2014 CSA Week 3

Hi everyone,
Apologies for no blog entry for last week...  I was gearing up for a big event I organize and some things fell through the cracks. 

Anyways, this week I do have time for a quick update. 

So the weather has been a bit challenging- first a long spell of too-dry weather that kept things from getting going like they should, and now we've had some rain, which is great, but the storms were strong enough to create some erosion issues. Nothing major, but it did have an effect on the veggies this week. 

In your bags:
Salad Mix
Spinach
Rhubarb
Mixed Basil

Please note that this is an unusually sparse week and is 
not the norm. 

We do have some carrots that are getting close, and the tomatoes are setting fruit in the greenhouse, and the potatoes are all up in their field. A lot of great produce is on its way!!
Farming is all about delayed satisfaction; you plan, you plant, you weed, you hope, you cultivate, you nurture and finally after a certain amount of time, you get to harvest and enjoy. But there's a lot that goes into that final product. Anyways, thanks for hanging in there with us! Farming is an adventure, and we appreciate our members sharing the ups and downs with us.

It's salad season, and I always look forward to those first salads after a winter of dried, canned or frozen produce (we put up a lot of our own food and don't often buy much in the produce section of the grocery store). After a bland, cold, grey winter, a fresh, colorful bowl of salad greens is just the ticket. I often forget to buy things like salad dressing, so I make my own. It's very simple, and I learned it while staying with some farming folks in Southern Germany.

Maple Vinaigrette
Olive Oil
Apple Cider Vinegar
Maple Syrup

I start with a dollop of olive oil, add about an equal dollop of vinegar and then a smaller dollop of maple syrup. I usually mix these up in a jam jar and then taste them to see what needs a bit more added. If it tastes too oily, I add more vinegar, and then usually a tad more maple syrup to sweeten it up. You can also use honey or sugar, but I like the maple flavor.

Here are a few more recipes:
Ethel's Rhubarb Pie
"Here is my grandmother's Rhubarb Pie; very sweet, and very good, especially after it has been refrigerated." 

3 cups Rhubarb, cut into 1/2" pieces before measuring
2 eggs
1 3/4 cups sugar
4 T flour
large pinch of salt
Mix sugar, flour, egg and salt. Add to rhubarb and bake between crusts.(I have made the pie with just a bottom crust successfully). Bake at 450 F for 10 minutes to brown the top crust, then turn oven down to 350 F for 30 minutes. 

Rhubarb Bread

1 cup milk
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2/3 cup vegetable oil (or applesauce)
1 egg
2 1/2 cups flour 
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 to 2 cups chopped rhubarb
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnmon
1 Tbsp butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease two 9x5 inch loaf pans. In a small bowl, stir together milk, lemon juice, and vanilla; let stand for 10 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups brown sugar, oil and egg. Combine the flour, salt and baking soda and stir into sugar mixture alternately with the milk mixture until just combined. Fold in the rhubarb and nuts. Pour batter into prepared loaf pans.
3. In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup brown sugar, cinnamon and butter. Sprinkle this mixture over the unbaked loaves. 
4. Bake for 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. 

Spinach Salad w/ Strawberries & Pecans

-actually, this is more like a salad template. Spinach and strawberries go especially well together, especially with a poppy seed dressing, but adding different fruits, fresh or dried, nuts, cheese, meat or herbs are a great way to turn your side salad into a satisfying meal all on its own. I often use golden raisins, chopped up dried apricots, an apple, a pear, any kind of nut I have on hand, bits of cheese, a radish or a carrot- if it sounds good to you, give it a try!


Spinach Salad w/ Strawberries and Pecans
8-oz Spinach
1 c. strawberry halves
1 c. pecan halves (or walnuts, or almonds)

Dressing:
1/2 c. cider vinegar
1/3 c. oil
1/4 c. sugar
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 small onion
2 tsp poppy seeds

In a large bowl, combine spinach, strawberries and pecans.
Dressing: mix cider vinegar, oil, sugar, dijon mustard, salt pepper and onion in a food processor until smooth. Add poppy seeds and mix. 

Spinach Quesadillas (From the Moosewood Restaurant Cooking for Health cookbook)
- yields 4 quesadillas
1 Tablespoon olive oil
2 cups finely chopped onions
1 fresh chile, minced (or a sweet pepper, if you prefer)
~5 cups chopped fresh spinach (coarsly chopped with large stems removed)
pinch of dried oregano
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
4 whole wheat tortillas, or your favorite kind
1 cup grated cheese (such as Montery Jack)

1) In a large saucepan on medium-high heat, warm the oil and cook the onion and chilis for about 4-5 minutes, or until softened. Add the spinach, oregano, salt and pepper. Stir until the spinach had wilted, a minute or two. Remove from the heat and drain.
2) Place one of the tortillas in a dry skillet on medium heat. Sprinkle on 1/4 cup of the cheese. After about a minute, when the cheese has begun to melt, spread 1/4 of the drained spinach mixture over 1/2 the tortilla. Fold the tortilla over the spinach and cheese to make a 1/2 circle and cook for a minute. Turn the quesadilla over and cook until the cheese is thoroughly melted.
3) Remove tortilla, slice into wedges, and dip in your favorite salsa. Repeat with remaining tortillas.

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!

Final Week CSA 2013!!

Hi everyone,

I can't believe it's the last week of vegetables! Despite a tough first month, we ended up having a pretty good season overall, and it has to be a record for us to be giving out tomatoes on Halloween! 

I hope you enjoyed your experience as a member of our CSA- we really appreciate you joining with us for another adventurous year of growing vegetables organically. You are the people who make farming on a small, sustainable scale possible and we want to say Thank You!

We'll be sending out an email in a month or so about sign up for next season- if you enjoyed your membership, please tell your friends and neighbors. Most of our marketing is by word-of-mouth, so feel free to let people know about the farm. 

So here's the final list:

Yellow and Red-skinned Potatoes

Savoy Cabbage (use like regular, but here's a little page about cooking with Savoy)

Assorted Onions

Carrots

Sweet Peppers

Tomatoes

Butternut Squash (tan skin)

Buttercup Squash (green, warty skin)

We wish you all the very best and hope you and your families have a wonderful, happy, healthy winter.   Eat good food and take care!

~Sarah for Lucky Moon Farm

Here's a recipe from the Moosewood for using some cabbage:

Caribbean Vegetable Stew- serves 4, takes 35 minutes to prepare

2 cups chopped onions

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

3 cups chopped cabbage

1 fresh chile, minced, or 1/4 tsp cayenne powder

1 Tbsp grated ginger root

2 cups water (or replace 1/2 cup of the water with a 1/2 cup of coconut milk for a richer flavor)

3 cups diced sweet potatoes, cut into 1/2-1/4 inch cubes

salt to taste

2 cups chopped tomatoes (undrained)

2 cups sliced okra (or sweet peppers)

3 Tbsp lime juice

2 Tbsp chopped cilantro

In a soup pot, saute the onions in the oil on medium heat for 4 or 5 minutes. Add the cabbage and the chile or cayenne and continue to sauté, stirring often, until the onions are translucent, about 8 minutes. 

Add the ginger and water, cover the pot and bring to a boil. Stir in the sweet potatoes, sprinkle with salt, and simmer for 5 or 6 minutes, until the potatoes are barely tender. Add the tomatoes, okra and lime juice. Simmer until all the vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in the chopped cilantro and add salt to taste. 

If you like, sprinkle with chopped peanuts and serve over rice or with some crusty bread. 

And another version from somewhere else warm:

Tunisian Vegetable Stew- serves 4, takes 30 minutes

1 1/2 cups thinly sliced onions

2 Tbsp olive oil

3 cups thinly sliced cabbage

dash of salt

1 large green bell pepper, cut into thin strips

2 tsp coriander

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/4 tsp cinnamon

sprinkle of cayenne to taste

3 cups undrained chopped tomatoes (canned or fresh) (28 oz can)

1 1/2 cups drained cooked chickpeas (16 oz can)

1/3 cup raisins or currants (optional)

1 Tbsp lemon juice

salt to taste

In a large skillet, saute the onions in the oil for 5 minutes, or until softened. Add the cabbage, sprinkle with salt and continue to saute for at least 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the bell pepper, coriander, turmeric, cinnamon and cayenne to the skillet and saute for another minute or so. Stir in the tomatoes, chickpeas and optional currants or raisins and simmer, covered, for about 15 minutes until the vegetables are just tender. Add the lemon juice and salt to taste.

 Top with feta and sliced almonds, if you like. 

Serve over couscous or any grain of your choice. 

Week 21- 1 more to go!

 

Hi everyone,
So we're down to the penultimate week of veggies! Hard to believe- but the freezing wind and rain and hail have made it a little easier to accept. :>) But despite the cold weather, we have some nice veggies for you this week.

Here's what's in your bags:
Leeks
Acorn Squash and/or Delicata Squash
Kale
Tomatoes
Kennebec White Potatoes
Green Peppers
Eggplant

Lots of great things to cook with these- here are a few ideas for the potatoes and leeks-
A classic Potato Leek Soup recipe:
http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/potato_leek_soup/

Or baked in a Potatoe Leel Gratin:
http://localfoods.about.com/od/winter/r/potleekgrati.htm

And a flexible recipe that can use the leeks, peppers, eggplant, tomatoes and potatoes:
A Turkish vegetable casserole called Turlu Turlu. Sue made it and it was a big success. The flavors only got better with time!
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/turlu-turlu

Week 20- 2 more to go!

Hi everyone,
The season is really starting to wind down now. But the late fall veggies are some of my very favorites. I love potatoes, winter squash, carrots for roasting, leeks, cabbage, cauliflower... the list goes on. As I get all my onions cleaned and my garlic braided and my winter squash washed and stored, I feel secure and ready for another winter. I assume this satisfaction at stashing a bunch of food for the cold months is a feeling left over from a time when the grocery store wasn't just a short drive or walk away. But it is nice to know there's plenty of food in the house ready to be used for many meals with family and friends. It makes winter something to look forward to, really, instead of dreading it.

But enough philosophizing. In your bags this week you have:
Yellow potatoes
White onion
Garlic
Cooking (Pie) pumpkin
Kohlrabi or Cauliflower or Broccoli
Rainbow carrots (yellow, white, pink, orange and reddish- they're all carrots and all very tasty!)
Red or green cabbage
Tomatoes

If you're not sure about kohlrabi or what to do with it, check out this article. It has a bunch of recipes and cooking instructions- note the kohlrabi and celery root puree, if you still have your celeriac (aka celery root) from last week. 

 

And don't be shy about cooking that pumpkin!

Treat it just the same as any other winter squash- cut off the top, cut it in half (the skin isn't very tough so it cuts pretty easily) and scoop out the seeds. Feel free to save these for roasting, if you like. The I put the two halves cut-side down on a cookie sheet or broiler pan. Bake in the over for an hour or so at 350. Cook longer if you need to, it varies quite a bit. But the end goal is for the pumpkin to be quite soft when poked with a fork.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Then just scrape the soft flesh off the rind, whip with a fork in a bowl, and it's pumpkin puree, ready to cook with or freeze once it's cooled off. It freezes really well, so I usually cook my pumpkins right away and freeze it to use in pies, pumpkin bread, pumpkin soup, pumpkin cookies or pumpkin pancakes (my favorite!). You probably don't want to let it sit around until Thanksgiving. It might last, but pumpkins aren't usually the best keepers, so better use it before you lose it!

Happy Cooking, everyone!

Best,
Sarah
for Lucky Moon Farm

Lucky Moon CSA Week 18

Hey everyone-
Sorry for the lapse in posts. What with all the work it takes to grow your veggies, there hasn't been much time for anything else.

But in your bags this week:

Shallots (like onions, but fancier :>)
Beets
Delicata Winter Squash (cooks fast, and you can eat the skin- yum!)
Sweet Peppers
Tomatoes
Cherry Tomatoes
Yellow Satina Potatoes
Beans or Cauliflower
Salad Mix
Eggplant

The Satina potatoes are just about my favorite- smooth, creamy, great for baking or mashing- they're great.

 And the Delicata squash are really nice. They have great flavor- you can cut it in half, scoop out the seeds, and bake it in the oven at 350 for 20-30 mins until soft. Then a little butter and salt, and you've got a very tasty treat. 

I tried this new recipe the other day out of my Joy of Cooking book:
Cauliflower and Potato Curry- wow!

1) Cut a cauliflower head into florets and boil for 5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Peel and cut into 1/2 cubes two medium potatoes. Boil for 5 minutes in the cauliflower water, then drain and rinse under cold water to stop them from cooking. Set aside with the cauliflower.
2) Chop a medium onion and add to 1/4 cup of oil heating in a dutch oven or deep skillet with a lid. Saute the onions for a few minutes. Meanwhile, in a food processor, mince 1 peeled, cored, sliced apple, 3 cloves of garlic, 2 hot peppers and 1 Tbsp shredded ginger (or add powered ginger later). Add the minced mixture to the onions and cook until the onions are getting soft.
3) Add 3 Tbsp of curry powder, 1 tsp salt (ginger if you need to) and 1 Tbsp flour and continue sauté-ing for 3 minutes, stirring, to brown the curry and flour slightly.
4) Add 1 15 oz can of coconut milk and 1/2 cup of broth or water. Stir, then add the potatoes and cauliflower back to the dutch oven. Add 1 can of chickpeas. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer with the lid on for 15 minutes. Add more broth if it seems too dry. Add peas or spinach at the end if you'd like something green.
5) Serve over rice, sprinkled with golden raisins and chopped cashews. (optional)