Break Week

Each year the farm takes a break from deliveries (over the 4th of July), so nothing to report this week. They did host a barbeque out at the farm on Sunday for Members Day, so Jeanette and I headed out in the heat and enjoyed some chicken, hot dogs and potato salad in the Berry Barn. They had a really good zucchini casserole that I'd like the recipe for (Kate - if you're reading this, that's a hint.) It's always interesting to see the terrific variety of people who choose to join the CSA and support the local farm.

We said hello to Wilbur, took a walk through the yard to say hi to the other animals, and sat in the shade and just relaxed. But the gnats and the heat got the best of us and we headed back into town after a couple of hours and then I took a long nap.

More to report after Saturday's box and picking. And then I've arranged for a friend to pick up my vegetables while I'm away for a few weeks. Perhaps I can prevail upon her to guest write - she's a better and more interesting cook so it would be good to get some new ideas of what to do with the vegetables.

Picking Peas + Broccoli, onion, swiss chard

There weren't many strawberries left this week, so I only picked about 1/2 pint (and I'd stopped at the farmers market, but more about that separately), so I concentrated most of my time in the field with the English peas. I did much better this week, picking peas that were much further along and actually looked like peas. And this week's allowance was a whole bag.

And when I saw how much broccoli was in my box, I figured I'd better use peas and broccoli in another batch of curry along with the pak choi (I've been eating a lot of curry - it's a good thing that's a flexible recipe). My neighbor's basil went to pesto that's now in my freezer.

Another batch of stamp pot (which turned out really well) will take care of the rest. And Kate sent along a recipe for swiss chard and gnocchi that looks really good.

Can Strawberries be an addiction?

I went to the farmer's market in Arlington on my way to the farm on Saturday. And even though I said last week that I felt like I'd made good use of strawberry season, seeing the last of those really red ripe berries, I couldn't help myself. I bought 3 quarts (yeah, I know - that's a lot) plus a pint of raspberries to have with my yogurt this week.

I knew I didn't want to get into another round of jam making, so I made strawberry muffins, strawberry sour cream ice cream, strawberry-walnut bread, and ate a bunch of strawberries including with my yogurt for two days before switching to raspberries. Which was good before I went hiking on Sunday up in Seneca Park.

I've been giving the muffins away in my office because I'm eating the strawberry-walnut bread and not the muffins - that's made me pretty popular. And the ice cream is still in my freezer, but that will be really good later this week (I think this is the longest it's lasted.)

Okay, now I'm ready for strawberry season to be over. (We'll see if that's still true when I get to the farmer's market on Saturday.)

Stamp pot

When I told my friend Leslie that I was planning to make stamp pot for dinner, she said, "I think you're the only other person I know who knows what stamp pot is." Basically, it's mashed potatoes with kale, onion, and sausage. (I'm sensing a European theme of sausage, kale and potatoes.)

It seems like there are a variety of preparation methods for stamp pot - some including bacon. I cut up potatoes and started them boiling for 15 minutes, added the chopped kale for another 10 minutes and set that to drain. Then I melted the butter and sauteed the onion, added back in the drained vegetables and mashed everything, stirring in about 1/2 cup of milk. Add in sliced sausage (I heated mine up in the oven but the recipe I had suggested steaming) and salt and pepper to taste and there you go - stamp pot. It was quite tasty. I divided the remainder up into four tupperware containers, so I have stamp pot for 4 meals and 1 more container of chicken curry. That will get me through Friday dinner (no surprise we're going out for pho).

So I guess I'll be making more kale-walnut pesto and freezing it because the stamp pot didn't use up all my kale and I'm already stirring berries into my yogurt for breakfast. Today's newsletter from the farm said we'll be getting kale or swiss chard in our boxes this week - I'm kind of rooting for swiss chard in mine. And my neighbor is leaving town, so I'm getting his pak choi (more curry) and basil (more pesto).

Cucumber, Kale, Beets, Onion, Green Onion, Strawberries

This week's box was stuffed full of kale plus a few other things. Luckily I'm now prepared with more kale recipes and I stopped at Wegman's on my way home from the farm to pick up what else I needed including more tupperware containers. I'm taking my lunch to work most days so I can use my vegetables.

One of the things I like best about Wegman's is that the people there actually know what they're doing. So when I went to the sausage counter and told the nice man there that I'd be making Stamppot for the first time, he immediately recommended a good German sausage for that. And he helped me pick a different chorizo for my next attempt at the Portuguese green soup.

Tonight I took a break and made Nigella's curry (I threw in a potato and used chicken), and the strawberries are macerating for the ice cream.

They Grow Up So Quickly

This is Wilbur. Just last week last week, you could still feed him from a bottle. Now he's big and running around his cage squealing. Soon I think he'll be moved when he'll have more room to run around. He's still friendly and likes to be scratched. He's a messy eater but his teeth are starting to come in so it's not so much fun when he gets hold of your fingers any more. But he's another reason I like going out to the farm each week.

Picking Strawberries, English Peas and Black Caps

This was I think the last week for strawberries, and I feel like I took full advantage of strawberry season this year. I picked four pints and got another pint in my box. I'm making ice cream and strawberry walnut bread (recipe from King Arthur Flour) and will use the rest over my yogurt and granola.

The English Peas I ate last night - just sauteed with a little shallot and butter and served over black rice. (Sorry the photo is a little fuzzy - I'll have to work on that.)

I also picked some black raspberries - what we called black caps growing up. They grow on thorn bushes and the darker the better. It made me remember one hot summer day when my brother and I were picking black caps along the fence line between our yard and our neighbors and we both got covered by these huge black ants attracted by the berry juice. I still like the berries. Another neighbor used to make dumplings with them, but I'll just throw them on my yogurt too. As the season progresses, I'll follow Lindy's example and try some small batch preserving.

Kale Soup & a Cucumber

The kale soup is almost gone - I think there's enough for one more bowl. If I don't go out for pho tonight, I'll finish it. I think that next time I would use chicken or vegetable broth instead of just water and I'd probably opt for the spicier chorizo (I wasn't sure how spicy to go since it was the first time). Oh, and I'd try to have my apartment cleaner so I could invite people over for dinner so I wouldn't have to eat the entire pot myself.

And I forgot that I'd also gotten a cucumber in my box, so I cut that up along with a kohlrabi from my neighbor's box and had that with a curry dip (just some of my homemade yogurt with a dash of Penzey's curry powder stirred in). That was great for munching while the kale soup was heating up the other night.

Off to the farm tomorrow for another box and hopefully to pick strawberries and English peas.

Strawberries, Spring Onions, Mint, Kale & Beets

While I'm not quite experiencing strawberry fatigue yet, I just turned this week's strawberries into ice cream and split it with my neighbor (because that can stay in the freezer).

There was a lot of kale, so I went looking for recipes in addition to the kale-walnut recipe that Kate provided with the newsletter (which froze nicely into little batches for future use). I found a Portuguese green soup recipe that uses chorizo. It's amazing how a little bit of chorizo flavors an entire pot of soup with potatoes and kale and collard greens (you roll them up and slice them - it's called a chiffonade). The soup is great but very filling. I have it with a bit of baguette. I may end up having to freeze some of it as well just because I'm not eating it fast enough. I replaced the onion in the soup with my spring onions.

Last night I had roasted beets (just a little olive oil in a 425 degree oven until soft) with my dinner - they were so sweet and tender - it's amazing how different they were than what we always think about beets. I hope we get more beets soon.

The mint has just been going in iced tea. It's very refreshing. I have a bit of mint left and maybe a spring onion, but I can use that to top the soup. Otherwise, I've cooked everything this week. Now I just have to eat it all.

Spring Onions, Collards, Asparagus

Asparagus is easy - steamed and gone quickly. The day I picked up my box if I recall. Spring onions go a little here and a little there. Some in an omelette, some with the greens.

Now, the greens. There's really only one way I know how to cook greens and that's with pork. So, out comes the bacon from the last Bacon Dinner and a pork chop, I made smothered greens served with mashed potatoes and the pork chop. And washing greens is no easy trick. It took about three rounds in the sink to get them clean.

Unfortunately that didn't use up all the greens, so I had to keep them until I figured out what else to do.

Strawberries & More Strawberries

Okay, I may have overdone it this week. I picked up my box (that had strawberries in it), went strawberry picking while I was at the farm, and went to the Arlington Farmers Market and picked up a flat of strawberries from my favorite farmer there.

So basically, I ended up with a lot of strawberries. When I got back from the farm (where I also played with the new baby pig Wilbur), I got to work. I immediately started a batch of jam, started two batches of strawberries macerating for strawberry sour cream ice cream and strawberry granita (like a grown-up snow-cone). More than 15 lbs. of sugar later, I ended up with 36 jars of strawberry jam, strawberry ice cream, and strawberry granita, and I still had strawberries left for my yogurt all week.

Spinach, Stawberries, Asparagus

The first week is always interesting as you remind yourself that you're no longer planning menus and then going shopping. It's more like Iron Chef - you get ingredients and then have to build your meals around your featured secret ingredient. Now Kate at Great Country Farms is great because each week she sends out an email early in the week with a note about what will be in that week's box and even a couple of recipe ideas so you can prepare yourself or pick up any other items you might need. She also includes what the free allowance is for members to pick at the farm that week so you can be sure to make the trip if it's something you're especially fond of - like strawberries.

Which brings me to the first week. Spinach, strawberries and asparagus. I have to honestly say if I were going to be restricted to eating three foods (hopefully in a variety of permutations) for the rest of my life, I could happily choose these three - as long as there was a dairy cow for some cream and butter in the vicinity.

After I triple washed the spinach to get out all the sand (now I know why the bag spinach in the store is so expensive), I made a spinach omelette, spinach salad, steamed spinach, and creamed spinach (using Emeril's recipe from food.com). The asparagus I just steamed with a touch of butter. And the strawberries just got sliced over my morning yogurt and granola.

Begin at the Beginning

I decided to join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) again this year. Basically the idea is that before the season starts, you pay the farm for the vegetables you'll get all summer long. The farm uses this money for plants, seeds, equipment, labor, etc. And in return, you get a share in the harvest. Some years, it might not be great. And some years, it might be more than you can eat. But, it's a way to support the local farms and know where your food is coming from and how it's being grown.

I chose Great Country Farms out in Bluemont, VA. Since they also have a picking allowance each week for CSA members, I've opted to pick up my share at the farm each weekend rather than have it delivered. This will get me up and out on Saturday mornings (which I wouldn't otherwise do). Plus it means I get a nice drive in the country and a connection with the farm each week.

A friend (who can't cook, by the way) has joined Bull Run Organic Farm and picks up his share at Dupont Circle each Tuesday.

Each week I'll talk about the vegetables, the trip to the farm, and the attempts (hopefully successful) to use up all the vegetables in appetizing ways with pictures and recipes.