My CSA - Week 1

Sorry that I have been noticeably absent the last two weeks. I have been swamped with work. I had to travel to the west coast last week for a meeting. I was in Portland, Oregon for a couple of days. Gorgeous. Great food, nice people, wonderfully cool weather. After a trip like that, it is so easy to be exhausted. Owen had fun laughing at my drooling while I napped Wednesday after bringing the red eye home and still spending six hours at work. That's right. Work, after practically being up all night. I will typically take the red eye from the west coast if given the opportunity. I feel like I am not wasting a whole day. But, the day ends up being unproductive, I am in no state to drive or work. It ends up being a waste anyway. Bravo if you are one of those people who can sleep on an airplane or go a night without sleep and still be functional.

Anyway, what I wanted to spend some time doing on my blog is highlighting my CSA subscription, the new foods I have to try, and how I prepared them. I have a feeling that I will have to get creative already. I refuse to let anything go to waste. I will try every vegetable in that box, so help me.

Unfortunately, I was traveling right after picking up my CSA box. Here's what it held:

Asparagus

Free range eggs

Russian tarragon

Curly endive

Scallions

Asian stir fry greens

Field lettuces

Rhubarb

I had to give some of it away, mostly the greens. I was afraid that it would go bad or go to waste. This is not something to feed the compost pile. Someone (named Barbara...and friends) worked hard to nurture this food, which in itself should make me eat it. But, I also paid for it. And it's fresh. And beautiful.

Last night, I made a Strawberry-Rhubarb pie. Owen went crazy for it. I think that the strawberries were a little too ripe and made it a little too sweet, but it set up beautifully. Of course, I forgot to take pictures. I was making homemade strawberry preserves all day yesterday, so my last thought was of blogging. Although I had good intentions earlier in the day.

Owen loved the asparagus grilled with olive oil.

I saw a great idea in the Taste of Home June/July issue about freezing herbs. The tarragon got this treatment. Basically, just rinse off, pull from the stems, place in an ice cube tray, add water, and freeze. I am scouring my cookbooks for a tarragon recipe (and recipes for green salads, kale, and endive). Apparently fish is the dish...maybe next weekend on the grill.

I ate the scallions with a little salt. I know it is not for everyone, but I love it!

The eggs went in two or three days. The yolks are so golden yellow. We just ate them over medium with toast. Plain and simple.

I picked up this week's box on Saturday. I will let you know tomorrow what my plans are...and if you have any recipes for the stuff I mentioned above, give me a yell. Barbara has a cooking demo every other week to demonstrate how to prepare the food. I am debating on how Owen would be. Maybe we will try to go next time. Barbara's passion for her farm and food is infectious, so I really want to attend.

Scallion breath. Totally worth it.