, but leave it to Smitten Kitchen to beat me to the punch. One thing I do know is that we’ll probably be eating this for lunch all week long. Probably with a side of those Kohlrabi Fries.

I also can’t wait to whip up some of Pok Pok’s Stir Fried Chicken with Hot Basil, because, well it’s amazing. Also because Garlic and Basil this week.

And you know what goes great with stir fry? Spicy Pickled Carrot Salad, that’s what. And we’ve got plenty of Carrots to make that happen.

It seems to me that with Parsley and plenty of Carrot Greens, we should probably make this Chickpea Tabbouleh with Carrot Greens as well, don’t you think?

Our backyard Raspberry bushes are producing like gangbusters, and as luck would have it, even more raspberries showed up in our CSA box. I’d like to think I’ll be making them into this Raspberry Peach Galette, but honestly, I think there’s a far better chance we’ll just be stuffing our faces with them. They’re that good.

Of course, we couldn’t be more excited about this. At least Forrest and I are. The concept of a new sibling goes a little over Leo’s head, so I’m sure he’ll be in for a bit of a shock, but we’re also pretty sure he’s going to love being a big brother.

Like the last time around, my first trimester has been marked by exhaustion, nausea, aversions to pretty much all vegetables (asparagus being top of the list), and basically subsisting on a diet of grilled cheese and fruit. I felt so guilty as I posted each week about delicious cooking ideas for our CSA vegetables, when in reality, I was just eating pretty much all of my veggies doused in an unholy amount of ranch dressing, which was the only way I could stomach them (but let it be noted, I did eat them!). So I’m sure you can understand why the blog recipes have been few and far between; I’m not sure anyone needs a million recipes for grilled cheese and vegetables with ranch dressing, which is pretty much mostly what I’ve been cooking lately.

Luckily, I think the end of this whole lack of appetite thing is nearly upon us, which is good because I’m starting to miss my kitchen. Between this new family member, and the promise of much less morning sickness in the very near future, we have a lot to celebrate here, so I figured some cake was in order. And because strawberries are at their prime these days, strawberry butter cake it was. All in all, it seems pretty appropriate, since cake and strawberries rank high on the list of things I’ve been able to stomach over the past few months. Truth be told, this baby is probably 90% strawberries at this point, so I’m sure he or she would approve of this cake. The rest of us certainly do.

Strawberry Butter Cake

Serves 8

Yes, this cake bakes for a long time at a low temperature, but it’s totally worth it to get the soft, super jammy roasted berries on top. Trust me.

• 1 cup butter (2 sticks), at room temperature
• 1 cup + 2 Tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• Juice and zest of 1 lemon
• 1 ¾ cup flour
• 1 pint strawberries, leaves removed, very large berries cut in half
• Whipped cream for serving (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees and grease a 9-inch round cake pan (I used a springform pan for easier removal, but a regular cake pan will work great here too.

2. With a standing bowl mixer or handheld beaters, beat together the butter, sugar, and salt until very light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.

3. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until incorporated (note: the batter might look slightly curdled at this point, but no worries, it will still turn out delicious!)

4. Add the vanilla, lemon juice and zest and mix until combined. Add the flour and continue to mix until flour is incorporated and you have a thick batter.

5. Pour batter into prepared pan and spread it into an even layer. Arrange the strawberries in a single layer on the top, pressing the berries slightly into the batter.

6. Bake cake at 325 until cake is cooked through, and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 90 minutes. Cool cake slightly before cutting and serving with a dollop of whipped cream.