Moving Into Fall

If you read my knitting blog, Knitnana, they you know I've started Weight Watcher's in an attempt to finally shed the ($%^&#%#$%) pounds I have carried around for 30 years, wearing down my spinal column.

I'm determined that this time, it will go away, because the thought of spinal surgery terrifies me (and I've already done heart surgery, so that's saying a lot).

I'm not much of a cook - perhaps I should rephrase that - I like to cook, I rarely have time, what I cook is usually pretty good (no complaints, but then, it's just me!). I go for ease in preparation, I tend to cook in bulk, and I also tend to stick pretty much within a safe range of easy stuff. My kitchen isn't the best for cooking. I miss my apartment complex kitchen which had a large window in it (this one has no exterior window, and the interior lighting is less than acceptable) and there's almost no counter space.

That said, sometimes I do whip something up. Tonight was one of those nights:

Spicy Sweet & Sour Chicken and Rice. Easy. I chopped up about 1/8 of a green pepper, a small red pepper (hot), a small onion, a clove of garlic, and then I grated fresh ginger (probably 2 Tbs.) and sauteed that in a small frying pan sprayed with PAM. Eventually, I added about 4 Tbs of Kikkoman Sweet & Sour cooking sauce and 1/4 cup water and then added chopped, cooked chicken. Heat it through and pour it over a cup of brown rice. That's it!

(I'll cook up brown rice on one evening and use it over several days - it's easier than coming home and cooking one serving)

Oh. On Weight Watchers? I added this to the recipe database and it came back with 6 points. Not bad for a dinner meal.
Enjoy!

Local (sorta) Food - Thrifty 1930s Cuisine

Last week, when I decided that potato leek soup would be on the menu (and it's still there, but hasn't gotten made yet), I picked up a 5 pound bag of Yukon Gold potatoes. They aren't local, but I haven't seen local potatoes anywhere I shop, which makes me sad.

I picked up my CSA share tonight, and in addition to having lots of greens again, there were a few tomatoes, and another small "mess" of green beans. As I stood at the kitchen counter, marveling at how pretty they were this week, my eyes landed on the bag of potatoes and an instant memory of my vegetarian mom and her sisters came to mind. They were Depression Era gals, the entire family was vegetarian because their father believed it was the only way to be. Not a one of them had meat until they were married (and then some of them still didn't), but in the Depression, that was probably one reason this family successfully survived.

I remembered a simple combination of foods that was always a part of our summer dinners when as a child in the 50's and 60's, my family visited those sisters at the Lake Champlain, Vermont, 1950s-style "camp" one of them owned: corn on the cob, tomatoes, and this:

green beans and potatoes, cooked together. I seem to remember that the sisters all cooked it with either whole milk or cream.

I don't.
But the memory is still strong. Boy this tasted good. And I thoroughly enjoyed my trip down memory lane...

Local Food, Local Color!

I dropped by the Roanoke City Market today, as I was a bit dissappointed in my CSA share - I was hoping for winter squash, and apparently they've had a less than stellar year with that.

While I was there, I stopped in first to my favorite bakery, On the Rise:

and was able to get my very favorite bread, Rosemary Sourdough! They were kind enough to slice it for me, too...

I stopped by a few of the local vendors (and you can visit that on my knitting blog if you'd like visit later tonight, it will be up, soon).

And I brought back all this:

(the bread is in the back in a plastic bag...)

I've already put the mustard greens in the freezer. The October beans are on the stove for tonight's dinner - and smell absolutely wonderful! I added parsley and basil from this weeks CSA share, plus a little onion and dried rosemary to season them. I'll have the beans with sliced tomatoes and some of the bread, and a bit of greens.

Then I went ahead and froze the kale and mixed mesclun weeds from the CSA share. There was a huge bag of the weeds, and no way I could eat them all raw...but I'm big on greens because of the heavy concentration of calcium in them. I don't do milk very often and I don't seem to be able to handle calcium pills very well. Some years ago I discovered Susun Weed's book on menopause (NAYY) and learned that weeds and greens can provide so much of the calcium that my body doesn't want to absorb these days, and they work better with my digestive tract! Besides, I think, for all that calcium pills aren't that expensive, the greens are much cheaper...and tasty to boot. Adding in a bit of garlic and red wine vinegar helps me absorb the calcium, too. I'm all about keeping things as simple as I can.

So there's your "lesson" for the day - a bit of Local Food, a bit of herbal folk wisdom, and a touch of simple living health advice!

;)

Big 'Maters...

In my CSA share this week, there were many tomatoes, as I mentioned before, but there was one...ONE - BIG 'MATER:

For scale? That is my wrist at the bottom left of that photo - the tomato completely covers my hand!

Last night, I chopped two slices and mixed it in with hot pasta, and a thawed cube of the frozen pesto I made earlier in the summer...

And that was a really good meal, but then today? I was craving something a little different:
and I made a BLT.

How much of that tomato is left? About half of it. I will slice it and finish it tomorrow, possibly with mozzarella, but probably just by itself with salt and pepper.

Oh. Did I mention? It was FABULOUS!

A Short Reprieve, So We're Told...

There were tomatoes in my CSA share this week! Lots of them, so the blight hasn't gotten all of the plants apparently - and these lovelies were in a little bag in addition to the regular-sized ones (the yellow pears are from my own plants):

So for my report this week for One Local Summer I'm afraid I have to tell you I'm eating tomato sandwiches, and (thanks to two small heads of buttercrunch lettuce from the CSA share) salads with tomatoes, and cherry tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil with balsamic vinegar and olive oil dressing...tomatoes, tomatoes, and more tomatoes! There's a lot for ONE person to eat, but unfortunately, not enough to freeze and certainly nowhere near enough to can.
:(
I did put 3 more peppers into the freezer for stuffed peppers this winter:

And blanched and froze another quart of green beans (will this be the last of them?)

And put up two quarts of eggplant for winter, too...

My refrigerator freezer is practically full to bursting!

So the best I could do? Was string these gorgeous peppers for drying...

I'll be away next week, so there won't be a post (or a CSA share). Happy Harvesting!!!

A Time To Remember

Melanie always gives me food for thought...sometimes it's bitter herbs, and others it's not. This week has been a sad time, a time of remembering the heady glory-days of growing up and being a part of the anti-war movement, of watching and hoping as two brothers attempted to change the world, only to have it take them from us most rudely, and a third brother step up to take their place. That brother is lost to us now as well, but thankfully after a long life of consequence. I'm particularly grateful for Ted Kennedy's support for the disability community (but then that's my work-world focus).

Anyway, Melanie posted the lyrics to this song, and they didn't, at first, ring a bell with me. Till I went off to search for the song itself, and discovered this:


Oh my, the glory days, indeed...I feel as if I should head off to search the boxes in the basement for my headband, my flowers to put in my hair, and my black armband...the memories of my youth.

(and I'm not being funny at all...)

(Or maybe I'll just head over to the used record store after work and see if I can find a "greatest" album of Laura Nyro? Kinda sounds like a great way to spend my Friday night)

Thanks, Melanie!

Local Summer Week #?

I'm behind. Way, way behind. But I wanted to post a photo of the dinner I made with my CSA share this week, and for the first time? It's completely from veggies from that (except for the olive oil). I was so surprised when I opened the bag and saw that virtually everything in the bag (ok, there was a small head of lettuce and some beets which I did not add) was perfect for ...
Ratatouille! I make it the fast and furious way (since I admit I am not a cook).

I chop everything up: fresh tomatoes (yellow AND red - and I blanched them to skin them more easily), carrots, eggplant, onion (yes!), celery, garlic, green pepper, zuccini, basil, curly parsely. I toss them all in my big casserole dish, toss on some olive oil (oh, hmm..I did add salt & freshly cracked pepper, and also some dried oregano - not from the CSA share!).

The photo above is after two days in the fridge. I ate it for those two days, and I froze the rest. I'll enjoy it later on, perhaps with brown rice! It was, as I'm sure you can imagine, yummy!

And apparently, the gardens have been hit by the tomato blight - we've been told not to expect any more..
(Sob!)

The Garden Is Bursting!

Back from vacation and what met me at my door?
A mini bumper crop of yellow pear tomatoes! My urns on either side of the front door are full, most of them are still green, but I was delighted that the treatments for the blossom end rot have apparently worked!

Then the next night it was time to stop at the co-op and pick up my CSA half-share:
Tomatoes (both yellow and red, and most are now frozen, with a few left for eating raw - yumm!)
and hot peppers! Aren't they pretty? I haven't done anything with them, but found an interesting stir-fry recipe today that I want to try.
I told them I loved eggplant, so there were more in this bag this week. Most will be roasted and frozen for ratatouille this fall and winter.

I did have a local meal (okay, mostly local) on Tuesday - I bought a loaf of On The Rise's sourdough bread and chopped up some of the basil with tomatoes to make brushetta. But I didn't stop there. Another slice I topped with Cabot Vermont cheddar cheese and broiled it a bit. Now in another life, that Cabot cheese WAS local, so I have a hard time thinking of it as not. And I'll admit:
the calamata olives aren't a bit local. Still it was a wonderful meal, just the thing after my first day back at work after vacation. The only thing better would have been a glass of Chateau Morrisette (yes, local) merlot, but I didn't have any here...hmm. I think I'll put that on my shopping list for this weekend!

This Time It's The FREEZER!

After last week's double batch of basil - yes, I asked for extra - (and I also made a double batch of pesto and froze it in ice cube trays for single servings!), they only allowed me a single stem of the herb this week in my CSA half-share...So. I froze it the way Martha Stewart says to:
I rolled it into "cigars" and slivered it then immediately put it in the ice cube tray and poured filtered water over it. When the cubes are solid, I'll pop them into a freezer bag, and use a couple of cubes in spaghetti sauce this winter. Yum!

And because I told them I loved Swiss Chard? I got a double batch of it this weekend. So of course, with so much of it, I had no choice but to freeze that, too:
I love the yellow and red stems!
I have two one-pound containers set aside (along with others from earlier in the summer).

I also put two more quart bags of carrots in, and there's another bag of green and yellow beans, but I think I might eat those later in the week.

And two more 'maters. Let me tell you, last week's were fabulous.
But I never even thought, eating them sliced with a touch of salt and freshly ground pepper, that there's something else I love them for:
Tomato sandwiches! So at the Co-op tonight, I found a pre-sliced loaf of my favorite local baker's whole grain bread. We know what my lunches will be this week, right?

(oh, well, I might add in some - not so local - bacon, local lettuce, and mayo)
YUMMY!

I won't post next week, as I'll be on vacation and the CSA won't be including me in their distributions. See you in two weeks!

It's CSA Time Again!

I have to admit, I'm not sure I'll participate in the CSA next year. I just mostly have to block out two evenings after work every week to take care of all the food! (And this is a 1/2 share, folks!) Obviously, if there were more people in my family than just me, it would not be an issue. Anyway, tonight I blanched and froze about a half-pound of green beans, and the bunch of carrots from last week (I have another bunch to do tomorrow night). I have chard to freeze, and beets to eat. There were no summer squash in this week's share, but I'm craving them, so I picked up two from the local orchard/farm that's brought into my lovely Ukrops store a block from my house. There was also a head of fresh garlic and then this:


So...I have never made it before, but I dragged out the Cuisinart and made:
Yes. Pesto! (I used this recipe).

And mixed it with pasta (half white/half wheat). Nothing but the basil and garlic were local, but still...
(and yes, I like a little pasta with my pesto)

Oh, in the CSA bag were these, too!
While they look pretty good, they are not quite ripe, so will sit under my plant light for a day or two (I do not have windowsills that get sunshine...hence I do not do well growing vegies in my own space)...
This is what my Yellow Pear tomatoes look like. I don't think it's a good sign...
(sigh)

Two Words - GREEN BEANS!

Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I give you:

There was a lot more in my CSA share this week (more carrots, cukes - oh dear - swiss chard, beet greens with mini beets attached). But...my dinner last night was very simple: a baked potato and green beans. Like most of my vegetables, I make them simply - steam till tender and add a touch of butter, salt and freshly grated pepper.

Heaven!

I'm Back! More Local Food!

And I have lots of photos to make up for being absent last week!

The CSA bag this week was full! And while I'm missing the squash and zuccini (I'm assured it will be in next weeks bag...), we had a lot of stuff this week that made me smile:
I am not a cucumber fan, have never been. They do NOT like me, no matter how I doctor them, but I can occasionally eat one or two slices this way. Soaked in red wine vinegar with a heavy sprinkle of fresh black pepper. The longer they sit, the better, from both a taste and a digestive perspective! There were two cukes in the bag, but this is the smaller of the two. I will have to find a happy home for the other.

Then, I was so happy to see these:
Cut into "pennies" steamed and then dressed with a melted butter, grated ginger and honey glaze? Oh my - what heaven! (yes, they're good raw, too...see below.)

Also there were two small heads of:
I'm unsure of the variety, but this lettuce surely tastes buttery...I've enjoyed it in salads:
and in my sandwiches all week.

So there you have it! I'll see you next week! Oh...and if you get the chance? Buy local food!

More Fresh Veggies!

When the CSA share arrived this week, I was delighted to see the items I've photoed here:
the sort of cabbage I love - regular green cabbage of the sort I make coleslaw out of. I always have a time eating an entire one, but I will freeze the remainder of this head to add to a stew come late fall. Have to admit I'm using something not quite local for my coleslaw, tho' - I'm a light Marzetti's gal...there's just no substitute!

But then? Ahhh...
The very first beets - actually the CSA said "there'll be beet greens this week, and for a few of you, they'll have beets attached" and I crossed my fingers. I'm not a fan of beet greens at all, but oh, do I love beets! I roasted these tonight with olive oil and a bit of salt and pepper - YUM! In winter I'll buy canned beets, because that's what there is, but oh these were wonderful, fresh from the ground...
When I picked up my CSA share at the Co-op this week, I had a couple of different selections of bread - dinner rolls from On The Rise bakery, pictured above, or another choice of wheat rolls from my favorite local caterer, Wildflour. I go back and forth as to which bakery's bread I prefer - there's no contest - they're both tops! You'll see examples of their work periodically here.

Last but not least, and happily for me, a coworker brought in homegrown yellow summer squash today. I adore it, and it's not available in the CSA share yet. I steamed it and ate it with butter and salt and pepper (along with the beets!). What a terrific summer meal I had.

Next week might be a bit slim here. Three weeks of the season, have to be skipped in the CSA, and I choose next week because I'll be too busy with a show to do much more than grab something quick. Big Sis will be here, and we'll probably eat at one local restaurant, perhaps Wildflour. I'll try to take my camera, but no promises. It will be a hectic time!

Good eating...and don't forget, while you're busily cooking and preserving your produce this week to also remember the environment in other ways - I'll be recycling (curbside) as I do every week, and as the temp heats up? I'll be keeping the a/c set a notch higher with the mini fans going room-by-room instead.
(((Hugs)))

Week 3 And I'm Getting Tired of Salads!

I didn't take a photo this week. It was all green. Same old same old.

The only thing new? Scapes. I've still got most of mine (I knew better than to keep them all, I like garlic, but hey there were a lot of them and it's only me!). I'm trying to think what I'll add them to.

What are they? Norma describes them Here and that entry came just before the CSA share arrived with - SCAPES!

I had no idea...

Anyway, this week has been impossible for cooking anything from scratch, but I managed a salad or two and I'm afraid that's pretty boring after the last several weeks. So.

Perhaps something more interesting will be available next week?

Swiss Chard!

My mom loved chard. I always thought she was nuts.

Do you think, perhaps, it's a "taste" one acquires as one ages? Well, I might have liked it if I'd ever tried it. Yes, this was one of those childhood things: "I don't like it, I don't like it, you can't make me - NO!"

Was I ever dumb.
My CSA share this week had this lovely bunch of chard in it. I knew it was coming, and determined that I'd find some recipe to try and make myself taste it...I read that it was important to cut out the stems, chop them, and boil them in lightly salted water before adding them to the cooking (I didn't quite get them completely softened up, after all, so they could have boiled a bit longer)

Then I chopped up the scallions that came in the share, poured olive oil into the pan, added chopped garlic (okay, that wasn't local, sorry!), and added the chopped stems:
(my only regret is that the color leaches out into the water - that gorgeous fushia in the first photo? Didn't last. :(

Then I added the chopped chard leaves...and stirred in the hot oil, turning everything over and over in the pan, mixing everything:
(I lightly salted and peppered, too)

Finally, I spooned a serving into a bowl.
At first, I ate it that way, and it was good, but somewhere along, I decide a touch of red wine vinegar might be nice.

Wow. Just perfection. With some freshly brewed iced tea? A perfect meal...all by itself, but I added a bit of bread from our local On the Rise baker on the market. I can pick some up at the Co-op when I pick up my CSA share, which saves trying to get downtown!

And I topped off with these:
Hmm...I must be into fushia and green - even my latest yarn purchase was the same colors!

And you know what? Mom always knew best.

One Local Summer Meal

My CSA has been hard pressed to get into the garden lately with all the rain we've been having...but we've had lots of greens, and this week we got two colors of radishes, green onions, and "weeds" for salad:
I'd been working pretty hard all day and decided an omelet with some of the green onions and local eggs, along with this salad would be my one local meal tonight. Unfortunately? The omelet came out of the pan, onto my plate and was polished off long before I remembered that I needed a photograph! I'm glad I got this one of the salad before I started to make the omelet!

But I did bring out a harvest of catnip from my own crop three years ago (when I had a balcony garden in my last apartment). The kitties were absolutely delighted:

Memorial Day Weekend and One Local Summer!

I've already blown my plan for One Local Summer. I didn't go to our Farmer's Market today - this weekend is Festival weekend. That means there are thousands of people down on the Market and almost not a single place to park. In my younger days, I would park blocks away and walk, spend the day at Festival.

Not anymore.

So. I didn't go to OUR Farmer's Market...I went to Salem's! It's much smaller, but I was able to park almost directly in front of it, walk through quickly, find my two Yellow Pear tomato plants for the front porch, and while there, a huge bag of fresh mustard greens. I don't normally eat those raw...
As pretty as they are, they don't agree with me unless they're cooked (tho' they have a lovely little pingy-bite that reminds me of radishes when they're raw, they're easier on my digestive system when cooked). So I froze them. It's actually some work to freeze greens. But with my CSA half-share giving me greens every week (lots of greens!), I'm putting quite a bit of it by.

I'm reminding myself that salads kind of peter out during the hot summer months, so I'd best enjoy the red and green leaf lettuces and mesclun mix now. (Even tho' I do get tired of so many salads!)

Then when I stopped at my local grocer that carries Virginia produce, I found this:
I so adore asparagus. I bought enough to freeze that, too!

The CSA half-share looked much the same as the photo below from last week, so I didn't bother with another picture...You can just scroll down!

I think I'll be having a chef salad tonight.

One Local Summer 2009

Since I'm a member of my local CSA for the first time, eating locally is going to be so much easier this year! I've joined up with Farm to Philly and there'll be many more who do this across the country and even the world.

My plan is to get up in decent season every Saturday and head to the Farmer's Market for locally homemade bread and farm fresh eggs. Then I'll be posting every week with photos of my CSA 1/2 veggie and full herb share, as I'd originally planned, but I'm also still thinking about possibly trying to grow TWO (only two) grape tomatoes on my front porch. If I can find a couple of plants that are suitable, the urns on the front porch will do. A huge container garden is completely out of the question, though. We have too many lovely trees - and you know what? For all that I complain about that? It does cut down on the electric bill in the summer, and also in the winter, when all the leaves come off the trees and the sun can finally get through!

So it's all good.

If you want to join in? Just think about what you can do to eat local. Just one meal a week? Or all your salads? Can you pot up some herbs? Grow a tomato plant? Or maybe a whole garden? Just a planter box? Whatever...think about where your food comes from and try new ways to shorten the distance, feed yourself seasonally and from your nearby farms. Your contribution will not just make you healthier, it'll make the earth healthier. It will support local agriculture, something that's critical, especially in hard economic times. And just maybe, you'll save some money in the bargain!

Snag a copy of the blog button over there (or the others on Farm to Philly's site, I had a hard time deciding as the larger button is so pretty!) - and please save to your own server. Then post weekly and let everyone know how you're doing?

And while you're over there in the sidebar? Please note that I'm also doing the Ravelry Garden Along 2009? Norma started it all last year. I had to join up again. We Vermont grrls gotta stick together! It's in the blood...(okay, I'm a transplanted Vermont grrl...trans-"planted" - get it? wink To the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia from the Green Mountains of Vermont.
(((hugs)))

CSA! It's Begun!

This week, since it's been so rainy, I understand that it's been difficult to get into the garden (I do remember those days!), so volume is down.

You see above one large head of green leaf lettuce, two small heads of red Oak leaf lettuce, a bag of "mixed greens" or what I recognize as mesclun mix, shallots, two of the four radishes (sorry, I ate two in my salad tonight!). What you don't see is the small "mess" of spinach that I blanched and froze. My system won't tolerate this many greens this quickly. I figured I'd appreciate the frozen spinach in the winter, just fine...

And I understand that bok choy is coming next week - I found a great recipe for stir-fried baby bok choy here and I think it sounds yummy...

So tonight? I had a huge salad (I already had some grape tomatoes to add to it) and because I stopped at the Co-op to pick up my CSA bag, I also ran by their prepared entrees and got two Tai Tuna Burgers (a staple at the Happy Belly Deli in our Natural Foods Co-op). When they make more than they sell, they put them in the refrigerator case to buy and take home. The Deli closes before I get off work, so this is perfect! I've also found some delightful Macrobiotic meals already prepared and have enjoyed those, too, but there were none tonight.

My plan is to eat as much of the fresh food from the CSA as I can, freeze (and possibly can) what is more than I can handle, and of course share some with my daughter's family. I know the turnips will be going to her - my grandson loves them!

After dinner, I quickly froze the spinach, then made ice tea (the long way) and got everything in the kitchen ready for tomorrow, lunch packed, coffee ready to brew. And cleaned out the vegetable drawer in the refrigerator - It's going to get a bit more use this summer!

Signs of Spring

No, not from the CSA yet, but I couldn't resist this, once I saw strawberries in the store...
spinach, feta, walnuts, and a mix of white and red raspberries, blueberries, blackberries and strawberries, with a raspberry vinagrette. I often make this in the winter with mandarin oranges instead of the berries...a great way to do a savory fruit salad...

But here's a sure sign of spring:
It's iced tea time! And making your own iced tea is much more economical than almost anything else you could drink (except for water, of course!).
And this is absolutely the best sign of spring I know. I adore the pink azaleas, the lavender ones, too. Our front yard is full of them right now...this is from beside my front porch.

Because It's All About Caution and Honesty

I found this today, surfing on MSNBC and finding their consumer blog The Red Tape Chronicles


I was aware that the "Free Credit Report" ads advertised "services" that were not actually free. I have a tendency to think everyone knows these things. And I do realize I'm an accountant and am tuned-in to this stuff more than most folks. If you thought the catchy ads were cute (I did!), I just hope you'll be careful. Everyone is watching their pennies these days, and this is one way you probably want to spend your precious funds cautiously and save where you can...still, you do want to watch out for identity theft, and keep a good eye on your personal finances.

So make sure to check your credit report annually, but check it free, really free at Annual Credit Report.com.

Oh. And the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) created this (and another) ad, but they don't have the funds to put them on TV. They're hoping we'll help them out by posting them online. So grab that code and embed away, okay? You can find the other ad on YouTube here It's cute, too.

Frankly? I think these ads are every bit as cute and catchy as those other ads! And these are honest!

No, I'm Not Surprised...

You Are "ctrl"

Some people might try to say that you're too controlling. And while there is a controlling aspect to your personalty, you like to think you're competent. You are an expert in many fields. You tend to really know your stuff. You tend to take the reins whenever it's needed. You like to lead, and people like to follow you.

What Keyboard Key Are You?