Hello! Another week of beautifully confusing weather, dressing in layers, and fabulous fruits and vegetables to carry us through. It’s nice to have the “Honorable Mentions” post to share little snippets from our share boxes.
Here is a look into Sarah’s kitchen this week:
It’s all about preserving the harvest this time of year. Before we know it, it will all be gone…but not this year! Keep taking the time each week to can or freeze, you won’t regret it when winter rolls around.
I had a few cranberries left after making my cranberry apple sauce and didn’t want them to go to waste. I picked through them and disposed of the squishy ones and picked out the twigs. Onto a cookie sheet they went to be frozen. Once they are frozen (8-24 hours), pop them into a freezer bag. Going through this process means that they won’t stick together in the bag. Much easier to deal with if you are whipping up a batch of warm oatmeal cranberry cookies!
I chopped up two of the green peppers to get them ready for tomorrow. There is a chili contest going on at Alex’s work and these guys may just be our ticket to a win!
The rest of the peppers from my share and the purple bells from my garden were either eaten or chopped and bagged for the freezer.
My smoothie of the week included: kale, one rib of celery, 1 Tablespoon of flax meal, 1/2 cup of coconut milk, and half of a cucumber. Yum!
I’m not sure a week is complete without a batch of apple sauce. With all of the apples this time of year it’s hard to keep up! A batch a week through Apple season keeps my kiddos happy all winter long.
Here’s a review of Jess’ week:
Like Sarah, I’ve been continuing the big storing up of fruits and veggies via canning, freezing and the like. The investment in a Summer CSA not only takes you through the 20-ish weeks during the summer, but it can feed you well into the winter if you play your cards right. Though some balk at what may seem like a high price tag up front, one only needs to live the lifestyle for a spell to realize that much money ends up being saved (the decrease in grocery bills is significant) all while eating healthy and locally!
It feels like this week a lot of my photos seemed to before or after shots of the meal. As an example, here is a photo of fajitas in progress:
This was a shaved SpringDell’monico steak with some cumin, chili powder, and peppers and onions. Delicious with some corn tortillas, sour cream, shredded cheese and summer salsa.
Aren’t those jingle bell peppers fabulous? They are so crunchy and sweet. I filled some with meat, tomato, rice, egg, cheese and onion for a tasty dinner. This is another “before” shot. No after shot at the moment as these will be heated and eaten for dinner tomorrow.
Some of the potatoes and eggs from the share made an appearance in Sunday’s breakfast!
Some potatoes were made into baked oven fries. This was a second helping on my toddler’s plate. The rest were eaten before I remembered to snap a photo. The grown-ups enjoyed a dipping sauce made from sour cream, fresh snipped Springdell chives, and horseradish (Sriracha works too!)
I had the opportunity to attend the Topsfield Fair this past weekend, it was so wonderful to see all of the prize produce from the area.
My three year-old couldn’t resist crossing under the ropes to run in and give this giant pumpkin a hug. Another Anderson that loves their produce, I love it!
I can’t wait to talk about these beauties tomorrow. I remember at the beginning of the year some of you were asking about my experience making dried unsweetened cranberries. I’ll plan to expound upon this experience tomorrow just after the “Tell”. Stay tuned and have a great night!