True Savor

[Risotto with Roasted Butternut Squach - recipe here, on Patent and the Pantry]

Searching for seasonal recipes to fill our local quota is almost half the fun for this encounter with CSA. I have 99 feeds in my bloglines (excessive, maybe) - crafty, creative people I admire and glean inspiration from. At least a third of these relate to some form of cookery. I LOVE to cook - I love to admire other's cooking and stow away recipes for an adventerous rainy day. I even considered culinary school for about a day, before I saw what kind of student loans I'd be racking up. At the time I also saw my gluten intollerance (celiac?) as a limiting factor - how would I get through culinary school if I couldn't taste and eat most of the things I'd be whipping up? My oh my, how wrong I was. These days I see it as a challenge, a beautiful adventure, with ups and downs (both in the form of my breads lately - some rise, some fall flat into a doughy mess reminicent of playdough). But I digress...

Our most recent recipe success came in the form of a creamy, autumnal, Risotto. As we had a lovely butternut squash sitting on the table, from Erehwon, practically begging to be a part of this creative process - the above recipe seemed fitting. Talk about comfort food. Taking the risotto off the heat to stir in butter and parmesan - and suddenly, smelling Italy. I'd eaten my share of Risotto for three weeks in the summer of 2008, and it was lovely to know I'd done something right - it had the right aroma, if nothing else. Delightful - will certainly be a family favorite - I beg you to try it.

Here is our final Wellhausen delivery of the season - the farm was able to squeeze one more week out of the crops and gave us the biggest spaghetti squash to date, a huge bag of potatoes, several yummy apples, some radishes, a bag of arugula salad, and some farmer's cheese we ordered from a local dairy and sent via Wellhausen.



Remember the apples we had such big plans for? They've now been a tart, applesauce, an afternoon snack, and spiced apple jam! Home made gluten free bread, hot out of the oven, spread of apple jam - heavenly desert.


I am so thankful for these days. Taking the earthy's bounty, worked with the hands of our neighbor, entrusted to our care, and in turn forming it into the very nourishment to our bodies and our spirits. How satisfying to simply make good food, and to enjoy it together in our home. This is not the typical American perspective - taking the time to make and savor our food. Annie Dillard describes in Pilgrim at Tinker Creek a blind patient's description of lemonaid as square, because it pricked their tounge, the way a cube had pricked their finger. When is the last time we really felt lemonaide prick our tounge? It seems many of us have taken to eating and drinking too quickly to even taste our foods. Upon the idea of making pickles last week, I sat amongst several who were shocked and almost bothered - all of the sudden we're taught to think this use of time would be a waste? Backwards, these days. This terrible construct of time has ruined us - time is now an asset, and we are to make the most of it. Perhaps we should take the advisement of good uncle Henry - "He who distinguishes the true savor of his food can never be a glutton; he who does not cannot be otherwise." Henry David Thoreau

-E

Baked Millet & Turkey Spaghetti Squash

Baked Spaghetti Squash
Loosely based off Moroccan-Style Stuffed Acorn Squash in Martha Stewart Living (October 2009)
Moroccan-Style Stuffed Acorn Squash as on The Bitten Word

• 2 small spaghetti squashes halved and seeded - Erehwon Farms
  
• 2 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 lb. ground lean turkey or turkey breast
  
• ground cinnamon
• ground nutmeg
• 2 tsp. course salt
• 1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup millet
  
• 2 cups chicken broth
  
• 1/4 cup parsley, chopped - from our porch
  
• 2 tbsp. toasted pine nuts

1. Preheat oven to 400. Place squashes, cut sides down in a 9×13 inch casserole dish. Bake until tender, 35 to 40 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large pot with a tight-fitting lid over medium heat. Add turkey, a pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg, and 1 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until browned and cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer turkey to a bowl or plate using a slotted spoon, keeping as much of the cooking liquid in the pot as possible.

3. Add onion, and cook until slightly translucent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add remaining teaspoon salt and the millet, and stir to combine. Add broth, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook for 20 minutes. Fluff with fork, and add reserved turkey, parsley and pine nuts.

4. Scrape out baked squashes, forming 1/4 inch thick bowls, and fold flesh into millet mixture. Divide among squash halves, and return to the oven. Bake until warmed through and tops are browned. 12 to 14 minutes.

On a Sunday

As we noted before, we took the CSA bull by the horns right out of the gate and that has certainly kept us very busy as we sought and are seeking to create with the goodness we have been granted. We practice FIFO with our produce, which is embarrassing Accounting speak for first in, first out. While in accounting this counts for how you value inventory in your system, for us it is ensuring we are faithful in consuming and creating rather than adding to the waste.

[Wellhausen Farms]

We are improving our edibilities; that is, our ability to create edible(and delicious) food out of vegetables that we normally would have simply walked passed and ignored. Before you consult your dictionary on "edibilities," rest easy in knowing that it is simply the product of this crazy brain. Look for it in the 2020 Webster's, however(Goal #1:check).

The most noteworthy pick-up in my book from this week was our farm fresh eggs from free range chicken. This was something we were excited about picking up for a while, but we had no idea just how good they would be. All eggs are most definitely not created equal. God must have spent a little more time on them(obligatory N'Sync reference:check). Our customary Saturday breakfast is a scramble, which usually consists of onions, peppers, turkey bacon or sausage, country potatoes, and eggs. It is exciting to start traditions in our family of two that we will hopefully continue as we hope to eventually have children, grandchildren and so on. There's nothing like starting out a weekend with breakfast in pajamas. It sets a tone for the time away from work to be more restful and relaxing. We have found that when we start our Saturday doing things(whether they be errands, chores, etc.) it changes the way the weekend flows.

[4 dozen eggs from Wellhausen Farms]

This weekend, however, we were intentionally waiting out for Sunday morning so we would be able to create our usual scramble with our new eggs. When we went to pick them up, actually from the brother of the man that owns the farm, he let us know that we were in for a treat. We quickly scurried back home with scramble on the brain. Even as we were making it, we could tell a difference simply in the way it looked. The white was so much more substantial and the yoke a brighter orange.

[breakfast scramble - Wellhausen eggs]

As we finished up and begin to eat, we both gave each other the unmistakable look of utter enjoyment. It was so much more creamy and fluffy than any egg we'd ever had in our life. Unbelievably hearty and so fulfilling...we were truly shocked by how different they were. I am finding that as we take on this whole experiment and begin a new way of looking at food, that there are areas to wrestle with.

I have found this to be rather analogous to the life of following Christ. N.T. Wright spends much time talking about what the gospel means and doesn't and this regards the present world. The present world is not simply meant to get by and not care for because it doesn't matter. Rather, it matters so much, is God's creation and is the location of the kingdom He will bring. The gospel is a message of hope, that evil does not have the last word. In light of this, there is the challenge of "how then shall you live." How will you live in light of this understanding? How does this actually become a message of good news, and how do we translate that to the world? Certainly this is not something to be answered in a space this small, but is something that I hope to spend my whole life seeking to understand and pursue.

In this same way, as we discover these "new" methods of acquiring food, we are forced to consider what this means. While this is not the most expensive way to eat, it is also not the most inexpensive. It is a choice. A choice to eat more healthily, to support local farmers(and help ensure they do not become extinct on a smaller scale), and to root ourselves more to the land around us with the gifts it provides. Additionally, I could never have imagined I would ever spend so much on eggs(because being cheap is definitely in my nature), but I'm beginning to realize that my money is not simply an exchange simply for the tangible good. I can either use it to support a large aggressive money-making endeavor which simply uses and demeans chickens, or I can be a part of something that enables farms to continue, gives dignity to chickens, and actually produces a higher quality item. While described in this way, it may seem obvious, but its not. There are many subjects in life that deserve unsettling of the soul.

Is there anything you are wrestling with because based on what you know it begs the question, "How then shall I live?"*

-J.D.

P.S. Please enjoy some other pictures from this weekend as well.

*I realize that in asking people, it may assume I'm expecting many people to read and respond. I'm perfectly fine with that not happening, as it is something I need to continually have in front of me

[Apple Tart - Erehwon apples]

[roasted pumpkin seeds - Wellhausen]

Trees Like Lungs

[First Pickup from Erehwon Farms - stew greens, green onions, stew veggies, spaghetti squash,

winter squash, radish, fennel, collard greens(?), fingerling potatoes, apples, garlic, baby pumpkins]

A restful weekend - full of this and that. We are taught to be industrious, to make the most of our time, never slow down, sleep is for the weak. Our imperfect, human bodies are not made to go that fast for that long... it's dishonoring to treat our bodies as machines. This season of my life and of the year has me in thought of how to reconnect my (our) life to the truly natural internal clock that was in mind at our very creation. Sabbath. What does that even mean anymore? When I was young it meant we HAD to take a nap on Sunday afternoons, but that didn't translate into anything. It didn't resonate with young little mind.

[first go at making applesauce - apples from both Wellhausen & Erehwon]

Now what can it and what does it mean in my specific life? I still try and fit entirely too much in, easily distracted by the next project on my wish list. Though, now, I'm coming to understand that Sabbath doesn't mean inactivity - it means taking part in creation, in a way that is restful and restoring to our own bodies. Intentional time that I have set to embrace the things that draw me closer to the heart of God.

[home made mashed potatoes - Wellhausen & Erehwon]

This weekend was restful & restoring. An extra hour yes - but it felt like twelve. Saturday morning gifted a gentle drive, my best friend at my side; explosions in the sky and trees, leafless, reaching into that very firmament like the lungs that they are. Bronchi and bronchioles stretching, bidding adieu to their luster and seeking restful days and nights, regrouping and regaining the strength for another year. Perhaps the time was not so intentional, but it was restoring.

[red meat radish for stew - Erehwon - how beautiful - does anyone
know if this is different than a watermelon radish? Sunday]

And what to be said for my list of activities? Purchase foodmill, pickup CSA delivery, make applesauce, crochet plant hangers, separate pumpkin seeds... I had quite the list by 3:30pm. But it was reposing. To take part in embracing this earth, in the creative process, is completely fufilling, and fills me up.

[Erehwon Farms - Grandma Beth's stew recipe - beets, radish, turnip, potatoes,
carrots, Jerusalem artichoke with stew meat, stew greens were added later - Sunday]

Saturday:
Apple Sauce - Erehwon & Wellhausen
Mashed Potatoes - Erehwon & Wellhausen

xo,
Evie

PS... Earlier in the week I needed an immediate satisfaction sewing project and made this lovely new pillow for our couch using a fat quarter of some incredibly silky, cotton, quilting weight fabric I picked up on Bainbridge island while shopping with my sister-in-law this August on vacation... The lighting doesn't do it justice, but the silly thing makes me grin.

I've seen a million onions...

and I've cooked them all!

We are at the beginning of quite an (CS)Adventure, and I think it's very fair to say we're still in the romantic stage. Optimism is the only thing we see in our future regarding this, and I can't help but wonder at what point we'll have our bubble burst. Feel free to start your betting now so you don't miss it!

Although our current situation might find us with a bushel half full, I truly believe this is important to document this time for when we are up to our ears in tatsoi and other insane things we've never heard of. We have never been as mid-west as we will be in the next 7 weeks, and that is a prospect worth writing about, contemplating, and taking us into the time of advent.

It is no wonder that the intrinsic value of the life cycle of food allows for many helpful analogies to life. We are all products of the Creator and while our relationship is symbiotic, we are able to connect on the level in much the same way as we are to others. That I am taking on this endeavor with my wife then, who I connect with in a way unlike any other human, is incredible.

Together in this time, we will learn to get a better idea of what it means to live more sustainably. While this is quite the buzz word these days, I don't want to give up on it yet. There is a reason behind it and I think it involves more than buying "green." In taking on this, we are becoming connected to the gifts of the area not the limitations of it. I think this will cause us to shift what we eat in different seasons and learn that simply because we are suburban Americans that does not give us the right to demand whatever we want whenever we want it. This will be a difficult process for us two banana fans(just had one today in fact), but bringing ourselves closer to production will shape the way we approach food. In order to eat my banana today, the only thing that is perfectly clear is that it was delivered on a truck and put out on display by a Meijer employee.

Through the CSA, we have already interacted with those that work on the farm and we are learning what projects they do throughout the year and what produce they were able to harvest that week. As we look into doing this again next year, we will be paying an amount up front which will enable the farm to take on another year of uncertainties.

Through all this, however, we are moving a step closer, but we are still not fully engaging with everything that goes into the daily life of a farmer. We are very aware of this and are excited for the lessons this will teach us as we one day get a house that has room for us to do some gardening ourselves. There is much wisdom to be gleaned from those that have gone before us and I eagerly await this whole time. We will be posting along the way(though not always this long!) of the different items we get and how we enjoy them. We will share what we have learned in this process and I'm sure many of the sentiments shared here will gradually shift over time as well. Even if this is only for us, I believe fleshing out these ideas will be a beneficial process for the two of us as we continue to learn about and from one another.

Just to give an idea of the first project with CSA food, we have a curry I put together! Many thanks to Justin Donner for teaching me the ways of the candy bar curry magic. It has served me well and it did once again.

Items used from the CSA in this dish:
Potatoes
Huge Onion

Unfortunately Evie could not have this because the curry sauce had wheat in it, but I think she's ok with it. I wear the curry pants in the family. She wears the mushroom ones.

-J.D.

The Beginning

Today marks the start of our delve into eating locally. We've signed up for a 7 week fall CSA, plus two weeks of an ending summer CSA. Bear with me here - on the off chance that CSA is unfamiliar - it stands for community supported agriculture - which is a "share" of a farm - we'll get weekly deliveries of goodies throughout the season. On average we'll receive what would fit into one and one half paper grocery bags.

We count on quite an adventure - vegetables we've not even eaten, and some we've not heard of and are planning on using the blog to journal our way through the adventure so we have something to look back on. We plan on basing our meals out of our weekly delivery for the next 8 weeks (plus some winter meals that we can prepare now and freeze, or veggies that store well over the winter months). So watch out for delivery updates, recipes, and consensus on the new veggies!

Several reasons for our decision to go CSA:

• Learn to eat seasonally and locally
• Embrace and support our local community & economy - our money goes directly to the farm, not to the 15 middle men (distributors, trucking companies, advertisers, lobbyists etc)
• Take a shared risk - we'll share in bounty as well as share in loss
  
• Eat healthy and creatively
• Reduce exposure to chemicals and preservatives
• Learn about where our food comes from and what it takes to produce it
• FRESH - do you know how long food takes to get from farm to grocery? its not exactly quick business! our produce (etc) will be harvested only days before it finds its way to our kitchen.
  

The plan:

• Today : pickup from Wellhausen Farms
• Saturday : pickup from Erehwon Farms
• Sunday : pickup last bag from Wellhausen Farms
• Tuesday: pickup from Erehwon Farms (continue weekly)

What was in today's share from Wellhausen you ask? This week's delivery was light because of the early frost. We expect next week (our last week with Wellhausen for the season) to be a little bigger.

• 1 gigantic spaghetti squash! Hooray!
• A bag of assorted potatoes
• Several apples
• 1 large onion
• 1 pumpkin
  

Hope you enjoy our adventure with us!
XO
Evie

I might have a grilled cheese...

Gluten Free baking poses a challenge - gluten is what gives elacticity, leavening, flakiness, and a great fluffy chew. When things don't work - they REALLY don't work. Last week I attempted a loaf of bread from a mix and it just really . didn't . work.

Now, I'm not a chef, or even a truly great cook - but I'm a good cook, and I know how to follow directions. It can be discouraging with cooking gluten free. My husband reminds me that everything is trial and error and lessons learned. Being practical, having an expensive mix (as gluten free mixes often are) turn out inedible is just plain sad.

So I turned to what I do know - cooking from scratch seems to work better. It just requires having a lot of different ingredients on hand. Thats where amazon came in handy. I ordered several flours I've used previously, and a couple new, in packages containing 4 of each at a discount.

Thursday night, armed with the ingredients and a recipe from glutenfreegirl.com, I made a (very) successful loaf of gluten free bread!