cucumbers

Boxing Day, June 17

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Dear John,

The beauty of travel is being inspired by other places and people. A magic of visiting friends and family is getting peeks at how other people live. In that vein, a few ideas of things that I liked on our recent trip:

  1. The front yard turned wildflower meadow. I know, we are working on it despite the lack of full sun. The bee balm is blooming right now! And I’m not going full wildflower because I also want the cut flowers–dahlias and zinnias both.
  2. The scissors and sign inviting people to snip flowers. The focus of this blog is our food, but the flowers are lovely and there’s a reason I include them in the harvesting list. Give us Bread, but give us Roses.
  3. A ceramic soap dish that drains into the sink. Because glazing holes is a trick and a half.
  4. I love the berries at the garden. I fantasize about berries at home. Let’s research raspberries in containers before we dig up some from friends though.
  5. On the one hand we have many other things to do that aren’t getting done. On the other hand, sitting down with a puzzle for an hour was a delight.

Today’s Box

  • Blueberries
  • Sugar Plums
  • Broccoli
  • Romaine Hearts
  • Slicing Cucumbers
  • Snow Peas

Things in the fridge

  • Sunchokes
  • Fennel
  • Green Garlic
  • Lettuce
  • Napa Cabbage
  • Broccoli

In the Garden

  • Who knows? We need to check on it! Probably some radishes and calendula and maybe even cosmos and basil. Raspberries or blueberries if they’re still left on the bushes?

Open Preserves

  • Still to be done.

Pantry Beans

  • Jumbo Peruvian Lima Bean
  • Mayocoba Bean
  • Split Red Lentil
  • Good Mother Stallard
  • Rio Zape
  • And more tucked on other shelves…

Meals to make. Maybe.

  • Debated how to use the peas and decided on a cacio e pepe e peas. Bit of Smitten. Bit of Six Seasons. I know they say it’s not a dish for leftovers. Let’s frittata any that are.
  • I left the lettuce in an empty swap box. Here’s hoping we regret the decision. Salad with fennel and cheese and fruit and nut. Salad with broccoli and blueberries and cucumber and poppy seed dressing. Salad of napa cabbage and dressing. Salad!
  • I’m debating between saucy tofu with noodles or bean salad to use the cucumber. I think I’m leaning tofu. But I bet it’d be good with those lima beans.
  • Do we want to turn on the oven to roast broccoli? Or make pizza with broccoli florets? Or should I go with the current favorite blitz to sauce and put on pasta? I do love the lemon feta velvety pasta and we haven’t had that yet this season.

Love,

Sarah

Boxing Day, July 18

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The board looked a lot skimpier when it was just the peaches and blackberries. Thankfully, the missing vegetable share found its way back to us.

Dear John,

Let’s talk cabbage salad. Because when I said that you should take cabbage salads to work it wasn’t with the intention that you eat the same salad every day. It was the thought that shredding cabbage and a few other veggies is a fairly easy prep you can do at the beginning of the week. Mix up a few dressings, think through a few bonus toppings, and then you can choose your own adventure. For instance:

The Six Seasons Caesar with hazelnuts and croutons.

The Budget Bytes crunch with craisins and peanut dressing (yes, I realize I am mixing and matching two different cabbage salads from her)

The Pulp lentils with peaches and a dried herbs vinaigrette.

Hummus dressing with chickpea croutons

Not yet tried, but eyeing the Mediterranean Dish’s mustard dressing.

Also eyeing Leanne Brown’s Banh Mi Salad. We could prep tofu in advance, I think.

We have tried (and liked!) Smitten Kitchen’s cabbage and lime with peanuts. She also has cabbage and apple and walnuts (maybe more fall than summer) and a date + feta version.

Today’s Box

  • Blackberries
  • Yellow Peaches
  • Bicolor Sweet Corn
  • Green Beans
  • Green Kale
  • Slicing Cucumbers
  • Yellow Straightneck Squash

Things in the fridge

  • Herbs: Hyssop?, basil
  • Celery
  • Peaches
  • Bit of blueberries
  • Red Spring Onions
  • Fennel bulb
  • Greens: Cabbage, Beet
  • Carrots, turnips, beets
  • Green plums

In the Garden

  • The first ground cherries
  • Rainbow chard given away by the bagful
  • Basil leaves getting pinched with flowers
  • Flowering dill if inspired for pickles
  • Rosemary
  • Oregano
  • Calendula and cosmos and gomphrena bouquet
  • Purple plums and green apples and black berries from the shared spaces
  • Green tomatoes from the compost pile

Open Preserves

Garden glimpse

The tomatoes may need to be re-staked. They’re nearly falling over. I’m hesitant to damage roots and yet more wary of toppled over plants. (And very excited for them to come in.)

The volunbeans have shot straight up. One plant has reached all the way to the top of its pole and is coming down the cucumber scaffolding.

The peppers are looking promising. I’m hopeful that the set-up this year gets them better light and better yield.

The dahlia, planted late, is up and pinched. It will probably be a while before it starts to bloom. But it gets better light and is in better soil than the ones at our house, so it might catch up quick.

Eating now (aka clear counter space for Six Seasons)

  • Celery cucumber salad from Six Seasons (alternate adaptation here).
  • We will be eating the corn tomorrow Either as raw corn salad (alternate) or as creamed corn.
  • I really want to try the peach cornbread with coconut shrimp from Pulp.
  • We’ve been having success with the zucchini tuna melts. I think my body wants more meat. Can definitely try it with the squash instead.
  • Green beans with celery. (alternate) Does the herb patch at the garden include tarragon?
  • Probably kale instead of cabbage in a salad from above? Unless we go for the original kale salad.

Love,

Sarah

Boxing Day, July 4

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Dear John,

The fireworks are echoing down the street. I’m wiped from watching parade in the summer heat. You’re in the kitchen making everything neat.

Today’s Box

  • Blueberries
  • Dark Sweet Cherries
  • White Peaches
  • Fennel
  • Red Beets
  • Red Spring Onions
  • Slicing Cucumbers
  • Yellow Patty Pan Squash

Things in the fridge

  • Cherries
  • Watermelon
  • Peaches
  • Fennel bulb
  • Greens: Cabbage, Chard, Collard
  • Carrots
  • Green plums

In the Garden

  • Green beans from neighbors
  • Rainbow chard
  • Turnips + greens
  • Radish + greens
  • Beets + reds, beet + greens
  • Sad looking ending the pea season
  • All the lettuce (17 slugs, 1 earwig)
  • Basil leaves getting pinched with flowers
  • Dill flowers
  • Garlic chives weeding forever
  • Calendula flowers getting dried by the trayful
  • Rosemary
  • Oregano
  • Calendula and cosmos bouquet

Open Preserves

Garden glimpse

We pulled the peas, and planted beans to take over the tent. Two volunbeans, four from the soup pack. Harvested the last of the spring planted radish and turnips. I’m debating if we plant something else short there, or wait for the cucumber and strawberry to spread as they grow.

The beans we planted (two weeks ago?), have all popped up. The chard keeps getting thinned, so even though it’s growing, I feel like we might not be totally overwhelmed. Nevermind how loaded the bike was before we left.

I checked the internet’s horticulture wisdom and realized we needed to prune all of our tomatoes – it’s an indeterminate year.

Meals to make to celebrate summer

  • Internet browsing brought me to a newsletter with a series from Pandemic Part I. There’s this salad that looks great for cleaning out bits and ends. I made it last week and it was a hit. Not sure it’s calling me again so soon, but wanting to save.
  • It’s been so long since we made smashed cucumber salad. I miss it. We are making it this week. (I spied the first baby cucumber fruiting today. Maybe we’ll have some of our own to harvest.)
  • And the patty pan squash means it’s time for my annual making of the roasted squash and herbed chickpeas from chocolate & zucchini.
  • Green beans and tofu?
  • We just tossed fennel pesto that had gone moldy. So we can make some again. But learn from our mistakes and FREEZE it. Also, toss fennel on a salad of lettuces + peaches + toasted pecans.
  • How to use this week’s beet greens? (The beets will keep. Fine dice and roasted. Sliced on pizza. I’m not worried about them.) And what about the supply of chard? Last week brought a quiche with a mix of parm, cheddar, and gouda. Another quiche, but this time with chevre sounds potential. Honestly, it’s been a bit since we had pizza. That sounds kinda good. So does having it with pasta in a tomato sauce.
  • Last thought, if we have extra cucumbers, maybe this salad but with fennel.

Love,

Sarah

PS The wedge salad was as good as I dreamed and makes me want to get iceberg lettuce again. The toppings we used–roasted beets, toasted nuts, green onions, parsley, blue cheese dressing–feel so similar to my autumnal salads. But those are served with kale and that makes all the difference.

Boxes from June into July

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Dear John,

It’s been month with you doing the bulk of kitchen duty and me being too otherwise occupied to menu plan in advance. And, spoilers, I’m guessing that’ll hold for the next month too.

We’ll hang out in the air conditioning–letting you take quick trips to the garden and I’ll do a stroll around the neighborhood in the breaks we manage. Now is the time to let friends come visit us (instead of trying to get to them). To spend time together relaxing (as best we can). And to eat whatever you make (or order)!

Predicted for the Next Box

  • Celery
  • Slicing Cucumbers
  • Sweet Fresh Onions
  • Yellow Patty Pan Squash
  • Red Seedless Watermelon
  • Yellow Peaches

Things I think are in the fridge

  • Blueberries (farmer’s market)
  • Cantaloupe
  • Watermelon
  • Fennel
  • Cranberries
  • Greens: Stirfry mix, Napa Cabbage, Lettuce
  • Black radishes, Purple Daikon radishes
  • Potatoes: Sweet
  • Jerusalem Artichokes

Growing in the Garden

  • Edamame
  • Dahlias
  • Basil
  • Tomatillas (maybe ripening soon?)
  • Tomatoes should start to come in this month
  • Peppers? What are the peppers doing?
  • Garlic? How’s it looking? Will I make it to the garden again anytime soon to see for myself?

Open Preserves

  • Preserved eggplant
  • Lacto-fermented green cherry tomatoes
  • Lacto-fermented blueberry jalapeno hot sauce
  • 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
  • Applesauce
  • Cranberry orange marmalade-ish
  • Probably still more uninventoried

Meals that you can maybe make in the coming days (slash weeks)

  • Salad with blueberries and cucumbers. Lettuce and shredded beets and blue cheese and walnuts. Watermelon, feta, and basil. Cantaloupe, fresh mozz, and basil. The celery salads from Six Seasons.
  • Zucchini tuna melts from Six Seasons. Zucchini butter spaghetti. Zucchini tacos. Squash and beans.
  • Saag Feta. Aloo Saag. Beans and greens.
  • Fennel and Kale Pasta from the greens cookbook I checked out of the library. Turn the leftovers into a frittata/spaghetti pancake by adding egg, cheese, and raisins.
  • Spring rolls to eat salad in another form.
  • Agua fresca with watermelon or cantaloupe
  • Smoothies with all the fruits. (Just don’t dehydrate them and try to rehydrate….)

So much love,

Sarah