Venison Stew

Never having cooked venison before, this meal was an experiment! We were given some frozen stew chunks of venison from some hunter-friends, and I was just told to "soak it in apple juice before cooking it- maybe with a little vinegar". Right.

Anyway, I marinated it overnight in some apple juice with a splash of vinegar for good measure,  and searched for a slow cooker venison stew. I found one here and it was a winner! (I used extra apple juice instead of beef stock, and did not save my flour, but otherwise followed the recipe)

delicious stew

I forgot to take a picture of it the first time we had it, but the recipe made lots and I did remember a picture tonight at supper. Tonight I also tried some "Cheese and Potato Scones" which used leftover mashed potatoes, and were delicious!

Cheese and Potato Scones
(from Company's Coming "Recipes for Leftovers")

1+1/2c flour (I used 1c whole wheat, and 1/2c white)

3/4t salt

2+1/4t baking powder

Combine the above, then cut in 1/4c butter. Add 1/3c grated sharp cheddar. (I also added some fresh rosemary and garlic that I had around)

Mix 2/3c leftover mashed potatoes with 1/4c milk. Stir into flour mixture, and continue stirring until a soft dough forms. (I needed to use my hands to help it a bit)

Knead 6 times, then pat into a circle 8" across, and about 1" thick. Place on baking sheet, and score into 6 or 8. (depending on how large you want your scones)

Bake at 425F for 20min. Break or cut apart and serve.

Beige Food

Beige... usually a colour describing food that is blah and bad for you. However, looking at our dinner tonight- it was very beige, but definitely not bland, and pretty healthy. (Really wish I'd taken a picture!) All of the veggies came from our RHG basket.

We had:
- roasted chicken (from the grocery store)
- roasted potatoes (olive oil, balsamic vinegar, fresh rosemary and garlic, s&p)
- skillet cabbage (I googled for a cooked cabbage recipe, and found a winner here)
- baked squash (the only colour on our plates- and the rind was white)

And yet, the meal was delicious! Just goes to show that beige does not have to be bad. :)

Christmas!

Ok, so it's not quite Christmas yet, but it sure felt like it, opening our boxes of fresh produce on Saturday. After our weekly CSA ended last month, we were really feeling the loss of our fresh local organic veggies. Grocery stores just don't have the same variety of organic produce that we can find locally. (what irony!) We decided to join the Ottawa Valley Food Co-op to continue our consumption of local food, and our investment in our local economy.

beautiful veggie haul

 When placing our first OVFC order, I was very excited to see that RHG, our CSA farm, was offering "baskets" through the co-op (as well as individual items). Since OVFC only comes once a month, we ordered the large basket! We received 2 cardboard boxes and one plastic grocery bag FULL of produce. Opening the boxes was so much fun- finding the bunches of kale and green onions, heads of cabbage, bags of potatoes, red, yellow, and tropea onions, and garlic, fresh spinach, several varieties of squash, and gigantic carrots! I'm very excited to see what we create with this bounty.

Apples! Susannah loves apples, so I also ordered some of those from RHG. Here is Susannah enjoying her apple.

It's Veggie Day! It's Veggie Day!

When I got home from picking up our share, it was dinner time, and I couldn't find the camera. So the veggies got tucked away in the fridge without a photo session.

In our wonderful share this week we received:


green and yellow zucchini (I love the two-tone look!)
broccoli (Susannah was loving on the broccoli as I was picking up the rest of my share- it's her favourite!)
green onions
garlic
red head lettuce
bag of "oriental mix" (mixed greens for salad or saute)
beets
cherry tomatoes (I love these! they are so cute and pretty, they look like jewels, or marbles)
2 (small) yellow watermelons

These watermelons really are amazing, and I think they just keep getting sweeter! I know our 2nd one seemed sweeter than the first. While we were at the farm, Kylah cut up a melon that had split, and it was just as good as the others we've had. Susannah enjoyed several slices, as did I (and everyone else who was picking up their veggies at the time). Kylah commented that the melons are so good they're exploding with flavour and goodness! I think that is true of all the produce we receive from the farm!

I am not sure what all I'll come up with for meals this week. Tonight we had Black Bean and Pumpkin Chili which was very tasty. It didn't have many of our CSA veggies in it (just onion and garlic), but the black beans were from a previous CSA we were part of. The only changes I made to the recipe were I omitted the peppers, and added a bit of chipotle powder, and a bit of honey (I always do when I'm cooking with tomatoes- it takes some of the acidity away). I suppose I also used dried beans (not canned) but I soaked and cooked them before adding, so they were in pretty much the same state. It cooked up real nice in the crockpot, and was ready when we arrived home from our farm adventure. We had it with bread and garlic butter (made with fresh CSA garlic!) and it was a wonderful, hearty meal.

Another project of mine today was a "thank you" gift for our sitter. I used the chocolate zucchini loaf recipe, except made cupcakes out of it. I also made them just plain chocolate, rather than adding other flavourings (mostly cuz I didn't have any on hand!) They turned out very nicely- one recipe makes 12 cupcakes.

Spaghetti and Meatballs

One thing I particularly enjoy when cooking is to take an "old standby" meal, and veggie-fy it. Tonight, we had spaghetti and meatballs, but not just regular old pasta and meat.

delicious leftovers for lunch another day

I make up turkey meatballs and freeze them (cooked), so that they are available when we need a quick meal. We use whole grain pastas, and store-bought sauce (gasp!) so it really is a fast meal to throw together. Tonight I added a bunch of rainbow chard to the pasta water just before the pasta was cooked. Then I added "Florentine Spinach and Cheese" pasta sauce (although any kind would do), and some fresh garlic. I also made roasted baby eggplants.

For the eggplant, I started off with this recipe, but only did the roasting part. We just scraped them out of their shells (with a grapefruit spoon) and ate them with our pasta. Because I did not really follow the recipe, below is what I did.

Roasted Baby Eggplants

Cut in half, brush with garlic olive oil (a clove of garlic crushed into maybe 1-2T of oil). Bake at 375*F for 15min. Remove from oven, brush with garlic olive oil again, and return to oven. Broil for 3-4 minutes, or until they "look done". They should puff in the middle, and start to get caramelized areas. Sprinkle with salt, and serve. They were delicious- so creamy and smooth. 

Next time, I will salt them earlier, I think, but otherwise they were wonderful.

I greatly enjoyed this meal, and am very excited that I have leftovers for two more lunches.

Zucchini Fries

With all the zucchini we've been getting from our CSA share, we've had to get creative to keep from getting tired of it. I was just thinking today that zucchini is one of my favourite veggies, perhaps because it is SO versatile! It's great roasted, in a stir-fry, grilled on the BBQ, in a pasta sauce, made into fritters, in an omelet, and even baked in muffins and desserts. And I've heard it's good stuffed, but haven't tried that yet.

Tonight for dinner we tried zucchini fries, and they are a new favourite! The coating was perfectly crispy, while the insides were deliciously juicy. And I made some garlic mayo to go with them, which was the perfect creamy accompaniment.

Susannah enjoying her zucchini fries

I used panko breadcrumbs, which I think helped to make them even crispier. I also went very easy on the red pepper flakes, as Susannah and I don't like a lot of heat. Next time, I would add some garlic powder to the breadcrumb mixture, and maybe a little more oregano. Or something. They seemed like they could use a little more flavour, although with the mayo it wasn't noticeable.

all that was left when I remembered to take a picture

I meant to take a picture of them, but we inhaled the first tray, and the second tray disappeared almost as fast. Susannah absolutely loved them- I think she ate at least 10 "fries" which is almost one (small) zucchini's worth! It was hard to know which she loved more though, the fries or the garlic mayo.

playing around

Suggested with the zucchini fries recipe is a roasted garlic aioli, and while I do love garlic, I'm not crazy about it roasted. Plus, I did not have time to roast a head of garlic today. But I did want a dipping sauce for the fries (who doesn't!) so I threw together the easiest dip ever. Garlic mayo. Not that it really needs a recipe, but I know there are some people out there (my mom) who prefer to use a recipe for everything. And I mean everything.

Garlic Mayo
1c mayo
4 cloves garlic 

a sprinkle of pepper 

Press garlic through garlic press. Mix with mayo. Sprinkle with pepper and mix again. Serve.

Egg Bake

Almost every Saturday (or holiday) morning, my husband makes us "special breakfast". In his house growing up, dad was the breakfast chef, and he is happy to carry on that tradition. And Susannah and I are happy to eat it! Often this consists of buttermilk pancakes (Susannah's favourite), omelets, eggs and bacon, waffles, or french toast. Occasionally it is egg bake. I am sure there is some fancy name for a dish like this, but we just know it as egg bake. It's not an "everyday" type of breakfast... but it's a very delicious, all-in-one treat.

Today our egg bake included green onions, red onions, garlic, fresh herbs from our garden (basil, oregano, thyme, parsley), cherry tomatoes, and of course, eggs and cheese!

Here's as much "recipe" as I can pull together...
Choose a baking dish. Sprinkle some grated cheese in the bottom (to loosely cover it). Today we used cheddar and jalapeno havarti. Dice up several slices of bread into cubes (generally speaking half to one slice per person, depending on type of bread), and spread over cheese. Beat together eggs (about 2 per person) and a bit of cream (or milk, but cream makes it fluffy!), then add in your veggies, salt and pepper, herbs and spices. Pour the egg mixture over top of the bread. It should almost cover the bread. If it doesn't, combine more eggs and cream, and add! We sliced the cherry tomatoes and laid them on top of the egg, but you could mix them in just as easily. Then sprinkle with more grated cheese. 

ready to go in the oven

Bake at 350*F until it looks done! It really depends on the size of the dish, but usually 30-60 minutes does it. It will puff up and the egg will look set and golden brown around the edges.

golden brown and puffy- ready to eat

Alternatively, you can make this in individual ramekins and serve in individual portions. This is especially nice for guests!

delicious!

We ate half of this dish for breakfast today, and have leftovers for tomorrow. This used 4 slices of whole wheat bread, and a dozen eggs (although the original plan was 8 eggs!) We used half a red onion, two green onions, several cloves of garlic, and about 10 cherry tomatoes. Also, a handful of herbs... maybe 2-3T when chopped up.

Grape Pie

Last week I made grape jam with Coronation grapes (seedless blue grapes) but had more cooked squished grapes than I needed. I remembered a recipe I'd seen in my "Mennonite Community Cookbook" for Grape Pie. It always intrigued me, but I'd never tried making it. The grapes I had left over were almost exactly what I needed for the pie recipe- it's like it was meant to be! The recipe is designed for grapes with seeds, but since I had seedless grapes I used them instead.

in the oven

Grape Pie

3.5c blue grapes (Concord, etc.)

1c sugar

4T flour

1.5T butter, melted

1T lemon juice

pastry for covered 9" pie, or 9" pie shell plus crumb topping

Wash, drain, and stem grapes. Remove skins and simmer pulp for 5 minutes. While hot, press pulp through seive to remove seeds. Combine strained pulp with skins.

OR

use 2.5c cooked seedless grape mash leftover from making jam!

Combine flour and sugar, and add to grapes. Blend in lemon juice and melted butter. Pour into pie shell. Cover with top crust OR crumb topping (see below).

Bake at 425*F for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 350*F for 30-40 minutes.

Crumb Topping

3/4c flour

1/2c sugar

1/3c melted butter

Rub flour, sugar, and butter together to form crumbs, and sprinkle on top of pie.

finished product

So, how did it taste? It was excellent. I wasn't sure how the filling would turn out, but it came out smooth and sticky- solid enough that it didn't run all over the place, but definitely not firm. Pretty much exactly how you want a filling to be. The grapey flavour was not as strong as I expected, but it was still delicious. The crumb topping reminded me of a fruit crisp- yum! Definitely a recipe I will make again.

mmm... pie.

wow it's been a long time...

Sorry for the long hiatus! It's been some busy times around here and I've forgotten to blog. But I'm back now, hopefully with some regularity.

This week, our beautiful share included:
- potatoes
- carrots (2 bunches!)
- zucchini
- tomatoes
- head of lettuce
- rainbow chard
- onions
- garlic
- apples
- watermelon

beautiful fruits and veggies

I have to say, we still have a lot of last week's veggies sitting around. We had a busy week, and neither of us felt much like cooking. I am hoping we get back in our cooking groove soon!

We did do some zucchini and onion on skewers (with chicken too), and I made tzatziki again. I made the chocolate zucchini loaf, and this time used orange zest and flavouring, which turned out very well (although I do really like the cardamom and coffee, too). And we had lots of the cherry tomatoes and carrots just raw as snacks. We used some of the chard for a salad, combined with some extra lettuce a friend dropped off. And the amazing watermelon- so delicious! I think I've discovered my new favourite fruit, and I'm so glad we got another one this week. Susannah has been enjoying the watermelon too. I meant to get a picture of her, but one of her favourite things to do is to feed me watermelon, which results in both of us being a sticky mess, and is not very conducive to picture taking. But she is certainly enjoying it.




How quickly the times change
At work yesterday, a co-worker looked at my yellow watermelon cubes, and said with a confused look on her face "what's that, pineapple?" "Watermelon" I replied. She asked, "what are those?" directing her gaze to the pile of seeds I had. "Seeds" I replied, thinking it was rather obvious. "What kind?" she asked, even more confused. "From the watermelon" I said, and it finally seemed to click for her. (And this is not someone who is too young to know a seeded watermelon!) I am always surprised when people are "shocked" at the appearance of my purple carrots, yellow seeded watermelon, purple tomatoes. Was it really so long ago that these fruits and vegetables were considered usual or normal? I am so glad I am able to introduce Susannah to the beauty of different varieties of foods. I'm excited to teach her that a purple carrot is just as good as an orange one, or that a yellow watermelon can be even sweeter than a pink one.


Tonight for supper we had turkey tacos, and used some lettuce, tomatoes and onions. Yum.

Half Way

I can't hardly believe we are half way through our beautiful veggie shares. Half way! We have been thoroughly enjoying our veggies, and it has become so much a part of our lifestyle to get our produce from the farm on Wednesdays.

But there are still half the veggies left- we still have half of the veggies to come. Thinking back on how many veggies we have enjoyed already, I know there are still lots more to come. And some of my favourite veggies are fall veggies- squashes and pumpkins and sweet potatoes... roasting them in the oven, making soups, just baking them. Plus all of the new veggie varieties I'm sure we'll discover.

This week, our share consisted of:
Yellow Carrots
Broccoli
Red Potatoes
Yellow and Orange Tomatoes
Red Onions
Purple Garlic
LOTS of Green and Yellow Zucchini
LOTS of Cucumbers
Parsley

This Week's Veggie Haul

So while nothing jumps out as a defined meal, these veggies are all very versatile and can be incorporated into many "regular" meals.

I do want to repeat some recipes from previous weeks, including the chocolate zucchini loaf (going to try with orange instead of coffee), tzatziki with the cucumbers and garlic (to serve with chicken souvlaki), and bacon and tomato sandwiches.

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Ok. You NEED to try this! This is one of the best recipes I have come across in a long time- it is fabulous!

A beautiful moist loaf of the tastiest, chocolatey-ist, most delicious dessert ever. It is equally good eaten by itself, or with some vanilla ice cream.

If you are not drooling yet.... here is a picture.

It is similar to a giant brownie!

I used the recipe found here, and followed it pretty much exactly, but omitted the nuts and used instant coffee instead of instant espresso, since that's what I had. I made a double batch, and even so I had 2c of shredded zucchini I put in the freezer. And that's just from ONE of the "medium-sized" zucchini!

The changes I would make next time include:
- lining the bottom of the pan with parchment paper (the loaf stuck a bit to the bottom and had some "craters")
- use half applesauce instead of "all that oil"
- leave out the coffee and cardamom, and try some orange zest (my husband is not a coffee fan)

I think a good quality cocoa powder is essential to the success of this recipe. I highly recommend the "ruddy red" cocoa powder (from the bulk barn). I have used it many times, and find it superior in taste and quality.

In other news... for dinner tonight we are having chicken skewers. The chicken has been marinating in a teriyaki marinade, and we will add zucchini, onions, and mushrooms to those, and serve with rice.

We've been eating the peas fresh, and also in stirfries, and have enjoyed the cherry tomatoes fresh, and also cut up in sandwiches with turkey bacon. Mmm... yummy.

slow week

It's been a rather slow week on the cooking front! We've been busy and away from home a few evenings, so cooking has not been happening.

Hopefully this weekend we'll get a few veggie-rific meals in. We've been using small portions of our veggies though- some peas and cherry tomatoes for lunches, some fresh herbs in omelets, green onion in chicken salad (and actually the tzatziki I made went in there too- delicious!), roasted potatoes and fresh purple, green and yellow beans with BBQ chicken.

I'm thinking a zucchini and broccoli stir fry, maybe with some kale too. And chocolate zucchini loaf- can't wait to make that.

Today though, is applesauce again. I found another 1/2 bushel of harvest apples at the Pembroke Farmer's Market today... they just can't wait to turn into applesauce.

more veggies!

Today our share included:

LOTS of zucchini
a large head of broccoli
red potatoes
purple, red, and yellow cherry tomatoes
a bunch of dill
red and white onions
dinosaur kale
purple, yellow, and green beans
sugar peas

A delicious-sounding list- we seemed to have a red/purple theme going.

It's been a busy week, and I've not put much thought into potential menu items. I know I do want to try the chocolate zucchini loaf, and tomorrow we're having friends for dinner and will be having BBQ chicken breasts, and doing dilly-garlic potatoes in the oven, and serving fresh beans with it. (And there will be apple crisp for dessert- yum!)

Some of the zucchini will likely end up on skewers on the BBQ, and the cherry tomatoes will likely get eaten as snacks. The rest... I am not sure yet.

tzatziki

When I saw we were getting cucumbers in our share this week, I knew exactly what i wanted to do with them- make tzatziki. I've wanted to try making it, cuz it's such a healthy dip and seemed like it should be easy to make. And it's delicious.

I started off with this tzatziki recipe and made my own variations based on what I had on hand. Most recipes call for mint and dill, but I only had dill on hand, so I omitted the mint. (I have seen some recipes that don't include mint too).

Tzatziki

I used 2c of "Astro Balkan-style" plain yogurt, since that is the yogurt we buy most of the time. I also did not drain it overnight, since it is a thicker yogurt to begin with, and I didn't have that much time! Since it's best to allow the tzatziki to sit overnight so the flavours combine, and I wanted to serve it the next day, I let the yogurt drip a couple hours.

While I let my yogurt drain (in a jelly bag!) I peeled and grated my 4 little cucumbers, then put them in another jelly bag and wrung out as much juice as I could. I was surprised at the amount that came out. Then I minced up 3 large cloves of garlic, and a good handful of dill which I did not measure. I also added the juice of half a lemon, which I did not measure either. I don't often measure when I cook.

Smells like tzatziki

While I waited for my yogurt to drip, I combined the rest of the ingredients, and as it sat on my counter, the smell was amazing. It smelled just like tzatziki, and made me very excited to try it.

All mixed up

When I mixed it all up, it looked a lot more green than most tzatzikis I've seen, but that's alright with me. The initial taste test told me that letting it sit overnight was indeed the best choice, as the flavours need a chance to mingle. But it also told me my recipe was a success. (Next-morning taste test says: delicious, but if you are not a huge garlic fan, you may want to use less... a lot less!)

My plan for the tzatziki is to serve it with BBQ'd chicken skewers marinated in the PC Souvlaki marinade. There will also be zucchini, pepper, and onion skewers, to go along with the chicken. And it will be served with whole wheat Greek-style pitas.

I don't often plan a meal to this level of detail so far in advance, but this one has fallen together so well, and we have my parents visiting and having a set plan in advance means anyone can get started when they have a few minutes.

Preserving

Once again, I spent a Saturday acquiring fruit and tucking it away for winter.

Today I stopped in at the Pembroke Farmer's Market (needed more garlic for making pesto) and happened across someone selling harvest apples! I was so excited, as these are the apples my mom made applesauce with when I was a kid, and I've looked for them unsuccessfully for years. They are small, greenish-yellow in colour, and fairly soft and sweet- perfect for making applesauce. I got an approximate half-bushel, which produced 13 pints of applesauce. (I prefer pint jars)

Also on today's agenda was a trip to Hugli's Blueberry Ranch to do some blueberry picking. This was my first time ever picking blueberries, and I enjoyed it. Several other pickers commented on the lack of berries, but I thought the picking was good. It took a little effort, as many of the berries liked to hide within the branches, but I didn't mind. I was fortunate enough to be serenaded by a wedding happening on the grounds.

With some of the blueberries, I made my favourite kind of jam- Blueberry Lime Ginger jam. The basic recipe comes from the Bernardin home canning cookbook, although I've tweaked it a bit.

5c crushed blueberries

zest and juice of 1 large lime (or 2 small ones)

1T fresh grated ginger

1 pkg regular fruit pectin

5c sugar

Combine berries, lime zest and juice, and ginger in a large pot. Add pectin slowly, stirring to dissolve. Bring fruit to a rolling boil. Add sugar all at once and return to a rolling boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Ladle into jars, and process for 10min in boiling water bath.

This time, it produced 8c of jam.


Our meals have not been too exciting lately. Wednesday we had burgers with broccoli. Thursday we had noodle stir fry with hoisin sauce, using broccoli, peas, onions, and chicken. Friday Susannah and I had grilled cheese with carrots (hers cooked, mine raw). Tonight we had turkey burgers with peas. Nothing real inspired, but all of it tasty. At least we've been managing to get our veggies in at each meal.

New Veggie Day

Wednesday has become my favourite day of the week, because we get to pick up our fresh veggies from the CSA farm.

Part of the enjoyment is meeting other CSA members and/or farmers. Today we met several others picking up their veggies and making their choices, and also had a lovely little visit with Kylah and Dayvah.

Today we had lots of choices to make, but we came home with:
Beets
Broccoli
Red Fingerling Potatoes
Peas
Cucumbers
Zucchini
Green Onions
Basil
Kale
Green and Purple Peppers

this week's veggies- can you find them all?

Some exciting things are in store this week. Broccoli is a favourite veggie, and we are very happy to see it make an appearance in our share. I want to try making kale chips again, and will hopefully not burn them this time. I want to try making tzatziki with the cucumbers. And my parents are coming to visit, so the peppers are for my mom!

the zucchini are so cute, Susannah loved playing with them

I think a stir-fry or two is in order this week. I want to make one again with vermicelli rice noodles and hoisin sauce. I'm thinking broccoli, green onions, some fresh basil, and maybe some peas?  (as I learned to my embarrassment today, the pods are edible... oops!)

Mommy, we can eat these!

And we want to try chicken and veggie skewers again, with the zucchini for sure, and likely some onions and fresh pineapple (from the store... alas, there are no pineapple trees at RHG).

little veggie thief

Tonight we had BBQ turkey burgers with broccoli. Yum! We all loved the broccoli.

Leftovers

Some weeks, it feels like all you're eating is leftovers. This has been one of those weeks for me. Now, don't get me wrong- I am very much enjoying what I'm eating, and I regularly eat a lot of supper leftovers for lunches at work. I guess I just feel like I haven't cooked much. Or maybe it's just that I've been busy. Because looking at the list, we've had mostly "new" meals

This week, we had several amazing meals on our menu:
- Borscht with fresh whole wheat rolls (thanks to my bread machine for a starring role in that meal)
- Grilled (local!) lamb chops with roasted garlic-dill potatoes and fresh beans
- Turnip two ways pasta (using whole spelt linguini, and feta cheese)
- Chicken kabobs (with onion and zucchini) with rice
- Homemade BBQ burgers x2 (once with fresh beans, once with salad)
- Chicken tacos (with lettuce and the beautiful cherry tomatoes, salsa, sour cream, and cheese)
- Chicken quesadillas (with lettuce and cherry tomatoes, etc.)

Also, tomorrow is "New Veggie Day" which means that anything left in my fridge becomes a leftover from the previous week. This week, we have a few carrots left, one green onion, and some chard. Otherwise, we actually ate up all our veggies! (Well, there are 2 containers of borscht in the freezer, and a meal of turnip two ways for my lunch at work, and a few extra potatoes in the fridge too.) I'm not worried about the carrots- I know they'll get eaten up, and the onion will easily get tossed into something. It's the chard that worries me! I can think of several ways I could use it, but because it's not something I'm familiar with, it gets put off in favour of meals that I know I love, and require less thinking to make. What I need is a recipe that gets me excited, that I just HAVE to make it.

Looking ahead to the list for tomorrow, there are lots of choices- some easy, some more difficult. However, I am trying not to focus on the list, as I'm sure there will be some changes by the time pick-up time rolls around. And we all know how I deal with the unexpected! But it looks like a great list- once again, I am excited to collect our veggies and start a new week of our tasty adventure.

Raspberries

Alright, so the raspberries are not from RHG, but I did go to a local pick-your-own place today, and picked just over 4 quarts. I was intending to make some jam with them, until my husband started to talk about the "raspberry preserves" his grandmother used to make. It's one of the only ways he likes to eat raspberries. After some discussion and recipe perusal, we concluded that it's not a true "preserve". She actually just canned raspberries, as they were whole berries in a very thin syrup. Easy!

I used a light syrup recipe (1 part sugar to 2 parts water), and gently packed my berries into pint jars. Next I added the hot syrup, and processed for 15min in a hot water bath. I now have 8 pints of summer deliciousness cooling on my counter.

One of my favourite sounds in summer is the musical "pop" of jars sealing after being canned. It makes me happy to hear, as I know I've got little bits of summer tucked away for another day. Oh- just heard my first two pops!

This year, I've already put away two batches of Strawberry Vanilla jam, and a batch of Strawberry Lemon jam as well. I still plan to make some raspberry jam... maybe Monday? And of course blueberry! I can't live this close to a blueberry farm and not go pick some. A few years ago I made a delightful Blueberry-Lime-Ginger jam (which didn't set... long story) and I want to do it again. Except maybe this time I'll get it to set.

Ukrainian Borscht

This is how my husband's grandmother made borscht. His aunt gave me the recipe. I sometimes vary the veggies depending on what I have on hand. Cabbage is a good addition.

Ukrainian Borscht
8 cups water

3 medium beets

2-3 carrots, peeled

3 potatoes, peeled if desired

1 small chopped onion

2-3 chopped stalks of celery

1 can of diced or whole tomatoes

1 tsp salt (or to taste)
pepper to taste

1 can of brown beans

1 T parsley

1/2 cup of fresh dill

 

Boil beets, carrots and potatoes until softened.

 

Sauté onion and celery in a pan with a bit of butter or oil.

Love the pretty purple carrots.

Remove vegetables from water, remove skin from beets and chop beets and carrots, and mash potatoes. Return vegetables to water, add all other ingredients and simmer together until cooked through.

We enjoyed some whole wheat rolls and garlic butter with our borscht.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream on top. You can also add a squeeze of lemon or a bit of vinegar if you prefer a more sour taste.

I don't often add something sour, but tonight I was having trouble achieving the characteristic sour taste since all the veggies were so young and sweet. Adding some fresh lemon juice seemed to do the trick.

hurrah!

New Veggies! It's always a happy day when new veggies come home. This week our share included:


orange and purple carrots (2 bunches!)
red potatoes
multicoloured swiss chard
young onions
dill
green head lettuce
red, orange, yellow, and purple cherry tomatoes
green and yellow baby zucchini
yellow beans (and a few purple ones)
hakurei turnips

You may have noticed that our share seemed very "rainbow". That is one thing that I particularly love about RHG- they grow all sorts of heirloom varieties, which are fun to eat, and also good for plant diversity. So many great veggies are being eliminated in the supermarkets' quest for "perfectly normal" items. "Good produce" in the grocery store is defined by being consistent, always the same.

I was especially reminded of this at work today as I sat eating my colourful cherry tomatoes. One of my co-workers asked what in the world I was eating this time. (I am known for having unusual things in my lunch) Once I explained what they were, and where they were from, she said she'd not want to even try something weird like that. Even after being assured that they tasted just as good if not better than "normal" ones.

I very much enjoy trying new varieties of veggie, and am so happy I have the opportunity to share the adventure with my husband and 1 year old daughter. Susannah is a wonderful eater so far, and enjoys food. I hope I can instill in her an adventurous palate. Last year, her first carrots were purple, yellow, and white ones we bought at the "Taste of the Valley" event where we discovered Rainbow Heritage Garden.

One thing I am very excited to make this week is borscht. We still have some beets from a previous week, and with the fresh dill and other veggies it will be amazing. The "recipe" I use for borshct is an all-veggie variety, handed down from my husband's family (Ukrainian). I use quotes as it is more just a list of ingredients, and I find it turns out different every time. But it's always delicious.

I'm hoping there is enough dill left to try out the garlic and dill roasted potatoes, although if the weather stays warm I'm not going to be using my oven- BBQ it is!

I am also looking forward to making the turnip two ways again. We especially enjoyed it with feta cheese, so I plan to use that again.

Tonight we had chicken tacos, with some of the lettuce and tomatoes. A fairly basic meal for us, but not every night can be veggie-centric (and veggie-tastic!)

missin' my veggies

Sorry for the lack of posts- we were away on vacation, enjoying the sun and the heat while swimming in the lake. It was a great time with my family, and it was hard to leave.

So because we were away, we did not get our veggies last week. And I am in veggie withdrawal. Sure, we got a few fresh carrots and potatoes from my brother-in-law's parents farm (we gobbled those up pretty fast!), and we did have some from the grocery store. But somehow, it is just not the same. And now arriving home to a veggie-less house... it just seems wrong. On a more positive note, we did take our veggies from the week before along, and my family enjoyed them.

I hope Wednesday gets here soon!

kale convert

Ok, so I had some misgivings about the idea of kale, but I made kale chips out of it, and they were quite delicious! I added a bit of garlic, and used balsamic vinegar and some sesame oil. I think I'll try a different vinegar next time (the recipe suggested sherry vinegar, but I didn't have any). Cider vinegar would be my next try. I liked the garlic, and I am thinking maybe some ginger too. See, I am already making plans for the NEXT time I eat kale! I also baked the chips a tad longer than they needed, and a few had a rather burnt aftertaste. I'll know better next time.

I am also excited to try kale other ways. I am curious to try it raw. I tasted a little as I was preparing it to become chips, and I enjoyed it. And I am starting to get more comfortable with putting green leafies into things like stir frys and pasta dishes. It's not so weird after all.

the dinner dilemna

It's Friday evening, 5pm. Husband is out mowing the lawn after work, toddler is clingy, wanting to be held and read stories. Which is nice, but after a less-than-productive day, I was feeling the need to actually make something for dinner. So I tried to think of something to make.

A few stories later, and it's 5:30. I still have no idea what to make. I look up some beet recipes cuz I know we have beets we should eat. Most of them require roasting the beets. Which takes an hour. Which is too long, since Andrew needs to leave again by 6:30 for an evening event. Or they require grating, which is messy and also takes a long time. And I'm wearing a white shirt today.

So what to do? I open my fridge, and pull out ALL my veggies. I start a pot of water for pasta, and a pan to saute some veggies. I start washing and chopping. What cooks fast? Broccoli. Zucchini. GARLIC! Mushrooms. Beet Greens. By that point, I had a pretty big pile of chopped veggies, and figured that was probably enough.

I started with the garlic with some olive oil, and added in the broccoli. Then the zucchini and mushrooms. A bit of fresh ground pepper. Then the beet stems, and finally the beet greens, along with the juice of a zest-less lemon I had sitting around. (The beet roots went back in the fridge for another day!)

When the veggies were cooked, I added some fresh basil from my garden, and a jar of alfredo sauce. Mixed it all together, and added the whole grain penne. It was surprisingly even better than I expected. A successful experiment.

comfort zone

Everyone has a comfort zone. Mine can be pretty small! So when I had to make the choice between fennel and kale, it was difficult! Weird fluffy green-feathered peacock, vs. tough-looking, green frilly lace.

Fennel- these have less "feathers" than the ones at RHG-

they really did remind me of peacocks

Kale- at least the ones I chose were single leaves in a bunch

Ok, so kidding aside, I was quite intimidated at the prospect of either of these vegetables. I do enjoy trying new things, but it's much easier if I'm forced into it. (as in, it's in my share, I have to take it!) Having to choose which I am going to discover is a whole new level out of my comfort zone.

In the end, although I was very curious about the fennel (and tempted at the photo opportunities) I went with the kale, cuz I've heard a lot of people mention kale chips. My husband loves all "crunchy munchies" so I'm thinking kale chips might be a hit. (now I just have to find a good, easy recipe!)

The rest of our share contained salad mix, red head lettuce, young onions, garlic, parsley, beets, and TWO BROCCOLI! I am so excited about the broccoli. It is one of our favourite veggies and we often had it at least once a week. Since we started our CSA I've been missing it, so I am very happy to have my familiar friend broccoli back for a visit. I'm sure Susannah will agree.

new week

Once again, I am excited at the prospect of new fresh veggies! This week we've done fairly well at eating them, but we had a few meals away from home, and we've both been working lots. So we have a few veggies left over. We managed to eat all of our salad mix (finished that up tonight for supper, along with some leftover turkey-taco quesadillas), but we still have our spinach/chard mix and our head of lettuce left. However, I'm not too worried because I see our upcoming list doesn't contain many green leafies. It's nice to have the variety.

I definitely like eating things fresh and in season, but sometimes, it can almost be too much of a good thing. A few years ago, when my husband and I lived in Hamilton, we participated in a CSA there, and we got soooooo much salad mix that we got a little tired of it. Although our previous CSA was a much larger operation, they didn't seem to have the variety of vegetables that Rainbow Heritage Garden does. I continue to be amazed at the number of "new" items in our baskets each week. Sure, there have been a few things we've gotten more than once, but many of the items are ones we have not yet received. And from the sounds of it, the variety is not going to end any time soon!

experiments

I like to experiment in the kitchen. I usually start off with a recipe, or at least an idea of what I'm going to do, but it often ends up producing something completely different! Sometimes these experiments result in things we want to remember, other times they are quickly forgotten. My one problem is that I don't know what to call my successful creations.

Tonight we had a "throw it together" supper, which turned out to be amazing! I wanted to try the thai noodle and bok choi recipe, but couldn't find miso paste at any of the grocery stores I visited. (Please let me know if you have found it locally!) So I figured I'd just do some other sort of sauce. Then, the store I stopped at after work didn't have wide rice noodles- only the very skinny vermicelli. So I thought we'd try them out. And when I got home, the head of pac choi looked a lot smaller than I remembered, so I decided to add some scapes and zucchini as well.

When I started to cook, I didn't even bother to look at the recipe... instead I decided to experiment on my own.

I diced up the chicken breasts, and stir fried them in the wok along with a little sesame oil, and I added a little salt and pepper. When the chicken was cooked, I removed it, and put in a handful of scapes (chopped in 1" pieces), one zucchini (diced), and 5 cloves of minced garlic. Yes, it is a lot of garlic but we like it! When that was well on its way to cooked, I added in the chopped pac choi.

Meanwhile, I put the vermicelli noodles in hot water for 4 minutes (as directed on the package) and then added them to the mix. I also put the chicken back in.

For a sauce, I used hoisin sauce that I found in my pantry. And I put in the remainder of the cilantro from last week's share. And that's it!

our dinner... not sure what to call it!

Susannah, excited for her dinner

We all very much enjoyed this meal, and the only thing I would do differently would be to add more sauce. These noodles really soak it in, and need a lot more sauce than you might expect. When I first dished it up, it was great, but by the time we took seconds (and thirds!) it was starting to get a little dry. We added a little more sauce, and it was excellent again.

Spinach Casserole

This is a favourite in our family.

Spinach Casserole

2-3 eggs

6T whole wheat flour

2c cottage cheese

2c grated cheddar cheese

1/2t salt

1 lb fresh spinach (which is actually quite a lot!)

3T wheat germ

Beat eggs and flour until smooth. Stir in cheeses and salt. Add spinach (torn up if large leaves).

Pour into greased 9x13 pan. Sprinkle wheat germ over top.

Bake at 350F for 45 minutes.

It is excellent with cooked carrots- the vitamin C will help you absorb the iron from the spinach.

It is also great with some scapes, green onion, and/or regular old onion chopped up and added with the spinach.

busy busy

When our schedules get busy, I find it hard to take the time to cook. And this week has been busy. We have not eaten many of our beautiful vegetables yet. Last night, we just threw some burgers on the BBQ and had lettuce along with them. (I hesitate to claim it was salad, since it was just lettuce with dressing on, but that's "salad" in my house!) And the night before, we had dinner out. But tonight I cooked up the turnip two ways again, and we loved it even more than the first time I made it. Finally, a real veggie meal.

This time, I had a larger bunch of turnips, I used feta cheese (last time I used parmesan), and I remembered the salt and pepper! I also used the young garlic. It almost seemed like a different meal.

Tonight, we really enjoyed the creaminess of the melted feta. Last time the pasta had more of a light dressing, this time it seemed more sauce-like. The turnip rounds are little bursts of sweetness amid the salty sourness of the lemon-feta sauce. I cooked them a little slower this time, which I think enhanced their natural sweetness even more. And the greens add beautiful colour. Last time, the lemon was almost overpowering (I thought it was ok, my husband thought it was a little strong), but this time it seemed the perfect amount. I think the cheese made the difference.

An excellent meal- one will be featured frequently in our house!

the unexpected

My husband would be the first to tell you- I do not always deal well with the unexpected. So when Susannah and I went to the farm to pick up our veggies today, and I discovered that our veggie list was slightly different than that posted on the farm blog, I was slightly disappointed. Not a huge bit- just a little. I completely understand why things happen like that- I grew up on a farm. I know how the weather can play havoc with plans, and how things don't always grow exactly as expected. And so while I was not upset in any way, I was a little disappointed. I had seen the choice items on the list, and had easily made my choices. Or so I thought!

Our beautiful veggies (and strawberries).

Our veggie share this week consisted of:
salad mix (huge bag of it!)
pac choi
spinach and chard mix
head of lettuce (surprise!)
green garlic
hakurei turnips (big bunch!)
strawberries
peas (surprise!)
green peppers (which we didn't take since we don't eat them... but they looked cute!)

zucchini
scapes (or cilantro- tough choice, but we took the scapes since I have a bit of cilantro left over from last week, and because scape season doesn't last forever)


The farm worker who assisted us with gathering our share was kind enough to offer me an extra zucchini because we didn't take our green peppers. I had been looking forward to giving Susannah her first taste of local broccoli (her favourite veggie!) but that will just have to wait another week. It was hard though, seeing fresh broccoli there that others would be receiving!

But, in spite of my slight disappointment, I am very excited about our veggies for the week. Tonight we're having turkey tacos, so we'll be using some of the garlic (with the meat), and some lettuce. we discovered we are out of ground turkey! So we had perogies that we found in the deep freeze while looking for the turkey. Once the perogies were cooked, we threw the peas into the water, and enjoyed the fresh peas (what was left after snacking on them). We supplemented the fresh peas with some frozen ones, but they're just not nearly as good.

This week, I am also excited to try this recipe for pac choi with rice noodles. And I foresee a lot of salads in our future! I want to make the turnip two ways again as well, since we all enjoyed it, and our bunch of turnips looks even bigger this week.

Once again, Susannah made a beeline for the strawberries as soon as we got home.

My little strawberry thief.

She loves her fresh local berries.

last day of the week

Last day of the week... the end of the veggies. Sigh...

The end of the week usually means eating up the veggies we're either less fond of, or don't know what to do with. It's hard to get excited about something you haven't found a way to like yet.

And there is always the question... What's for dinner? This week we have a few green onions and some radishes left. What kind of meal can you make from that? Well, we had radish sandwiches! (Susannah had some leftover turkey burger). Radish sandwiches is something my dad would make when I was a kid. They're still as good as I remember. It's the only way I've ever liked a radish. My husband enjoyed the sandwiches as well.

Radish Sandwich: Two slices of whole wheat bread, butter, thin slices of radish, a bit of salt (and pepper if you wish). That's it! Using the easter egg radishes made them even prettier than usual. I even made a pattern from the purple, pink, and white circles.

The last day of the week is also the day that our CSA posts the produce list for the next day. Maybe they know we need the excitement. This week, there are two "choice" items that I am excited about. We can choose between green peppers or broccoli, and between cilantro or mint. For us, the choices are no-brainers- we're not pepper eaters and we LOVE broccoli (it's one of Susannah's favourite foods), and the only thing I use mint for is tea, but many of our favourite recipes feature cilantro. We're going to see lots of greens coming our way. There are some repeats from last week, as well as some new intros for the season. I can't wait to pick up our veggies tomorrow :)

chinese cabbage

After using less than half of our enormous chinese cabbage in the pad thai a few days ago, I needed something else to do with it. I had planned to use some in a stir fry or pasta dish (easy) but I was intrigued by this chinese cabbage salad that I came across. I actually had all the ingredients in the house, so I decided to try it for dinner tonight.

The recipe calls for a medium head of chinese cabbage. Since I wasn't sure what size they normally are (mine seemed big, but maybe that's how they come?) I googled it! I discovered that "chinese cabbage" is basically synonymous with "green or green-and-white asian vegetable" and there are many different varieties, including napa cabbage and bok choy. Based on the amounts of the other ingredients in the recipe, I concluded that my now-just-large head of chinese cabbage was probably still too much. I still have enough left to add to a stir fry!

Let me tell you... this salad is AMAZING! The perfect blend of sweet and sour flavours. A very light but zippy dressing. A nice assortment of crunches from the apples, cabbage, and almonds. This has become my favourite salad, and I've only made it once! I am looking forward to the rest of it in my lunch tomorrow. The recipe says it works well to make ahead, so while I normally hate "second day salad" I am willing to give this one a try. We will definitely be having this again... as soon as we get another chinese cabbage!

Turnip Two Ways

One of my favourite things about discovering new vegetables is finding new recipes to try. I love to read cookbooks, just looking at the recipes and imagining what they might be like. Although I love to cook and try new things, it's easy for me to get into the same old "same old" routine, just because it's easy and I'm busy. But when I have foods that I'm not quite sure what to do with, new recipes seem like much less of a bother. And having them handed to me is even better!

Tonight for supper, we tried "turnip two ways" which was actually a very delicious dish, and quite simple (and quick!) to make. I used some whole grain spelt linguini, which paired nicely with the hakurei turnips and greens. Since I didn't have green garlic, I used a clove of regular garlic, and a few scapes. Next time I would definitely add more scapes! The lemon and olive oil was a very light taste, and I did add some fresh grated parmesan as suggested in the recipe. I forgot to add salt and pepper until I saw my husband adding some at the table. oops! Adding them brightened up the flavour a bit. Once again, we had a few leftovers, and I got a freezer meal out of it too!

Delicious!

Yesterday I made spinach casserole with some of the scapes. We all enjoyed it, and there was even some leftover for a freezer lunch. (I freeze leftovers in lunch-sized portions for taking to work).

Tonight, I'm made pad thai with the fresh cilantro, green onions, garlic scapes, and chinese cabbage. Usually I use zucchini, carrots, and cabbage for the veggies, but I'm embracing the CSA lifestyle and using what I have. (I did buy some bean sprouts though!) I only used less than half of the chinese cabbage- that thing is HUGE! We all greatly enjoyed the meal, and there was enough left over for several freezer lunches. :) Those will be some yummy days.

Our strawberries disappeared very quickly- Andy and I had some on Wednesday night with vanilla ice cream, and Susannah finished them off for breakfast the next morning. There's something about fresh-picked local berries that makes them so much better than the overgrown ones from the grocery store. I want to go "pick your own" sometime this weekend- maybe tomorrow. (I want to make strawberry-vanilla jam again.)

So far this week, we have eaten CSA veggies each day, but have needed to supplement them with some store-bought veggies. Once the season gets rolling I'm sure our store supplements will decrease, being limited to a few favourites. I love the idea of eating only what is in season, but with a toddler, sometimes having consistency is important as well! (Plus, what would I do until this year's garlic is ready for harvest?)

First Taste of Summer

When we got home from picking up our veggies, I was laying them out on the counter to take stock of what we had before putting it away in the fridge.

scapes, cilantro, lettuce, green onions, eater egg radishes,
hakurei salad turnips, strawberries, and chinese cabbage

I turned around to find Susannah reaching up and into the basket, snatching some strawberries! I quickly put a bib on her before allowing her to continue... and snapping some pictures!

checking out the basket

enjoying the berries

love that guilty look

 So, after Susannah and I enjoyed some (ok, a lot) of the strawberries, I packed the veggies away in the fridge.

doesn't look like that much all packed away

Now, you are probably wondering what fantastic meal I cooked up with our wonderful new veggies. Sadly, we just had turkey burgers! (I had a bunch of ground turkey from Costco that I was making into burgers and meatballs to freeze) Tomorrow night though, we'll be having a spinach and cheese casserole I've made before, featuring some of the garlic scapes! It's a favourite in this household, especially when there's scapes to add!

I also want to try the turnip two ways pasta recipe linked on the farm blog. And some pad thai, I think, with the cilantro, green onions, and chinese cabbage. And maybe a simple radish sandwich on brown bread with butter and salt- a favourite from my childhood! I want to try some pickled radishes sometime too, but I am sure we will get more radishes in the future.

I like having plans for meals, so I know in advance what I'm making. But I seem to be very bad at planning ahead, so often it's 20 minutes before dinner time and I'm trying to figure out what to make! But with these great ideas, I have plans for most of the week. I'm looking forward to it.

CSA Week #1!

Today is our very first weekly pick-up of our CSA share, and I am excited! Right now I am waiting for Susannah to wake from her nap so we can go collect our share of the crop. This is our first year participating with Rainbow Heritage Garden, who happen to be our neighbours. Ever since we signed up and paid in the spring, I have been eagerly awaiting the first greens of spring. Unfortunately, due to heavy rain this spring, our first basket was delayed by a week (but that's the whole point of CSA!) Plus, we were on vacation, so actually getting the basket would have been problematic. It has worked out perfectly!

So, today is finally the day that we get our first, long-awaited basket of the season! On Monday, our CSA farmers posted a list of our basket contents on their blog which made my mouth water. Some of the veggies I am quite familiar with (head lettuce, green onions, cilantro), while others are newer to me (garlic scapes, chinese cabbage), and some I am excited to try for the first time (hakurei salad turnips, easter egg radishes). Even better, they posted some recipes for the lesser known veggies. Plus... we get STRAWBERRIES!

Now, with CSA I always feel some uncertainty. Will it be enough? (quite likely) Too much? (maybe later in the season) Will we like the new veggies? (probably) Will Susannah? (maybe) What if I don't know what something is? (ask) What if I don't know what to do with something? (find a recipe!) I am certain that after a week or two, these worries will fade, and we will embrace our summer lifestyle of CSA baskets.

I am ready for our adventure to begin!