CSA - Weeks 3 and 4

Last week was a blur. I could bore you with the details or I could just summarize by saying I cooked for 200 veterans on Monday, was in charge of a full day nutrition symposium on Tuesday, had a "normal" day of work on Wednesday, and was in Nashville for Training on Thursday and Friday! I got back home on Friday afternoon, just in time for Mr. Maestro's parents to arrive for a quick visit! In all of the hustle and bustle, Mr. Maestro forgot to pick up the CSA, but thankfully we have understanding farmers, and he was able to get it after work on Friday. Here is a peek at what we got:

Delicious fresh strawberries, a GIANT head of broccoli, Rainbow Swiss Chard, some more spring onions, and a bear full of local honey!

We sliced the strawberries and served them for breakfast on Saturday with my Mother-In-Law's famous Baked Oatmeal {Although I substituted nearly all the ingredients for something else - so it wasn't much like the original. I'll check my pantry before starting to make it next time!}. Yum-O!

The onions are still in the frige, and the broccoli became Parmesean Roasted Broccoli {recipe to follow}.

The honey will be used off and on for all sorts of things. Did you know that honey has natral anti-bacterial properties? It's even been shown to help heal wounds! Crazy what a little bee spit can do, right?

I do have a confession - this weeks marks my first failure in the committment to eat 100% of my CSA. The beautiful rainbow swiss chard got lost in my veggie drawer and when I re-discovered it...well, let's just say it was too late. RIP swiss chard...RIP.

This week we got this in our CSA sack:

Hello, Summer time! Fresh yellow squash and zucchini, basil, sweet peas, new potatoes, a loaf of whole wheat bread, and PEACHES! I can't WAIT to gobble those peaches up! The peas are really great raw - I just washed them and pulled the tips and strings off so they are ready for snacking! The potatoes, I will store in a cool dark place for a rainy day.

I took some of both week's sacks and made this for dinner last night:

Parmesan Roasted Broccoli {with fresh basil, garlic and pine nuts} - Ina Garten's Parmesean Roasted Broccoli

Grilled summer squash and zucchini - drizzled with a little OO and seasoned with freshly ground pepper, a touch of seasoned salt, and garlic powder - then grilled to perfection courtesy of Mr. Maestro {Check out those perfect grill marks! }

A slice of freshly baked whole wheat bread, and a dainty little 3 oz filet mignon from a local meat shop.

Who is jealous of my meal?

At this point I would like to insert a picture of myself and Mr. Maestro with both sets of our parents {because they both graciously came to see Mr. Maestro conduct the youth symphony at their concert on Sunday}, but alas...I forgot to take one!


P.S. - Remember how I said I was going to china this summer? Well...I leave in TWO DAYS! More to come!

CSA - Week 2

As some of you may know, Blogger was down for a few days last week. That, my friends, is my excuse for the frightfully long delay in my posting. Yep. And I'm sticking to it!

So, as my previous post mentioned, our CSA has just recently kicked back into gear. Mr. Maestro and I have renewed our dedication to consuming 100% of our share each week - and so far {after one week} we're doing a great job! Wanna know what I ended up making last week?

Ok, you twisted my arm...

As excited as I was about the Sorrel Pesto, I had a last minute change in my game plan and decided to make this instead:

Sorrel Soup! Want the recipe? Click here
The soup was delicious, although Mr. Maestro and I decided that it would be great as an appetizer - perhaps served as a "shooter" in a shot glass. The taste was lemony and bright...or as I described it: "Green." Definitely worth a try, however, perhaps not the best consumed in large quantities.  I used some of our spring onions in place of the shallots.

We served it with some delicious savory roasted sweet potatoes and spring onions {tossed in olive oil and seasoned with a little salt, pepper, and some garlic powder prior to roasting} and a delicious chicken quarter. Hello, Chicken Quarter! Where have you been all of my {married/cooking} life! You are so CHEAP, and oh so tasty! I rubbed these bad boys down with a bit more oo {olive oil - extra virgin if you must know-  I am refusing to use RR's famous "EVOO" tag-line!}, and then sprinkled with a bit of salt, pepper, garlic powder, dried parsley, and some chopped fresh rosemary. They do still have skin {remove prior to eating to reduce Calories and fat}, but I rubbed the spice mixture up under the skin to be sure the meat was flavorful. I cooked @ 350 for about 40 minutes {or until the internal temp reaches 180}.  FEAST!

 And for dessert? Angel food cake with some of those yummy fresh strawberries!

I used the salad greens to make a couple of killer salads - and we enjoyed the fresh baked bread with a few different dinner meals. That wraps up week one of our CSA!

Now, on to week two!

I'd show you what came in our bag, but I seem to have deleted the photo! Oopsies!

I'll tell you instead.

We got more spring onions, more salad greens, more sweet potatoes, some radishes, some fresh rosemary, and a loaf of fresh homemade whole wheat bread!

We love radishes cut up and served with hummus. Want a great hummus recipe? Ok!
Try this one: 5 Minute Hummus

We have baked a few of the sweet potatoes and served with cinnamon {yum!} but we've roasted most of the so far.

The salad greens have made us some more great salads, and the onions have been used both cooked and raw.

I love the aromatic nature of rosemary and I've used it this week to season both meat and vegetables!

I still have a few ingredients yet to use before we pick up week 3 on Thursday!  Can't wait to see what's inside!

CSA - week 1

Yesterday was an exciting day {and no, i'm not referring to Cinco de Mayo} - it was exciting because it was the first day of our yearly CSA. What is a CSA, you might ask? Well, CSA stands for "Community Supported Agriculture" and basically, it's a way to source locally grown food to local people, in the appropriate season. Because it is community supported, we pay a flat fee to our CSA farm and then sit back and wait to share in the bounty of the harvest. The risk is that if the weather does not favor a bumper crop of tomatoes {like last season}, we do not get a bumper crop of tomatoes. The reward is that no matter the weather, our CSA goes on providing us with as much local, organic food, herbs, and flowers as possible.  This is our fourth year to participate in the CSA and our CSA farms fourth year to offer the service {which means we have been there since the beginning...oh yeah!}. Our CSA is from the delightful Whitton Farms in Tyronza, Arkansas. The owners are the ever inspiring Keith and Jill Forrester {if you are a Memphian, you may know the Forresters as the owners of the amazing Trolley Stop Market in downtown Memphis}.
So what is the point of this post? Well, I wanted to share with you what is in the CSA bag this week and what I plan to do with my goodies!

Here's a peek:

{L to R, front row: sorrel, spring onions, mint, strawberries 

back row: fresh baked bread, lettuce mix, sweet potatoes}

This week's most challenging ingredient? Sorrel!  Sorrel is a spring green with a sharp lemony flavor. It can be used to substitute for spinach (in small quantities) or along with other greens in a salad mix.

While searching for sorrel inspiration, I came across a blog called Two Small Farms filled with recipes for their CSA subscribers. These two small farms are located in California.  

Here is a link to their sorrel recipes: Two Small Farms

There were several recipes that caught my eye, but I think that this week I have decided to make Sorrel Pesto to use as a sauce for fish (I think the lemony flavor would be delicious!). Here is the recipe:

2 cups coarsely chopped fresh sorrel, ribs removed
1/3 cup packed fresh parsley leaves
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1/3 cup freshly grated parmesan
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup olive oil

In a food processor or blender puree the sorrel, the parsley, the garlic, the parmesan, the pine nuts and the oil, transfer the pesto to a jar with a tight fitting lid and chill it, covered. The pesto keeps, covered and chilled, for 2 weeks. Makes about 1 cup.

As for my other CSA goodies, they seem a bit easier to use. The salad greens will be used for {obviously} salads. The strawberries will most likely be eaten straight from the container {yum!} or perhaps mixed with mint to make a Strawberry Caprese Salad { My dear friend Artsy Fartsy has been talking about this recipe and I am so intrigued by it!}. 

Take a look at this:

Strawberry Caprese Salad

The spring onions, bread, and sweet potatoes will also be delicious additions to our meals this week.  

What would you do with these ingredients? 

Craving some Comfort Food?

This past weekend, Mr. Maestro and I travelled to my hometown to share Easter with my family and spend some quality time with my grandparents. We had a GREAT time! I got some good shopping time in with Mom and the gals and the boys had a grand ole time installing a new ceiling fan for my grandparents.  I am excited (for them) and jealous (for me) to announce that a TJ Maxx Home Goods is currently under construction and will be located less than 10 minutes away from both My Mom and SIL's houses! I am not usually that much of a "shopper," but there is a weakness in my heart when it comes to Home Goods. If you've been before, you know what I mean...

So why does my post title reference comfort food? Well...while spending time with my grandparents, I was sharing with my Grandmother (Memi) how much I used to love to come down to their house and eat Chicken and Dumplings (Pronounced: Chicken 'n Dumplins).  When Mr. Maestro heard me say this he said (and I quote), "What are Chicken and Dumplings (he refuses to pronounce it "correctly")? I've never even heard of those."   WHAT? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?  I then realized that there was no real reason for him to have had this fine southern delicacy before. It is not as if I have ever made it for him, and we don't eat at Cracker Barrel very often either (the only place I could think of off the top of my head that always has Chicken and Dumplings on the menu). I promptly asked Memi for her recipe so that I could share the deliciousness of this dish with my other half. I thought it might be nice to share the recipe with you too!

A word of warning: This recipe does not make the thick version of this dish so often found in cafeterias (and at Cracker Barrel).  This will yield more of a "soup like" dish.  Also, feel free to add in loads of yummy vegetables ( like sliced carrots, celery, and green peas) to make this more like a hearty chicken noodle soup.

Memi's Chicken 'N Dumplins

2 eggs
1/4 tsp salt
4 to 5 Tbsp water
1 c. flour (substitue 1/2 or all of the all purpose flour for whole wheat flour to increase the fiber of this dish)
Chicken broth (click here for a home-made broth recipe. Home-made broth is lower in sodium, and higher in taste than canned broth from the grocery store)
Chicken meat (this can be any type of chicken meat - whatever you have on hand, torn into pieces)
Sliced onion, carrots, celery and green peas (optional)

1. Beat the eggs, salt, and water together
2. Add flour, and knead until the dough is smooth
3. Let the dough rest for 10 minutes. Roll on a floured board to a thin sheet (1/8-1/4 " thickness)
4. Sprinkle with flour, roll and slice into strips. Let the strips dry for 20 minutes.
5. Saute the onions, carrots and celery in olive oil in a pan until tender
5. Add vegetables (if desired) and cooked chicken meat to the broth. Bring to a boil.
6.  Boil in chicken broth until dough is cooked (will not take long)

I find that older recipes often are lighter on the seasonings than many of our more modern recipes.  I typically add a bit more salt, and black pepper to perk up the taste, but it would be delicious with any number of differnt herb combinations!

Do you have any favorite meals from your childhood? Do you make them today?

What I'm excited about...

Happy Rainy Thursday afternoon!

I know it's been a while since I last posted. I'm sorry! I won't bore you with details about my busy life - you all have busy lives as well. I will share with you, however, something that has me captivated.

My summer vacation.

This year's vacation is unlike any other. For starters, it's a bit longer - 17 days to be exact!  It is coming up in just a matter of weeks and I cannot contain my excitement any longer!

Here are a few things I am excited about:

The Food

The Art {Painting by Li Lin}

The Culture {Forbidden City, Beijing}

The Sights {The Great Wall of China}

But what I am {not so secretly} most excited about is:

That's right, we're going to China - and I can't wait to visit the fabric markets!  Lucky for me, we happen to know some "Insiders" who have promised to take us {err...me. Mr. Maestro isn't as thrilled about the market as I am...}. My mind is just racing with all the things I want to look for, have made, and bring back.

What would you be most excited about?

Helpful Household Hints

I received these helpful hints in an e-mail from my mom a few weeks ago. I thought I'd share some of them with you today!

Helpful Household Hints:

Learn a lesson from the primates, and peel a banana from the bottom - you won't have to pick the little 'stringy things' off it.

Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store.If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.

Store  opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil. It will stay fresh much longer and won't mold!

Peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating.
Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for cooking.

Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef.
It will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking.

Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste of garlic and at the end of the recipe if your want a stronger garlic flavor.

A great way to reheat lefover pizza is to stick it in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove; set heat to
med-lowand heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy.

Use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up the small shards of glass you can't see easily.

To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can be bent or flattened to get in narrow openings.

Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam of slacks and ... ta da! ... static is gone.

Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot water.
Dump out the hot water, but don't dry cup. Next, add your ingredient (peanut butter, honey, etc.) and watch how easily it comes right out..

To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass, fill it 1/2 with Apple Cider Vinegar
and 2 drops of dish washing liquid; mix well. You will find those flies drawn to the cup and gone forever!

Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it 'home,' can't digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so, especially if it rains, but it works and you don't have the worry about pets or small children being harmed!

Happy Thursday!

Peeling Potatoes

Who would have ever thought that peeling a potato could  be this easy? I'm determined to try this!

Easiest way to peel a potato

What do you think? Will you try it?