Week 12

This week's haul looks so colorful and inviting.

I forgot to photograph my lovely bouquet of sunflowers and dahlias but I did get a closeup of this guy:

We got a huge bag of these beans and they are quite good raw...I am just not sure we can polish off the whole bag so I may have to share them :)

Week 11

Ack - how did I miss posting week 11?!?

I was thrilled to see the bok choy and cucumbers :)  Since I am late in posting I can talk more about what I made...

The carrots went into a delish pot pie.  This was loved by kids and adults alike and will be made again I am sure.

I found a use for all the squash...summer squash with baked eggs which I served with no-knead bread.

I displayed the flowers at a brunch along with the ones from earlier since these things live forever.  I think the flower cutting is quickly becoming a favorite part of the CSA experience.  They brighten my house and my day.  I also served a huge salad at the brunch to use some of the lettuce and cucumber.

I tried cooking salmon with an orange glaze over the fennel fronds and serving it with roasted fennel - still a no for me :(

Week 10

I got overwhelmed by the squash again this week.  This time I roasted some up.  I just diced them, tossed them in olive oil and salt then baked them at 400 until they looked good.  I hope to use them in minestrone this winter: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/09/roasted-vegetable-minestrone/

I haven't talked much about the lettuces we get and I really don't do them justice.  I was reminded how special they are when we got a GIGANTIC concept lettuce head this week.  It was as big as about 4 heads of romaine that you would buy at the store.  It fed us for days!!  Other than concept, we have had green leaf, red leaf, magenta, romaine and I am sure one or two other I am forgetting.  Their flavor is amazing and as long as you use them in the first few days they are crisp and bright.  I still love the orange juice dressing too.  I made it again tonight.

Beets are growing on me.  I used some in a simple salad with apples and pineapple - no dressing and thought they were a nice addition (especially in color!).  Fennel is still not growing on me...oh well.

Week 9

 This week felt really well rounded to me.  Like a trip to the grocery store.  My husband and 3-year-old did the pick up and managed to get some u-pick done.  They also picked and ate some beans and brought me flowers (below).  We made a batch of kale chips this week with some special black Hawaiian sea salt I had impulse bought from the bulk section.  We ate the green beans and carrots raw (and quickly).  The yellow carrots are so fun! There is a zucchini languishing in the crisper drawer waiting for inspiration to strike me.  Thank goodness the zucchini plant I put in my back yard failed to thrive.

The u-pick flowers are beginning to bloom!

One thing I wish I knew more about was storing all of this wonderful food.  After losing a head of lettuce and a few carrots I started researching and this is what I have learned:

Carrots - They come with the beautiful green tops; cut them off.  They will keep a while just thrown in the crisper but you can also wash them up and keep them in water for quick eating.

Lettuce - The best advice I have is to bag it.  I like to wash a head and keep it in my salad spinner so it is ready to go.  We are more likely to use it if we pre-wash it.  Just don't tear it up too much.

Other greens (kale, collards, chard) - just like lettuce, bag them up.

Onions - I don't know!  I keep reading that you should braid them and dry them but I can't do it...I just use them fast...

Beets - Cut off those tops (I hear you can use them like greens) and store them in the fridge in a plastic bag.

I think that covers what I have learned thus far :)

Week 8

Zucchini!  I new it would happen, but this week I feel behind and started the week with some of last week's zucchini still in the crisper.  The 4 more this week meant it was time to take action.

I whipped up a batch of these delicious brownies. They turned out quite cake like but that wasn't a problem.  My husband and I polished off a third of the pan that first night so I popped some in the freezer.  I added half white chocolate chips and half semi-sweet chips and I think next time I would do more white chocolate since they looked so cute with the rich brown of the brownies.

I also made a double batch of these muffins.  I had never thought of freezing uncooked muffins before but it looks quite convenient.  I added 1 teaspoon lemon zest to the recipe but I should have added 2 (one for each batch) to get a better lemony flavor.  I also added blueberries to about a dozen of the muffins and can't wait to give those a try.

I took some of those carrots and chopped them up with some peas from my garden and made individual pot pies last night.  I called them rabbit food pies since it is all things a bunny would eat :)