Howdy, partners...
We had a great family vacation this week out to the Olympic Peninsula. We rented a 1981 VW bus in Port Angeles and drove out to Neah Bay; we hiked out to Cape Flattery, where we saw whales, and to Shi Shi Beach on the Pacific coast. We also managed to see elk, deer, seals, raccoons, and a bunch of cool birds, fish, insects, mushrooms, and plants. Nico did pretty well and had a great time after having a rough first night.
It was great to get away...I had not been off of Whidbey island for longer than 24 hours in 6 months!! Happy to be back now and beginning the final phase of our farm share adventure. Here's what's in this week's share:
Cabbage- We have not had much cabbage in the share so far this year, but we have some beautiful Fall cabbages now to make up for it. They are a pretty good size....not intimidatingly huge, but not too small, either....good for at least a few side dishes or one big meal. This recipe features lots of butter and promises to win over cabbage haters:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/buttered-cabbage-241777
Beets- More delicious beets! Beet sales are funny at the farm stand and farmer's market...even though we've had them ever since late Spring, sales really slowed down throughout the Summer, and are now picking up again in the Fall. Beets do seem especially satisfying and comforting in cooler weather, and I guess that may be the reason. Here's another recipe from epicurious:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/beet-risotto-56389492
I just saw that the Orchard Kitchen is offering classes this weekend on ravioli and risotto, too! Sign up before it's too late!
Celery- Have to harvest all the celery before the first frost...there is nothing worse than losing celery to cold weather. The plant still looks normal and great, but the stalks all get mushy and gross on the inside. We are ahead of the game, and I am anticipating after this week we will have no celery left....and it hasn't even gotten into the 30s yet, I don't think.
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/celery-soup-51246210
I am going to give everyone a small bunch of dill, just in case you want to make this soup!
Dill- For the soup, as previously mentioned. Or for anything else you'd like.
Ruby Streaks mizuna- Mizuna is an Asian green unknown to most Westerners, except maybe as a component of salad mixes. But it can be very tasty on its own, and the color of this purple-red variety is so pretty I couldn't resist adding it to the share. Here's is an appropriate blog entry:
http://www.thekitchn.com/what-can-i-do-with-mizuna-good-117970
Onion- Really great to have onion this time of year, for making soups, sauces, stews, roasts, and all that good comforting stuff. These are our copra storage onions, which I wish we'd planted more off, as we already sold out of all the onions we grew except the ones we reserved to give to you!
Peppers- These will probably be the last peppers in the share this year, so enjoy. Here is a recipe for oven roasted peppers, a great way to enjoy them on the cooler nights.
http://markbittman.com/how-to-cook-everything-the-basics-roasted-pep/
If you haven't seen the book, "How to Cook Everything", it is a great cookbook with simple, easy to use recipes for all kinds of stuff (as the name implies).
Winter squash- This week we are giving you a buttercup kabocha squash...it is the fourth and final type of winter squash we grew this year. It is a pretty good keeper, so if you are backed up on winter squash right now, leave it out on your counter and it should be fine for many weeks. There will be potatoes in the share next week, and no winter squash, so we will give you a few weeks to catch up! Here's the last recipe for this week:
http://www.food.com/recipe/buttercup-squash-casserole-337982
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