Month: November 2010
Fresh This Week Tips, Week 11.7.10
Fresh This Week Tips, Week 11.7.10
Pink Lady Apples
STORE: Store in the crisper of your refrigerator for up to one month.
PREP: Just wash and eat (or use in your favorite recipe).
USE: Your Pink Lady apples are best for eating out of hand, using in pies or adding a sweet crunch to salads.
Image from http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com
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Concorde Pears
STORE: Set your Concorde Pears in a bowl on the kitchen counter to ripen. To test for ripeness, gently push on the stem. If it gives a little, your pear is ready to eat. Once ripe, pears may be stored in the refrigerator.
PREP: Wash pears in cold water and keep them whole, slice them or chop them.
USE: The dense flesh of the Concorde pear makes it ideal for cooking since it holds its shape and flavor when baked, poached or used in jams. Concordes are also very slow to oxidize when cut, making them an excellent choice for salads.
Image from: http://theproduceguy.blogspot.com
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Cucumbers
STO RE: Store wh ole cucu mbers, in a plastic bag in the refrigerator up to 10 days.
PREP: Wash thoroughly before using, peel (if desired) or cut into half moons, rounds or spears.
USE: Eat cucumbers raw, add them to salads, sandwiches, make a Greek tzatziki or pickle them. For a light lunch, make cucumber sandwiches: http://thepauperedchef.com/2006/02/cucumber_sandwi.html! Don’t forget to brew a pot of tea in true English fashion!
Leeks
STORE: Store your leeks lightly wrapped in plastic wrap to contain odor and moisture. Don’t trim or wash them before storing. Keep them in the crisper of your refrigerator for up to one week.
PREP: World renowned chef, David Lebovitz shares photos and beautiful articulation to explain the process of preparing leeks: http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2009/03/how-to-prepare-leeks-1/. We’ll let him take the stage! Enjoy!
USE: Leeks are related to the onion, yet have a milder, mellower taste. Use your leeks in any recipe that calls for onions. Try out this delicious and home-warming Smashed Potato and Leek Soup: http://www.klesickfamilyfarm.com/main/box-of-good/recipes/smashed-potato-and-leek-soup
Cherry Tomatoes
STORE: Ripe tomatoes should be stored at room temperature and used within a few days. Never refrigerate tomatoes as the cold temperature kills the tomatoes’ flavor.
PREP: Cherry tomatoes are much smaller than regular tomatoes ranging from the size of a thumb tip to a golfball. Leave them whole, half or quarter your cherry tomatoes depending on your recipe or desired use.
USE: Cherry tomatoes can be tossed into a salad or grilled, baked or broiled and added to pastas, pizzas or eaten as a side dish. We suggest tossing your cherry tomatoes with a little minced garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper and lemon juice, putting them in a baking dish and letting them bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Baking your tomatoes will bring out the natural sweet flavor and provide a great base for simple dinner dishes.
Image from: http://makeitfromscratch.blogspot.com/
Organic Pies!
$22 (9 inch deep dish)
Pumpkin
Apple
Pecan
Freshly baked right here in Stanwood by Scandia Coffeehouse & Eatery. Prebaked—
just warm & enjoy!
Order ahead for the holiday!
Thanksgiving Holiday Planning
Holiday Meal Planning: Every year at this time we offer an additional special Holiday Box ($35) full of traditional Thanksgiving meal items for your celebration. This year, not only can you can schedule a Holiday Box to be delivered the week of Thanksgiving, but also the week before and the week after (available Nov. 15-Dec. 3). You can have this box delivered along with your regular order or in place of your regular order. Check the Fresh This Week page of our website for the box menu.
Remembering Neighbors in Need: If your celebration includes helping the less fortunate who live in our community, we would like to partner with you by giving you the opportunity to purchase the same Holiday Box, to be given to local food banks the week of Thanksgiving, for a discounted price of $29. Please call or e-mail us to set up this donation.
Holiday Delivery Schedule: We will not be making deliveries on Thursday and Friday the week of Thanksgiving, so we will have an adjusted delivery schedule that week. After reviewing the general delivery schedule below, if you are still uncertain as to your delivery day the week of Thanksgiving please give us a call. We are e-mailing a more exact schedule.
For delivery
Monday, 11/22
Tuesday customers
Skagit County customers
For delivery
Tuesday, 11/23
Wednesday customers, except those in Skagit County
Customers in the Lake Stevens area
Customers in the Marysville area
For delivery
Wednesday, 11/24
Thursday customers, except those in the Lake Stevens and Marysville areas
Tulalip customers
Friday customers
Walnuts
We have been busy picking walnuts up off the ground twice a day. We are nearing the end of harvest based on a quick perusing of the trees. Walnut trees blossom later than most trees and their fruit comes off later as well. I love our walnut trees. They make great babysitters with their strong branches which provides hours of climbing and swinging in the two tree swings. We have added a hammock for dad, but I must confess I usually just go to bed when it is time to sleep. And not to mention a sleeping dad in a hammock is too much temptation for any of my well meaning and playful children to pass up?!?!?!
Our trees were planted in an era before air conditioning and heat pumps were the norm and with great precision they shade the early morning sun and the evening sun, keeping our home cooler in the summer. Our family appreciates the previous generations for blessing us, since those trees have taken decades to reach their height. Another blessing is that walnut trees are deciduous, letting in a lot of winter light, which would have been invaluable in the days of candle lighting, and allowing us to enjoy the winter sun as it warms our home.
But as a farmer, I must admit the harvest is one of its best gifts. Most of the walnuts fall out of their husks to the ground, then the husks fall and then leaves last. It is a very efficient process. As a farmer you are rewarded for being diligent, especially this year. This year is our 7th year on this farm and for the first time I am seeing a huge wildlife uptick on our farm. We have lots of birds, rabbits, voles and moles, coyotes, raccoons and tree frogs. Most of their damage to crops has been negligible with the ecosystem in check. But after seven years of rehabilitative work, we could have a fight on our hands to harvest the crops for you.
A few years ago we saw one stellar jay sharing in the harvest of walnuts, but now there are 10+ visiting us. Even if they take two or three a day that ends up being 30, and over the month-long harvest that is 300. And the raccoons sure are cute as they scamper from branch to branch munching away—this year we have had them visit us a few times at night. To make matters worse, I saw our very first bushy tail critter in seven years—please not squirrels!!!! We even have passersby stop and help themselves to a few walnuts. I feel pretty fortunate to harvest as many as I have, but the odds are definitely looking pretty bleak extrapolating forward.
I know that I have invited wildlife back onto this farm by farming in accordance with nature. We haven’t killed everything with chemicals, we planted habitat to encourage many different types of critters and restored this farm into a living micro and macro happy zone. But I hope those critters share, because I need something to sell you if I am going to call myself a farmer.
I am considering calling Christopher Robbins and asking him to facilitate a local agreement with the wildlife, so I can farm and you will have something to eat.
Fresh This Week Add-Ons 11.05.10
Fresh This Week Tips, Week 10.31.10
Braeburn Apples
STORE: Store your Braeburn apples in a plastic bag in your fridge to keep them crisp.
PREP: Rinse apples under running water and peel or cut, depending on their purpose. To prevent browning on sliced apples, put the slices in a bowl of cold water with a few drops of lemon juice.
USE: Braeburn apples can be eaten out of hand, but are especially delicious when baked. They have a crisp, sweet taste and are perfect for applesauce, pies and cobblers.
Asian Pears
STORE: Keep your pears at room temperature for up to one week or for up to three months in your refrigerator. Asian pears ripen on the tree so there is no need to wait for them to ripen at home.
PREP: Rinse pears thoroughly under cold water.
USE: Eat your Asian pears out of hand, use them as a crunchy salad topping, eat them with peanut butter, add them to a slaw or enjoy them on sandwiches.
Cranberries
STORE: Store fresh cranberries for up to two months in a tightly-sealed plastic bag in the refrigerator, or wash, and dry them and store them in the freezer for up to 6 months.
PREP: Wash cranberries in a colander and remove the stems.
USE: Cranberries are a hallmark of the holiday season. Use them in jams, sauces, side dishes or desserts. Try this beautiful Cranberry Upside-Down Cake from Martha Stewart: http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/favorite-cranberry-upside-down-cake.
Green Cabbage
STORE: Store unwashed cabbage in a plastic bag in your refrigerator
PREP: Remove the thick fibrous outer leaves and cut the cabbage into pieces and then wash under running water. To preserve its vitamin C content, cut and wash the cabbage right before cooking or eating it. To cut cabbage into smaller pieces, first quarter it and remove the core. Cabbage can be cut into slices of varying thickness, grated by hand or shredded in a food processor.
USE: Cabbage leaves are a great way to re-inspire your leftovers. Spoon some leftovers such as a rice salad or a vegetable mixture onto the center of a cabbage leaf and roll into a neat little package. Bake in medium heat oven until hot. Enjoy your easy and healthy version of stuffed cabbage, a traditional eastern European dish. You can also sauté cabbage and onions over brown rice for a hardy side dish or simply use shredded raw cabbage as a garnish for sandwiches.
Fuyu Persimmons
STORE: Store ripe Fuyu persimmons at room temperature for up to three weeks. Keep in the refrigerator for up to two months.
PREP: Prepare ripe Fuyus by hulling them (cutting out their top and its attached flesh), slicing, and peeling them. Remove and discard the large black seeds as you encounter them.
USE: Replace the tomatoes in your favorite salsa recipe with chopped Fuyu persimmons for a sweet salsa snack.
Add Fuyu slices to spinach salads and stir-fries.
Serve peeled slices on a plate like you would apples, with a toothpick stuck into each one.
Freeze peeled slices and enjoy as Persimmon“Popsicles.”
Fun Fact: One medium persimmon is an excellent source of vitamin A, vitamin C, and fiber!
Since it is still early in the month of November, your persimmons may need to ripen a bit. You can enjoy them as they are, crunchy and lightly sweet, or let them soften up a bit a room temperature, they will darken in color and become sweeter. Look for bright orange and red-colored Fuyu persimmons with smooth skins. Ripe Fuyus should be firm. To ripen persimmons faster, place in a paper bag with an apple or pear in a warm place. The natural ethylene gas the ripening fruit emits will speed up the ripening process.
Info taken from: http://www.cachampionsforchange.net/en/docs/produce-quick-tips/Fuyu-Persimmons.pdf
Thyme
See this week’s Know Your Produce for more information on thyme!