Week 16; September 21, 2017

What's in the box?

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Peppers
Onion
Delecata and sweet dumpling sqush
Spinach
Arugula
Cilantro
Carrots
Beets m/l
Turnips 

Notes on the box.

Be sure to give your Spinach and Arugula a good rinse before eating.  They were harvested in the rain making for some dirt smashing up onto the leaves.  
Onions and Squash can be kept out of the fridge.  The skins of both Delicata (the longer squash) and the Sweet Dumpling (the more round shaped one) are edible, though Delicata is a little more tender according to Otto.  They can both be cut in half, seeds removed, cut into half moons and roasted with a little oil.  Or they are both nice as stuffed squash with quinoa, millet, ground meat or nuts, cheese, and spices.  The squash will keep for probably about a month on your counter if you want to wait for the weather to cool down to eat it.  
Remove tops from turnips for longer storage.  Tops are edible and can mix in nicely with the arugula.  
All of the peppers are sweet.  None are hot.  Enjoy!

Cosmic Wheel Creamery Cheese Shares.

Feta and a long aged Circle of the Sun.  This one is aged for about 18 months and is a smaller wheel, so the flavor is really concentrated.  Not the best melter, but nice grated on top of roasted veggies.  
If you won't be using your feta within about 5 days, it's best to make a little brine to store it in.  1 Tablespoon of Salt to 2 cups of water.  Make sure the cheese is completely covered in the brine to avoid mold growth.  OR for a real treat, why not try some marinated feta?  Cube or slice feta, place in a clean jar alternating with. some combination of thyme, rosemary, dried chili, sun dried tomato, lemon peel zest, bay leaves, peppercorns, garlic.....  the possibilities are endless and I'm making myself really hungry thinking about it.  Cover with good olive oil and keep stored in the fridge for at least a few days before digging in.  You can then smear the feta onto crackers, add to roasted beet and spinach salad, pasta, or pizza.  Yeah.  That sounds like a plan.  ;)   

Recipes.

Liberty's Lunch, a warm squash salad

Delicata and Sweet Dumpling Squash, seeded and cut into 1/4 inch hand moons
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons olive oil
1 garlic clove
1 Tbsp honey
1 tsp cumin
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, or to taste
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional, adjust to taste)
4 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

Preheat oven to 450°F. Halve squash lengthwise, then cut off and discard stem ends. Scoop out seeds and cut squash lengthwise into 3/4-inch-wide wedges. Toss squash with black pepper,  salt, and 2 tablespoons oil in a bowl, then arrange, cut sides down, in 2 shallow baking pans. Roast squash, switching position of pans halfway through roasting, until squash is tender and undersides of wedges are golden brown, 25 to 35 minutes.

While squash roasts, mince garlic and mash to a paste with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Transfer paste to a small bowl and whisk in lime juice, chile (to taste), honey, cumin, cilantro, and remaining 1/4 cup oil until combined. Transfer squash, browned sides up, to a platter and drizzle with vinaigrette.

Eggs and fake Poached Spinach on Toast
One of my favorite things to cook with spinach. Makes a quick and satisfying meal. 
Wash and chop Spinach roughly.  Melt about a Tbsp of butter in a pan.  You can add minced garlic if you like.  Saute spinach in the pan until lightly wilted.  Crack eggs on top of spinach, sprinkle with salt, and cover the pan with a lid.  Cook over medium heat until eggs whites are cooked and yolk is cooked to your liking.  Scoop off onto a plate with toast or your favorite roasted veggies.  Enjoy! 

Grilled Red Peppers.  Getting some last minute grilling in?  Josh halved the red peppers, put some crumbled feta in them, drizzled some olive oil and threw them the grill.  Fantastic!  

On the Farm.

Meat will be delivered to Eat Like a Farmer and Meat Share members next week!  An email will be coming next week with more details and to confirm that you will be able to pick it up.  

October 5 will be the last delivery of the main season, all the ELF shares and season extension shares will be getting deliveries of veggies until the first week of November. 

Look at those long late summer shadows.  The leaves are starting to change.  Even though it's going to be 90 tomorrow, we know that fall is right here.  Summer in September is making things grow faster than expected. We have lots of leafy greens coming. A great squash crop and Brussels. Might even see beans one more time!? Red peppers just hanging out waiting to be picked.  Special thanks to Haley who helped out on Monday and Tuesday this week while Caroline is out of town.  And big props to Josh and Andrew for packing this box on their own!  
We are sorry that we weren't able to get it together to plan a fall harvest party this season.  Our work week is now at 7 days and with market in the city every Saturday and some Sundays as well as cheesemaking every Sunday, we haven't been able to find an open day to work the party in.  We are considering enlisting the help of a party planning/ set up committee for next season to help us pull it off.  Raise your hand if you might be interested!  

Oh!  and NOW is the time to sign up for one of Red Clover Herbal Apothecary's Winter Wellness CSA shares.  We would be happy to deliver it to your drop site.  The Winter Share includes: Elderberry Syrup
Winter Warming Elixir
Winter Wellness Tincture
Herbal Sore Throat Spray
Cold Season Herbal Tea Blend  
These wonderful herbs have successfully kept our family flu free and virtually cold free for years!  We can't say enough about the quality of these medicines and the integrity and gratitude with which Nancy grows, forages, and crafts them.  Other add ons are available, too.  

Forecast for next week. 

Spinach
Potatoes
Brussels
Kale
Carrots
Cabbage
Parsley
Broccoli
Cauliflowe 

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