Week 12: Life Gets a Little Crazy

As the daylight grows shorter, my days grow longer. Unlike most people, our personal lives are getting more crazy as we move into Fall instead of slowing down. The good news is our weekends are filled with fun! Weddings, Bachelor(ette) Parties, Badger Games and lots more (like our 1 year anniversary). The bad news is I am exhausted just thinking about it. Along with our weekends, both of our work lives are picking up as well. I'm not quite sure how we will fit it all in but I know it will work out. And of course I will still be working through the CSA each and every week- the blog posts just may be late and a little shorter, depending on the week. Last week was last of our huge shares but we got through it all in just a couple days! I think the biggest help was bringing a lot of the veggies on our friend's boat on Labor Day. Always good to eat something healthy while in a swimsuit---and drinking beer. :-)

Carrots, Cucumber, Bell Pepper and Green Beans:
We cut all of these veggies for the boat and paired with my favorite from-scratch dip. I forgot to take a picture of it all but it was quite beautiful. I introduced a lot of my friends to their first taste of raw green beans. They have all only had then cooked. I love having them raw on a veggie tray. Crunchy, fresh and just something a little different. They are usually the first thing to go.
Below is the recipe to my favorite veggie dip. I love the garlicky flavor and fresh herbs.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Ranch-Dip-with-Vegetables-109001

Bell Peppers:
With the bell peppers that didn't go on the boat with us, we threw them on the grill, whole. They got a great char on the outside and almost steamed themselves in the middle. I think next time they may just need a little oil and some seasoning after they come off the grill and cut.

Corn:
Charred on the grill! We had 14 ears to eat, but we got through them all in two sittings. I think I ate 3 of the 14 but oh well. They were very sweet and fairly small. I look forward to the ears we got this week to see if they are the same.

Summer Squash:
I went boring again. Cut into coins and roasted in the oven. We wanted to cook them on the grill but it was raining. I think it has rained in the evening 5 out of the last 7 days. So strange compared to earlier this summer. Anyway...I think my oven was a little too hot this time because they got a little dried out but they were still a great side for our burgers.

Broccoli:
We actually just ate the broccoli tonight in a stir fry. I will talk more about it in my next post since it had more of this week's food than last week's.

Tomatillos:
Well these were my biggest adventure last week. I have never used a tomatillo before but I love salsa verde. I had no idea that they were sticky under their husks. Very weird. I was do stunned when I cut it open. I assumed it would look like a tomato but it looked nothing like it. Almost more like an eggplant because of the little seeds. I used a very simple recipe for the salsa that called for fresh tomatillos, cilantro, garlic, onion, water and Serrano peppers. It was fantastic. Just throw it all in the blender and you have fresh salsa. The Serranos give it a nice kick but it is still doable for me. This recipe is a must for any fiesta!

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Fresh-Tomatillo-Salsa-239984

Insides of the tomatillos

Finished salsa!

Tomatoes:
As usual, I ate most of the tomatoes sliced up with salt and pepper as a side. So delicious! I did put one tomato on a BLT with avocado. A favorite summer meal!

Raspberries:
Ate them up in minutes!!! Though a lot of them did not travel well so there was red/pink juice everywhere!

Week 13!

More Corn, beets, broccoli, garlic, peppers, kale, yellow beans, kohlrabi, cherry tomatoes and slicers. Should be a good and easy week. I will try to be better at pictures this week. I was slacking!