CSA For September 26th!

A touch of frost on the Buttercup squash!

Not the kind of day we'd prefer for getting ready for our CSA families!  Raining when I got up, we got a little window-of-opportunity mid-morning, then rain again, then stopping early afternoon.  Fortunately, we had winter squash already harvested; cucumbers, carrots and tomatillos may be mucky! Fall is so apparent in the garden - a touch of frost on the leaves, cucumbers are starting to grow in odd shapes and hardly any flowers are apparent so it's probably the last taste of cucumber this season.  The summer squash are finally slowing down, but they are not done until hard frost, which is not in the forecast.  We're also seeing more 'nibbling' by wee creatures, admittedly some by our free-ranging chickens but also mice, raccoons and others are stocking up for winter!

Today is the second-to-last share for Thursday's families!  At the final share next week we hope to stock you up with some winter squash - so it will be a heavy one!  Today has some weight to it, too!  We'll also share tomatoes with everyone next week - ripe or not!  You can ripen them on your counters - just turn them everyday so that they don't get soft spots where they sit!

It drives me absolutely crazy, this time of year, when recipes are posted online that call for a can of pumpkin puree!  This is the time of year to use fresh....and CSA members should definitely be roasting some of their Winter Squash and freezing one cup portions for yummy baking all winter!  We freeze them in the small, zip-top bags - they stack so nicely in the freezer and don't take up much room.  Nonetheless, this recipe for Pumpkin oatmeal cookies sound delish!  We'll be using regular whole wheat flour, regular brown sugar and they should still be awesome!  This Pumpkin Sheet Cake with cream cheese icing also sounds good - and easy!  Both these recipes would be awesome with Kabocha squash, a little more nutty flavor with Buttercup or Hubbard!

Here's one to bookmark: a link of links to a myriad of winter squash recipes!  The Pumpkin Fritters with salted caramel sauce sound divine - Kabocha squash would be awesome in that one!  The pumpkin pretzels sound fun, too!  There's just a ton of great links for everything from appetizers to soup to dessert!  And if you love a hot breakfast, try this Pumpkin Spice Oatmeal!  For dinner, here's a Chicken Pot Pie with Squash and Bacon!  Also found this recipe for Hummus made with Winter Squash - perfect for Sunday football games!  The recipe is using Delicata, and I'm not sure we'll have enough to share but you can, as always, substitute another winter squash.  Hopefully next week we'll have at least a few Delicata on the trading table!

If you've got tomatillos to deal with here's an easy and yummy recipe for Roast Tomatillo Salsa!  Tuesday member Reta did a version of this and is a big fan.  Jes got to sample it and is now a big fan, too!

So, in the boxes today:

FULL SHARES:  Winter squash Hubbard (the pointy orange one), Kabocha (the round orange one), spaghetti and acorn, summer squash either Patty Pan or Crookneck and zucchini, cucumber, apples, peppers including jalapeno, Hungarian hot wax and Thai chili, carrots.

PART SHARES:  Winter squash including Hubbard, Kabocha and spaghetti, summer squash Moroccan and zucchini, cucumber, apples, peppers including jalapeno and Hungarian hot wax, carrots, tomatoes.

SINGLE SHARES:  Winter squash Hubbard and spaghetti, zucchini, apples, jalapeno and Hungarian hot wax peppers, carrots, tomatillos.

CSA for September 24th!

This is the second last pick-up! This will be the one of the latest seasons, with the final box in early October, but we did start later than ever this year what with a cool, moist Spring!

It's Winter Squash season now...and you'll be getting a bit of a 'stash' in these last two weeks.  We always say that they are somewhat interchangeable in recipes...except spaghetti squash, although if mashed up or blended well enough it's very good in all the recipes!  The recipes will taste differently, depending on the squash you use, but all good!  Everyone is getting a spaghetti squash today, so here's a brief review on roasting spaghetti squash!  So, here's a pumpkin custard that's dairy and gluten-free!  Awesome dessert for Thanksgiving dinner!  This would be awesome with pumpkin, Kabocha, Hubbard or Boston Marrow.  A bit more nutty and textured with Buttercup or Acorn.  Do you like a breakfast smoothie?  Here's a super healthy Pumpkin Pie Smoothie!  This includes kefir, a healthy probiotic, which you can purchase at local health food stores or substitute yogurt!  This is a somewhat simpler Pumpkin Smoothie with bananas and milk or yogurt!  Just 'cause it is 'the season', here's a recipe for Pumpkin Pie Spice.   Make it up ahead then you're ready for all those muffins, pies, loaves, smoothies and custards!  For us, we're going to probably quadruple a recipe like this...it's not going to go bad, right?  How about starting your day with Winter Squash Baked Oatmeal?  And then, if you want to be slightly more decadent...how about Butternut Swirl Cheesecake?  Or Pumpkin Gingerbread, although ignore the part that calls for a can of pumpkin puree and use your fresh baked!

Winter squash are not just for dessert!  How about Squash and Bean Tacos, with Tomatillo Salsa?  This S'ghetti-Q Squash with BBQ beef and loads of cheese sounds yummy but pretty simple!  Start the morning with Pumpkin Pancakes made with coconut flour!  Here's more traditional Pumpkin Spice Pancakes; we've made these and they were fluffy and tasty!  And soup...you've got to make soup with some of your winter squash!  They all freeze well, for make-ahead-meals!  Here's a Buttercup Soup recipe.  Here's one that we've made: Curried Squash and Apple Soup!

And just because there has been some nice tarragon of late, courtesy of Tammy and Mike, how about a Grapefruit Tarragon Gin and Tonic after a hard day?

So, in the boxes today:

FULL SHARES:  Winter squash including Hubbard (the pointy orange one), Kabocha (the round orange one) and spaghetti, Summer squash including zucchini, and Patty Pans, cucumbers, tomatillos, mixed peppers, apples carrots.

PART SHARES:  Winter squash including Hubbard, Kabocha and spaghetti, Summer squash including zucchini and Patty Pans, beets, pepper mix, apples, carrots, tomatoes.

SINGLE SHARES:  Winter squash Hubbard and spaghetti, Summer squash zucchini and Romanesque, mixed peppers, apples, carrots, tomatoes.

CSA for September 20th, 2012

Left, Hubbard blue and orange, right, Kabocha orange
and blue!

I noticed this morning, during milking, that the goats' coats are getting thicker and rougher.  I noticed it particularly on Choco, who has the shiniest, silkiest coat of all the goats!  Winter is just around the corner.....

This is the second to last CSA basket of the year!  It still has some of summer's great flavors - the tomatoes have been doing all right in their protected little spot, although not ripening very quickly.  The weather forecast predicts a cold night for Saturday, so we may pick everything in the tomato patch Saturday afternoon.  This could be the last taste of truly vine-ripened tomatoes.

Some of the Full Shares and the Single Shares are getting Hubbard Squash today.  This is a very old American variety, said to be part of the Native Americans 'Three Sisters' plantings of corn, beans and squash.  The Fulls mostly have a blue Hubbard, although some have Kabocha, the Singles have orange Hubbards.  Now remember: for the Part Shares who have blue Kabocha 'Confection' - Winter Squash recipes are largely interchangeable!  I like the look of this custard pie made with Hubbard squash - sounds like a family heirloom recipe.  This Maple-Nut Hubbard side dish sounds really yummy, too - and simple!  I think it would be great with pork!  This weekend we're going to try this recipe for Sweet and Spicy Kabocha Squash - maybe with chicken.

We're sharing two of our favorite potatoes today!  I think we've mentioned that 'Sangre' is the one we use the most, but today's choicest get used a lot, too!  We've bagged up 'Linzer Deleketess', a beautiful old fingerling: waxy and dense, but beautiful nutty flavor.  Great in tinfoil on the BBQ, great roasted - and make too much: they make awesome hash browns!  'German Butterball' is the other selection today.  It's similar to Yukon Gold, which used to be a fav, but the flavor is just outstanding!  Good for fries, boiling, mashing!

So, for the FULL SHARES:  4 lbs. Linzer fingerling potatoes, 4 lbs. German Butterball potatoes, garlic, lg. Hubbard or Kabocha squash, beets, Aunty Ruby's German Green tomato, slicer tomatoes, pint of mixed cherry/grape tomatoes, cucumber.

For the PART SHARES:  3 lbs. Linzer fingerling potatoes, 3 lbs. German Butterball potatoes, garlic, Kabocha 'Confection' winter squash, beets, Aunt Ruby's German Green tomato, slicer tomatoes, Husky Gold tomato, pint of cherry /grape tomatoes.

For the SINGLE SHARES:  2 lbs. Linzer fingerling potatoes, 2 lbs. German Butterball potatoes, garlic, Hubbard squash, beets, Husky Gold tomato, red slicer, pint of cherry/grape tomatoes.

Pumpkin Pancakes..well, Hubbard Pancakes!

I've been wanting to try this recipe for pumpkin pancakes for a while.  Today was going to be the day; I intended to roast and freeze some 'Sugar Pie' pumpkin for winter use.  But, pal Deb dropped by for coffee, we were playing some cards and Farmer Man was hungry for his promised pancakes.  I did have some roasted Hubbard squash in the fridge, intending on a loaf or more muffins.  So, off I went with Hubbard squash pancakes.  Easy and simple, a batch only requires half a cup of roasted meat.  The batter was really thick and the pancakes did not really spread out on the grill.  They ended up high and fluffy!  And tasty!  And very good with our Manitoba Maple Syrup from Oakman Enterprises in Portage la Prairie!  I made the recipe 'straight up' this time, next time I will use 'Sugar Pie' pumpkin and I will probably substitute some of the flour for whole wheat or spelt flour!  Very yummy, and the squash gives an extra bit of nutrition!