CSA harvest Box: weeks 14, 15, and 16

Week 14: cherry tomatoes, sweet corn, red potatoes, candy onion, gala apples, sweet peppers, hot peppers, Italian parsley, fresh garbanzo beans, and tomatoes.

The garbanzo beans are yummy but I'm not sure they're worth the effort on round two! This time I steamed them and made another batch of hummus, which was pretty yummy. Particularly on a ham and Swiss sandwich, replacing the mayo. Yum! I had a few tomatoes from our garden, so I canned them along with these, since Matt's not a big fan of fresh tomatoes and I just can't eat that many! They are so sweet and juicy though- it was kind of a shame to cook them all! But it will be so nice to pop open that jar when the fresh summer tomatoes are a thing of the past...

with the weather chilling up, I made garlic mashed potatoes out of the baby reds we got this week. Mmmm. Still not as good as the grilled potatoes and leeks from weeks past, but it's hard to beat mashed potatoes!

I'm still not a big fan of honey-dew. The cantaloupes from the farm were to die for, so I had my hopes up for this little green-fleshed melon... but I pretty much fed the whole thing to Rowen. he liked it! The apples, on the other hand, are the best. THE BEST. We gobbled them up in no time. So sweet, crisp, juicy... just perfect. We were sad to have to eat a store-bought apple when they were gone!

I still haven't used the peppers or the parsley, which I'm sure is quite brown & mushy by now. I heard that parsley dries up breast milk so I've been wary to use it every time we get it! I guess I should have frozen it for later... oh well.

Week 15:

sweet corn, melons, cucumber, gala apples, beets, potatoes, hot peppers, and a sweet onion. Oh, yeah, and a Sugar Pie pumpkin!

I'm holding on to the pumpkin for pumpkin pie season! It's in the garage where it'll stay nice and cool and hopefully keep for a month. I pickled the little cucumbers (batch two!) and roasted the beats- which are not only one of Rowen's favorite things to eat, but to paint with as well!I baked the potatoes this week, which was rather blah... I think I'll stick with russets for baking since they get so nice and fluffy. The honey-dew again went to Rowen (who enjoyed it very much) and I put half a hot pepper in our black beans the other night. It seemed pretty spicy raw, but after cooking I couldn't hardly taste it. Guess I shouldn't be so timid!

Week 16:a sugar pie pumpkin, Stripetti Spaghetti squash, Candy Sweet onion, a fruit of our choice, hot peppers (Anaheim or Hot Banana), carrots, cucumber, and tomatoes or eggplant.

In our email from the farm this week:

"Pumpkin shortage? That is what the news headline said. ... Sure enough, the wet, cold weather suffered by the northeast (where the majority of all canned pumpkin is produced) this past summer ... took its toll on pie pumpkins. ... According to news sources, the squash that is generally grown for canned pumpkin pie filling was a total loss, and the only canned pumpkin left for holiday baking is left from last season and in short supply. I noticed over the weekend that there is still canned pumpkin here locally, but shelves on the east coast are empty and folks are panicking!"

crazy!! Well, in that case, I'm saving BOTH my pumpkins! They are so cute, I may put them on the front porch instead of in the garage where I'm sure they'll keep equally well until it starts freezing at night. Well, on second thought, I don't want to risk loosing my pumpkins. In the garage they'll stay.

Normally I don't post the week's box until I've used what was in it, but "normally" these days is taking a month to post anything at all, so here's what I'm PLANNING on doing, I'll let you know how it goes!

I'm super excited to use the stripetti squash. You just roast it, scoop out the "noodles" and top with some sort of sauce- butter and Parmesan is a favorite, but I may go for something healthier. Matt and I are feelin' the extra weight these days and are going to start eating better- and squash to replace pasta is a great start!

I put the pears, unripe, in the garage with the pumpkins. It will be nice to save them a while until they ripen up. We were bummed they weren't more apples, but pears will do! I might make baba ganoush (pardon the spelling... no clue.) out of the eggplant. Not sure there yet.

and oh no... more peppers. I have SO MANY PEPPERS!! Should I roast them in the oven? Hm.... it's a thought...