Fresh and Value-Added Items:
- Carrots 1.5# Roasted Carrots with Mustard
- Yukon Gold Potatoes 2.5# Jacques Pepin Style
- Beets 2# Beet Martini (ok…here’s a new way to enjoy beets!)
- Onions, Red
- Winter Spinach- 1/2#
- Pickled Curry Cauliflower: vinegar, sugar, salt, spices (tangy and yellow with curry!)
- Eggs-1 dozen
- Raspberry Jam 1 pt: Suncrest Gardens raspberries, sugar, low-sugar pectin (last delivery as this is a bigger size)
- Pickled Beets 1 pt (canned): beets, vinegar, sugar, spices
- Dried Roma Tomatoes Double Corn Bread with Mozzarella and Sun-Dried Tomatoes
Frozen Items:
- Vegetable Stock 1 Qt: water, onions, celery, carrots, parsley, thyme, rosemary, bay leaf, salt & pepper
- Roasted Tomato Basil Soup/Base 1 Qt: roasted tomatoes, onions, vegetable stock, fresh basil, olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, thyme (instead of soup, add 1 can of seasoned tomato paste to this and pour it over cooked pasta of your choice with parmesean cheese and sauteed chicken, optional)
- Butternut Apple Soup 1 Qt: roasted butternut squash, onions, apples, water, vegetable stock, olive oil, ginger, nutmeg, sage, salt, pepper (some like this with croutons or crusty bread and a dash of cream added)
- Strawberries 1 pt: strawberries, sugar (a little less sweet than some batches, add sugar as needed)
- Zucchini 1 Qt: shredded zucchini Zucchini Raisin Walnut Muffins
- Roasted Asian Broccoli 1 pt: roasted broccoli, sweet chili sauce, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, sesame oil, olive oil, salt, pepper (add to a stir-fry)
The weather couldn’t have spread itself out over a better timeline for me at the farm. I was able to easily drive everywhere I needed to on Monday to transfer freezer items from the root cellar to the barn for the winter shares. A quick run to the local feed store let me stock up on grain for the “girls” in the barn so they’d be happy little egg layers. And we redistributed our stock of vegetable boxes and recycled egg cartons back to the barn for easy access. Planning ahead to get all things done quickly with the van saved me hours of pulling a sled loaded with goods all across the yard for half a day.
Then on Tuesday, we just let the snow come on as I worked in the kitchen in the barn. Ashlan was home with a snow day and he helped caramelize onions, shovel snow, and entertain me with his newly learned magic tricks. Sounds like a good day at home! Ethan had the day at daycare with his younger buddies, but found much joy in shoveling snow until dark after he came home. He really does love moving snow around and it makes me smile to see him helpful while happy. By Tuesday night, the driveway had been plowed thanks to some skid loader help from my dad.
Special Event: Cabin Fever Buster! Dinner on the Farm Saturday, March 9th 5pm
We are plowing extra due to our need for a “parking lot” on Saturday for our next Dinner on the Farm event. Our dinner is nearly sold out this time which is quite exciting. We are featuring some wines from Danzinger Winery during our social mixer time and several delicious cheeses from the region. I can’t tell the dinner’s menu yet, but I promise it is full of the flavors of the season.
How about another “Cook Fearless” tip? I found it a wonderful tip as I had just schooled myself in how to better cut up a whole chicken. You might think that this is something that everyone who raises chickens just simply does wonderfully. It is a learned task, and one that I needed to feel more confident in doing while appreciated the quality of the cuts after I was done. So for anyone looking for assistance, the Cook Fearless website happened to have this as their tip for the month and also recommended the same Gourmet video which demonstrates the best technique. I had also used this video in my schooling for the day last week and found it extremely helpful.
Random Fact: When Julia Child debuted in the early 1960s, shoppers purchased more than half of all retail chickens whole. Now, it’s around 10 percent…”
Learning to cut up a whole chicken can make buying organically raised poultry more economical since you are able to make stock from the carcass, and get all the different cuts for a couple different meals. Simply freeze the cuts and carcass if they are not needed right away. You can always make stock on a rainy day, or cooler day to warm up the house.