CSA Goodness

Bounty from one of the first weeks.

We are enjoying our CSA share from Small Farms. We've received lots of greens, salad mix, eggs, onions, leeks, turnips and radishes as well as squash, strawberries and goat cheese. The meat share is awesome - it feels great to be eating this hormone-free local meat and the taste of the grass-fed beef is outstanding. I also really like the ground pork. So tasty. I'll try to add more photos and recipes soon!

Eating Local - Small Farms CSA

Earlier this year we made a commitment to eat locally grown fruits and vegetables and buy local, humanely raised meat. If you want to know why, read The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. Although this change can be difficult at first, there are quite a few sources for these products including farmer's markets and CSA's (community supported agriculture) groups.

We subscribe to a CSA and really love it. At the beginning of the season you pay for a "share" and become a co-producer. Essentially, you are helping the farms with operating costs in exchange for receiving a share of what is produced on the participating farms. This includes lots vegetables, some fruits and sometimes goat cheese, fresh eggs, grits, cornmeal, honey and other products. Everything is in season and fresh. Every two weeks we receive our meat share (an optional extra cost). They are just about to start their spring season so I wanted to share some information from the farmers, Joe and Judith that I just received in case any readers are interested.

"After a long, wet winter, we are thrilled to be back outside, working the earth. The spring crops are growing. We've got beautiful lettuces and cooking greens, endive. The summer seedlings are ready to go in. And, of course, the chickens are still laying those amazing eggs.

After the floods of last September, many things changed for us. We moved out of the camper on the farm, and back into our house in Grant Park. The crisis also forced us to re-evaluate our business and marketing plans. Judith took part time work in the city as Assistant Maitre d' at Restaurant Eugene, and as manager of the East Atlanta Village Farmers Market. Joe has stayed focused on rebuilding the farm and growing the best food he can possibly grow. We're also moving our produce around differently, so we wanted to give you an update on where you can find us this season.

Love is Love Farm CSA We are operating our CSA (community supported agriculture) again this year, and we are looking for new members. You can find us every week from May to August delivering CSA shares on Thursdays and Sundays. The CSA is a great way to support the farm, and be a part of the Love is Love community in a steady, consistent way. In addition to a weekly delivery of the freshest and finest of what we have growing, you explore and learn about cooking and eating with the seasons. Member of our CSA also are invited to participate in exclusive member gatherings on farm. The CSA is the mainstay of our business this year. We hope you will consider joining us.

For more information on our delivery locations, cost, and joining our CSA, visit www.smallfarmscsa.com

Love is Love Farm at Market
There are two opportunities to shop with us at market this year:
The Local Farmstand. Since 2007, we have operated this store in cooperation with Crystal Organic Farm. It is a convenient way to access the best of the season's offering. The Local Farmstand is open Thursday through Saturday and always carries our produce.In addition to our produce, we carry grits, honey, sorghum, mushrooms and other seasonal goodies from our farm friends.

The East Atlanta Village Farmers Market
Since Judith has taken the position of market manager at the East Atlanta Village Farmers Market, and since it's our neighborhood market, we decided to sell and have a CSA drop at the East Atlanta Village Farmers Market. This is a fun, funky little neighborhood market that operates every Thursday night from May to November. Opening day is May 6th. We hope to see you there. We are looking for 25 CSA susbscribers to pick-up there on Thursday nights. If you're interested, or know someone who might be interested. Please forward our information to them."

You can also learn more about Small Farms CSA on their Facebook page, here. I plan to do more cooking posts and including items received from our CSA after the season begins on May 2.

More Pizza Making Fun!

Double duty pizza - dinner and dessert!

We've been experimenting with pizza making more lately, including this lovely pie with proscuitto, goat cheese mozzarella, mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes and cilantro on the left and sweet potato butter, mild goat cheese and cinnamon-sugar spiced apple slices on the right. The sweet potato butter and mild goat cheese came from our CSA share, which I'm really missing now that the season is over. The sweet side of the pizza made for a great dessert and an interesting change from the norm. We generously mix in cornmeal with the Trader Joe's pizza dough to make it roll out better.

Gazpacho-fest

Gazpacho with avocado and tomato to sprinkle on top.

Last week I decided to make homemade gazpacho for my UUCA covenant group. Luckily I got tomatoes in my CSA last week so it worked out perfectly! I looked at several recipes before making it, but I really just threw ingredients together in the blender and continued adding spices, salt and pepper until I liked the taste. I used habenero hot sauce as well as sherry wine vinegar to add to the spice. For serving, my guests poured olive oil over the soup and sprinkled in diced avocado and tomato. Everyone brought something to share so we also had great cheese and bread, potato salad, sangria and blueberry cobbler. Yum! I would definitely make this gazpacho again.

Gazpacho in process.

Secret Ingredient - Sour Cream in Pasta Sauce

Trader Joe's Lemon Pepper pasta with spicy mushroom eggplant sour cream sauce.

I started out thinking I would make a stir-fry. Then I remembered I had Trader Joe's lemon pepper pappardelle so I decided to make an olive oil sauce. After sauteing the mushrooms, eggplant, onion and garlic and adding spices, butter and olive oil, the dish looked like it would be so good with some cream. While I didn't have any regular heavy cream, I noticed there was a small container of sour cream left over from our last nacho-fest. Hmmm... will this work?! I started off adding just a bit of sour cream and after tasting it to ensure that it wasn't ruining the dish, I added in the rest (probably about 1/2 cup total). This turned out to be a great dish, mostly because of the sour cream and the terrific pasta - another winner from TJ's.

The sauce in formation.

Home Cookin'

Last week my friend Kimberly and I created this tasty meal as we prepared to go to the mountains for the holiday weekend.

Chicken caprese salad over arugula - leftover grilled chicken, cherry tomatoes, basil* and arugula with balsamic vinaigrette.



Sun dried tomato chevre* with toasted baguette.



Mashed potatoes* with sauteed onions* and garlic and Bulgarian cheese.

* = locally grown/produced

CSA Creations, Peanut Butter Soba Noodles and Cal's Cookies

The finished product - spicy ratatouille sauce over Trader Joe's whole wheat pasta with freshly grated Bulgarian cheese and locally grown basil.

I continue to have a great time experimenting with the items provided in my CSA (community supported agriculture) bag each week. One evening last week I made the above pasta while Calvin made oatmeal cookies (see dough bowl below). Both turned out really well. I am making an effort to cook more and eat out less, as I actually enjoy both equally when I'm in the mood!

I also made a wonderful spicy peanut soba noodle salad with chicken and vegetables (sorry, no photo!) this week. The secret's in the sauce and while I do not have exact measurements I mixed several tablespoons of peanut butter with soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, fish sauce, sriracha and spices. To get the peanut butter to mix well, heat it in the microwave for a few seconds. Then I poured the sauce over cooked soba noodles, chopped cooked veggies and chopped leftover grilled chicken - it really did turn out well.

Also, our CSA bag sometimes contains chevre (very mild goat cheese) from Decimal.Place Farm. I usually mix the chevre with spices and chopped sun dried tomatoes to make a tasty appetizer served with bread or crackers. This week I melted some chocolate chips and mixed the chocolate with some of the chevre. I make a graham cracker crust in a ramekin and dumped the chocolate/cheese mixture on top. Unfortunately we ate it too quickly for a photo, but this was another great use for the chevre. I look forward to trying more new recipes soon.

Spicy ratatouille pasta sauce including bok choi, carrots, mushrooms, canned tomatoes, fennel, diced Thai chiles & TJ's arrabiata sauce.



Toppings for the pasta - fresh basil from Small Farms CSA and grated Bulgarian cheese from the Buford Highway Farmer's Market.



Calvin's cookie dough (Quaker recipe with chocolate chips and butterscotch chips instead of raisins; omit the cinnamon) - the cookies turned out perfectly.

More Garden Goodness

Beets.

Turnips.



Braising greens before cooking.



Braising greens and green garlic after cooking.



Beet greens and turnips.



Beet greens and turnips, cooked. Believe it or not, the beets are not in here. I roasted those separately and put them in salads.

Fresh Produce is Here!

Fresh egg omelet with mushrooms and parsley; homemade butterfly biscuits.

Last Sunday I began my 17 week subscription to Small Farms CSA. In exchange for buying a share and becoming a "co-producer" in a farm cooperative, I receive a portion of fresh produce on a weekly basis from the participating farms. Sometimes I also get eggs, goat cheese, honey and/or grits. This week I got spinach, braising greens, lettuce, parsley, arugula and fresh eggs. There's something about knowing that the produce is local and fresh that makes it taste better!

I've had fresh salads for lunch all this week. I also made the omelet above along with fresh butterfly buttermilk biscuits. I cooked the braising greens in olive oil with lots of sliced garlic and mushrooms. Once the greens were cooked I added a splash of apple cider vinegar. Who knew greens could taste so delicious!?

Tonight I am going to bake with the fresh eggs as I wonder if there will be any difference in outcome/taste. Look for an upcoming post soon!