Week 15- Two more to go!

Hi everyone,
Hope you all are having a good week so far.
Things are really feeling like fall at the farm. The hills are starting to color up, apples, pears and black walnuts are ready, and the summer birds are leaving as the winter birds start showing up.
This year I've been paying a lot more attention to all the butterflies we have around here. Lucky Moon is a great place to find them because they love all the flowers and the diversity of plant life on the farm. Right now I've been watching all the monarch butterflies getting what nectar they can from the asters and zinnias before heading south on their epic journey. It's incredible that such a delicate insect could fly all the way to Mexico!

In other news, we got all the pumpkins in today. There are plenty of great pie pumpkins to distribute in the CSA and some nice Jack-O-Lantern pumpkins for sale at the farm, if you're interested. If you've never used a cooking pumpkin before, check out my post from last November titled "Late Fall and a Bountiful Harvest." Also, there are some beautiful garlic braids as well as Lucky Moon Maple Syrup for sale. They make great presents (especially for that person who already has everything... I have a few of those in my family) or are nice additions to your own pantry. The syrup comes in pints for $10 or quarts for $16 and the garlic comes in large braids (10 bulbs) for $17 or small braids (7 bulbs) for $10.50. If you're interested, let me know or feel free to stop by the farm.

(Sue's look nicer than this picture, but it was the best I could find online...)

Here's what's in the bags this week:
Spinach
Yellow Onion
Hot Peppers
Green & Yellow Beans
"Keuka Gold" Potatoes
Tomatoes
Acorn Squash

Here's a quick spinach recipe:

Sauteed Spinach w/ Roasted Garlic, Sun-dried Tomatoes and Feta
Spinach (~10 oz)
3 T. olive oil
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1/2 cup onions, chopped
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes
1/4 cup sherry (I read that apple juice can be used as a substitute)
1/4 cup lemon juice
5 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup feta
salt & pepper to taste
1) Over medium heat, saute garlic and onions in olive oil until golden brown, about 2 minutes.
2) Add sun dried tomatoes, then add sherry and lemon juice and reduce by a third (about 3 minutes)
3) Add butter, and toss until it melts, then add the spinach. Cover and stir occasionally until slightly wilted and warm (about 3 minutes). Add feta and cook until slightly melted. Add salt and pepper to taste.

And in case you still have that red cabbage from last week, here's a recipe from someone in the CSA that comes highly recommended!

Autumn Salad (serves 4)

4 tsp. olive oil

1 Tbsp. white wine vinegar

2 tsp. honey

1/4 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

3 medium sweet-tart apples (Braeburn, Empire), quartered and thinly sliced crosswise

1 1/2 c. thinly sliced red cabbage

1/3 c. crumbled mild blue cheese

1/4 c. thinly sliced red onion

1/4 c. coarsely chopped toasted walnuts

Whisk oil, vinegar, honey, salt and pepper in large bowl. add remaining ingredients, tossing to combine.

(from Prevention, October 2010)