Month: November 2021

Boxing Day, November 11

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Yes, the sweet potatoes are larger than the broccoli and the cauliflower.

Happy Veteran’s Day John,

We biked the trail along the river to a restaurant we visited in the first month of living here, and hadn’t been back to since. We’ve done takeout, but this was our first dining out locally since February 28, 2020. Outdoor patio. Masked when we weren’t eating. It was familiar and delicious and so, so foreign. Maybe that’s what everything feels like these days. The return of beloved experiences that were familiar. But with the edge of awareness of different risk tolerances, different boundaries.

Sometimes I manage to be intentional about the small interactions. Asking the Dad if he wants a picture of both of them after he’s posed his kid and snapped a shot. Complementing the woman on her coordinating blues from glasses to shirt to shoes. Bigger conversations still feel awkward, but I can practice bit by bit. Maybe someday it will just feel familiar.

In This Week’s Box

  • Bosc Pears
  • Honeycrisp Apples
  • Beauregard Sweet Potatoes
  • Bok Choy
  • Purple Broccoli
  • Pink Celery
  • Romanesco Cauliflower

Garden Potential

  • Last volunbeans
  • Few more starfish pepper
  • Radishes

Still in the Fridge

  • Apples: Many apples
  • Bartlett Pears, Asian Pears, Bosc Pears
  • Greens: Savoy Cabbage
  • Tomatoes
  • Leeks
  • Celery
  • Peppers: Yummy, Lombok, Starfish, Banana, Jalapeno, Carmen, Cubanelle
  • Baby Hakurei Turnips
  • Carrots
  • Red beets
  • Squash: Red Kabocha, Spaghetti, Robins Koginut, Acorn
  • Garlic
  • Sweet onions
  • Potatoes: Blue, Sweet
  • Ginger
  • Sunchokes

Open Preserves

  • Preserved eggplant
  • Dill pickle juice
  • Lacto-fermented green cherry tomatoes
  • Lacto-fermented blueberry jalapeno hot sauce
  • Lacto-fermented habanda jalapeno hot sauce
  • Pickled red onion
  • Pickled banana peppers with oregano, basil, and black pepper
  • Plain pickled banana peppers
  • Pickled fennel stems with orange
  • Spicy pickled fennel stems
  • Radish kimchi
  • Sunchoke relish
  • Green tomato chutney
  • Sour cherry chutney
  • Freedom berry jam
  • Apple butter
  • Quince jelly
  • Probably still more uninventoried

Meal thoughts

  • Soup nomination: knock-off pho. Aka rice noodles in garlic-ginger broth with bok choy. Add some dried mushrooms, soft tofu. Top with lime, jalapeno. We’re out of basil, alas. And the cilantro isn’t quite established enough to want to pick its leaves. (It might die before we get there. That’s okay.)
  • Aloo gobi! I think this is the recipe we used for virtual Indian Friendsgiving. It feels weird to make it with the different cauliflower and blue potatoes. I bet it still tastes delicious.
  • Roast the broccoli? Serve with lemon juice and pasta and feta/chevre?
  • Celery salad with dates and parm + apples. Expand the recipe in Six Seasons.

Love you,

Sarah

Boxing Day, November 4

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Smaller CSA share coming to you for Fall 2021.

Hi John,

Yesterday I called you from the garden. Should we try to find row cover before the forecast freeze? Went to the closest plant store, they don’t carry it. Decided that we have enough going on in the next few weeks that maybe it doesn’t make sense to put in more effort and extend our work. Sorry summer plants.

So we’re saying goodbye to the tomatoes and eggplant. Been separating basil seeds at the dinner table. We picked the first fall radish and the pink bulb feels like magic.

In This Week’s Box

  • Asian Pears
  • Empire Apples
  • Garden Gem Tomatoes
  • Green Acorn Squash
  • Mixed Carmen Italian Peppers
  • Pink Celery
  • Red Leaf Lettuce

Garden Potential

  • Starfish pepper
  • Deciding how long to wait on the final jalapenos
  • Lombok peppers
  • Volunbeans for drying
  • Final tomato, possibly to ripen on counter
  • First radish, when we want it

Still in the Fridge

  • Apples: Who even is able to identify the apples filling the fruit drawer?
  • Bartlett Pears, Asian Pears, Bosc Pears
  • Greens: Savoy Cabbage, Dandelion, Spinach
  • Herbs: Fennel tops
  • Leeks
  • Celery
  • Peppers: Yummy, Lombok, Starfish, Banana, Jalapeno, Carmen, Cubanelle
  • Kohlrabi
  • Baby Hakurei Turnips
  • Carrots
  • Red beets
  • Squash: Delicata, Red Kabocha, Spaghetti, Robins Koginut
  • Garlic
  • Sweet onions
  • Potatoes: Blue, Sweet
  • Ginger
  • Sunchokes

Open Preserves

  • Preserved eggplant
  • Dill pickle juice
  • Lacto-fermented green cherry tomatoes
  • Lacto-fermented blueberry jalapeno hot sauce
  • Lacto-fermented habanda jalapeno hot sauce
  • Pickled red onion
  • Pickled banana peppers with oregano, basil, and black pepper
  • Plain pickled banana peppers
  • Radish kimchi
  • Sunchoke relish
  • Green tomato chutney
  • Sour cherry chutney
  • Freedom berry jam
  • Apple sauce
  • Apple butter
  • Quince jelly
  • Probably still more uninventoried

New Menu Suggestions

  • Quiche? On the one hand, I like the idea of an eggy dish that has leftovers. Shredded beets and goat cheese? It’ll all be pink. Sliced tomatoes, sauteed peppers, and cheddar cheese?
  • Nominating this acorn squash for being stuffed come Thanksgiving.
  • Celery or cabbage salad with chickpeas, a garlic anchovy dressing, croutons for me
  • Celery and apple salad. (There’s a celery, apple, peanut salad in Six Seasons that we haven’t tried yet. It also uses medium-hot chilies. The star peppers could be fun.)
  • Cabbage fried rice

Reminders of Meals Already Brainstormed

  • Pizza with delicata squash slices
  • Soup: Ginger, apple, squash OR leek and potato
  • Dandelion greens with beans and fennel (I have now cooked the beans. We just have to cook the meal.)
  • Stuffed spaghetti squash
  • Kohlrabi, apple, ginger salad
  • Pickle the banana peppers already

Love,

Sarah

Boxing Day, October 28

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Offcamera, frustration at the squash that had been on display and is now rotting. Oooops.

Dear John,

It has been a whirlwind of a week. Right now I am tired and hungry-ish and don’t really know what’s in the fridge except that the only leftovers are a half-cup of macaroni noodles. Which does not a meal make. But may be enhanced into a snack? I will skip further preamble in order to peruse ingredients from the comfort of the couch.

In This Week’s Box

  • Asian Pears
  • Honeycrisp Apples
  • Celery
  • Cubanelle Peppers
  • Delicata Squash
  • Ginger
  • Red Beets
  • Spinach
  • Sweet Onions
  • White Kohlrabi

Garden Potential

  • Starfish pepper
  • Deciding how long to wait on the final jalapenos
  • Lombok peppers
  • Last of the tomatillos, for real
  • Volunbeans for drying
  • Tomato, possibly to ripen on counter

Still in the Fridge

  • Apples: Gala, Empire, Jonagold, U-pick, Granny Smith
  • Bartlett Pears, Asian Pears, Bosc Pears
  • Greens: 1/2 a cabbage, 1/2 bunch collards, Savoy Cabbage, Romain lettuce, Dandelion, Red leaf lettuce
  • Herbs: Fennel tops
  • Leeks
  • Cherry tomatoes
  • Tomatillos
  • Broccoli
  • Edamame
  • Baby Hakurei Turnips
  • Peppers: Yummy, Lombok, Starfish, Banana, Jalapeno, Carmen
  • Carrots
  • Squash: Delicata, Red Kabocha, Spaghetti, Robins Koginut
  • Garlic
  • Potatoes: Blue, Sweet
  • Sunchokes

Open Preserves

  • Preserved eggplant
  • Dill pickle juice
  • Lacto-fermented green cherry tomatoes
  • Lacto-fermented blueberry jalapeno hot sauce
  • Lacto-fermented habanda jalapeno hot sauce
  • Pickled red onion
  • Pickled banana peppers with oregano, basil, and black pepper
  • Plain pickled banana peppers
  • Radish kimchi
  • Sunchoke relish
  • Green tomato chutney
  • Sour cherry chutney
  • Freedom berry jam
  • Apple sauce
  • Apple butter
  • Quince jelly
  • Probably still more uninventoried

Things we’ve already eaten

  • Tacos! Braised collard stems with scrambled eggs and tomatilla salsa. Sweet potatoes and black beans with the fermented habanada jalapeno hot sauce. Take-out from the place near the canoe launch.
  • Tomato sauce (butter and garlic and sage and one red pepper) with macaroni noodles
  • Sweet potato and greens (mostly turnip, some spinach) gratin. Roux from here.

Things we may yet eat

  • Soup of the week: Smokey beetroot and pistachio soup from Midnight Chicken.
  • Or mix roasted beets with yogurt. Maybe adding some fresh ginger at the end?
  • Squash pizza. With the pickled peppers? With goat cheese and lemon slices? With blackberries (from the freezer)?
  • Remember a couple of weeks back when I was thinking of apple slaw. The recipe I was remembering then is kohlrabi and apple and ginger and we have all of those right now. Perhaps I will go prepare some for lunch.

Love,

Sarah