2018 CSA ~ Week #9

SPECIAL ANNOUNCMENTS:

Those of you who live in the Eugene/Springfield and Fern Ridge areas, the That’s My Farmer team will be hosting another Farm to Table dinner at the Party Downtown Restaurant. The participating That’s My Farmer farms will be donating all of the produce and meats, and the great folks at Party Downtown will cook up a seasonal feats for us. This is a fundraiser for the That’s My Farmer low income fund to help those in need afford healthy food.

Monday, September 17th at Party Downtown Restaurant in downtown Eugene. Tickets are $50 and are on sale now! You can purchase one by sending a check to the farm…let us know if you have any questions.

Also happening locally in the Eugene area, the Eugene Interfaith Earthkeepers will be hosting a fundraiser for the That’s My Farmer low income fund. They are showing the movie WASTED. Seen through the eyes of famous chefs, you will see how they make the most of every kind of food, transforming what most people consider scraps into incredible dishes that create a more secure food system. Free to All but donations will be accepted toward the That’s My Farmer low income fund. Even if  you can’t attend the movie, donations to the fund are still welcome anytime!

The showing will be on Friday August 10, 2018 at the Central Lutheran Church at 1857 Potter Street. The entrance is in the East side parking lot. The doors will open at 6:30pm and the movie will start at 7pm.

WHAT’S IN YOUR SHARE THIS WEEK:

• Curly Kale
• Lettuce
• Green Onions
• Blueberries
• Beets
• Zucchini
• Cucumbers
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Strawberries
• Tomatoes

SOME SITES ONLY

• Eggplant
• Broccoli

RECIPES:

Best Blueberry Muffins

Blueberry Dutch Pancakes

Blueberry Crumb Cake

Bread and Butter Pickles

Strawberry-Cucumber Salad w/Lemon Cream

Beet & Sweet Potato Fries

Beetroot & Goat Cheese Tart

Caramelized Beetroot Tarte Tatin

BLAST FROM THE PAST…..

This is one of my favorite things to do with Beets…..Beet Chocolate Cake from the Real Dirt on Vegetables cookbook…here’s what Angelic Organics Kitchen folk had to say….

Chocolate Beet Cake

Even confirmed Beet-bashers will love this cake! The beets give it their moisture, their sweetness, and their rich color…but none of their beet flavor. If you don’t have a double boiler, you can easily rig one up with what you have in your kitchen: try using a sauce or omelette pan that fits over the edges of a small pot filled with water. And if you don’t have a Bundt pan, you can bake the batter in two loaf pans, checking for doneness after about 25 minutes and covering the pans with foil if the cakes brown too quickly!

• oil and flour for preparing the pans
• 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
• 1 cup mild-flavored vegetable oil, divided
• 3 eggs
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 2 cups pureed cooked beets (about 3 medium beets)
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• Powdered sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly coast a 10 cup Bundt or tube pan with oil and dust it with flour.
2. Partially fill the bottom of a double boiler with water and bring to a boil over high  heat: reduce to simmer. Put the chocolate and 1/4 cup of the oil in the top of the double boiler. Heat just until the chocolate melts: remove from heat and stir until well combined.
3. Combine the eggs and sugar in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until fluffy. Slowly beat in the remainimg 3/4 cup oil, chocolate mixture, beets and vanilla.
4. Sift the all purpose flour and whole wheat pastry flour into  a large bowl. Stir in the baking soda and salt. Gently stir in the four mixture into the egg and chocolate mixture just until flour is mixed in. Pour batter into the prepared  pan.
5. Bake until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and set it on a wire rack to cool for 30 minutes.
6. Carefully remove the cake from the pan and let cool on a rack. When completely cool, dust with powdered sugar.

Serves 10-12 Beet or non Beet Lovers

Kale and Walnut Pesto

While your Italian grandmother might cringe at t his being called a pesto, reassure her that this is just a contemporary spin on that classic dish and that you will continue to also make it with basil and pine nuts! But still, make this dish for her – she will certainly be won over. This version of pesto is particularly good over roasted potatoes, but it works great over pasta or on pizza too. You can freeze it, but if you do, don’t add the cheese: simply mix it in after the pesto has thawed, when you are read to serve.

• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 Tbsp plus 1/2 tsp salt, divided
• 1/2 lb. Kale, coarsely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced (about 1 tsp) but feel free to add more to taste
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (about 1 1/2 ounces)
• freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. Toast the chopped walnuts in a dry, heavy skillet (preferably cast iron) over high heat, stirring constantly, until they start to brown in spots and become fragrant. (Be careful not to over toast them, as they will burn very quickly once they are toasted.) Immediately transfer the walnuts to a dish to cool.
2. Bring two quarts of water to a boil. Add 1 Tbsp salt, then add the kale. Cook kale until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain.
3. Put the garlic, walnuts and kale in a blender or food processor: pulse until well combined. With the blender or food processor running, pour in the olive oil in a steady, smooth, pencil-thin stream.
4. When the ingredients are thoroughly combined, transfer to a bowl. Stir in the Parmesan, remaining 1/2 tsp salt, and pepper. Serve hot.

Makes about 1 cup

It’s so nice to have it be a little cooler and breezy this week…..the last two weeks have really burnt us out (no pun intended!) It has been all  hands on deck, full on, and we’re all ready for a little break to recharge. The smokey overcast is reminding us how lucky we are not to be close to or immersed in a wildfire, and we’re grateful for that, while sending love and strength to those that are dealing with those issues. It could be our back yard at any time for sure.

This week August 1st marks one of the Celtic cross quarter days, the time in between Equinoxs and Solstices. The celebration of Lammas or Lughnassadh, is when it’s time to begin reaping what we have sown throughout the past few months, and recognize that the bright summer days will soon come to an end. It’s the season when the first grains are ready to be harvested and threshed, when so much is ripe for the plucking, and we’re grateful for the food we have on our tables.

Lammas day –  or ‘loaf mass’ – is traditionally when people celebrate the first wheat harvest in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and is noted as the first harvest festival. Grains that are harvested at Lammas time include, wheat, barley, oats, rye as well as the plants meadowsweet, mint, sunflower and Calendula. The festival’s roots date back to Anglo Saxon times when the festival was referred to as the ‘feast of first fruits’. It also marks the end of the hay harvesting season. As Lammas Day is usually around the beginning of August, it used to coincide with when tenant farmers would have presented the first crop harvest to their landlord.

Celebrations usually include baking bread and breaking bread with friends and family. While it feels a little hot to be baking bread, breaking bread with friends and family is always welcome, so  hopefully you’ll be able to do some of that this week together!

We hope that you have a wonderful week ahead and enjoy your veggies this week!

Linda and all of your Winter Green Farmers