Week 10

This weeks pick-up included:

• 1 ¼ pound red potatoes
• One pint grape tomatoes
• One head of lettuce
• Three ears of corn
• ½ pound of green beans
• 1 Bunch of Leeks (2 leeks)
• 1 head of Fennel
• Purchased: One quart of raspberries, after Stella basically ate a handful from a quart on the table $4

See that sneaky hand going for the fennel? As I was putting the bounty away, she actually grabbed the head of fennel and started munching on the ends of it. I washed a few pieces and cut it up and added to her dinner. I can't even stand the smell of the stuff. I have a feeling she is going to be a black lickerish fan. When I finally give her candy that is.

Another corn eating picture. The kernels seemed really small to me.
She ate the entire half.

Week 6

Rain rain go away. Not only was this afternoon's pick up in the rain (which is slowly becoming the norm) but it was also cold. Very odd seeing that it is mid July and we had record breaking temps in the 100's just a few days ago. But what else would we talk about in New England if the weather was not cray-cray?

There was another fabulous volunteer at the depot this evening. She saw me running up with Stella in my arms (too muddy to let her roam free) and immediately offered to help me gather my goods. She informed me she is the mother of 17 month twins. God bless her.

The Week 6 bounty included:

• 1 & 1/2 pounds of red onion (look at that color!)
• 1 pound carrots
• Beet (other option was scallions)
• Kale (there were two other leafy greens to choose from, Bok Choy being one, callaloo the other)
• 1 pound green beans
• 1 head of salad lettuce

Once home, the normal routine of lettuce washing commenced. I contemplated a quick batch of Kale chips since it was so chilly, it would have actually been nice to turn on the oven. But laziness and a stubborn, cranky toddler both did me in for the evening.

I was able to crank out a little chopped tomato, mozzarella with some of the salad lettuce for a nice little dinner this evening.

this never gets old

Meanwhile, a cranky and stubborn Stella insisted on being pushed in her stroller around the house. And did not want to get out of said stroller. Rainy nights are so much fun! So, I did a mom-improvise and served her dinner as is:

bath time was equally fun

Fennel

While putting away the veggies tonight I figured I would pull out the fennel from week two, since the time was probably ticking on this one.
I read online, and my friend Sandy, suggested to just slice up the fennel, and dip it in some olive oil to munch on. Perfect -no stove needed.

Repost of the pickup photo : The fennel is hiding behind the strawberries 

Not much from the little bulb.

I was not super impressed. It was like a cross between celery and ??? I don't know. It had a faint lickerace taste , not as strong as I was fearing.

I was munching on this while Stella was eating her dinner and she REALLY wanted some. She ate three whole pieces. This makes fennel a more likely candidate for me to pick up again!

Chips and Soup

This past weekend was pretty wet and, considering it is late June, also pretty chilly. So, not a horrible time to turn on the oven.

After a trip to the local Russell Orchards,

for some super fresh strawberries (I think I am now an addict),

and a visit with the animals,

Daryl

my Sunday night menu included Kale Chips and a Garlic Leek and Creamy Potato Soup.

Kale Chips

I searched far and wide for various Kale Chip recipes. They all seemed fairly similar (wash & super dry the leaves, break up into pieces, coat in olive oil and salt) the one variation being temp and how long to cook for.
Since I was also making a soup and could easily keep a close eye on the chips, I decided to go with what appeared to be the middle ground of temps - 350.

This is the recipe I followed closest:

Kale Chips

About six servings

Remove the tough stems from the kale and wash and spin dry the kale thoroughly. 

• 6 to 8 cups (140 to 200 g) kale leaves; if large, tear them into bite-sized pieces
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• flaky sea salt or fleur de sel

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC.)

2. Put the kale on a baking sheet and drizzle with the olive oil, then massage it into the leaves.

3. Spread the kale leaves in an even layer on the baking sheet and put in the oven. After about 5 minutes, use a spatula to separate any leaves of kale that are clumping together.

4. Continue cooking the kale for about 20 minutes, until the leaves are crisp. Remove from the oven and sprinkle fairly generously with salt.

on the way into the oven...

I only did about 1/5 of this recipe, maybe six or so Kale leaves. Since I wasn't sure how they would turn out, or if anyone would even like them, I didn't want to "waste" all of the Kale. A shame I didn't, the batch went pretty fast. Paul and Stella really liked them.
Also, since the batch was so small, there was plenty of room on the baking sheet, and no clumping occurred.
Definitely will be making these again - just need to wait for another cool day to turn the oven back on!

yum!

Creamy Garlic Leek, Garlic Scape and Potato Soup

Wanting to use up the Garlic Leeks from week two, as well as the remainder of the garlic scapes, I decided to try a recipe found in the "From Asparagus to Zuccchini" cook book for Leeks. I figured Garlic Leeks couldn't be that far off, right?

First, I removed the "Fido" hair from the Garlic Leeks. The larger one made a nice wig for Stella. 

They were actually really interesting on the inside - they looked almost like a standard garlic clove. Who'd guessed, huh?

Paul would not let me keep it on her head long enough for a picture :(

I made a few variations to the recipe since I only had the three leeks and wanted to use the scapes. What I ended up doing:

Creamy Garlic Leek, Garlic Scapes and Potato Soup

About four servings

• 2 cups Garlic Leeks - thinly sliced (White and Pale Green park only) 
• 1/2 Garlic Scapes, thinly sliced (or would it be diced since they are so thin?)
• 2 pounds of yellow potatoes - peeled and thinly sliced
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 tablespoon ground tamarack leaves
• 1/2 - 1 cups light sour cream
• 4 cups chicken broth
• Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Melt the butter in a pot at low heat. Add the Garlic Leeks, Garlic Scapes, and Tamarack. Sweat these out for about 20  - 25 mintues, covered at low heat. 

2. Add Potatoes & Chicken Stock. Bring the pot up to a simmer, then cover and reduce heat to low. Cook for about 24 - 30 minutes, or until everything is nice and tender. 

3. Using an emersion blender (I am getting my use our of this puppy!) I pureed everything in the pot. The added the sour cream and mix. 

4. Ready to eat! (Salt and Pepper each serving to taste)

This sat on the stove for an additional 15 mintues or so at low heat as Stella finished her dinner. 

Pauls remark upon entering the kitchen was "Hello, Garlic!". So, if you are not a fan of Garlic, probably not for you. Myself, I love the stuff, so it was perfect. 

I sprinkled a few of the extra cruncy Kale chips on my bowl. I always like a crunch in my soup, so they worked perfectly. 

Only variation I would make would be to 'sweat' the leeks and scapes a little longer in the beginning. 

I would chalk this up as a success. 

No share pick up this week as the Forth of July falls on a Holiday. I am a little bummed about this as I saw a few pictures of the Tuesday pick up - Carrots, Zucchinni and more were included! I can't wait for those!

I am in search of more Kohlrabi at local farm stands. I don't want to heat up my oven to cook just one tiny one. Good think the one I have should last at least a month in the fridge...

Week 2 (Tomatoes!)

Writing is hard! Or is it finding the time to get this stuff down that is hard? I am not sure, but I am only two weeks into this and I feel I may be falling behind. Tomorrow is the pick up for week three, so about time I write about the second farm share pick up.

The Bounty

You may have seen a sneak peak of the bounty in the previous strawberries post. Week 2 included:

• Garlic Scapes - .25 lbs (Those long thin green things in the lower left hand corner)
• Garlic Leeks - (Upper left hand corner; white bulbs, leafy greens)
• Cilantro (Top of photo)
• Two gorgeous tomatoes-- 1.5 lbs
• Fennel (also called Anise)

*Bonus Strawberries*

I was a little sad that there was not another head of lettuce, that was probably my favorite part of week 1, but there were two gorgeous red tomatoes. Tomatoes are perhaps my favorite vegetable. Probably the only one that I enjoy eating straight - ie, just give me a bowl of cherry tomotoes, and I am happily snacking.

Tomatoes

The weekly FDC newsletter provided some info on the tomotoes:

"The green house tomatoes come from Fairview farms in Sunderland, MA.  These are grown in pots, in soil, and are watered directly into each pot, and are IPM. Many folks forget what that is. It stands for Integrated Pest Management. This system relies on the grower to identify pests, and determine a course of action based on the intensity of the infestation, and the threat to the crop.  Because these are greenhouse grown, the threats are minimal."

Modeling the tomatoes on a granite sample

So, with my love of tomotoes, those obviously went first. Both Stella and I had some Mac and Cheese for dinner (do you sense a theme here?) which i jazzed up by added half of one of the tomoates, diced up. The same went into Stella's lunch for the next day.

Stella loved it all.
Served on paper plates because we came home to a broken kitchen faucet.
I was NOT washing more dishes in the bathroom sink.

When we got home Friday evening, I quickly put a pot of quinoa on the stove top and got that going. Side note: I need to learn how to cook quinoa properly. The pot was pretty burnt by the end. There was still plenty of un-burnt quinoa, but man was that a b-eotch to get clean. Thankfully the kitchen sink was fixed by then.

I diced the rest of the tomatoes, saving a half of one of the tomatoes. Added to the quinoa, along with some left over peppers and onions that we had from the fathers day BBQ cook out, as well as some Feta cheese (a main stay in my fridge). Mixed it all together and topped with a little olive oil.

Super yummy, and super easy. Was also really good the next day for lunch. Stella on the other hand... let's just say I will probably hold off on giving her Feta cheese again for a while. She did give it a try though, which is awesome!

inspecting dinner.

Finally, on Sunday I used the rest of the tomatoes (along with a few more purchased at the super market) in my most favorite meal of all time - Caprese.

Basically a bowl of tomatoes, with some mozzerella, oil and vineger.
S&P and dried basil since we didnt have fresh. SO good!

And Stella had some added to her lunch too!

Strawberries!

So red

As being part of the coop, you are expected to do some volunteering during the season. This could mean staffing the tent, helping with set-up, break-down, helping with administrative stuff, or picking up and delivering items. I can't stand not knowing what I can do when I want to (need to) do something. Staffing the tent, or set-up / break-down, are pretty much out of the question, as I don't think Stella will be too helpful during these times.

So, when a last minute opportunity to pick up some plant shares in Melrose and drive them to Salem came up, I jumped on it. My route home gets very close to Melrose. I looked at a map and it seemed totally doable, so I signed up. They threw in some strawberries as an enticement for doing this delivery. Bonus. At the next weeks pick-up, along with my small veggie, I also got a small pint (quart? I can never remember which one is smaller). This resulted in strawberry goodness.

Dirty knees...

One of the reasons I did not sign up for a fruit share this season was because we are still unsure of Stella's food allergies. Last summer, she appeared to have a reaction to strawberries. This was before we had a better grip on what she is allergic to and not allergic to. Now, I feel pretty confident that I can spot any trouble, and she has been doing so good lately, that I figured this was the perfect time to have her try some strawberries. And yes, the epi-pens were near-by.

Cheers

Before the full-on eating commenced, I did a quick skin test and waited a few minutes. Then I let her take a tiny bite, and waited again. We seemed to be in the clear.

note the strawberry juice dripping down her chin

The strawberries were AMAZING! They were not tart, not to sweet, just perfect. So much so, that as soon as Stella wakes from her nap, we are heading to the local farm to pick up some more.

"Hey, Mom, Want Some?"

"Just kidding!"

She did eventually share, and no strawberries made it inside that night.