2014 CSA Week #1

Hi everyone-
Welcome to the 2014 season at Lucky Moon Farm! We're so glad you've decided to join us for another adventure in farming and food. All of you returning members, welcome back! And to anyone who's new, thanks for giving it a try. Local, sustainable farms are only possible with the support of local consumers, and we really appreciate that you've chosen to invest in our farm and in the area's local food network. And we promise you beautiful, healthy, naturally-grown vegetables in exchange for your patronage. So let us begin!

First of all, my name is Sarah VanNorstrand, and I work at Lucky Moon Farm for Sue & Claude Braun, who own and run the farm and CSA. I help out with whatever they're doing (planting, harvesting, weeding, etc) as well as try and keep up a basic blog to let you know what's in your bags and some ideas about how to use them.

This week, you have a nice assortment of spring produce:
Salad Mix
Spinach
Shallots (part of the onion family- they cook up amazingly in butter or olive oil)
Rhubarb
Purple Viking Potatoes (purple skin, white flesh)
Arugula (spicy greens, often used in Italian cooking, or just look up some of the many recipes on line- it's very popular right now as a salad with roasted beets and goat cheese, just to give you an idea- it also makes a great zippy pesto)

I love rhubarb. It's perennial (meaning it comes back every year- plant it once and feed it, and it will live a long, long time), it's one of the earliest things ready to eat in the spring, and it makes a lot of food. Not to mention, I love how it tastes, especially when combined with strawberries. They balance each other out- tart and sweet and perfect!
Of course, there's the classic Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie, which in my opinion, can't really be beat. But you can use it in quick breads, in a crisp, in jam, cakes, muffins or as a sauce to put on ice cream, pancakes or French toast. And it's really pretty- the bright, cheery greens, pinks and reds are a nice splash of color early in the spring.

So part of joining a CSA is experiencing new foods. There will probably be something you'll get in a bag along the way that you have never eaten or don't know what to do with it. That's ok! I'll try to post some recipes with my list of vegetables for the week, but also feel free to dive into some cook books (my favorites being Joy of Cooking or any of the Moosewood cookbooks) or explore some of the many recipe websites with literally thousand and thousands of recipes to try. I often use Allrecipes.com when I really have no clue. Also, please feel free to send me any of your tried and true recipes. I'll be happy to post them here for other people to try- the best way is to email them to me at sarahcvannorstrand at gmail dot com
Here's a recipe for Rhubarb Muffins from Joanna Frittelli:
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup oil
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 cups diced rhubarb
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
Topping:
1 teaspoon melted margarine or butter
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinammon

Preheat oven to 400. Grease muffin tins. Combine sugar, oil, egg, vanilla and buttermilk; beat well. Stir in rhubarb. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda and powder, and salt. Mix dry ingredients in rhubarb mixture just until blended. In a separate bowl, mix topping ingredients. Spoon batter into tins, sprinkle with topping and press lightly into the batter. Bake 20-25 minutes until muffins are golden brown and a tester inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Makes 20 muffins.

Enjoy!