On Wednesdays we pick up the CSA share for the week. On Wednesdays I become infected with a strange desire to cook like a crazy person. It was only a couple of weeks ago that the 11 cubic foot freezer arrived and I’ve almost filled it. That is just nuts. Here’s what we got this week:



Leeks-1 bunch
Black Bell Eggplant -2
Lipstick Peppers-4
Lilac Peppers-2
Green Bell Peppers-2
Siberian Kale-1 bunch
Turnips w/ Greens-1 bunch
Summer Squash-6
Rosemary-1 bunch
Potatoes-1 quart or 2 pounds
Tomatoes-2

The fruit smelled so good, I was nibbling on the grapes before I even left the distribution area



Macintosh apples
Nectarines
Concord grapes

Last night I made pear butter with some pears I had from last week’s share, carmelized leek soup, potato leek soup and sauteed chard. It doesn’t sound like a lot but it was a good 4 hours worth of work.

I can’t sleep so I thought I’d put up the pictures now. Here’s what we got this week, veggie-wise:

Buttercrunch Lettuce -1 head

Slicing Tomatoes-2.5 pounds

Purple Peppers -4

Scallions-1 bunch

Beets-1 bunch

Kohlrabi-1 bunch

Black Bell Eggplant-1

Swiss Chard-1 bunch

Summer Squash-2

Lime Basil-1 bunch-small leaves with a distinctive lime flavor

…and fruit…


Macintosh Apples, Nectarines, Gala Apples, Bartlett Pears and Raspberries.

With a couple of days off from cooking, I was in the mood again tonight. I made roasted beets with two weeks worth of beets, roasted new potatoes with a few mini onions and rosemary, boiled beets with one week’s share of beets and a spicy sesame noodle salad with scallions from the share and a spicy fresh chili from last week or the week before. The noodle salad was very good and I’d definitely make it again, perhaps I’d even add more fresh chili. The fridge is full and I’m going to have to figure out what I can put in the fridge. I still haven’t done anything with the apples and peaches from last weekend, so it will be a busy Sunday cooking or freezing all of that. I will try to make myself tired thinking of that.

Saturday morning we drove 2 hours north (up 87) to Stoneledge Farm for their 10th anniversary members potluck. I made a big container of hummus and brought along a bunch of pita. There was a good selection of items for the potluck luncheon and I liked everything that I tried. There was a pig roast as well, which I didn’t partake in, though I did take a lot of pictures of it. Quite a novelty. I have all the pictures from the farm up in the photogallery.
We took a hay-less hayride around the fields and then we took a walking tour through the field with Deb, the woman who runs the farm. It was pretty awesome. After the tour, she casually mentions that we should feel free to pick anything we like. Holy moly. We ended up with 8 pounds of tomatoes (not pretty, but perfect for sauce), 9 pounds of eggplant (firm and perfect), 4 pounds of mixed peppers and 5 leeks. Saturday night I was up until 1:30 making roasted peppers, tomato sauce, indian-spiced eggplant and roasted ratatouille. Delicious! Jeremie took a bunch of pictures while I was cooking.

Sunday we drove almost 2 hours in the other direction to Glastonbury, CT to go kayaking with friends. It was a beautiful day, a bit on the chilly and windy side, but sunny and gorgeous overall. Kayaking was a blast and I’d love to go up there again. After kayaking we visited a Priam Vineyards, a local winery, and had a nice time tasting their wines. Then we popped back into the car and headed to a farm near our friends’ house, hoping to u-pick some peaches before dinner. Unfortunatly, the u-pick part of the farm closed before we got there but the store was open and we ended up getting a medium-sized basket of white peaches (around 6 lbs) and a jumbo basket of Macintosh apples (20ish lbs). Pies and applesauce, applesauce, applesauce. Because I don’t have enough to do!

Romaine -1 head
Red Sail Lettuce-1 head
Slicing Tomatoes-1 quart basket or 3 pounds
Biscayne Peppers-4
Lipstick Peppers-2
Chili Peppers -4 mildly hot
Jalapenos
Scallions-1 bunch
Louisiana Long Green Eggplant-2
Orient Express Eggplant-2
Genovese Basil-1 bunch
Beets-1 bunch
Potatoes-1 quart or 2 pounds
Tomatillos-1 pint or 3/4 pound
Cilantro-1 bunch

Wednesday night I roasted up the chili peppers and the tomatoes. I was planning on making roasted tomato soup but the tomatoes were so good on their own that we’ve just been eating them as a meal/snack/condiment. I think I’ll make some tomatillo salsa this weekend if I can find the time. Maybe tonight.

The raspberries were out of this world.

Tomorrow we’re heading up to the source of all this organic goodness, Stoneledge Farm in South Cairo, NY. It’s up just north of the Catskills, if I recall the map correctly. They’re having a 10th Year Celebration Farm Visit with draft horses and wagon rides around the field, a Pig Roast (eek), walks around the field and a big pot luck luncheon. I haven’t decided what to make. I want it to be something that will feed a fair number of people yet be ok in the car for two and a half hours.

We bought a freezer for the basement so that I can preserve some of this goodness for the winter and so that we can deal with the veggie load a little better. So far we’ve got some soup in there, some chopped eggplant and some butter (good brand on sale last week). Yesterday I went to the Westport Farmer’s Market during my lunch break and bought 7.75 lbs of eggplant, which I charred and cleaned last night. Tonight I’ll do all the chopping and I’ll package it for the freezer. Super yum.

I thought I was going to use last weekend to catch up on things but no such luck! Tropical Storm Ernesto rolled through here on Saturday and knocked our power out for about 36 hours. We kept the fridge and freezer closed and luckily everything stayed frozen.

So here’s what we got in last week’s vegetable share:

Cabbage-1 head
Beets-1 bunch
Summer Onions-1 bunch
Red Sails Leaf Lettuce-1 head
Romaine-1 head
Edamame-1 bunch
Tomatoes-3 pounds or 1 full quart
Sun Gold Cherry Tomatoes-1 basket
Lipstick Red/Green Pepper-shaped like a Pablano but sweet, an heirloom-4
Green Bell Pepper-4
Black Bell Eggplant-1
Potatoes-2 pounds or 1 quart basket
Basil-1 bunch

And the fruit:

Here’s what I made:
tomato sauce with these tomatoes, plus some from my garden
vegetable soup
pepper-corn casserole
eggplant and tomato sauce with turkey meatballs
pear cake