CSA for Thursday, August 8th

Anybody thinking of adding a kitten to their home?
We've some adorable barn kitties looking for loving
forever homes!

Cool morning to start but warmed up nicely.  Nice to have family visiting who got 'drafted' into all kinds of assorted labor!  Sister Keltie and niece Laura were steaming some cherries for juice for jelly.  As well, Keltie did a lot of the weighing and bagging.  Laura picked peas and cleaned onions, nephew Jack cleaned Romaine and found a few interesting links for the blog!  The family goes home on the weekend so we're soliciting help picking raspberries next week!  If you love raspberries in your basket, as the picking gets a little harder we have less time for it - so if you can help next Thursday morning you'd be most welcome!  Volunteers always go home with a bonus!

A lovely first pick on cucumbers from both Amanda and Ed and ourselves - but only for the Fulls and Singles, sorry to the Part Shares this week!  That seems a bit more like summer when we can finally start picking cucumbers!  Amanda and Ed also came up with another round of gorgeous cabbage; cabbage and lettuce have loved this cool, moist summer.  Check out the newsletter for Tuesdays' CSA families for some great links for cabbage recipes.  Thursday CSA member Naomi is moving so she's sharing the herbs she can't take with her!  Yeah for fresh herbs!

Now, speaking of cabbage let's share some more good recipes because there is never such a thing as too much cabbage, and the season for summer cabbage is winding down. This is one my niece shared with me that uses pasta and bacon.


Cabbage & Noodles with Bacon

1 head of cabbage, chopped
1 pound of bacon
1 large onion, chopped
2-3 large handfuls of egg noodles
Black pepper

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook the bacon until crisp. Remove from the pan and drain on paper towels, then break into bite-sized pieces. (Warning: there’s a chance that you could end up snacking on the bacon bits while you’re finishing dinner. It’s been known to happen here.)

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to boil for the egg noodles. Add the noodles and cook until done. Drain the noodles and set aside.

Drain some of the bacon fat from the pan, reserving enough to cook the onions. Add the chopped onion to the pan and cook for about 1-2 minutes, or until the onions begin to soften. Add the cabbage to the skillet and cook until tender, stirring occasionally. When the cabbage is tender, add the egg noodles and bacon, mixing thoroughly. Season with pepper. Serve immediately.

Sounds pretty good to me, check out this awesome rustic cabbage soup recipe also as it will use more than a few ingredients from today's batch of veggies but don't forget to adjust for how many people you are cooking for.  Now here is an interesting recipe for grilled cabbage wedges with a spicy lime dressing, seems like it would be a refreshing summer dish.

Dragons tongue beans are finally ready to pick; they look funky but they can be treated like any other beans out there.  They are tender, juicy and stringless with great flavour - our favourite bean now.  Nephew Jack has been googling recipes for me and did locate a nice recipe for a good side dish using them. The zucchini is coming in nicely now as well and we included a few nice recipes with the last blog entry and here are a few more: anyone who likes spanikopita might also like to try this recipe for kolokithopita, continuing the Greek theme here is some Greek style zucchini fritters and lastly how can a recipe post for zucchini be complete without some form of zucchini bread.

So, this week in the boxes:

FULL SHARES:  Large cabbage, cucumber, Dragons tongue beans, small bag purple beans, red onions, Red Sails lettuce, Romaine lettuce, summer squash (black and golden), 3 lbs. new Norland potatoes, two pints Red Mammoth raspberries, bunch of herbs.

PART SHARES:  Medium cabbage, Dragon's Tongue beans, purple  beans, red onion, Red Sails lettuce, Romaine lettuce, summer squash (black zucchini or Lolita Middle Eastern squash), 2 lbs. new Norland potatoes, pint of Red Mammoth raspberries, bunch of herbs.

SINGLE SHARES:  Small cabbage, cucumber, Dragons Tongue beans, purple beans, red onions, Red Sails leaf lettuce,  summer squash Papaya Pear, 2 lbs. new Norland potatoes, pint of Red Mammoth raspberries.

Enjoy!