last week of october (and CSA)

celeriac on parade

putting our friends sarah and eric to work!


Last week of the CSA. Its been our pleasure to provide your family with food this year, thank you for your support of our family and farm.

There are a few things left to do to wrap up the season, still have a little garlic to plant, and then a bunch to be mulched with old hay to keep it warm(er) over the winter and moist in the spring and summer until we harvest it next july/august. We will still have a market on saturday to attend until we run out of things to bring and we plan to sell to the three restaurants that we have been selling to all season for another few weeks.

The forecast is sounding like we may see our first snow of the fall soon, and we all are winding our activities down accordingly -- the humans in our house are working less, and cooking, reading, and relaxing more, the pets in our house are sleeping in front of the fire and showing us the appropriate pace for cool, wet days. Before too long, liz will be back to substitute teaching and matthew will be in charge of "holding down the farm", so to speak.

This week's share:
lettuce
arugula
onions
garlic
broccoli/cabbage/or cauliflower
pumpkins or winter squash
garlic

next week, you're on your own!

baked acorn squash stuffed with nuts and apples
1 medium Acorn squash
1 large Apple peeled and chopped
1 teaspoon (to 2 tsp) honey
1 teaspoon Lemon juice
1 tablespoon (to 2 tbs) walnuts, chopped (opt)
¼ teaspoon Ground cinnamon (opt)

Preheat the oven to 350.
Cut the acorn squash in half and remove the seeds. Bake upside down for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, combine the apple, honey, lemon juice, nuts and cinnamon. Fill the squash halves with this mixture and bake for another 30 minutes, or until the squash is soft. Serve hot. From The Occasional Vegetarian by Karen Lee



Andrea’s Aromatic Pumpkin and Chick pea hot pot: (this is more like a curry that you would serve over rice than it is like a soup, last fall we ate this a lot, then we forgot about it, we'll eat it again, it is delicious!)

3 T vegetable oil
1 ½ cups finely chopped onion
¼ tsp salt to taste
2 or more tsp bottled thai curry paste (I used just curry powder, and it was fine)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground corriander
2 T grated fresh ginger
2 pounds peeled, seeded pumpkin or other winter squash, cut into 1 ¼ inch cubes. (alternately, you can bake the squash and scoop the softened insides out into the “soup”)
2 cans (15 oz each) light coconut milk
1 cup stock or water
3 T soy sauce
2 cans (15 oz each) chick peas, drained
1 cup cubed tofu, plain or herbed
Black pepper to taste
1 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves, finely chopped
Cook basmati rice and plain yogurt, optional

Saute onions and salt in oil until softened, but not browned. Stir in curry paste, cumin, corriander, and ginger. Raise heat to medium high and add pumpkin, stir to coat with seasonings. Add coconut milk, stock, and soy sauce. Simmer on low until pumpkin is almost tender, 10-20 minutes. Stir in chick peas and tofu, partially cover pan and simmer for 5-10 minutes. Stir gently, adjust salt and pepper to taste, add additional curry paste to make it hotter. Serve over rice, sprinkle with cilantro. Yogurt can cool taste buds if too hot.

From Asparagus to Zucchini cookbook, 3rd edition


Potato salad with Arugula
2 lbs. Small potatoes
½ cup very thinly sliced red onions
2 large tomatoes, cut into ½ inch wedges
1 cup chopped Arugula leaves

Dressing
3 t white wine vinegar
6 T extra virgin olive oil
½ tsp dry mustard
Salt and pepper to taste

Boil potatoes until tender when pierced. Cool and chunk into 1 inch pieces. Toss other ingredients, mix up dressing and pour over.
From greens, glorious greens!


Home made pumpkin pie:
Cut pumpkin in half along the longitude, then into 6 or 8 wedges, Bake uncovered in 325°F oven until tender throughout (1-2 hours), you can combine this with baking other winter squashes, potatoes, or other items so that you can double up on meals with one oven use. When cooked, allow to cool slightly and then puree in a food mill or in the food processor. Then use, in the following recipe or in soups, breads, or mashed as a side dish with butter. I often make two pies at once or freeze enough for a second (or 3rd or 4th) pie for later.

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/4 cups pumpkin puree
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup evaporated milk, undiluted
2 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 unbaked pastry shell (9-inch)


PREPARATION:
Combine pumpkin, sugar, salt, spices, and flour in a medium mixing bowl. Add eggs; mix well. Add evaporated milk, water, and vanilla; mix well. Pour into pastry-lined pie pan. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes; reduce heat to 350° and bake about 35 minutes longer, or until center is set.
From southerncooking.com

have a great week and winter! liz and matthew