fancy schmancy

it was friday with a pile of produce to use.  and, well, chopsticks is deserving.  let's get fancy for a date night.  

the menu (27aug10): 

• pan-seared duck breast with an apple, cherry, red wine reduction
• sweet potato and acorn squash purée
• wilted spinach

week 19: way behind here

certainly wasn't the best of weeks for any updates.  that only means that we have some making up to do this week, including some additional updates from last week.

little overdue, but here this week's box.  went with box "c," another farmer's choice box.  certainly got a variety of things, including pink-eyed peas (which we had never heard of before).  we had to add on a few jars of the spicy sweet dill pickles too.  household favorite for sure!

clockwise from top left: personal watermelon, squash, cucumber, lee's produce spicy & sweet dill pickles (add on), tomato, peaches, lee's produce spicy & sweet dill pickles (add on), sweet potatoes, asian pears, scuppernong grapes, pink-eyed peas

week 13: taters and maters

i was excited to see sweet potatoes in a box this week and that led us to choose box "c" ("for adventurous cooks").  and, yes, there were a lot of taters and maters when the box arrived.

clockwise from top left: personal watermelon, spaghetti squash, pickled squash, blueberries, cucumbers, tomatoes, sweet potatoes

week 4 roundup

i truly get a kick out of the word "roundup."  like i should be donning a cowboy hat and wrangling something...

instead here's a quick recap of the remainders of this past week's box:

• strawberries were used to make some smoothies.  still need to perfect the recipe a bit, but the new, finally upgraded blender is amazing!

• sweet potato is still waiting its little turn to be transformed into something yummy... keep you posted
• sadly, the collards died.  just didn't find a place for them this week.  we'll do better next time.

week 4: holy giant sweet potato, chopsticks

chopsticks calls...  she's got the box....  what's in the box?!!  "it's definitely chocolate butter... and a sweet potato as big as your head,"

she's spot on for the potato.  i mean, look a the thing!  i'll have to give her a pass on the chocolate butter since she did her official "taste test" with a sinus infection.  was actually maple butter  (i'm thinking pancakes).

why ruin a good thing.  another surprise box this week with an addition of some cheese

clockwise from top left:  collard greens, spring onion, cucumber, the bread shop three seed bread (sample), red potatoes, nancy foss' maple butter (sample), strawberries, zucchini, tomatoes, squash, chapel hill creamery raw milk cheese (add-on), sweet potato

two weeks behind

ok, ok... it was a new idea, so i'm a bit (two weeks) behind... and, well, i can't remember everything i've made with the first two boxes, so here's a quick recap from what i can actually remember:

week 1:

• we'll call this the "oh my god, what am i going to do with all of this" box
• i know there were strawberries were in the box, i can see them in the picture...  but i don't remember really ever seeing them (glances at chopsticks)
• grilled asparagus (brush with olive oil, salt & pepper and garlic powder and grill)... so, so good
• sorry to report, but the cabbage did not find a home this week... it gave me a dirty look when i put it in the fridge... sorry buddy
• didn't realize that spring onions were ever this big; but wow were they good.  they made their way onto the grill and then sliced into some salsa.  one made its way into the lettuce wraps
• bibb lettuce = chicken lettuce wraps of course.  i'll spare you all the recipe... we ate it... but it wasn't the best offering ever.  we'll rack that one up to experimentation
• beta sweet potatoes - these things were UGLY but delicious.  i diced these up into cubes and roasted them.  one batch chili roasted; one "plain" (little salt, pepper and olive oil).  i'm still holding out hope we see these come back in another box as the season progresses

week 2:

• more peanuts?  thinking maybe we should start one of those bars in our house and just throw the shells on the floor.  olive (our dog, aka ojp) would be in heaven.  went ahead and roasted a bag full and used them as a snack
• romaine automatically meant grilled caesar salad 
• one of the voices in my head says "grill. the. asparagus."  i quickly question if i should start cutting down corn fields and playing baseball... instead i oblige and grill up some asparagus and serve it with some pan seared fish
• we're getting smart about the strawberries as they keep flowing in... hulled and into the freezer for later use
• the voice is back telling me to roast the potatoes...  i resist the temptation and decide to launch myself into the internet to look for some inspiration (maybe i should be looking up something about voices in my head while i'm there too).  inspiration finds me (google, you have helped me once again) and my adventure with sweet potato salsa begins.  served with some pan seared fish and wilted spinach.  

whew... 

week 2: another surprise!

week 2 was upon us before we knew it.  we decided, after the success of the first box, to go with the surprise box again this week.

clockwise from top left:  strawberries, asparagus, cucumber, romaine, peanuts, sweet potatoes, fresh salsa sampler, red lettuce

is it just me, or does that cucumber look suspiciously like a penguin?  thought you were clever trying to disguise yourself, didn't you?!