Season's Last Horse & Buggy + Autumn Thankfuls

Today was the season's last pick up. If you're wondering why I didn't post the share from two weeks ago, well, it's 'cause I just plain forgot to go pick it up. I guess that's called "CSA Burnout". They are offering an extended season and Thanksgiving turkeys and cool stuff like that, but I'm done for the year, I think. Anyway, a combined post, the share list for the week, and Autumn thankfuls:

1 butternut squash
2 lbs Kennebec potatoes
2 lbs sweet potatoes
1 lb green tomatoes
1/2 gallon apple cider
1 pint of apple butter (!) with no sugar
6 eggs
1 loaf bread

Thankful for...
Four new babies born to friends in the last week, and the one I met today is a cute and tiny week-old bundle - amazing.

Beautiful colors as the leaves ring in the fall.

Colorful new art for my awesome new office, plus plans to buy more locally tomorrow.

Absentee voting is quick and easy in Virginia!

5 days to Kallie Anne and Kyle Holden and plans to do good aunting!

Horse & Buggy Pick Up

Today's share included:
4 ears corn
2 lbs potatoes
8 small apples
2 red/green peppers
2 small eggplant
1 very large head of broccoli
1.3 lbs grapes (not sure what variety)
6 eggs
1 loaf bread

I reckon I'm gonna spend some time tonight learning how to make applesauce. I haven't touched a single one of the apples from last pick up yet...

Would somebody please come rescue me from all of this produce?!

Horse & Buggy week again. Here goes:

8 red apples
1 lb tomatoes
1 lb fingerling potatoes
2 hot red peppers
1 green pepper
1 yellow pepper
2 oz. Thai basil
1 lb concord grapes (yum!)
1/3 of a large watermelon

A la carte:
4 mini loaves pumpkin bread
1 cantaloupe

And, if you think 1/3 of a watermelon is kinda silly, as I did (she literally cut it up in front of me and disbursed the sections to three different people), it's really not. It's a whole lotta watermelon for one person. Seriously. I'll be eating watermelon for days. Help! I might drown!

I'm still eating produce from two weeks ago. I finally discovered a solution to my storage woes - Ziplock fresh produce bags. They have special holes that help the produce to breathe (or something like that) while they hang out in the fridge. I knew they existed, but not all stores stock this type of bag, so it took me a few attempts to actually find them. They are working - the zucchini from two weeks ago tasted great sauteed with some Thai basil and rice tonight!

I've identified a few challenges during this year's Horse & Buggy adventure. First, storage - the Ziplock bags help alot, but I also need to get better about processing and freezing (and maybe learning to jar) items like tomatoes, apples, peppers and corn. Secondly, waste - this will improve as my storage strategies improve, but before I do this again next year, I must start composting. I need to have the right tools to do this, which is entirely doable, I just haven't made it a high enough priority.

The season last until just before Halloween. More to come...

Horse & Buggy Pick Up

Oh boy! I always get more than I can imagine eating in one week!

1 loaf bread
6 eggs
6 ears corn
2 green peppers
3 cucumbers
2 lbs tomatoes
2 oz basil

A la carte:
2 very large zucchini
2 lbs yukon gold potatoes
3 sm loaves banana bread

Fun things from today's pick-up:
The cute little blond hiccupping girl.

First time making of tomato sauce from scratch: de-seeding, peeling, blending, add olive oil, garlic, fresh basil, salt, pepper.

Sharing with friends.

Horse & Buggy Pick Up x2

Oh boy, I'm two pickups behind, so let me see if I can recreate them:

August 21st
1 loaf bread
4 ears corn
3 large peaches
1 large (and yummy) cantaloupe
1 yellow pepper
1 red pepper
3 roma tomatoes
4 potatoes
(I think that was everything. Thanks to Dave for picking this up while I was away)

August 7th
Hm. This one is harder to remember.... let's see...
6 ears of corn
1 heirloom tomato
2 regular tomatoes
2 cucumbers
a whole lotta peaches
some smallish green apples
1 loaf bread
6 eggs
...that's about it, I think...

I'm getting a bit better about not wasting things. I ended up boiling all 6 ears of corn two weeks ago, and then cut the kernels off the cob and making creamed corn, my favorite.

I'm about to blanch and cut more of the peaches and freeze them in my smoothie bucket.

Mashed potatoes were yummy this week.

Good stuff.

Horse & Buggy Pick Up

Well, I forgot to record my shares from two weeks ago. Unfortunately, some of that produce from two weeks ago landed in the garbage today.

But, here's today's share:
6 ears corn
2 cucumbers
6 peaches
9 small apples
3 large & 1 small tomatoes
1 heirloom tomato
3 peaches
1 head bibb lettuce
1 large cantaloupe
1 loaf rosemary bread
6 eggs

The volume of food is almost overwhelming. Seems like the best thing to do is to just start eating. And call up your friends to see who'll be willing to take some of it off your hands. :)

Horse & Buggy Pick Up

1 pint cherries
.4 lb snap peas
9 peaches
1 green pepper
2/3 lb zucchini
2/3 lb squash
1/2 head very large cabbage
6 eggs
1 loaf of bread

And, I had dinner at The Local last night - it was zucchini and squash and garlic cream sauce over fresh Mona Lisa tagliatelle pasta, which I plan to replicate with my fresh produce this week.

What should I do with this cabbage? Hmm...

Horse & Buggy Pick Up

Yesterday's pick up included:

2 heads bibb lettuce
4 spring onions
1 pint spray-free cherries
3 medium red beets
1 lb zucchini & squash
1 bunch parsley
1 cucumber
6 eggs
1 loaf rosemary bread

From two weeks ago, I had to discard my 4 spring onions because I didn't use them in time. Must...eat...fresh...veggies...faster.

The H&B Newsletter said that the expected crop of rhubarb was scorched in this past week's heat wave (4+ days of record high heat). While I don't necessarily miss the rhubarb, I do appreciate the lesson that regional weather affects regional harvest yield. If only we were all more aware and connected to our local environment in this way.

Anyone have any ideas for beets?

Horse & Buggy - 3rd pick up

This is a late post, as my 3rd pick up was a week ago today. I got there with minutes to spare, so there were a few substitutions because a few things (like lettuce) had run out.

6 eggs
1 loaf bread
1 large zucchini
.67 lbs collard greens
.67 lbs kale
2 pints of the nicest strawberries I've ever had
4 very large green onions

I think that was all - hope I'm not forgetting something. I also picked up a small a la carte loaf of banana bread to share with a particular family I'm fond of, but it seems as though one hungry Papa ate the whole loaf by himself. He did, or so he says, share the pint of strawberries I gave them.

I went back today, on an off week, to pick up an a la carte pint of strawberries and two tomatoes. Ooh! I tasted the cherries they had today - I didn't buy any, but I might next week.

On the table tonight: zucchini, pine nuts, garlic and Parmesan over spaghetti.

French Toast

Hm, an old favorite, but this time even better. I used a recipe from my favorite tv chef, Alton Brown. The ingredients are simple, but there are two tricks that make this a step up from your Mom's basic French toast (or at least these were two things that I needed to have Alton explain to me before I understood the subtle art of french toast). First, you should use slightly stale bread, and give the bread plenty of time to soak up the custard mixture. The second trick is putting the toast in the oven for about 5 minutes after browning it in the pan. It solves the problem of having uncooked egg on the insides and the bread puffs up quite nicely while in the oven.

But the best part of this breakfast is that it had a significant amount of local ingredients. The bread, eggs, strawberries and maple syrup all came from my Horse & Buggy shares. And, it was very tasty.

Horse & Buggy Pick Up

Today's pickup included:

2/3 pound spinach or collards (I took a little of each)
2/3 pound kale
1 head bibb lettuce
1 head field lettuce
1 bag sprouts
1 pint strawberries
1 loaf Seven Grain bread
6 eggs

Any one have any ideas for sprouts?

Horse & Buggy Pick Up

Today was my first pick-up with Horse & Buggy Produce. Today's share included:

1 honeybear of maple syrup (maybe 8 or 9 ounces)
1/2 pound spinach
1 pound kale (only took 1/2 pound)
1 head bibb lettuce
1 bunch asparagus
1 bag sprouts
6 eggs
1 loaf bread

I've already eaten an egg sandwich on the fresh bread and all of the kale. A pound of kale seems so overwhelming before you strip the stems and cut and steam it. As it turns out a half pound of kale is about one good sized serving. I added pine nuts and a little bit of redwine vinegar.

I was both overwhelmed and underwhelmed with the pick up today. I couldn't believe how many greens I brought home, but at the same time, it wasn't much food. This is actually a good thing. As I understand it, there will be a bell curve of produce through out the season, as the harvest grows, so I suppose it's a natural break-in period. So far, so good.

Long time gone

Spring tulips have already come and gone.

New (I woulda sworn they already had one?) myspace site for City Salvage Records, a little record label that happens to host several of my favorite musicians, and a link to a nice little blog article on Paul Curreri.

Saturday night dinner at The Local - Downtown Belmont is about to boom, that is, if we can't say that it has already. And, Twisted Branch and late-night C&O, a good thing.

Taking the leap and signing up for Horse and Buggy Produce. I'm inspired by my Seester, who tells me that she is the host pick-up site for her CSA in her neighborhood this season! How cool! I'm a little nervous: will it be too much, or not enough? Will I feel too much pressure to cook and not eat out? Will I miss an awesome share-week because my pick-ups are only biweekly? Oh! So many questions!

Successful lease negotiations: one down, one to go. Fingers still crossed.

Must fix the screen on my front door.