Thursday, October 15, 2009

Week Twenty: Cool Fall Days



It's been another good week here at the CFK. On Monday I went out to the farm to help out with a field trip of first and second graders from Ann Arbor Open School. The kids had so much energy and all seemed to love the farm. They helped with feeding the animals, separating garlic for the garlic planting (while keeping warm at a bonfire), and took a hayride. Anne always asks field trip kids if they might want to be farmers one day, and almost all of these kids responded with an enthusiastic YES. I can't blame them--I love being able to spend time outdoors at the farm. In fact, I was just reminiscing to a friend this week about how I used to stare at the Monet paintings in my calendar during class in highschool--longing to escape the classroom into fields and gardens. On Tuesday Melanie and I got to work on a crock of sauerkraut which will be ready to distribute in a few weeks time. Wednesday was a busy and chilly morning at the farm. Despite frozen fingers, we were able to bring in a bounty of leeks, daikon, kale, and more. Paul tells me that this is officially the Last Hurrah for the lettuce, but that it has been the Best Lettuce Year EVER at the Community Farm, with few crop failures, lots of good rain, and essentially ideal conditions. Hope you've been enjoying the bounty.
So, this week's share:
Choice: 1 spaghetti squash OR 2 delicata squash (we chose both)
Hot peppers - 2
Sage - 2 sprigs
Soup Box (potato, carrot, and broccoli) - 1
Assorted Oriental Greens - 1 bunch
Eggplant - 3
Kale - 3/4 lb
Leeks - 2
Daikon radish - 1
Lettuce - 2
Jack-o-lantern - 1

Menu
Delicata Squash with Kale and Cannellini Beans I noticed this recipe in the October Martha Stewart Living while hanging out with former farm worker Angela and her baby Ben yesterday afternoon. Looks perfect!
Thai Eggplant Dip A twist on Baba Ganouj that I found in From Asperagus to Zucchini p. 75
Ginger Miso Soup a vehicle for daikon radish and kale? what more could we ask this week! From Farmer John's Cookbook p. 275
Spaghetti Squash Salad with Citrus Dressing I spotted this recipe last week in Serving Up the Harvest p.452 and am excited to give it a whirl--rather a change of pace!
Karen's Potato Leek Soup a classic favorite from Community Farm of Ann Arbor Cookbook (2001) p.53. Warming and delicious.
Last Hurrah Salad with lettuce and oriental greens.
We'll also finally give out the Pasta with Broccoli we missed last week...sorry about that...hopefully we'll be more on top of things in the future!

I think that's all. Hope you're doing well!
Mary
Photos: 1. Still life with kraut ingredients (note purple inside cabbage!) 2. Melanie working on the sauerkraut 3. Adorable soup boxes in distribution area. Yum! 4. Kristin picking up her share.

3 comments:

Shayne said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Shayne said...

all this talk about kale has me craving it so much. maybe there will be some in the stores this fall here

Rebecca Dunkle said...

The potato soup was perfect! (We had a wonderful meal of pasta with broccoli and a lovely side of the squash with kale and beans; we were going to serve the soup as well, but one of us loved it so much they ate it all themself!)