Real Life CSA: weeks 27 & 28
I missed taking photos of the CSA for week 27 – the first time I’ve missed since I started this. It was just one of those weeks. So before we get back on track with week 28, here’s a brief recap of what we got in week 27 and what we’re doing with it.
Week 27
Leeks – These are hanging out with some previous leeks, waiting to hopefully go in a soup or stew. The crisp, fall-cold weather has me wanting soups and stews, and I’m thinking the leeks would make a good combo with potatoes we have lying around.
French breakfast radishes – We haven’t been eating these for breakfast, but rather as salad toppings.
Green carmen peppers – I’m thinking possibly venison fajitas for these. Mark makes these amazing venison fajitas and I’ve been wanting to eat them on a more regular basis. These peppers are giving me an excuse.
Bosc pears – The chickens got a few of these, since we were out of town, but they really dig fruit, so they were happy.
Collard greens – These are waiting for me to figure out how to cook them like we had them at the Back of the House BBQ.
Chevre (goat cheese) – Not sure what we’re going to do with this yet. I’m thinking pasta.
Sweet potatoes – I’m going to mash these as a side with venison loin this week.
Lettuce – Already gone, salad, obvs.
Delicata squash – I’m going to make these as a side dish with the venison loin too. Not sure if I’ll do a standard olive oil, or try this recipe I found today for Sweet & Sour Delicata Squash.
And now, we’re caught up. Here’s a look at week 28.
The strawberry jam will go in the pantry for now, but since we can our own strawberry jam, I’m not sure if I’ll make something with this or gift it to someone who doesn’t have extra jam lying around the house. I like having these value added products, because their shelf life gives you a little respite from the ticking clock of fresh produce.
The potatoes and onions will be added to our basement storage until we’re ready for them. I would like to note that the potatoes look like russets in the photo, but that’s just because of the dirt on them. I love getting potatoes with dirt on them for some reason – it’s a reminder of where they came from and how fresh they are.
These lovely, giant acorn squash are the perfect size to stuff, so that’s likely what we’ll do with them. Maybe wild rice or barley – some sort of grain. I need to look for some new recipes for that.
The kale might be a soup or stew ingredient – I still want to try my lasagna soup recipe with kale in it. But that also gives me an idea – kale in regular lasagna? Hmmmm.
These carrots will be salad toppings, but I had to take a photo of the bunch of them because I love how they look. (*cough* dork *cough*) There’s something about carrots in a bunch, with their thin little ends still attached that I just love. Maybe it’s because carrots in a bag at the grocery store look so sanitized, and these ones remind you that they come from the ground. Seems to be a recurring theme for me.
Along those same lines, these Jonathan apples are clearly from a tree! They are pretty fragrant and a really nice deep red color. We might eat these plain, or maybe as part of the stuffed squash. I don’t recall having a Jonathan apple before, even though I’ve had many different varietals.
The green peppers will be salad toppings, and potentially pizza toppings as well. Bell peppers are a staple in our fridge because we eat a lot of them throughout the course of a week.
Earlier in the day on Wednesday, I told Mark that I wanted to eat gnocci with sage butter, and I couldn’t pinpoint the reason. But I wanted to make it happen this week. I hadn’t paid much attention to the CSA emails this week since I was busy with the marathon and chaos of last week, so I didn’t even notice we were getting sage until I pulled it out of the box. So this week’s “squeeeee” belongs to the sage, which will help make a good drizzle for some gnocci.
What’s going on in your shares for the fall?