Farm share week 9

[magid]

Another very full box this week:

• a pint of cherry tomatoes
  
• an heirboom tomato
  
• two 'modern' tomatoes
  
• a bunch of red radishes with greens
  
• a bunch of cilantro
  
• a bunch of arugula
  
• a bunch of mizuna
  
• one pound of carrots
  
• a cucumber
  
• a small cantaloupe
  
• a head of green leaf lettuce
  
• a bunch of regular (green) Swiss chard
  
• two summer squash, one of them pattypan

(Yes, this all fit into one box.)
The pick-your-own this week is dill, flowers, and some varieties of basil (purple, Thai, cinnamon, and lemon).

I found myself slightly squicked at the supermarket afterward: Stonyfield Farm now lists insulin as an ingredient in all the yogurts I looked at. And that was before seeing all the strangely colored and flavored pistachios (garlic-lemon, etc.).

Comments

Why is there insulin added to yogurt?

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

*bafflement* *twitch* But garlic-lemon pistachios sound good :)

Re: Why is there insulin added to yogurt?

[magid.livejournal.com]

I just checked their web site, and it looks like I misread: they're adding inulin, a "prebiotic", to their yogurt, not insulin. Less squickful, by far. Still a bit odd.

[magid.livejournal.com]

This week I finally did what I should've done in previous weeks: came home and started cooking what I'd picked up in the farm share. Not that everything is now prepared, but there are enough things made that (a) it'll fit in the fridge much more easily, (b) there are things to take for lunch, and (c) there's not so much left that it's overwhelming. Plus I did some pantry cooking, which is always satisfying.

I sauteed the Swiss chard and arugula with half a huge onion. I haven't decided if I'm going to have them as is, or put on pizza, or add feta and egg (and possibly make a spanikopita variation), or put with pasta or some other starch. If I can't decide, they'll freeze just fine.

I sauteed the other half of the huge onion with all of this week's and last week's summer squashes and zuke. I added a couple of smashed cloves of garlic, some freshly-picked oregano, a box of mushrooms, and the rest of a carton of tomato puree. Again, not sure what I'll end up doing with it, whether serving it plain, putting it over pasta, adding olives, poaching eggs in it, or adding cheese. Again, something that I can freeze.

I got out the melon baller (no, I don't have a fruit kink, thanks for asking) and turned one large sphere into lots of littler almost-spheres. I added blueberries, to make fruit salad (well, for some, just combined fruit :-). I haven't decided if I'll add some lime juice, and/or some shredded fresh mint. Pureed, I could call it a fruit soup... or I could make a smoothie.

I already started snacking on the cherry tomatoes. Yum.

Oh, and to use up most of the egregious quantities of bread I made last Friday, two trays of double chocolate bread pudding are in the oven.

[bitty.livejournal.com]

"heirboom" - is that like the war of the roses or something?

Re: Why is there insulin added to yogurt?

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

Whew.

[hauntmeister.livejournal.com]

I'll take the carrots, if you can't find a use for them!
What are "modern" tomatoes? Stainless steel cubes that pack nicely and last forever?

[spwebdesign.livejournal.com]

What exactly is this farm share thing anyway?

CSA

[magid.livejournal.com]

I bought a share (for the third year, I think) in a farm in Waltham, as part of a CSA (which stands for Community Supported Agriculture).

Basically, I pay up front (usually during a time of year that's more snowy than sunny) for a number of weeks of produce, come harvest time (locally, 20 weeks seems standard. I've heard tales of CSAs in CA that are year round...). They get the benefit of the money in advance, guaranteed. I get the benefit of locally grown organic produce, harvested the day I get it (though I don't know in advance exactly what I'll be getting). I pay a bit extra to have pickup be local, rather than at the farm.

In this case, the farm does the CSA to support their main goal, which is getting good produce to places like food pantries and soup kitchens.

[magid.livejournal.com]

The carrots are mine! [gloating piratey laughter]

Right now, I'm thinking of roasting them with potatoes, onions, and garlic, though they might end up in a slaw of some sort instead... A pound of carrots is just not a difficult thing to use up in a week :-). (Sorry)

I think in this case "modern" = non-heirloom. Though they look a little underripe, they are distinctly uncubelike, and I hope they don't last forever!

[magid.livejournal.com]

or some gangster flick.
or something to do with second generation sailors?