csa box:: week 11

I had a sick little boy in the house last week, so I am a few days behind posting last weeks CSA box. You can tell we are getting to end of summer!

in the box this week:: a variety of tomatoes and peppers, a leek, summer squash, beets, kale, tomatillos, carrots, melon and beans.


extras this week:: slicing tomatoes, melon, parlsey, mushrooms!

What was in your last CSA box?

csa box: week 10

This week is the half way mark for our CSA season - so much goodness still to come!

in the box this week:: pears, variety of tomatoes, purple cabbage, 3 kinds of peppers, lettuce, garlic, basil, parsley, delicata squash, yellow squash, melon, sweet corn


extras:: carrots, basil, mushrooms

What is in your box this week?

red raspberry time.

They are here! While just beginning to ripen, I see a lot of red raspberries in our future. Jams, jellies, frozen...


I love how easy raspberries are to grow, how little space you really need for a decent return, and how delicious they are picked right from your own back yard. Yum.

CSA Box:: Week 9

Another week another great box!

In the box this week:: watermelon, beets, cucumber, banana & jalapeno peppers, summer squash/zucchini, a variety of tomatoes, sweet corn, carrots, lettuce, garlic

extras:: onions, garlic, parsley, mushrooms, and...a case of tomatoes


While I didn't necessarily like our previous CSA farm any less just because the pickup was at a delivery point in town (someones garage), for me there is just something more substantial and more real to picking up right at the farm. I always love walking through the barn, counting or weighing each item, and putting it into my box. The boys help me with the box, weigh things, write on the chalkboard, chat with the farm person, and hunt for bugs in the flowers. And each week we can see what 'extras' are available - garlic, onions, pickling cucumbers, sweet corn, tomatoes - always enough for canning and preserving!


This week we picked up a case of tomatoes - cracked/ripe. As soon as we got home I rinsed them all off, cored them, and popped them into my large canning pot to simmer away.


We have a lot of tomatoes growing in our garden, but with a small yard never enough to make everything we want for the winter, so we always pick up extras. We make pizza sauce, ketchup, pasta sauce, caponata, and more. And as we go through the end of the season we freeze diced tomatoes, make lots of salsa and can whole tomatoes. There is something very satisfying about going from garden or farm to pot to canning jar. I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels that way, and that I am not the only one who had tomato seeds plastered all over the kitchen this week. :) Ahhh, summer!

What is in your CSA box this week? What are you harvesting from your garden?

home made vanilla extract.

One of the easiest things to make at home is vanilla extract. Most recipes call for the more common use of vodka and vanilla beans to make vanilla extract. While that makes a liquid that tastes just like what you buy at the store, I like making mine with dark rum. The rich aroma and mild sweetness really adds a nice fat vanilla essence to baked goodies. It is very very easy, and after you make your own, you won't ever want to buy bottles from the store again!

I make it in small batches, but you can easily double/triple if you want.


ingredients::
1 cup good quality dark rum (you can use a lighter rum if you prefer)
2 whole fresh vanilla beans
pint canning jar & lid

Put the rum into your canning jar. Slice the vanilla pods in half, and remove the seeds with the edge of your knife. Add the seeds to the jar. Plop the vanilla pod right into the jar alongside what you scraped off. Put the lid on the jar, and shake hard. Label the lid and put a date on it and place it in a dark cabinet at room temp. Let sit for a month minimum, shaking it from time to time. After a month, I start using it - and I keep the pods in the jar so that the flavor continues to develop. The flavor intensifies if you let it sit longer (3 months+). You can wait longer before using, but I find that I get the full vanilla extract aroma in a month or two!

I like the organic vanilla beans from Mountain Rose Herbs. They are plump and moist - not the hard dried out things you find at your grocery store - and their prices are great!

rum cherry compote.

I have a sweet surprise to share with you. One of my favorite summer fruits is cherries. We always buy both sweet and sour cherries when they are in season - to eat fresh, can, and freeze. We have made this a few times already in the past few weeks...it is so good over pound cake (my favorite combo was over coconut pound cake - oh yes), with ice cream, and would be great with a good pancake. This is an adult cherry reduction that is oh, so, good.


I started by pitting and slicing in half about 1 cup of sweet cherries. Put them in a canning jar, add about 1 Tbsp of honey or a raw sugar, and fill just to cover the cherries with dark rum. I added the seeds and pod of 1/3 a vanilla bean - you could also just add 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract. Let soak for a few hours.

Pour the mixture in a small saucepan, and turn heat to high. Bring it to a boil and keep it rolling for a minute or two. Turn down to medium (stir!), and let simmer for another 7-10 minutes. Keep an eye on it - it should be simmering, not boiling. This cooks off the alcohol a bit, softens the cherries, and reduces the liquid to a nice syrupy consistency.

Let cool a little and serve! There is a nice round aroma of the rum, but without any alcohol mouth burn. Such a rich cherry flavor - and not too sweet. Enjoy!

in the kitchen.

While I love trying new recipes and often do, for a lot of my canning and fermenting, I do still rely on my trusted/tested recipes. Here are a few things we are making this summer, which I have made many times before.


lacto-fermented pickles:

Not vinegar based, nice and crunchy, mildly salty, not twangy like vinegar pickles.

lacto-fermented garlic::

I basically use the recipe from Nourishing Traditions. Take up to about 12 heads of garlic, remove the outer skin and then bake the cloves in an oven until the rest of the skin can easily be removed. The garlic is not mushy soft, but slightly soft and aromatic and beginning to look less opaque. Put the cloves in a clean jar. Mix together a few teaspoons of dried herbs (I used dried oregano and rosemary from my garden), 2 teaspoons of sea salt, 2 tablespoons of whey, and about 1/2 cup of water (If you don't have whey, increase salt to 4 tsp). Pour the liquid over the garlic, and add more water if the garlic isn't covered. Screw lid on tightly, keep at room temp for about 2-3 days, then put in the fridge. I crunch on these like they are candy. More mild garlic flavor, and oh so good.

refrigerator pickles::

A vinegar based fridge pickle. Great for small batches.

purple kraut::

I like having more than one type of kraut, and this is a nice mild version which is great as a side dish.

I have a few recipes coming up that I have promised :: pickled beets, pickled daikon, and freezer pickles!