Hello Springdell Friends, Sarah and Jess here to chat about pickup #2 of the 2016 Winter CSA at Springdell Farm. First, we wanted to touch base with those of you that use Veggiescope here at CSA365. Veggiescope has stopped working temporarily due to a recent software update. We are working to remedy the problem and will keep you posted. In the meantime, if you have any questions about a particular veggie, feel free to contact us directly and we’ll help you out. Just email Jess or Sarah at CSA365.org, submit a form on our main page, or submit a comment below. Thanks for your patience as we deal with the usual technical difficulties that can accompany a software upgrade!
Back to our regularly scheduled program. Let’s take a look at what we’ve cooked up so far:
- 2 “grab bag” dairy and drink items (Jess got half & half and egg nog, Sarah got half & half and apple cider)
- Jess’s half and half immediately went into the Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes upon returning home from share pickup to baste the Fakesgiving meal turkey
- The boys drank all the egg nog before Jess could try it
- Sarah’s apple cider was enjoyed as-is
- Sarah’s half & half was enjoyed in her tea and the rest went into pumpkin ice cream (recipe to come this week!)
- 2 “regularly scheduled” milk orders from Highlawn Farms (Jess got heavy cream and skim milk, Sarah got lowfat milk and chocolate milk)
- Jess cream was whipped and enjoyed with a pumpkin pie during Sunday Dinner
- Milk in Turkey Pot Pie
- Sarah’s milk was enjoyed by the boys
- The chocolate milk was a nice treat frozen into Popsicles
- brussels sprouts
- Roasted with rendered bacon fat and tossed with Sriracha and maple syrup
- Roasted, shredded and tossed with bacon
- celery
- More stuffing
- Turkey Waldorf Salad
- Sarah’s gluten free stuffing
- The celery leaves went into smoothies
- lettuce
- A nice bed for a Turkey Waldorf Salad
- Lunch salad with blue cheese, walnuts and homemade dried cranberries
- Side salads for lunches
- spinach
- A snack side for Jess’ boys at lunch
- Creamed spinach
- 2 “grab bag” Springdell meat products (Jess got ground beef and hot Italian sausage, Sarah got breakfast sausage and top round beef)
- Sarah’s sausage was used with a pancake breakfast for dinner and the top round is in the freezer
- Westfield Farms Goat Cheese of various flavors
- Tossed with Pomegranate seeds and served with crackers
- Crumbled on lunch salads
- Muddy Waters Fair Trade Coffee
- Jess’ other half enjoyed it this week (Jess loves the Buzzkill Decaf)
- Some put aside as Jess is hoping to get to a batch of coffee ice cream this coming week
- In the freezer for future use at Sarah’s house
- fresh eggs
- In the usual haunts, such as hard boiled in the boys ‘lunches
- Scrambled and poach at Sarah’s house
- onions
- Turkey Pot Pie
- Beef stew
- potatoes
- Turkey Pot Pie
- beef stew
- potato pancakes
- a batch of mashed potatoes
- sweet potatoes (Jess only)
- Stored for the week – Loved the Sweet Potato Peanut Stew last week!
- rutabaga (Jess only)
- Mashed and tossed with nutmeg, sour cream and maple syrup
- purple potatoes (Sarah only)
- beef stew
- tomatoes (Sarah only)
- sandwiches
- mushrooms (Sarah only)
- sandwiches
- mushroom cream sauce on meatballs
- acorn squash
- In cold storage, older ones baked and incorporated into dishes (see below)
- Roasted and puréed as a side dish
- purple cabbage
- Rotkohl
- Still awaiting use at Sarah’s house
- apples
- Smoothies
- Apple pancakes
- Enjoyed as-is
- Rotkohl
- garlic
- Stored
- More Stuffing
- Roasted garlic salad dressing
Let’s take a tour of Jess’ kitchen since the last CSA pickup:
Jess here! Last Saturday in between basting the Fakesgiving turkey, I managed to get to the farm to pick up our second CSA crate of the winter season. It was full of wonderful stuff! As I was returning home to the beginnings of our turkey dinner, the amount of food in the house was overwhelming, but only for a bit. My unexpected container of half and half instantly found a home in the creamy garlic mashed potatoes that I was getting ready to serve.
After 2 full turkey dinners, three pot pies, 20 cups of stock, 2 cups of gravy, a waldorf salad and several turkey sandwiches, our 23 pound friend “Turkey number 35” was thoroughly enjoyed from beak to tail. I had an interesting conversation with one of my dinner guests Elizabeth Almeida of Fat Moon fame about extracting the calcium from the bones using a vinegar soak. Perhaps this will be the fate of next year’s turkey bones, however this year the bones again went to my mother’s raccoon family.
That yummy goat cheese was a perfect compliment to some tangy and juicy pomegranate seeds..
The turkey leftovers were flying this week! Waldorf salad is one of my favorites, especially with local apples and fresh celery.
The pot pies were a hit with the kids, even my fussy one!
The snap peas from our Community Garden plot reminded me that the effort to freeze overwhelming seasonal bounties is definitely time well spent. Look at these beauties! My youngest loved fishing the peas out of his pot pie this week, they were his favorite part of the meal!
With the apples and purple cabbage in the share, the sweet and sour cabbage dish of rotkohl returned to the rotation. It’s a great compliment to kielbasa or sausage.
We had a helping of rotkohl with the hot Italian sausage from our share box, and some went into the freezer for later (I’ve learned that rotkohl thaws quite well).
Here’s a simple lunch salad of bleu cheese dressing, walnuts and dried CSA cranberries.
I always forget how much I like rutabaga until I cook it up. Mashed rutabaga is a favorite way to cook it. I like add-ins such as sour cream for body, maple syrup to bring out the sweetness, and pinch of nutmeg just because.
The brussels sprouts season is coming to a conclusion already. I enjoyed this batch roasted with a bit of rendered bacon fat that I saved from last week’s bacon. Once they were tender and came out of the oven, I tossed them with some Sriracha and maple syrup for a surprisingly nice combo of spicy sweetness.
Both went awesome with a helping of Springdell Meat Loaf!
The apples continue to be a hit around here. My four year-old eats at least one everyday (and we still have about a dozen left!) The ones in the photo were served with vanilla yogurt and a sprinkle of cinnamon as a pre-dinner treat.
I roasted up about 5 acorn squash that were starting to turn orange. They’ll make their way into cheese and spaghetti sauces, stroganoff, maybe a pie, and dog food for a treat (hey, the dog deserves to eat well, too!)
The rest of the spinach and eggs went into a Bibimbap along with some meaty Fat Moon shiitake mushrooms! This is a perfect dish on a wintery Meatless Monday!
Speaking of Meatless Monday, I baked up my last spaghetti squash of the season to test a new vegetarian recipe. Stay tuned!
There’s the whirlwind tour of my kitchen! Now let’s take a trip over to see what Sarah is up to:
I had a huge cooking week, as I told you I would. Just about every day there was something cooking in my kitchen.
A quick breakfast of scrambled eggs, swiss cheese, and mushrooms. This is my husbands breakfast, he loves the mushrooms.
These were two of my sweet potatoes from the first share. I roasted them up, pureed them and made sweet potato waffles! Unfortunately, they were gobbled up before I remembered to take a photo. At least I snapped one of the roasted sweets!
I roasted up two pie pumpkins this week.
Some of the pumpkin went to pumpkin bread, some into pumpkin ice cream, and some still in the fridge!
Sneak peek to the pumpkin ice cream that I will be posting about this week.
Don’t forget the seeds of course! Roasted and sprinkled with salt. Love them!
My breakfast sausage all cooked up for an apple pancake breakfast for dinner.
Here are the pancakes, with a nice cup of tea with some half & half.
Egg white scramble with spinach and mushrooms…it looks like we did a lot of breakfast items this week!
Spaghetti squash had its time in the oven this week too. We always enjoy spaghetti squash with a little bit of butter and Parmesan cheese. In the center are whole heads of garlic roasting away.
Not only does roasted garlic smell delicious but it sweetens up when it roasts.
The roasted garlic was made into the roasted garlic dressing that my family requests often.
Lunch salads with leftover turkey breast and Gluten Free stuffing.
Springdell ground beef made into meatballs, served over rice with a mushroom cream sauce.
I had three delicata squash that were starting to go so another day with something roasting in the oven.
This is Springdell stew beef with onions, and purple potatoes. I wanted to take a shot of this before it cooked in the crockpot to show the pretty purple potatoes.
quick weekend lunches with Springdell bacon, melted cheese and thick slices of tomato.
Had some turkey stock going on the stove with thick chunks of leeks and onions.
Lunch salad with spinach, lettuce, mushrooms, and crumbled goat cheese. Alex sprinkled on some walnuts too.
I told you I wasn’t kidding with the crazy cooking! I was super busy and the house was always smelling great! I am almost caught up on food, just a few items in the fridge and of course squash in the cold storage. Whew!
As our kitchens rest for the evening, we are looking forward to a new batch of fresh local food coming our way at pickup number 3 of the Springdell Winter Share tomorrow, see you then!