Category Archives: Food

Dark Days Preparation

Posted on November 19, 2011 by AnnieRie

I am getting ready for the dark days challenge. I have inventoried the farmer’s market and neighbor’s contributions of meats in the freezer and looking at what stocks and veggies are also in there.

I have my peppers drying.

I also have the dried sage hanging in the garage, and thankfully the rosemary is still going strong.

Garlic and jellies around, and some gifts from friends who traveled, like blueberry chutney. Honey from the bee hives where I volunteer.

Local wines in the cellar, and a few six packs of locally brewed beer. Apple cider still coming in from a local farm

The CSA and the Amish markets should help me make it through the winter. Fifteen weeks is a long time, and there may be some omelets and soups more than I usually make, but at least I am doing a small part to work on reducing my carbon footprint.

Baby steps, we call them, but worth it to me.

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Roasting Beets

Posted on November 17, 2011 by AnnieRie

So, last night I roasted the specialty beets from the CSA and peeled them to use in a salad tomorrow night.

I roast beets dry, unpeeled, over a bed of kosher salt to pull out some of the moisture and allow them to concentrate their flavor.

I put them in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for about an hour, then let them cool and peel them. Off to the refrigerator to wait for my salad tomorrow evening. I will update this post with the salad picture when I make dinner tomorrow evening.

The Update with the finished product:

This salad was made using CSA box red romaine, white radishes, the specialty beets, and adding local goat cheese, some grapes from the store, some pistachios, and drizzled with Catoctin Mtn Orchards Blackberry Splash Vinaigrette. About 90% local, with only the grapes and pistachios bought at the grocery store.

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Fall CSA Week Three

Posted on November 16, 2011 by AnnieRie

Another wonderful basket full of goodies this week. I am always amazed at the quality and the variety in this CSA.

This week we received:
1 bag carrots
1 Hokkaido squash
1 butternut squash
1 bunch specialty radishes
1 bag mixed specialty beets
1 bag sweet Hakurei turnips
1 head red romaine lettuce
1 head tatsoi
1 bag teeny tiny bok choy
1 bag Beauregard sweet potatoes
2 leeks
1 bag onions

All are certified organic.

I already have the beets roasting in the oven.

We found out that there will be no winter CSA in this area, but not to worry for us. We searched the local harvest site and found a new CSA for 18 weeks starting when this one ends. AND!!!!!! they deliver to our county, since the farmer’s markets are finished in this area, and they have a small circle of subscribers that they can bring it to us.

Can’t wait to begin this one, as we added a meat subscription and bi-weekly eggs. I already miss my suppliers from the markets.

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Sometimes You Can’t Win

Posted on November 15, 2011 by AnnieRie

I got this lovely Queensland Blue Squash last week in the CSA basket. I hoped to roast it and make bread with it for a get together at my volunteer site.

But, although organic foods are wonderful for me to use, they have their downsides. I picked it up today to cut it and roast it and found an tiny hole in the bottom, probably the exit point for the little critter who had gotten in through the stem. He (it) had wreaked havoc in the squash and it gave off an ugly odor. Off to the compost pile for my lovely squash, and on to plan B, a butternut squash from two weeks ago.

Thankfully, critter free.

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Dark Days Challenge

Posted on November 14, 2011 by AnnieRie

So, I signed up to do the Dark Days Challenge this winter.

The details for the challenge can be found here.

Having a fall and possibly winter CSA subscription, and having access to year round markets makes it a possibility for us to eat more locally sourced foods than we had been able to find in the past.

We have to establish our own radius, and determine which rules we will use for our participation. I know I will be using 150 miles as our radius, even though 90% of what we get comes from less than 100 miles away.

Our Amish Co-op that supplies our CSA is based near Lancaster PA, which is about 90 miles as the crow flies.

I will also use locally sourced meats, breads, wine, beer, cider and milk that are available near here, but do know that for some of the beers and some of the ciders they may be manufactured locally, but not all ingredients are local.

As more details are known, I will update my post with the complete list of rules.

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Fall CSA Week Two

Posted on November 10, 2011 by AnnieRie

I love Wednesdays. It is CSA day.

We received a large heavy delivery this week. I spent an hour cleaning greens and working on possible recipes. The pictures don’t do it justice as there was so much there.

We got:
1 six pound Queensland Blue Squash
2 sweet onions
2 pounds russet potatoes
2 large leeks
1 head white cauliflower
2 heads red leaf lettuce
1 bunch cilantro (which I swapped)
1 bag baby arugula
1 bag red and green mustard greens
1 bag red and green butterhead lettuce
1 Napa cabbage
1 bag baby tatsoi

This CSA is amazing in variety and quality. Lancaster Farm Fresh Cooperative supplies all the veggies to our CSA, which is managed locally. Lancaster manages a vast majority of the participants, but we have a more local management structure.

All in all, more than 70 organic farms are part of the cooperative, and there are more than 2000 members in the CSA locations in MD, NY, PA, and DC, (and NJ I believe).

I can’t believe how lucky we are that we found this CSA as it is a perfect fit for us.

And last night’s cauliflower was perfect, spiced and roasted in the oven.

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Autumn cooking

Posted on November 3, 2011 by AnnieRie

I always like fall, and the crockpot used to get lots of use when I worked, not so much now that I have retired.

Tonight I decided to slow cook some of the squashes from the CSA with some andouille sausage and greens. To say it was a hit was an understatement. I love to use spice and flavors in cooking and this time I added cinnamon, cumin, mint, garlic, honey, cayenne and salt,

The acorn and butternut squashes melted down into the sauce and made it rich and comforting. One of my new favorites that will be repeated.

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