cabbage and potato soup

This is the cabbage and potato soup that John made from last week's bounty.  I'm bringing back my blender and juicer so that we can make pureed soups!  Can't wait.

csa box #9

2.5# potato medley, Golden Harvest Farm, CF
~ 3# Braeburn apples, Dawson’s Orchards
~ Swiss chard, Nu Way Farm, CF
~ red savoy cabbage head, Weeping Willow Farm, CF
~ curly parsley, Crighton’s Farm
~ 1# red onions, Crighton’s Farm
~ winter squash, Weeping Willow Farm, CF or Matthew’s Farm
~ French breakfast radishes, Nu Way Farm, CF
~ butterhead or oakleaf lettuce, Clarion River Organics, OG

Wish I were there!  (But I've discovered the "Nectar of the Goddess" smoothie at Whole Foods).

csa box #8

• 1# broccoli, Weeping Willow Farm, CF
• 1# roma beans, Sunny Meadow Farm, CF
• 3# cortland apples, Kistaco Farm
• 1/2# Gouda Gold, Hidden Hills Dairy
• 1/3# vates kale, Nu Way Farm, CF
• 1 bunch leeks, Blue Goose Farm, CNG
• 1.5# blue potatoes, Clarion River Organics, OG
• 1/2# sweet green carmen peppers, Weeping Willow Farm, CF

CSA Box #7

• a garlic bulb from Clubhouse Gardens;

• prune plums from Dawson's Orchards;

• apple cider from Kistaco Farm;

• sweet candy onions from Crighton's Farm;

• flat parsley from Goose Creek Gardens;

• eggplant, mustard greens and green bell peppers from Nu Way Farm;

• butternut squash from Clarion River Organics; and

• new red potatoes from Weeping Willow Farm.

CSA Box #6

Nu Way Farm's greenhouses are overflowing!  They will send some lovely spinach, Vates kale and a large bunch of French Breakfast radishes;
you will get green tomatoes from Matthew's Farm;
butternut squash from Clarion River Organics;
Jonathan apples from Dawson's Orchards Farm;
russet potatoes from Weeping Willow Farm; and 
sweet peppers Crighton's Farm.

 (Everything there  but the butternut squash, which is coming next week.  Apples are wonderful.)

CSA Box #5

~1.5# fingerling potato medley, Clarion River Organics, OG
~ Cherry Belle radish bunch, Nu Way Farm, CF
~ 1/4# arugula, Nu Way Farm, CF
~ 1# mixed hot peppers, Matthew’s Farm
~ 3# D’Anjou pears, Dawson’s Orchards
~ 1# tomatillos, Becarri’s Farm
~ 1.5# red onions, Hostetler’s Farm, CF
~ 1/2# sweet, red Carmen peppers, Weeping Willow Farm, CF

Made the best salad tonight, with the greens, pepper, radish and pear.  It doesn't get any better than this.  I don't think we've had radishes since we grew them in our back yard in Florida several years ago.  I'm going to try adding some radish greens to the salad.

Not sure what to do with the tomatillos (pronounced toe-MAH-tee-yos).  They're not real tomatoes, but a member of the Nightshade family - something of Mexican and ancient Aztec origin, dating back to 800 BC.  Seems that they're used in green salsas.  I found an interesting recipe for enchiladas on the Penn's Corner Farm Alliance site, which I might try.

CSA Box #4

• fresh chevre from River View Dairy
• arugula from Nu Way Farm;
• Honeycrisp apples from Kistaco Farm;
• Roma tomatoes and sweet corn from Weeping Willow Farm; 
• fresh chives from Goose Creek Gardens;
• sweet onions from the Hostetler's Farm;
• a beet bunch from the Hostetlers OR mixed salad tomatoes from Golden Harvest Farm; and 
• eggplant and sweet banana peppers from Matthew's Farm.

John loves the Goat's Milk Chevre.  I'm going to make a baked eggplant parmesan with the eggplant but I still haven't figured out what to do with the sweet banana peppers.

CSA Box #3

At first we didn't know what this was.  John guessed a pomegranate.  Turns out it's a Japanese red kuri squash.  I'm going to have to do some research to figure out how to cook it.

~ 1.5# heirloom tomatoes, Nu Way Farm, CF or Weeping Willow Farm, CF
~ 1.5# white potatoes, Weeping Willow Farm, CF
~ 3# Jonamac apples, Dawson’s Orchards
~ rosemary, Goose Creek Gardens, CNG
~ 1# Asian eggplant, Sunny Meadow Farm, CF or Blue Goose Farm, CNG
~ sweet pepper medley, Blue Goose Farm, CNG or Crighton’s Farm
~ green kale, Clarion River Organics, OG
~ red kuri squash, Clarion River Organics, OG

CSA Box #2

We got our 2nd CSA Box today.  This week's bounty:

• a pint of edamame (soy beans), heirloom tomatoes and Roma tomatoes from Nu Way Farm;
• Weeping Willow Farm will send ears sweet corn and red Carmen peppers;
• the first pears of the season from Dawson's Orchards;
• flat parsley from Goose Creek Gardens;
• green beans from the Hostetler's Farm; and
• cipollini onions from the Crighton's Farm 

The heirloom tomatoes are quite special.  I saw a restaurant in NYC that was serving a plate of sliced heirloom tomatoes for $18!  Nothing else on the plate.  The yellow ones are so mellow they almost taste like melon, but you know they are tomatoes.

 (For some reason, John had to get that Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald beer in the picture).

Meanwhile, over at Knob Hill, there are signs of autumn down at the ground cover level.

We'll be off to Staten Island tomorrow for the marriage of our son this weekend, so probably no updates here until next week.  We're taking the pears from the CSA box with us!

CSA Box #1

Today we got our first CSA box.  What does CSA mean?  Community Supported Agriculture.  We've bought a 12-week share in the Penn's Corner Farm Alliance, which means that each week we'll get a box of whatever is being harvested in the local farmers' fields.  This week we got:

• Ivory Lace Cheese (harvarti style), Hidden Hills Dairy
• 2 bulbs garlic, Clubhouse Gardens, CF
• 2# heirloom tomatoes, Nu Way Farm, CF
• 1.5# prune plums, Dawson’s Orchards
• 1# green tomatoes, Crighton’s Farm
• leek bunch, Blue Goose Farm, CNG
• 2# peaches, Dawson’s Orchard (for real this time!)
• 2# russet potatoes, Weeping Willow Farm, CF
• 1.5# eggplant, Matthew’s Farm or Sunny Meadow Farm, CF

Tonight we had a stir fry of the green tomatoes, leeks, garlic added to some red pepper and beet greens that I already had in the refrigerator.  Yum.