Month: September 2008

CSA Share, Week #17

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CSA Share: Week #17

Because I know my dad looks forward to seeing our weekly farm shares, I am not waiting to write this up in the morning, even though I’m tired. I’m such a good daughter 🙂 LOL! Clearly, this was a HUGE share this week. Maybe that is just because of the vegetables are giant, I don’t know. But it sure was heavy. I should have weighed my basket before I put everything away. Lots of good stuff this week, though. Let’s see here… 8 lbs. of tomatoes (no, that is not a typo — 8 lbs.), 3 lbs. Adirondack Blue potatoes, 4 red peppers, 3ish lbs. onions, 1 head lettuce, 1 head broccoli, 2 of the prettiest and biggest turnips I’ve ever seen, 1 bunch of radishes, swiss chard, zucchini, winter squash (one I know is sweet dumpling, the other I’m not sure), 2 fennel bulbs, dill, cilantro, scallions, flowers, garlic, arugula… oh and PYO tomatillos!!! I was super excited about that. They are so delicate and pretty in their natural wrappers.

I did skip on a couple things: the two heads of tat soi becacuse I’m not so crazy about it and seriously — I think I have enough to keep me busy. I also skipped PYO cherry tomatoes. Seriously folks — 8 lbs is enough, don’t you think?

You can’t see the zucchini in the photo but it’s HUGE, too. I think I’m just going to shred it up and freeze it for winter. We’ll probably eat the broccoli with tomorrow’s dinner. I might make an orange and fennel salad. The blue potatoes will be fun to play with, too. I may sautee the chard with some breadcrumbs to go with the pork on Friday. We’ll see. Also, big plans to make tomato powder this week since I have a crazy amount of them. Maybe start that tomorrow. I’m sure I will find uses for everything. And when it doubt — freeze it! If we do the CSA again next year I will have to get some canning supplies, I think. My freezer is just not big enough.

Oh, Crock Pot, is There Anything You Can’t Do?

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Last week I discovered an awesome new blog called A Year of CrockPotting. Stephanie has vowed to, that’s right, use her Crock Pot every day for a year. I love how honest she is with her hits and misses. She has a lot of really great recipes (like these brownie mugs that I am totally making on Sunday!) and I can’t wait to make some of them. But the other day she showed us what else you can do with your slow cooker: make Shrinky Dinks!!! How cool is this? I actually have two packages of Shrinky Dinks in the closet that we gave Jake a long time ago. (I keep forgetting about them.) Using the Crock Pot instead of the stove seems much safer, as well as more fun. Next rainy weekend day, I know what I am doing with the boys. Check it out!

Menu Plan Monday

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With our school routine well-established, I’m finding that the organization is spilling into other areas of life too. I am much more of a schedule-oriented person, so I like the order that fall brings 🙂 I hope to make a couple fun desserts this week as well and I am contemplating “52 weeks of cookies.” Yes – trying a new cookie recipe every week for a year. Not sure I am that ambitious, but… maybe? Here’s what I’m planning for dinners this week:

  • Sunday: Take-out Chinese food
  • Monday: Slow cooked kielbasa in a bun, oven fries, salad
  • Tuesday: Ham & cheese and pepperoni & cheese calzones (from current Kraft magazine, well not the pepperoni, but I’m swapping), salad
  • Wednesday: Meatloaf muffins, twice-baked (or mashed) potatoes, CSA veggies
  • Thursday: Greek chicken, Mediterranean red potatoes (I’ll have 2 Crock Pots going for this dinner!), salad
  • Friday: Apple pecan pork medallions, roasted winter squash, cole slaw or salad
  • Saturday: Take-out (Jake has a birthday party at the mall, so we’ll probably grab something in the Food Court while he’s playing with his friends)

For more ideas, check out Menu Plan Monday over at Organizing Junkie.

Happy Friday!

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september rose I just can’t believe how prolific my roses have been this year! They just keep blooming and blooming. I really love this yellow rose, in particular. The color is so cheerful and pretty! They’re hanging on even though fall is making its way in. Today it’s pretty gray and chilly outside. I have such an urge to bake. I have a single pie crust in the fridge… maybe I’ll make an apple tart. (I broke down and bought a couple apples at the store because I couldn’t wait to go picking!) I can’t go too crazy with the baked goods, though. Otherwise I’ll be researching the best fat burners, not the best pie recipes, LOL!

Today I’m also going to try making mashed potatoes in the Crock Pot. Yeah, I know, it seems kind of silly. But I found a recipe in one of my cookbooks that sounds really good. I’m also making Chicken Gorgonzola. I had it one time at Uno’s and it’s certainly simple enough to make at home. I think I’ll sautee some squash and zucchini to go with it. Hmm… if I make that apple tart that will be one cozy meal 🙂 I’ve also dragged out the autumn decorations. I am eager to switch out the summer stuff, so maybe I’ll get to do a bit of that this afternoon.

Last night we attended the open house at Jake’s school and we are so thrilled with his teacher, the curriculum, pretty much everything. All too often we hear about how terrible public schools are. That’s unfortunate because there ARE public schools that are going above and beyond. It’s so different from when I was in first grade. The focus is on community as much as academics, and they have such interesting ways of teaching the kids the material. I know we are lucky 🙂

I guess that’s about it for today. I’m going to be updating my blogroll over the weekend, so if anyone who reads regularly wants to be included, just leave a comment! Oh, and one more thing… Happy birthday Lisanne!!! Lisanne is a dear friend and I hope she has a wonderful 33rd birthday. Head over to her blog and send her some birthday wishes!

And the winner is….

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Aren’t you all lucky that Noah decided to wake up at 5 this morning? LOL! After I get him settled with some chocolate milk, I headed over to the Random Interger Generator to pick a number between 1 and 52. Before I announce the winner, can I just tell you how overwhelmed I was by the response to my little contest? Wow! The best part for me has been discovering a whole bunch of great new blogs to add to my reads. I am really excited about that! I wish I could send each and every one of you something, I really do.

OK, I have kept you in suspense for long enough. The lucky number is 16, and the 16th commenter was Elise from Nest Sweet Nest! Congratulations! I will be e-mailing you for your address, so look for that 🙂

Thank you all for entering. Please come back and visit! I will be sure to stop by your blogs too 🙂

Sneezing My Way Through The Day

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Ah yes… the first cold of the season. It hit me yesterday 🙁 Actually, Tuesday night I started to feel under the weather and had a terribly sore throat, and when I woke up well… it was downhill from there. But my amazing husband did all the cooking and offered to watch Noah so I could make a run to Shop Rite. I didn’t really feel like it, but there were a couple really amazing sales I wanted to take advantage of before the weekend. I went to bed early last night and I feel a bit better today. I am still sniffly and not on top of my game, but I’m in much better shape than yesterday! So how about a bullet list of what is new at Chez Carol? 🙂

  • Today is Jake’s open house at school. He absolutely loves 1st grade and Drew and I have really noticed a change from last year. Maybe it’s because a few, er, “excitable” children are in a different class this year. But he is calmer and seems more focussed, so that’s great. Hopefully there won’t be any surprises from his teacher!
  • This weekend I am hoping we can all go and pick apples and raspberries at Greig Farm. I’ve got a baking itch that only apple crisp can scratch!
  • Drew has laid out the bluestone hearth for our wood stove and it is going to look so nice! Just a couple weeks until it is installed. I can’t wait.
  • Which reminds me that I need to order our sectional soon. We saw a very cool one that has built-in cup holders and recliners, but we’re not really looking for home theater seating, LOL. My style is a little more traditional. The one we’re getting is a sage green and has a chaise on one side. Oh, it’s going to be so wonderful in the winter to curl up with an afghan, the fire going in the wood stove, a cup of tea or cocoa, all while knitting or reading a good book! Anyone want to join me?
  • Speaking of books, I have let my curiosity get the best of me and I reserved a copy of Twilight by Stephenie Mayer. I first heard about it over on Sandra’s blog and then my friend e-mailed telling me that I HAD to read them. (She and I were voracious V.C. Andrews fans back in middle and high school!). Of course, there are something like 75 holds for the book in the Mid-Hudson system so it might be a while, LOL!

I guess that is about it. Oh, before I forget, today is the last day for my Holiday Giveaway! And a special hello to anyone finding their way over here from Monica’s wonderful blog, The Homespun Heart! She is writing a wonderful series on Christmas crafts and I am going to make the felted dryer balls she wrote about today.

Well, off to get some ironing done!

CSA Share: Week #16

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CSA Share: Week #16

Beautiful colors this week! (As always, really). We got 2 heads of lettuce, 3 leeks, 3.5 lbs. tomatoes, 3 lbs. (I think…) of red potatoes, 2 lbs. or so of onions, 2 zucchini, 1 winter squash, 3 peppers, 1 bunch of turnips, 1 cuke, 1 head of garlic, 1 eggplant. I skipped on the greens this week (didn’t see us fitting them in, honestly) as well as the PYO stuff (because it was all wet and muddy in the fields).

I don’t have grand plans for anything, really. Some roasting. Some sauteeing. Some salads. Etc. I spent last Saturday morning peeling, slicing, and making pickled vegetables (zucchini, carrots, and peppers). I had grand plans to lactoferment some cucumbers into pickles, but I wanted to use whey (a la Nourishing Traditions) instead of salt. I only had two small cups of plain yogurt in the fridge, and draining them even until Monday didn’t result in enough whey to make a jar, so I’m putting that project back on the shelf for another time. I will probably give sauerkraut a try soon, as I know we’ll be getting cabbage in the next couple weeks. I’m looking forward to that!

Holiday Giveaway!

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There are 106 days until Christmas, and I seriously need to get going on my crafting! I hope you all are doing better than I am. But for those who need some inspiration, I am having a fun little knitting-themed giveaway. The winner will get a copy of Handknit Holidays: Knitting Year-Round for Christmas, Hanukkah, and Winter Solstice by Melanie Falick and Susan Pittard. I am also including some yarn from my stash: 2 skeins of Patons SWS in Natural Navy; 1 hank of Inca Alpaca, 1 skein of KnitPicks Andean Silk Twist in Sunset, and 1 hank of Knitpicks Shadow in Redwood Forest.

To enter the giveaway, simply comment on this entry between now and Thursday the 11th. (It is important to leave a real e-mail address, otherwise I can’t get your information to mail out your package!) I will pick a commenter at random on Friday morning and hopefully start someone’s weekend on a happy note 🙂.

Good luck, everyone!

My Gardening Buddy

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gardening buddy

While weeding in my garden today, I came across this HUGE bug. I am pretty sure he’s a praying mantis. Whatever he is, he seemed very happy perched on a geranium leaf. I decided not to disturb him and I just worked around him.

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Christmas Giveway… coming soon!

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I recently had a little giveaway on my wine blog and I am planning a holiday-themed giveaway right here this week! No, it’s not too early to start thinking about Christmas. Again, we have most of our shopping done for the boys, but I know I will still enjoy perusing the Black Friday ads on Thanksgiving night. I usually find at least a couple deals worth getting up at 4:30 AM for 🙂 But I also am hoping to make a few gifts this year. While I obviously won’t yet say what the giveaway is going to be, I will let you know that you crafty ladies might be interested! So check back on Tuesday morning!