Hi everyone, Jess here to chat about the 12th CSA pickup of the season! We’re just past the halfway mark with our Summer CSA, and the crates are getting heavy! I love to watch the colors change throughout the season. You can just peek at the goodies in this picture and see that fall is approaching!
As Labor Day comes to a close, let’s reflect on this week’s items!
butter & sugar corn- heirloom cherry tomatoes
- heirloom tomatillos
- pee-wee peaches
- beefsteak tomatoes
- crookneck summer squash
- classic eggplant
- bell pepper
- Paula Red apples
- jalapeño peppers
- poblano peppers
- lettuce
- radish
pearl peaches- melon
- sunflower shoots from Johnny Putt Farm
- Eggs
- zinnias
How is the canning going? Did you grab a box or two of extra goodies along the way? If so, feel free to check in and we can have a little support group! I wanted to mention that if you try this raw-pack tomato recipe, you’ll notice that during processing, the tomatoes all rise to the top, and the water from the tomatoes stays on the bottom. See that golden layer of liquid on the bottom of these jars? It’s totally normal, but really freaky when you don’t expect it. After processing my tomatoes, I usually try the “seal test” by removing the ring from the jar, then inverting the jar of tomatoes without the ring holding the lid in place. If you can totally invert the jar without the lid coming loose, the seal should be good! This also helps to mix the tomatoes back into their liquid a bit.
With all this eggplant, tomatoes, peppers, etc, it’s a great time for Ratatouille (many variations out there to try), which uses a bit of just about all of the late summer veggies that we have this week. I’ve decided to try Aunt Mary’s Eggplant Meatballs, brought to my attention by fellow Springdellian Ann B. I made a quick Vitamix tomato sauce with a beefsteak and some of the heirloom cherry tomatoes. I thought the meatballs were good but my boys were not fooled. That’s ok, more for me! Thanks for the idea, Ann, and Aunt Mary!
Well, time to get Nan up to bed, feel free to check in this week with questions, comments, concerns, ideas, etc. As always, we love to hear from you!