This is what was in my CSA box of goodies today:

Potatoes: some yellow, some blue, some red; about two pounds in all
Red onions: 2 oblate, 1 small prolate
Purple string beans, just over a pound
2 heads leaf lettuce
4 squash: 1 each zucchini, pattypan, zephyr, and yellow crookneck
1 bunch of cilantro
1 bunch of collard greens
1 bunch of parsley
1 bunch of basil
1 bunch of pretty radishes with greens
1 bunch of dill
1 bunch of carrots with greens
3 kohlrabi
3 cucumbers
1 pint yellow cherry tomatoes and six full-sized red tomatoes
1 watermelon about 9 inches in diameter
1 pint blueberries
3 bunches seedless red grapes -- they look like those tiny "champagne"
grapes

I also stopped off at the Roseville Tuesday-morning farmer's market and got
figs, peaches, and nectarines.

My girlfriend is out of town, so I shared with my ex-girlfriend and her
mother. They took a head of lettuce, some of the parsley, some of the
radishes, some of the basil, the entire bunch of dill, a couple peaches and
nectarines, one of the cucumbers, about a third of the carrots, and a couple
red tomatoes. That still leaves me with plenty of stuff!

I gave away the entire bunch of dill because I haven't found any recipes
(other than ranch dressing) where I really like dill. But I'm continuing to
think about it.

I'm cooking ribs today. I put a dry rub (brown sugar, salt, and spices) on
them last night and let the spices permeate them until I got home from my
morning errands. Then I wrapped them in foil, poured in a braising liquid
(white wine, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, honey, and garlic), and sealed
the foil packets. They're cooking very slowly in my grill now. When they're
falling-off-the-bone tender in a couple hours, I'll take them out of the
foil, brush with a glaze (made by reducing the braising liquid to a syrup),
and put them onto the grill to get crackly and smoky.

To go along with the ribs, I'm going to make vegetable salad: This is like
potato salad, only it includes vegetables besides the potatoes. In this case
I'll cook a couple potatoes, a kohlrabi, and some carrots. I'll also peel,
seed, and chop one of the cucumbers to put in there, and I'll use an onion
left over from last week. The string beans would be good in there also, but
I have other things in mind for them. (In particular, they were REALLY good
in a Thai salad a couple weeks ago.)

I'll also make a tossed salad with about half the lettuce, halved cherry
tomatoes, small cubes of Monterey Jack cheese, and a vinaigrette using the
marjoram vinegar I made back around the beginning of June. I'll have
watermelon cubes and frozen grapes for dessert.

I'm going to try making that recently-posted coffee cake with dried apricots
and fresh blueberries, though I plan to add a fair amount of honey. I'll
make that sometime tomorrow. I'll also have a Caprese salad tomorrow, one of
the all-time great summertime salads: It's just tomato slices, basil leaves,
and fresh mozzarella cheese, but it's an awesome flavor combination. I
usually have it with focaccia, extra-virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar,
coarse salt, and freshly-ground pepper.

As to the remainder of the stuff, I only have vague plans. At some point I
plan on making Jill's summer squash casserole, using bread crumbs (or
cornbread crumbs, depending on what I have that day), eggs, Parmesan cheese,
onions, and spices.

I have a couple pounds of carrots accumulated; I'll probably just juice
them. I love fresh carrot juice. And I'll eat the radishes plain, maybe just
with salt and pepper. That's what I did with the last bunch, and it was a
very refreshing snack at work. I've also got some parsley left over from
last week, and along with this week's parsley it's starting to pile up. I'm
thinking of making tabbouleh but I don't have any bulgur and I don't want to
run out and buy some just for that, so maybe I'll try it using couscous,
orzo, or brown rice instead.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the collard greens. I just had them
slow-cooked with sweet spices and cornbread last week, so I'm considering
stir-frying them with garlic this week, but my mind isn't made up.

I'm also not sure what I'm going to do with the cilantro. I'm a bit
disappointed with it: Last week I sent an e-mail to the farmer asking that
whenever we get cilantro we also get the roots, since cilantro roots are a
frequent ingredient in Thai cooking. But this bunch of cilantro doesn't have
roots. Oh well. If I make the Thai salad again (with the purple string
beans), the cilantro can go in there. Or it can go into hundreds of other
dishes; I don't think I'll have any problem using it up.

Comments, recommendations, and suggestions will be gratefully received.

Bob

Oh pshaw, on Tue 04 Jul 2006 07:22:01p, Bob Terwilliger meant to say...

> This is what was in my CSA box of goodies today:
>
> Potatoes: some yellow, some blue, some red; about two pounds in all
> Red onions: 2 oblate, 1 small prolate
> Purple string beans, just over a pound
> 2 heads leaf lettuce
> 4 squash: 1 each zucchini, pattypan, zephyr, and yellow crookneck
> 1 bunch of cilantro
> 1 bunch of collard greens
> 1 bunch of parsley
> 1 bunch of basil
> 1 bunch of pretty radishes with greens
> 1 bunch of dill
> 1 bunch of carrots with greens
> 3 kohlrabi
> 3 cucumbers
> 1 pint yellow cherry tomatoes and six full-sized red tomatoes
> 1 watermelon about 9 inches in diameter
> 1 pint blueberries
> 3 bunches seedless red grapes -- they look like those tiny "champagne"
> grapes
>
> I also stopped off at the Roseville Tuesday-morning farmer's market and
> got figs, peaches, and nectarines.

Lots and lots of goodies! Sounds yummy!

> My girlfriend is out of town, so I shared with my ex-girlfriend and her
> mother. They took a head of lettuce, some of the parsley, some of the
> radishes, some of the basil, the entire bunch of dill, a couple peaches
> and nectarines, one of the cucumbers, about a third of the carrots, and
> a couple red tomatoes. That still leaves me with plenty of stuff!
>
> I gave away the entire bunch of dill because I haven't found any recipes
> (other than ranch dressing) where I really like dill. But I'm continuing
> to think about it.
>
> I'm cooking ribs today. I put a dry rub (brown sugar, salt, and spices)
> on them last night and let the spices permeate them until I got home
> from my morning errands. Then I wrapped them in foil, poured in a
> braising liquid (white wine, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, honey, and
> garlic), and sealed the foil packets. They're cooking very slowly in my
> grill now. When they're falling-off-the-bone tender in a couple hours,
> I'll take them out of the foil, brush with a glaze (made by reducing the
> braising liquid to a syrup), and put them onto the grill to get crackly
> and smoky.

Sounds exactly like the Alton Brown recipe I made today. Very tasty!

> To go along with the ribs, I'm going to make vegetable salad: This is
> like potato salad, only it includes vegetables besides the potatoes. In
> this case I'll cook a couple potatoes, a kohlrabi, and some carrots.
> I'll also peel, seed, and chop one of the cucumbers to put in there, and
> I'll use an onion left over from last week. The string beans would be
> good in there also, but I have other things in mind for them. (In
> particular, they were REALLY good in a Thai salad a couple weeks ago.)

I only made coleslaw and oven-fried potatoes, but it was more than enough
with the ribs.

> I'll also make a tossed salad with about half the lettuce, halved cherry
> tomatoes, small cubes of Monterey Jack cheese, and a vinaigrette using
> the marjoram vinegar I made back around the beginning of June. I'll have
> watermelon cubes and frozen grapes for dessert.
>
> I'm going to try making that recently-posted coffee cake with dried
> apricots and fresh blueberries, though I plan to add a fair amount of
> honey. I'll make that sometime tomorrow. I'll also have a Caprese salad
> tomorrow, one of the all-time great summertime salads: It's just tomato
> slices, basil leaves, and fresh mozzarella cheese, but it's an awesome
> flavor combination. I usually have it with focaccia, extra-virgin olive
> oil, balsamic vinegar, coarse salt, and freshly-ground pepper.
>
> As to the remainder of the stuff, I only have vague plans. At some point
> I plan on making Jill's summer squash casserole, using bread crumbs (or
> cornbread crumbs, depending on what I have that day), eggs, Parmesan
> cheese, onions, and spices.
>
> I have a couple pounds of carrots accumulated; I'll probably just juice
> them. I love fresh carrot juice. And I'll eat the radishes plain, maybe
> just with salt and pepper. That's what I did with the last bunch, and it
> was a very refreshing snack at work. I've also got some parsley left
> over from last week, and along with this week's parsley it's starting to
> pile up. I'm thinking of making tabbouleh but I don't have any bulgur
> and I don't want to run out and buy some just for that, so maybe I'll
> try it using couscous, orzo, or brown rice instead.

I haven't made tabbouleh in a long time, and I love the stuff. Somehow I
don't think I'd like it without the bulgur.

> I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the collard greens. I just had
> them slow-cooked with sweet spices and cornbread last week, so I'm
> considering stir-frying them with garlic this week, but my mind isn't
> made up.

Do collards really get tender in a stirfry? I've only slow-cooked them.

> I'm also not sure what I'm going to do with the cilantro. I'm a bit
> disappointed with it: Last week I sent an e-mail to the farmer asking
> that whenever we get cilantro we also get the roots, since cilantro
> roots are a frequent ingredient in Thai cooking. But this bunch of
> cilantro doesn't have roots. Oh well. If I make the Thai salad again
> (with the purple string beans), the cilantro can go in there. Or it can
> go into hundreds of other dishes; I don't think I'll have any problem
> using it up.
>
> Comments, recommendations, and suggestions will be gratefully received.

Sound well rounded to me. I'd like to know how the stirfried collards come
out.

--
Wayne Boatwright @¿@¬
_____________________

I'm so jealous when you post about your CSA boxes! Are they literally
dropped off at your doorstep?

I want to get involved with a CSA, but all the ones I can find in my
area have pick up points that are not very convenient right now. I
think it will be less of a hassle in a year or so.

I love the idea of fresh, seasonal, local produce and I think a big
CSA box would force me to be more creative and try new items and
recipes.

Tara

Tara wrote:

> I'm so jealous when you post about your CSA boxes! Are they literally
> dropped off at your doorstep?

No, they're left on the porch of a house in a neighboring town, about 8
miles from my house. But both my current girlfriend and my ex-girlfriend
live in that town, and I usually split the produce with them, so it's
relatively convenient.


> I want to get involved with a CSA, but all the ones I can find in my
> area have pick up points that are not very convenient right now. I
> think it will be less of a hassle in a year or so.

CSA's are getting more and more popular; I hope you can get into one soon.


> I love the idea of fresh, seasonal, local produce and I think a big
> CSA box would force me to be more creative and try new items and
> recipes.

Those are exactly my reasons for joining! It also helps that I'm in an area
with superb conditions for agriculture.

Bob

Sandy wrote:

> What is zephyr squash like?

Very much like a zucchini, except in appearance. They really look artificial
to me; I posted a picture of the first one I got at
http://i5.tinypic.com/155l1zq.jpg.


> That's almost exactly how I prepared our spare ribs for our 4th of July
> dinner yesterday! I add the braising liquid to some commercial BBQ
> sauce, add some of the spice rub, and brush it over the ribs. There
> weren't any left, so I can only assume they were pretty good! I made
> baked beans, a cucumber-tomato-bell pepper salad and corn on the cob to
> go with it. Watermelon, strawberries and vanilla ice cream to eat
> while waiting for the fireworks to start.

The CSA corn hasn't come out yet. Neither have the plums. But the newsletter
I get each week promises that they'll be out sometime soon, and I eagerly
anticipate their arrival!

Bob

On 6 Jul 2006 13:47:02 -0500, "Bob Terwilliger"
> wrote:

>Sandy wrote:
>
>> What is zephyr squash like?
>
>Very much like a zucchini, except in appearance. They really look artificial
>to me; I posted a picture of the first one I got at
>http://i5.tinypic.com/155l1zq.jpg.
>
>
>Bob
>

One of the vendors at the local Farmers Market had some zephyr today.
I am growing some that look much the same, except that mine are shaped
more like a summer squash. The plant is a volunteer for some of the
squash that got tossed last year.

--
Susan N.

"Moral indignation is in most cases two percent moral,
48 percent indignation, and 50 percent envy."
Vittorio De Sica, Italian movie director (1901-1974