Carrots4This simple method of cooking carrots produces silky, sweet carrots without any effort. Here’s the drill. Place your carrots in a small pot – it doesn’t matter if you use baby carrots or carrots you’ve peeled. Put enough water in the pot to come up about halfway up the carrots. Then add some butter. 1/2 tablespoon was what I used for enough carrots for 4 people (add as much butter as you would put on the carrots when serving). Simmer the carrots until the water evaporates and the carrots are shiny and glazed. Stir in some freshly cut herbs (such as chives, mint, or thyme) and season with salt and pepper.

This simple method of cooking carrots produces silky, sweet carrots without any effort. Here’s the drill. Place your carrots in a small pot – it doesn’t matter if you use baby carrots or carrots you’ve peeled. Put enough water in the pot to come up about halfway up the carrots. Then add some butter. 1/2 … Read more

One of my U-pick bouquets this summer

We signed up for a CSA for the first time this year. The idea is you buy a “share” from the farmer and then each week you go and pick up your portion of that week’s harvest. I was lucky enough to find Root Down Farm, which is 15 minutes from my house and which grows everything organically. Now that the CSA season is ending, it’s time to evaluate it.

What I Didn’t Expect

Friends who use CSAs talk about what’s in their “CSA box” each week. We didn’t get a box. Instead, we went to a little covered hut and each week there was a white board telling us how much we could take. Usually there was one wall of vegetables and then one wall of greens, and then bins of tomatoes, squash or melons. Most weeks we could mix and match anything we wanted on the veggie wall to fill up a plastic grocery store shopping bag (I know: I’m still not over an organic CSA distributing plastic bags). So although there might be things on that wall I didn’t want (eggplant, hot peppers, kohlrabi), I could fill my bag with anything else, so I appreciated that flexibility.

What I Loved

I loved the freshness of the food. A bag of lettuce greens would last almost two weeks because it was so fresh. My kids were nuts about the carrots. I loved the potatoes. There were some greens I’d never heard of that I really liked: tat soi and vitamin greens.

I liked that this encouraged me to try new things. I always took things that were new to me to try at least once, something I would not do in a grocery store.

Everything tasted better to me because it was organic and it was super fresh. This made everyone more likely to eat it. I’ve never seen my children get excited about vegetables before, and every Monday they would come home and ask what we got at the CSA. There were squabbles over the carrots (who would get to take them in their lunch).

I loved the U-pick part of our CSA, particularly the cutting flowers section. They had a nice selection of herbs in U-pick as well, but I planted an herb garden this year, so I didn’t use those.

I felt as though the price I paid for the share was a good bargain.

What I Didn’t Love

There was some disorganization happening at times. My mom went to pick up my share when we were out of town and although I told the farmer this was happening, my mom still felt as though they were rude to her when she came and looked unfamiliar. There was also a mix-up about a payment that still bothers me.

It was at times hard to keep up with the food that came home. I was drowning in tomatoes and I threw out a lot of greens, which made me feel terrible.

I did not enjoy having to pick my own beans in the U-pick section. I would be happier if those were picked and part of the share.

Somehow I don’t feel as though my weekly grocery bills went down as much as I would have liked and I don’t quite know why that is.

I had to be sure to plan my grocery shopping around the CSA. If there was no lettuce that week and I had just been to the store and didn’t buy lettuce, then there was no salad! But if I bought lettuce at the store then went to the CSA and there was lettuce, I had another problem on my hands.

Will We Join Again?

The answer to that is a resounding yes. I plan to sign up again next year. I also signed up for a winter share, the details of which still has my husband twitching. For $100, we are getting 100 lbs of winter vegetables in one pick up in November, and it will include things like cabbage, squash, pumpkin, carrots (my kids will be happy), potatoes, beets, etc. I’ll post once we pick that up and figure out how the heck we will store it!

So, overall, the CSA experiment was a great success and I highly recommend it to everyone!

We signed up for a CSA for the first time this year. The idea is you buy a “share” from the farmer and then each week you go and pick up your portion of that week’s harvest. I was lucky enough to find Root Down Farm, which is 15 minutes from my house and which … Read more

CSA Update

Posted by Brette in Gardening

We joined a CSA this year and I have been going every week to pick up my share. While we were away, my mom got my share. We’re now at the point in the year where I bring home bags and bags each week. This week I came home with a quart of potatoes, onions, 14 tomatoes, squash, zucchini, beets, carrots, cucumbers, Swiss chard, green pepper, kale, a big bag of lettuce greens, a watermelon and U-pick beans and cherry tomatoes. I also picked some dill and cilantro.

Our CSA also has a U-pick flower section, which I am taking advantage of every week and am really, really loving. This week I brought home enough for two beautiful bouquets. These flowers last at least a week, so I always have fresh flowers now. I need to buy a nice big basket to use when I go to pick them. It makes me so happy to have fresh flowers in the house.

We joined a CSA this year and I have been going every week to pick up my share. While we were away, my mom got my share. We’re now at the point in the year where I bring home bags and bags each week. This week I came home with a quart of potatoes, onions, … Read more

herbs and cutting flowers

We joined a CSA this year so we could get local, organic vegetables. So far it has been spectacular. I am rarely able to use it all up in one week. We’ve enjoyed many types of greens (tat soi, vitamin greens, arugula, spinach, kale), lots of lettuce, cukes, kohlrabi, squash, broccoli, scallions, chard, turnips, and more. This week something new started: u-pick. You can help yourself to as much as you want in the u-pick fields that is ready for picking. They put little signs with labels so you know what is ready. This week it was herbs and cutting flowers. I planted my own herb garden this year (which is much handier because I can just pop out the back door and grab what I need for dinner each night), but I don’t have any dill, so I picked a bunch of that and some flowers (daisies and black-eyed Susans).

It was so fun to walk back into the fields and cut what I

Note to self: wear closed toe shoes next week!

wanted.  I’m already wondering what will be ready next week! And in the meantime, I need to roast the beets I picked up today so we can use them in a salad.

Heading back in the fields made me think of my grandfather, who was a farmer and built a successful greenhouse business with his brother, now run by my uncle.  By the time I came along, everything was grown in the greenhouses, but I did go with my grandfather to pick corn in his brother’s field a few times. The CSA fields aren’t far from my grandfather’s fields. On the way home I was wondering what he would think. I can hear him saying “Why cripe, why don’t you just plant it in your own backyard?”

view of the fields not yet ready for picking

We joined a CSA this year so we could get local, organic vegetables. So far it has been spectacular. I am rarely able to use it all up in one week. We’ve enjoyed many types of greens (tat soi, vitamin greens, arugula, spinach, kale), lots of lettuce, cukes, kohlrabi, squash, broccoli, scallions, chard, turnips, and … Read more

CSA!

Posted by Brette in Food

We picked up our first share from our CSA from Root Down Farm this week. Wow! We got 2 heads of lettuce, 2 bunches of radishes, 2 bunches of bok choy, 2 bunches of broccolini, 2 bunches of broccoli raab, and a big plastic produce bag of mixed greens: kale, arugula, tot soi (no idea how to use this) and komatsuna (again, no clue). It all looked so FRESH! Now begins my challenge of learning to cook from my CSA share each week! It’s going to be fun I think.  It was a lot more food than I expected, so I’ve got to buckle down and arrange our dinners around this. I usually eat salad for lunch, so I can use at least one head of lettuce for that per week.

The way this worked was that we showed up on our appointed day, checked our name off on the list then read what we were to take on a blackboard (it listed how many of each thing you could take). They provided plastic bags, but next week I will bring my grocery totes. You walked around the bins inside a little shelter and picked up your share. Quick and easy and convenient.

I’ll be sharing my cooking adventures as I learn to use new produce and find new ways to use others.

We picked up our first share from our CSA from Root Down Farm this week. Wow! We got 2 heads of lettuce, 2 bunches of radishes, 2 bunches of bok choy, 2 bunches of broccolini, 2 bunches of broccoli raab, and a big plastic produce bag of mixed greens: kale, arugula, tot soi (no idea … Read more

We eat a lot of asparagus here since my dad has an asparagus bed. Soon there will bags of it being sent over here. While I love it, I’m always looking for new ways to make it. This recipe is so easy and really tasty:

1 bunch asparagus, trimmed

1/4 cup light bleu cheese dressing

salt and pepper

That’s it. Place the asparagus on the parchment, drizzle the dressing over it and season it with salt and pepper. Fold up the parchment and bake for 20 minutes at 400.

We eat a lot of asparagus here since my dad has an asparagus bed. Soon there will bags of it being sent over here. While I love it, I’m always looking for new ways to make it. This recipe is so easy and really tasty: 1 bunch asparagus, trimmed 1/4 cup light bleu cheese dressing … Read more

I’m always looking for ways to make vegetables more exciting, hoping to entice my kids and husband into not only eating them, but enjoying them. My latest attempt was to dress up asparagus and it was quite successful.

1 bunch asparagus

1/4 cup light sour cream

1 1/2 tsp mustard (I used a ground mustard, but a Dijon would also work)

1 tsp lemon juice

salt and pepper

Place asparagus on parchment (see Technique page for instructions). Mix other ingredients in a small bowl or custard cup and spread over asparagus. Fold the parchment and bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 20 minutes.

I really liked this. It was light but had lots of flavor and made the asparagus taste like something new and exciting!

I’m always looking for ways to make vegetables more exciting, hoping to entice my kids and husband into not only eating them, but enjoying them. My latest attempt was to dress up asparagus and it was quite successful. 1 bunch asparagus 1/4 cup light sour cream 1 1/2 tsp mustard (I used a ground mustard, … Read more

Here’s a fun, easy recipe with a bit of an ingredient twist. I picked up a bottle of birch syrup on our summer trip to Alaska. It’s like maple syrup, but thinner and not as sweet. It’s got a really interesting flavor and is terrific on fish, chicken, and as I have just discovered, vegetables.

12 baby carrots

1/4 rutabaga

1 parsnip

salt and pepper

2 tbsp birch syrup

1/4 tsp cider vinegar

Slice the carrots as thinly as possible. Cut off very, very thin rounds of rutabaga and cut the skin off. Cut into bite size pieces. Peel the parsnip and cut into very thin rounds. Place all the vegetables on parchment (see Technique page for instructions). Drizzle the birch syrup on top. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Drizzle vinegar over top. Using a fork or your hands, lightly toss all the ingredients together. Fold up the parchment. Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 40 minutes.

The results are perfectly roasted veggies with a slightly sweet and an almost smoky, woodsy flavor. The birch syrup gives it just a hint of sweetness, balanced with the tiny bit of vinegar. My kids really liked this because it was very familiar yet had an interesting, new flavor. I highly recommend picking up (or ordering) a bottle of birch syrup. I’m really enjoying its flavor and versatility!

*Reader favorite: this appears in The Parchment Paper Cookbook

Bookmark and Share

Here’s a fun, easy recipe with a bit of an ingredient twist. I picked up a bottle of birch syrup on our summer trip to Alaska. It’s like maple syrup, but thinner and not as sweet. It’s got a really interesting flavor and is terrific on fish, chicken, and as I have just discovered, vegetables. … Read more

I ate a lot of artichokes as a kid, back when none of my friends knew what they were, so I’m quite fond of them. They’re not the easiest thing to cook though – you have boil them for a long time and then your house smells like artichokes. I came up with a solution for an easier artichoke dish that mimics delicious stuffed artichokes:

12 ounces frozen artichoke hearts quarters
4 tbsp butter (cut into small pieces)
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, with 2 tbsp reserved
1/4 cup chopped parsley (I actually don’t chop this, but rip off little pieces with my hands)
salt and pepper

Place all ingredients on parchment. Lightly toss together. Fold up (see instructions on the “technique” page of this blog for details) and bake at 400 for 30 min. Then open the parchment, sprinkle with remaining cheese and return to the oven (leaving the packet open) for about 12 minutes.

The result? a satisfying, full-flavored dish that is is incredibly easy and requires no clean up. This is my new favorite way to make artichokes!

*Reader favorite: this appears in The Parchment Paper Cookbook

Bookmark and Share

I ate a lot of artichokes as a kid, back when none of my friends knew what they were, so I’m quite fond of them. They’re not the easiest thing to cook though – you have boil them for a long time and then your house smells like artichokes. I came up with a solution … Read more

My father has an asparagus patch, so in the spring, we have lots of asparagus to use. And I am always looking for news ways to make it. Recently I decided to make it with a sesame flavor and was thrilled with my no-mess, no-pot results

1 bunch asparagus, trimmed

1/4 tsp toasted sesame seeds

1/2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp soy sauce

1/2 tsp sesame oil

Place the asparagus in the center of a sheet of parchment. Drizzle oils and soy sauce. Sprinkle with the seeds. Seal and bake at 400 for 15 minutes. Allow it to rest for about 5 minutes.

The asparagus comes out nicely cooked with a light sesame flavor that really livens it up. My kids liked this a lot because to them it tasted more like Chinese food and less like vegetables!

Bookmark and Share

My father has an asparagus patch, so in the spring, we have lots of asparagus to use. And I am always looking for news ways to make it. Recently I decided to make it with a sesame flavor and was thrilled with my no-mess, no-pot results 1 bunch asparagus, trimmed 1/4 tsp toasted sesame seeds … Read more

no