CSA Season Finale

Farmers Fresh Food will continue to deliver boxes for another couple weeks, but today marks my last box for the season. I started in May and for nearly seven months have received fresh local produce each Wednesday.

The fall vegetables have been outstanding, especially the greens. I'm crazy for the lettuces -- I will miss those the most these dark CSA-less months ahead. I've got quite a stash of sweet potatoes and apples to see me through 'til February.

The contents of this week's box:

Broccoli, a big ol' spaghetti squash, collards (yum!), herbs, lettuces and Asian turnips.

Plus, four gorgeous fresh apples. This time of year, I end up with a glut of apples, from friends, grocery store sales and trips to North Georgia apple barns. Homemade applesauce is an easy and kid-friendly recipe.

Homemade Applesauce
1. Peel, core and coarsely chunk six or eight or more apples. A mix of varieties works best. My last batch included Galas and Red Romes. I use apples that are a bit past their prime, including the iffy bruised apples in the bottom of the apple bag.

2. Place apples in large, tall container suitable for the microwave. I use a tall gallon container. Pour apple juice (if you have it, water if you don't) to cover apples by about a third.

3. Place container in microwave and zap at full power for five minutes. Stir and zap for five minutes more. This may require more zapping, just check to make sure the apples are cooked through. Stir in a few tablespoons of butter and sugar, if needed. Let cool and puree in food processor.

4. If you simply must have cinnamon, then spice it up by all means. I like it straight, no sugar added. Warm applesauce makes a first-rate side dish for most kid dinners. It's delish also with a pancake and bacon supper.

Baby Butternuts

This week's box included two of the cutest baby butternut squash ever. I'll probably make butternut squash soup from them, just chunk them and cooked in chicken broth before pureeing.

Also in the box: apples, collards, Italian parsley, lettuce and sorrel, sweet peppers, Asian turnips and radishes. The radishes will go in salads and I'll save the turnips for the Thanksgiving turkey soup. If you asked me why we put turnips in the turkey soup, my only response would be because they're usually in the vegetable drawer.

Mini Breads in CSA Box

No pictures today, although the mini breads are certainly picture-worthy. Cute Ezekiel and pumpkin-cranberry breads. We sliced the fruit bread and spread each slice with cream cheese. Very nice snack. The Ezekiel bread is made with grains from Ezekiel 4:9: "Take also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and spelt..." It's very healthy tasting.

Also in the box: lettuce, sweet peppers and oyster mushrooms. The mushrooms are slated for a stir fry with shrimp and edamame.

A New Herb in the CSA Box

This week's box includes apples, collards, braising greens, garlic, sweet peppers and sweet potatoes. The herbs are onion chives, English thyme and lovage. Lovage is new to me and one of those tastes that once I taste it, I want more. I use it wherever I would use parsley, although in my mind, it's a stronger taste. It's excellent in fish dishes and would probably be good with chicken. I used the herbs in the briami, just cut them up right over the top of the oil-kissed vegetables (of course, I stripped the leaves from the thyme). Delicious.

Brought to You in Technicolor

(Above) Ratatouille raw: heirloom tomatoes, sweet peppers, Japanese eggplants, handfuls of basil, onions, groovy duotone Zephyr squash.

Four hours and more than a few dirty pots later, this technicolor display of vegetables became ratatouille, the foundation of a somewhat French meal for my Francophile friend who insisted that couscous is the proper accompaniment to a pot of this vegetable stew.

Menu a la Francaise

(forgive the pidgin French. If you were in my high school
French class, you would understand.)

Salade Au Vinaigrette

Ratatouille avec Couscous

Baguette avec Garlic Butter

Thin Crust Apple Tart

Vanilla Coffee with Vanilla Sugar

(Above) Plus more from the week's CSA box. Tomatoes, squash, peppers, okra and apples.

I completely forgot to take a picture of the Sun Gold cherry tomatoes. They are charming and yummy. Little Miss gobbled them up with Ranch dressing. She likes to put a tomato in each cheek and pretend she is a squirrel.

I Made a Pie, Now Where's My Blue Ribbon?

Yes, Ma'am, I made this pie! It's the Black & Blueberry Pie with Lemon-Cornmeal Crust from Fine Cooking's June/July 2008 issue. Thanks to Haven Farms that supplies blueberries to the CSA -- it was a brief but magnificent season, and the last of the berries went into this bee-yoo-ti-ful pie. It was my first lattice-crust pie, which is a very simple technique when you follow the directions, which is one of the many reasons I love Fine Cooking magazine. My favorite instruction is near the end of the recipe, where the author advises to watch the bubbles in the pie - if the bubbles are not in the middle, then the pie will not set. I would have pulled the pie out a half-hour early if I didn't read that! The recipe is on Fine Cooking's website, probably under the subscription-only part, but if you're serious about cooking, a subscription is well worth the investment.

We're eating pie today, so if you're in the neighborhood, call before you come and I'll put on a pot of coffee and serve you up a slice of blue-ribbon-worthy Black and Blueberry Pie.