Week 9, August 2011

Hello again,
Hope you all are enjoying your summers! I sure am- along with all the special things that come with the season: tomatoes and peaches and melons and blueberries and sun and birds and flowers.... I could go on for a while. :>) But it's a great time of the year.

Your bags this week include:
Tomatoes
Cherry Tomatoes
Sweet Peppers- various colors and shapes
Broccoli or cauliflower (if you haven't gotten it yet, you will!)
Summer Squash- the bushes are starting to wind down their production... so enjoy it while it lasts-
Cucumbers
Salad Mix
Italian red onions (called "Rossa di Milano"- maybe Rose of Milan? they are a very pretty pinkish-red color)
Carrots
Fennel

If you missed last week's post, you might want to check it out because I added some interesting recipes that someone gave to Sue at the end of the week.

Here's one that uses up some of the cucumbers, and it's supposed to be really good!
Pineapple Cucumber Gazpacho serves 4-6
"Sweet-tart pineapple adds a nice balance to a classic gazpacho. A garnish of macadamia nuts lends body and richness to the fresh, cooling soup"

3 cups chopped pineapple
3 cups chopped, seeded and peeled cucumbers
1 1/2 cups pineapple juice
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp lime juice
1 jalapeno, halved and seeded
salt to taste
1/2 cup thinly sliced onions (white parts only)
2 Tbsp finely chopped macadamia nuts (optional garnish)
2 Tbsp finely chopped cilantro (optional garnish)

1) Put pineapple. cucumber, pineapple juice, oil, lime juice, jalapeno and salt into a blender and puree until smooth. Add green onions, and puree until just combined.
2) Transfer soup to a bowl, cover and chill for at least 2 hours.
3) Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with macadamia nuts and cilantro



I've been canning and freezing and drying like crazy the past few weeks. I'm excited about it because I'm still learning how to do a lot of these things, and it's fun to experiment and see what works. So far I've made raspberry jam, peach preserves, bread & butter and dill pickles, canned a bunch of tomatoes, dried zucchini, frozen a bunch of summer squash in slices and shredded, frozen shell and snow peas, frozen blueberries, raspberries, black raspberries and strawberries, frozen corn, peppers and beans.

It's really fun to put food away for the winter. It's such a nice feeling to pull out some fruit or canned tomatoes in February when you feel like spring will never come. It's also nice to have some food security. I don't think we hardly ever buy anything from the produce section except some fruit once in a while. So just remember that if you're feeling overwhelmed with produce right now, try freezing a bit of it and putting it away for the time when the closest tomato is coming to you from the southern hemisphere :>)

Enjoy your week,
Sarah