Posts from the ‘CSA’ category

A Thursday

My Wednesday did not go according to plan from the get-go.

One thing that slipped was a trip to town for supplies.

This morning, Thursday morning … in a “kill two birds with one stone” frame of mind, I whistled Bear into Wild Thing for the gathering of supplies, the download of some large files on town’s 4Glte (!!!) and who knew what else.

The morning was beautiful: cool and misty as the sun rose over the mountains and through the woods.

Bear was ALL in for a bit of RV adventure!

We stopped on the way for a walk, parked in a shady spot near the grocery for the download and supply gathering…we both had our breakfast “on the road” – and then headed for home to make it just in the nick of time for a late morning work/meeting session.

Later…

Thursday, is CSA garden day.

Yesterday, I got to thinking about it being August… and we’ve had some heat and sun and …WOW, the garden might start spewing forth some different things pretty soon!

And it did! The bag felt like 10 pounds: beets (WITH greens!!), ‘taters, peas & carrots, a head of lettuce, parsley, basil, KALE!, some “spring green” mix. I called on neighbors and friends to share.

Last week’s bag was good and I used it all…nothing new to report but I continued to enjoy the shredded carrot salad, the pea pesto (my absolute favorite non-basil pesto), a broccoli salad, chard-spinach-mushroom stir fry…

Next week’s cooking from the garden – it should have some new stuff.

Meanwhile, Thursday evening…Bear did his “it is too hot” version of the perimeter patrol and then found a shady spot to have a treat. I let Bob out and he sprawled near us on the porch. I told them, that their nearness to each other and me – it was the absolute BEST birthday month present they could give.

We all sat together and enjoyed. It was 85 but not unpleasant in the shade with a soft breeze and my good boys. Actually, it was heaven to me.

Bear ultimately decided the cool of the house had appeal. I got the camera and tripod to capture a moment with Bob…who has apparently forgiven my passe taste for white wine…well, I am the one who dispenses the food, allows access to the bed, puts fleece cat blankies hither and yon…

A Thursday.

Eating from the garden (and the orchard!) : week 12

Years ago when I subscribed to an organic vegetable delivery, I learned that it was interesting and fun to plan my meals around the week’s delivery. I’m doing the same this summer and it has resulted again in discovering new ways to use the garden bounty. It is actually easier now with the plethora of food and cooking blogs.

I am not a fan of what odd ingredients can we mix in this week…BUT, then here I am with some unusual – at least to me – combos this week.

Carrots have been in the garden bag for the past several weeks. First there were a few baby carrots. They have been getting bigger but are still wonderfully sweet and flavorful. I have shared some with neighbors and the rest munched as a snack or added to my pasta salad.

This week, though, I remembered a potluck salad of grated carrots, raisins and ??? I looked at a number of recipes and then made a carrot-dried cranberry-chard-walnut mix with a pineapple ginger creamy vinaigrette dressing. Oh boy… I was glad to see in the garden email this morning that there were carrots again this week because this salad was goooodddd!

I paired it with some Copper River Red Sockeye Salmon and raw – fresh from the garden – peas.

Peas…there were still some peas. Fresh peas – so good and sweet.

My recipe searching turned up several variations of sweet pea pesto. You’d think I would have had enough pesto, considering I’ve turned every green thing from the garden into pesto…but no. I took from several recipes and ended up blitzing the peas, lemon juice, sunflower seeds, sunflower oil, parmesan, salt, pepper and garlic. And then… I used that sweet pea pesto on a pizza…

Sweet pea pesto, leftover salmon, Vidalia sweet onion, mozzarella…AND SWEET CHERRIES!

It was so good, I had 3 of the same this past week although the last 2 did not include salmon. The sweet pea pesto and sweet cherries was the bomb!

And last night, Wednesday, August 1…the first full moon in August night…I finished pitting my twenty pounds of cherries purchased last weekend. Some have been blitzed with basil and sugar into syrup and frozen. Some just frozen. Some used on the pizza and some in my cereal and some eaten as a snack. I hope to make either Cherry Preserves or Cherry Marmalade this weekend. The rest I hope are a wonderful surprise treat through the winter.

This Summer has been going well. It got a bit of a late start which is fine with me. Since then, the heat has been moderate and short-lived…broken up by cool spells. Eating from the garden – the research and planning has helped me enjoy a time that is not my favorite.

This morning was cool and beautiful. Bob and I have been having some time together on the front porch as Bear does not like to be out when the sprinklers are going. He has a thing about spraying water…

So, Mr. Bob and I have our quiet time together while Bear takes a morning nap.

The sun rose through a few clouds into a blue, blue sky.

Smile Bob!! Time to start Thursday… well… I think that is his “sit down and drink your coffee and stop pointing that darn camera at me” expression. So, I did. Happy Thursday!

Eating from the garden: week 11

Raspberries!!! So good right off the bush and into my mouth!

There was a pint of raspberries in week 11’s garden bounty. I ate a few or so as I was washing them. I had a few in my before bedtime cereal and in my “get some food in my stomach” first thing in the morning cereal. And I grabbed a few every time I opened the frig.

And then there were none.

Sad, but true.

Elsewise, I continued as I have been: chard and kale and mushrooms sauteed on pizza, in scrambled eggs, over rice. Carrots and peas in pasta salad. Cilantro whizzed with tomatoes and green onions into pico de gallo. Basil whizzed with a bit of olive oil and frozen for winter pesto or ???. I shared some greens and carrots with my good neighbors and that was week 11 from the garden.

Other than food…a very full week which included motorhome maintenance (A/C and install of a new on board surge guard), dental surgery (canine tooth is gone and titanium implant in place awaiting healing and a brand new toof :)! ) and preparation for an assault on thistles, St. John’s Wort and a few other noxious weeds that have sprouted in unusual abundance in the woods :( …. AND a VERY full work schedule. All in all, a good and busy week. Bear, Bob and I are very much looking forward to a bit of relaxing this weekend after some necessary chores tomorrow (Saturday) – hopefully concluded by early afternoon.

Happy Friday and Happy Weekend to all of you from all of us.

‘gator dog and pizza on the grill

It is hot.

Well, for a Montanan, it is hot.

And for a Montana Beardog, it is VERY hot.

And a little more humid than is normal. And it makes us yawn…

And then it makes us roll on our back…

A beardog, rolling on his back in the grass…grunting and snorting…

I call him “Alligator Dog”…

“grumph…urg…phhtt”

It’s an alligator daaawwwgg!

And it feels so good.

‘gator dog

Yep!

And bringing up the rear of this post…a pizza on the grill that did not make the cut for the “Eating from the garden post”… lunch….some chard mushroom mix…

A hunk of my refigerator dough.

Lunch pizza. On the grill.

*** P.S. I write this post at 8:30ish p.m. I picked up my CSA share earlier…: week 11. It included a pint of RED RASPBERRIES!!! Hoo rah.

Eating from the garden: Week 10

Swallow Crest Farm, my CSA source, has fully recovered from the hailstorm damage of several weeks ago as evidenced by this week’s bounty of salad greens, kale, chard, baby carrots, peas, basil, cilantro and cauliflower! I bought only a red pepper and mushrooms from the produce section of the grocery this week!

I found a recipe for a chard and mushroom popover, made with gluten free garbanzo free flour. I downsized the recipe for my 5 inch mini deep pie dish, subbed gruyere for the provolone in the recipe and had a Sunday breakfast treat extraordinare!

Next time, I will add red pepper and kalamata olives as well but no complaints for this first round.

This week’s pasta salad used the garden peas, red pepper, olives, monterey jack and a dressing made with pesto (using the garden basil), a little mayo and some pickle juice.

The chard was beautiful and tender. Several times during the week, I gave a couple of leaves a chiffonade and sauteed them lightly with a few mushrooms.

I used some of the chard, mushroom mix with leftover ribeye, baked potato and some sweet onion to make a breakfast hash – a poached egg, bagel bun with goat cheese and my own citrus marmalade made for a darn hearty breakfast that held me until mid-afternoon one day.

My real experiment of the week was curry-cauliflower pickles. So pretty in the jars and they turned out sweet-HOT and crunchy. Seriously good alongside a hamburger sandich on English muffin bread (yes, MY english muffin bread!) and a slice of havarti.

Eating from the garden: week 10 – delicious!

After the weekend catch up

Lazy, hazy days of Summer??? – the days have turned hot and hazy and that makes me lazy as I just want to sit still and stay cool.

The garden did produce a small bag of veg this week: a bag of stir fry (small bits of greens, carrots, broccoli and carrots), a bag of mixed greens, a gorgeous and huge head of broccoli!! and a bag of fresh, fragrant basil.

The stir fry did not really appeal so I picked out the carrots and froze the rest to be used to make vegetable broth.

The basil became pesto…my first “traditional” pesto from the garden :)!

That broccoli – it was destined for a broccoli salad. The usual and delicious broccoli salad has raisins, onions, bacon and a light slightly creamy dressing. I made two modifications…

Instead of bacon, I used the “cajun” sausage that my folks bring back from Louisiana. Bill reportedly hunted high and low to find a butcher that made a sausage to his liking. This stuff is good: spicy, a little heat, full of flavor. And it stands up to being fried a bit crispy. I sliced it thin, quartered the slices and fried them crispy.

In place of raisins, dried and slightly sweetened cranberries. A light dressing of a little mayonaisse, Vidalia sweet onion, white wine vinegar, sugar and salt…AND a sprinkling of sunflower seeds.

A perfect salad for a side or a meal.

Continuing with summer salads…I typically make a huge bowl of macaroni salad or cabbage slaw and then kind of fizzle out as I get near the end of it. I decided that this year, I would make small bowls of each and have a variety through the week.

My folks had a picnic with friends and a shared macaroni salad with a new to them combination. I am not at liberty to divulge all, but the secret ingredient is pickle juice :)! – I use Tony Packo’s Sweet Hot Skinnies: pickles and peppers. Spring onions AND their tops – from the garden – are in this salad.

The cabbage is organic from California but the carrots in the slaw are from the garden and a poppy seed vinaigrette for dressing.

It is not rocket science…if I have some good things ready to go for a snack or a meal, I eat good things!

On to more good things.

It was 90 the last 2 days and is forecast to hit 97!!! today. That is about 20 degrees higher than what I consider hot enough. When I saw a recipe for homemade peach frozen yogurt without an ice cream maker, I decided that sounded like a thing to try. No ice cream maker needed! I am not a big ice cream fan, although I have toyed with getting a maker and making my own, but am not thrilled about the idea of a “one trick pony” kitchen gadget. I AM a fan of yogurt and this simple recipe of greek yogurt, some extract and fresh fruit sounded perfect. Instead of peaches, I thought, cherries – I have 4 cans of cherries in my cupboard….good Oregon cherries in only their own syrup with no added anything. My plan was cherries, almonds and almond extract with the yogurt.

On my errand run to Bigfork, Friday afternoon…whaddya’ know??? A local cherry stand was open. A local grower with a Washington orchard as well, had the first cherries from Washington. I bought a bag of Rainier’s. Rainier’s are sweet – not quite as sweet as the black cherry varieties, but they are a bit firmer.

So…greek yogurt, almond extract, a bit of protein powder and fresh cherries…frozen. No ice cream maker. Yes!

Pretty simple and what a treat… a sweet treat with no sugar other than what occurs naturally in the fruit and yogurt. And protein and other good for me stuff. The texture is something along the line of ice milk and the taste has the tang of the yogurt. For this not so great fan of ice cream, it is a perfect substitute.

This year, Bear is acclimated to Montana and so has felt the heat more than last year. He chooses to be in the cool house for the afternoon and early evening.

Bob sprawls on the front porch, often right against the house in the coolest spot, but mostly stays outside.

Occasionally, we have a bit of a stalemate…

Happy Monday!