What's still inside the box?

Due to lots of eating outside the box...there are a lot of collards left. Not too worry when Allen stops by with this week's share, we are going to snack on crispy collards.

I thought was going to add photos taken during the recent computer unpleasentness but somehow I managed to erase them instead of upload them.

This is corn flan with a topping of crispy collard (and a little bacon too)

collard patties

well it's not a crab cake but it's not too bad. Once again, I blanched chopped collard greens and then using egg whites bound them into a patty, coated them with seasoned breadcrumbs and sauteed them --a few minutes on each side and viola! Not too bad cold either. I'm going to try another version adding some onion, peppers into the mix ..I'll keep you posted!

Week Twelve

Basil, top bunch collards, heirlom collards, three heads of lettuce, broccoli, peppers, parsely, dino kale, garlic and plums. This box averages out to about $28.00.

But the good news is it looks like there is going to be more in the fall. The location of Sol Food Farm means they sometimes miss out on the hot weather and that slows the tomatoes, peppers and eggplants...but fall crops should be great.

And of course everything is organic and sustainably grown. Important to remember cheaper is not always better.

Value ...risks and rewards of supporting CSAs

When we looked at week eleven both of us..thought hmmmm looks a little light. I priced the same items at the local organic grocery and to buy the same things it would have been about $26 ..our weekly fee is $35.

Both of us agree this is the risk of throwing your lot in with supporting local farms. This season has had unusual weather and we both suspect water is an issue too.

To be fair since I haven't priced out every box, this is just one week out of 24.

crispy collards

The collard green challenge continues....
There is a Chinese dish..crispy spinach which works well for collard greens if you blanch the collards before frying.
Chop the collard greens into small squares or strips and blanch for two minutes --wring out as much moisture as possible and then fry (I used olive oil) for one or two minutes until crisp and then season. They are good alone but great on top of a salad or potatoes....

pizza dough---no more white bread for me!

I love pizza and for the most part have made the dough using white flour. I have been working on
a whole wheat version-using some corn meal as well. Yesterday I made a deep dish pizza for a pot luck using all white flour and was surprised at how bland and tasteless it seemed after the whole wheat version.

A friend who has worked for many years perfecting his pizza crust gave me a tip that for whatever reasons really works. He uses a stand mixer with a dough hook --I use a food processor but I let it knead in the machine for about five minutes. Perfect crust everytime....no matter which ingredients used.

The ratio I am using now are 2 whole wheat to 1 corn meal. Corn flour also works and gives a crisper lighter crust. One of the tricks to getting a less dense whole wheat crust is to just use less dough and adjust the baking time. I also crank my oven up to the highest setting but I don't use the tiles or pizza stones.

waaaay outside the box

This weekend was the annual Stumptown Brewery Beer Revival and BBQ Fest...for the ticket price of only $40...all the BBQ from 27 teams and all the beer from 27 craft brewers you can manage.
It's a fundraiser for the Russian River Senior Center. There was not a single collard green in the place. I tasted fossil fuel..beer made from 45 million year old yeast that had been preserved in amber. The best part of the day..I got carded entering the event...I'm 62. They must have been carding everyone!

Then it was the Big Band Concert in the Armstrong Wood Theater...part of the Stewards of the Coast and Redwoods Old Grove Festival....and they were serving nutella and banana crepes.
Pictures coming later...computer problems. I'll be waddling off now.
And tonight we paddle under the full moon..well almost full.