Day 1: Here We Go!

So-- I'm unable to put captions or center the pictures so I hope this comes out ok once it's published on the blog.

All packed up and ready to go

My MSN ritual--- a large Scotch Ale at the Great Dane

First flight--- Bon Appetit and a margarita

International Business Class--- I don't know if I will ever be able to fly coach again 

Lay flat seats

Only part of the food we got on the flight!

Great start to the 9 hr flight

AND the seat massages!

The view from our 38th floor suite!

The view from our room!

Week #7: A few things I made this week

We are starting to get veggies in abundance, which means I need to start making the "big guns."  AKA: Soup!  Seemed a little odd to be making a soup on the hottest day of the year but it will be great to enjoy it when the cooler weather comes.  I will probably only post one more time before we leave for our European Excursion.  At that time the focus of the blog will move away from Wisconsin food and on to Swiss, Italian, Slovakian, Hungarian and Croatian food (and the other things we do while we are there).  While we are away we have friends and family taking the CSA for us.  I won't make them write anything up for the blog but I can't wait to hear what they liked/disliked and what they made.  Everyone has a different idea pop into their head when they see a vegetable.  For me this week, when I saw we had 11 small heads of broccoli the only thing I could think of was Broccoli Cheese soup!

Broccoli Cheese Soup:  Like I said, we use up ALL of our broccoli from the CSA.  May have been more than the recipe called for but I think it worked.  I used my immersion blender to puree some of the soup but still left some healthy chunks.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/broccoli-cheese-soup-recipe.html

Thick and Creamy Broccoli Cheese Soup

Rhubarb Freezer Jam:  I still had quite a bit of rhubarb in the fridge and I wanted to make something that would last a while since we will be gone.  I considered making the sweet bread again and freezing it but I wanted to do something different.  This freezer jam was really easy.  I think the jam will pair wonderfully with a triple cream brie.  Can't wait to try it!

http://foodpreservation.about.com/od/Freezing/r/Easy-Rhubarb-Freezer-Jam-Recipe.htm

Rhubarb Freezer Jam in my newly inherited mason jars

Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins:  We also had a lot of zucchini to get through.  I love these muffins because they are chocked full of them but it doesn't taste like it at all because of the deep chocolate flavor.  They are so chocolaty they taste more like a dessert.  The recipe calls for a small amount of canola oil but I replaced it with apple sauce.  Perfect recipe for that type of thing.

http://www.simplylifeblog.com/2012/07/double-chocolate-zucchini-muffins-from-whats-baking-in-the-barbershop/

Packing 2 muffins for work and using my Valentine's Day wrappers :-)

My first big harvest of cherry tomatoes from my plants!! The Sungolds are so sweet, they are like candy.

Cherry Tomatoes from my garden

Finally, Week #7 CSA: Dragon Tongue beans, basil, napa cabbage, onions, sugar snap peas, broccoli, cucumbers, patty pan squash, fennel, zucchini, cilantro and eggplant (which is hiding).  I have some work to do to get through all of this before we leave!

Week #7 CSA

Lots of great veggies and fruit are now in-season!  Go to your local farmer's market to check it out!  I hear Door County cherries are going to be at our market tomorrow. Num!

Week #6: Everyday Meals

We are starting to get more and more each week now.  And after being gone on vacation, I really started to back up on my veggies.  I like to to try to get through each week's share before we get the next's but sometimes that's impossible.  So this past week, I had a make a real effort to incorporate as many vegetables into my meals as possible.  Even better, we ended the weekend with having friends over for dinner.  One of the best ways to work through the food before it spoils!

Week 6 Share: Broccoli, fresh onions, garlic scapes, kohlrabi, beets, swiss chard, patty pan squash, zucchini, parsley and sugar snap peas.

Week 6 Share

Tuesday Night Dinner:  Mixed greens salad topped with grilled beets and blue cheese with a lemon vinaigrette.  Lettuce, beets and green onions were all from my CSA.

Grilled Beets Salad

Wednesday Night Dinner:  Spaghetti with Swiss Chard, Bacon and Lemon Ricotta.
Instead of blanching the Swiss chard, I just sauteed it with the bacon and onion.  I also decided to top it off with some bread crumbs for more texture.
http://food52.com/recipes/17723-swiss-chard-and-lemon-ricotta-pasta

Swiss Chard Pasta

Thursday Night Dinner:  Still one of my absolute favorites!  No Bake Lasagna with Sauteed cherry tomatoes, zucchini, ricotta and basil.  The zucchini was from the CSA while some of the tomatoes and basil were from my garden.  So fabulous on a warm summer night.
http://www.marthastewart.com/334102/no-bake-summer-lasagna

No Bake Lasagna

Week # 5: A Week of Family

My family lives all across the country.  I have relatives in Oregon, Arizona, Maryland, Iowa, Washington, Utah, Delaware, Minnesota and Wisconsin (and more).  With that being said, we do not get to see each other very often.  Some people may find that very odd, but it is just the way I was raised.  I am not used to having family live close by or just drop in.  Though being spread out has its downsides, it also has its pluses.  First it means I get to travel to really cool places and usually stay for free with my own personal guide – and I have been doing this since I was very little.  Second, it means when we do get to see each other it’s a really big deal.  This week I got to hang out with my brothers, their wives and kids, along with 2 of my uncles and their families.  We all had such a great time catching up…and laughing.  Lots and lots of laughing.  J

Though my little family is just my husband, my dog and me, I do feel it is still a family.  And family dinners have always been important to me.  It’s a time to catch your breath, talk about your day and enjoy something together.  I find our little family dinners even more enjoyable when B and I both put in some labor and come out with something incredible.  Growing up, we almost always all ate together but Sundays were the big meal that you HAD to be home for.  No excuses.  I have discovered that B and I also end up having a bigger, more elaborate meal on Sundays.  I think just out of habit.  Below is one of those big meals.  They make so proud.  So satisfied.  And so happy.

Sunday Supper:
- Pork Chops (that Bryan butchered himself in a class at Underground Butcher) with a Brown Sugar Glaze
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/grilled-brown-sugar-pork-chops/
-Sauteed Zucchini (from the Farmer's Market) with Basil (from my garden) and dollops of Goat Cheese
-Roasted Baby Turnips (from my CSA) with Mustard Vinaigrette -- really liked this new recipe! I added thyme in the vinaigrette because I love the combo with the turnips
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/roasted-baby-turnips-with-parsley-mustard-vinaigrette
- Lettuce Salad (from my CSA) with blue cheese and Champagne dressing
-And yes, B and I drink milk with our meals, just like our Mom's raised us to do  :-)

Sunday Supper

Roasted Turnips with Mustard Vinaigrette and Sauteed Zucchini 

Obviously, we can't eat those big dinner every night!  On the weeknights, we have stir fry.  Great way to use up a lot of veggies.  In this one we use Broccoli, Mushrooms, Napa Cabbage, and Green Onion.

A very green Stir fry

Finally, here is what we got this past week in the CSA!  Zucchini, Broccoli, Chard, Green Onions, Kohl Rabi, Beets, and Basil.  And a Giant bowl of potato chips! -- Just kidding.

Week #5

Stay warm this week with the Summer Polar Vortex....so strange!  Will be interesting to see what this does to our CSA the next couple weeks.

Week #4: Chugging Along

I don't know about you, but this summer is flying by!  I can't believe it is already after the 4th and we only have 25 days until our trip.  EEK!  I have been pretty good at getting through all of the vegetables so far. We are starting to back up on lettuce a little bit but that just means I need to eat more salads, which I'm ok with.  Here are a few things I made this week with all of our veggies.  I don't have a picture from this week's CSA because my husband picked it up and put it all away for me before I got home (which was very helpful!).  But we got broccoli, cilantro, fennel, napa cabbage, salad mix, green onions, sugar snap peas (HUGE bag), and rhubarb.


Veggie Pasta Bake -- GREAT way to use up a ton of veggies.  We had cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, zucchini (from the farmers market), fennel (from the CSA), and onion.  I first sauteed them all up with olive oil and garlic while the pasta cooked.  Then just put it all together in a dish with jarred sauce, topped with shredded mozzarella and baked for 15 mins.  Oogey googey and delicious.  And think of how many servings of vegetables you are getting!

Veggie Pasta Bake

Salsa! -- I decided to take a stab at a different (and easier) salsa this time around.  I found one where you just put everything in the food processor and blend.  No need to peel the tomatoes or cook down for hours.  Though I still prefer my usual recipe, this was great if you need something quick.  It probably also would be better if the tomatoes were homegrown instead of from the grocery store.  But I did get to use the cilantro from last week's box, as well as, serranos from our garden.

http://myfrugaladventures.com/2013/05/simple-homemade-salsa-recipe/

Easy Blender Salsa

Garlic Scape Dip:  For this time around with the scapes, I decided to make a dip since I knew I needed to bring something to a 4th of July celebration.  Like the salsa, this is very easy since you just throw everything into the food processor.  It is very similar to a hummus but without tahini. 

http://journeyofanitaliancook.blogspot.com/2012/06/garlic-scape-recipes.html

White Bean Garlic Scape Dip

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend!  I leave you with an adorable picture of my dog.  :-)

Kaiser the dog!

My First Harvest! -- And CSA Week #3

Last week was very exciting as we are finally starting to get some veggies in our raised bed!  I am especially excited for the turnips and arugula because we started them from seed.  I have honestly never grown something from seed.  So amazing to see this itsy bitsy fleck because a giant leafy plant!  Also, my tomato plants are HUGE! Around 6 ft I would guess.  Each day when I go out there, I am stunned by how much they have grown.  My tomato cages are probably too small but I can't do anything about that now.  Just something to keep in mind for next year.  We have a few little green tomatoes but nothing ripe yet.

First I will show you some pictures of our CSA and my harvest.  Then there are 2 meals that I am very proud of at the bottom.  Enjoy!

CSA Week #3: Lettuce, Sugar Snap Peas, Cilantro, Strawberries, Garlic Scapes, Baby Turnips, Radishes, Mustard Greens and Fennel

Here is the line up of my herbs -- I had cilantro until this week when I needed to harvest is all since it bolted. -- Basil, Green Onions, Chives, Mint, Parsley, Thyme and Dill

First turnips!  Can't believe these were just little seeds at the beginning of May.  I pulled them early because I like both baby and regular turnips.

I also harvested a TON of arugula and our first peppers; Serrano and Banana

Now that I had all of this fabulous food, it was time to may something tasty with it.  The night I harvested all of the arugula, I just had to use it for dinner.  How neat to think that your food was in the ground only minutes before eating it!  Can't get much more fresh than that!   I made an arugula salad with roasted grape tomatoes topped with balsamic vinegar and olive oil and a side of burrata.  I made this again the next day and added roasted mushrooms as well which I really liked.  Now, sadly besides the arugula nothing else it local but I am going to make this all again soon when I can use my own tomatoes and make my own burrata.
Quick tangent...Burrata is unbelievable.  If you have never had it, PLEASE try it the next time you see it on a menu or at your grocery store.  Every time I eat it, I thank the cheese-gods for its existence.  It is seriously a religious experience for me.  Its super creamy curd stuffed inside a fresh mozzarella outside.  Just so decadent!  I got a cheese making kit for Christmas two years ago and haven't used it yet.  My hope is I can figure out how to make burrata instead of just ricotta and mozzarella separately.

Arugula with roasted tomatoes and burrata!

YAY!  Baby turnips!  That means I get to make my favorite recipe; Braised Baby Turnips.  I know I have posted this the last two years, but I have to post it again!  They are just so delicious. And the reason for the name of my blog.  I used both my turnips and the ones from the CSA.  The ones from the CSA seemed better for this since mine are really supposed to be picked when they are bigger but it was still good. Note: instead of herbed de provence, I always used thyme because I love the flavor and I can pick it fresh off my plant.

http://www.sassyradish.com/2008/06/braised-baby-turnips/

Braised Baby Turnips in olive oil and lemon juice

Our whole meal was Seared Scallops with Chimichurri, sauteed Boy Choy, braised Baby Turnips, Brazillian Cheese bread and cantaloupe.  For the Chimichurri, I used my whole cilantro plant because it started to bolt.  I love this sauce to brighten any meat, or mixed into cream cheese and smeared on a bagel.  The bok choy is sauteed with green onions from my garden and ginger in olive oil.  At the end I just added a splash of mirin, soy sauce and sesame oil.  Finally, I must mention the Brazilian Cheese bread.  I am obsessed with these little cheesy morsels!  They are actually frozen but they are from a small company in Neenah, WI.  I first tried them as a sample at the grocery store where I actually got to meet the owner.  She was so nice and her product was delicious!  Now, we always have a bag of these in the freezer.  They are a perfect companion to any meal that just needs "something else."  They also always seen to impress guests.  And one more plus, they are gluten free!

Chimichurri Recipe -->  http://eclecticrecipes.com/cilantro-chimichurri
Brazilian Bread -->  http://saborzan.com/

Sunday Dinner

Cooking Up a Storm

Well, it's official.  I love cooking.  Each night this week I have come home from work and cooked up a storm.  Monday I made scones, just because they sounded good.  Last night after making dinner for myself, I decided to make a Lovage Soup to use up the herb from the CSA.  And tonight I made a quick sauce to use this weekend  as well as a big orzo dish for dinner.  The dog is all out of sorts because he doesn't understand why I am spending so much more time in the kitchen and not petting him.  It's great having more free time this summer so I can do what I love so much!

LOVAGE SOUP

Lovage is an herb that is very similar to the leafy tops of celery.  I had never had it before but after googling it, a potato-based soup seemed like the best recipe to try it.  This soup tastes very homey and comforting.  I like how the texture is somewhere between brothy soup and a creamy soup.  I decided to add orzo to mine which I think was a necessary addition to add some substance.

http://nourishedkitchen.com/lovage-soup/

Boiling down the potatoes in chicken stock

Not the best picture, but a cup all ready to go to work with me the next day

PARMA AND SPINACH ORZO

The other day I was going through all of my Pinterest recipes noting that I never try any of them.  I ran across this one and thought it would be perfect for using up the last of my Spinach from my CSA.  Pretty basic but tasty. This made be realize I don't eat enough orzo.  What a great little pasta!

http://damndelicious.net/2014/02/10/parmesan-spinach-orzo/

Coming Up:  Pictures of this week's CSA, as well as my first harvest from my garden!