Home Again, At Last!

Logan's home from his visit with Tom, Nichole, and Mallaika. At least I think that's where he was. In typical teen-aged fashion, he hasn't told me much about it, but I'll piece it together over time by eavesdropping when he talks to his friends. I told him to take lots of pictures of the people and what I got was this photo of Brown University's gate, one of his left hand holding a lobster, and one of his right hand holding a large burrito. I'll spare you those and instead post my own food pictures. He did come home very excited about trying to get into Harvard. He has a plan in place to try to establish a project with the Christian County Courts to demonstrate leadership, commitment, and community service, and to bolster his chances for admission to Harvard. It sounds interesting and possible, I hope he stays with it.

He was two days late getting home because of a fierce storm that closed the Providence airport, cancelling his scheduled flight. When I called the airline to rebook him, they told me the first available seat was Friday, two days later. Seemed odd to me, so I looked online and found eight coach seats available on the plane a day earlier. Not willing to spend another half hour on hold while I tried to negotiate for the earlier flight, I left well enough alone. But, I really don't understand. It left me feeling sad about the state of the industry and just a tad anxious about my upcoming trip in September.

Here's my food picture -- the table topper of the month, and the week's haul from the Farmer's Market. I got long red beans, eggplant, and beets from the Millsap's and carrots, corn, and cantaloupe from other vendors. The carrots aren't very good -- woody and bitter, but the rest is yummy. We're having the corn tonight with cedar-planked salmon (Ben gets a cedar-planked veggie burger).

Friday was Ben's seventeenth birthday. He seems so adult in many ways and yet so young in others. I guess that's what adolescence is all about. We celebrated quietly, he started the day with his traditional birthday batch of monkey bread and opening gifts from me -- a few nature and science books. I hope he likes them. And then ended the day with strawberry shortcake.

The Care and Feeding of a Vegetarian

Ever since Ben planned and cooked a week of vegetarian meals, I've stopped serving him meat. And he's gained ten pounds. He had been spending so much effort and energy in the avoidance of meat, that he wasn't getting enough to eat. I finally get it -- he doesn't want to eat the stuff for all kinds of reasons. He can't shake the fact that they are critters and that killing is involved; and he is also into the meat is an inefficient source of food for an overcrowded planet concept. And then there is the taste and texture which he finds repugnant. Okay, okay, this isn't a phase, this is from the very core of his being. And it really isn't that hard to cook for him as long as he still eats eggs and dairy.

So, today I cooked up a batch of veggie burgers which I will freeze and have at the ready when I'm at a loss for a meat equivalent for him. The rice and beans combine to make whole protein. Today I made a dozen of these little beauties and here's how:

2 C. brown rice (cooked)
2 cans mashed up beans (I used 1 can of black beans and 1 can of pinto beans)
2 eggs
1 C. bread crumbs (I used Panko 'cause I had some in the cupboard)
2 C. mashed, shredded, finely chopped, or grated vegetables (I used a combination of cooked beets, raw carrots, raw spinach, cilantro, and raw onion*)
salt and pepper to taste

*the onions and beets were from the Millsap's  (our CSA farmers of yore) stand at the new Springfield Farmer's Market

Moosh it all together and form into patties (it helps to moosh the beans first and then add the eggs). Fry until brown on one side and then gently turn and fry on the other side. Freeze them on a plate (like in the picture) when they are frozen solid I transfer them to individual bags and nuke to serve.
Carnivores, eat your hearts out!

The Week That Was

 Valery has come and gone and I miss her so much. She's been gone from Ozark for about 10 hours and is now visiting Kevin and Rachel in Kansas City before returning to Sacramento tomorrow. She did an amazing amount of house work helping me to prepare my house for showing and hopefully, selling. But, we also took some time out for fun. She arrived on Saturday and I immediately put her to work helping me prepare to host a book club meeting on Monday night. We read The Art of Racing in the Rain and I gave Valery my copy to read before the meeting. It's a light book and a quick read, so she was able to finish it and participate in the discussion. It's a good group and we had a good discussion even if it wasn't a real meaty book. Nice women, good food, a beautiful evening, who could ask for more?

My friend Sue Walker mentioned a few weeks ago that kayaking was on her bucket list. She'd never tried it and wanted to give it a whirl. I told her my sister has done quite a bit of kayaking and would be coming to visit and I suggested that an outing with Ben, Logan and the two women might be fun. I volunteered to hold down the picnic table while they did their thing on the water. At the last minute, Sue's husband, John, decided he would also like to try kayaking. Problem is, the wind had come up and no kayaks were being rented. So, we had a picnic and observed wildlife at Lake Springfield. 

 Wild life included these turtle eggs by the side of the lake. Valery reports that they had disappeared by the next day. Valery's friend, Ron, interrupted his visit with his sister in Tennessee to drive over to Missouri and spend a couple of days with us. Naturally, I found a couple of chores to keep him busy.

 

This morning we went to the Farmer's Market in Springfield and I picked up a week's supply of vegetables from Sarah at Millsap Farm's booth.The produce was gorgeous, it was good to see Sarah again, and the market is really splendid. We tried to make it to Ozark's Thursday night market, but it was folding up just as we arrived, although I did manage did buy a couple dozen eggs.

 Here's a quilt I finished at long last. I wanted it quilted by a professional long arm quilter, but I had a tough time finding someone to do custom quilting for me. All the really good quilters have such long waiting lists that you never get to the top of the list unless you have an "in" with them. I finally found someone (Vickie Crowe) who had a list only about three months long and here's the result: 

:

The color in the picture of the whole quilt is more accurate, the bottom one is too yellow, but if you click on the bottom photo, you can see the quilting detail pretty well. I think she did a beautiful job.

Season Finale (the Edible Kind)

 Ben holds the award he received at this year's band banquet. It's a bit nicer, but not as funny as the award he received last year. This year he was recognized for serving as a section leader. Last year, he won a "Golden Plunger" award for having the reddest hair. Sadly, the plunger's paint has not held up too well and if it continues to wear away, the plunger may end up in the service for which it was designed. For now, the plunger occupies a place of honor on Ben's bookshelves while the medallion will join other medals, letters, pendants, badges, etc., on his lampshade.

And in other end-of-the-season food news, I picked up our last winter season CSA share Tuesday. In the three years we have been members of Millsap's CSA both their growing practices and our eating practices have improved. Curtis has tried countless varieties of veggies, done lots of research, and much networking during that time, and now produces beautiful organically grown, interesting vegetables. I, in turn, have experimented with preparing whatever is handed us and come up with some interesting food. Some of the "ordinary" vegetables become quite extraordinary when they are fresh from the farm. The difference between just-picked lettuce or spinach and the store's offerings is astounding. Hardly seems to be the same vegetable. I've been known to nibble on a fresh spinach leaf on the way home from the farm, but would never be tempted as I return from WalMart.

With a heavy heart I've decided not to renew our CSA membership. It's just too far to drive and its often complicated for me to show up Tuesday afternoons between 4 and 5. So, with the opening of the new year-round Farmer's Market on the south side of Springfield, and the participation in that market by the Millsaps, I'm now going to do my veggie shopping on Saturday mornings at 7:30, or on Thursday afternoons. I'm pleased that I will still have access to the same quality fresh goodies and that I'll have the opportunity to stay in touch with the Millsaps. I may even have to drive out to the farm from time to time just to see how their garden grows. 

Mac 'n' Cheese -- NOT!

The never-ending quest for something to feed the boys other than mac 'n' cheese or pizza continues. They both prefer high-fat carb-loaded white food to anything that might possibly provide sound nutrition. Trying to get enough calories and protein into a wanna-be vegetarian like Ben and get five servings of fruit and vegetables into strictly carnivorous Logan stretches my meal-planning ability to the limit. And oh, by the way, let's keep it low-sodium and low-fat for Grandma. It worked pretty well yesterday.

Starting with left-over mashed potatoes and roast loin of pork, I made potato pancakes to put some calories on Ben's plate. Then I sliced the pork into a  garlicky stir-fry of Jerusalem artichokes, leeks, and spinach. Both boys actually liked it although Ben picked out the pork. I thought it was tasty and look forward to finishing off the leftovers for lunch today.

Then I made some tabbouleh. The thing about tabbouleh is it's hard to make a small amount. The recipe starts with two cups of bulgar wheat. By the time you get all the veggies added, there's enough to feed a family of three for a couple of months. Fortunately, I overcame this hazard by conveniently dropping the bowl and spilling approximately two thirds of the stuff all over the floor. The remaining third should do us nicely for about three weeks. Seasoned only with lemon and cumin, it's flavorful and low-salt. Also provides some nice whole grain nutrition including protein. With a bit of diced tofu added, it's a meal for vegetarian appetites. And it sneaks in five more veggies. And they ate it! I judge the success of a meal by the number of bowls of cereal the boys consume between dinner and bedtime -- last night it was 0! Score one for the grandma!

Out With the Old, In With the New

Fellow CSA members pull up bolting plants in the hoop house at Millsap Farms. Not sure what veggie these folks are working on, but Ben and I were there this morning to help get the last edible leaves from these spinach plants:

Then the plants were yanked out of the bed, fed to the chickens, and the soil was prepared for the next planting by Grace, the seventh of the Millsap's eight daughters:

The tomato and cucumber seeds I planted in little 2 inch soil blocks will find their way into these beds in a few days after germinating in an old recycled dairy cooler. The seeds sit in the dark and damp environment until they've sprouted and then they are transplanted into the waiting beds.

Look closely and you can see one tomato seed in the center of each soil block. 

 The bed is ready and waiting!

This is probably our last season with the CSA, but I hope somehow we can retain contact with Sarah and Curtis Millsap and hear how their garden and their girls grow. I'll miss them, and I really enjoyed the lessons I learned about the production and appreciation of vegetables. Otherwise, I would probably never eaten a turnip, Jerusalem artichoke, Chinese long red bean (one of my favorites!), and lots of other exotic veggies.

Spring Break -- Not!

The boy (initials LAM) who won't allow his picture to be taken by his doting grandmother went off to a district-wide speech tournament this morning. As usual he was a gorgeous hunk in his dark blue suit which is getting just a bit tight in the chest and shoulders; after all, it is a year old and he is still a growing fifteen-year-old. When it came time to put on his jacket, he insisted it was NOT his jacket. According to him, his jacket did not have a vent in the middle of the back, did not have chipped buttons, and fit much better in the chest and shoulders. Never mind that the jacket in question was the exact same fabric and color as the pants, from the same store, and from the same clothing line. He left confident that someone had mixed up his jacket with theirs at the last speech tournament. I wish him well as he takes a difficult-to-defend position in this debate. I'm betting he'll be wearing the same jacket when he returns to the debate tournament tomorrow.

Winter Drum Line competitions have eaten into Ben's spring break. Last Saturday they competed at Nixa. They haven't done very well this year. I feel some of the enthusiasm of the group has been dampened by the departure of their band director, Brian Perkins. He was put on a leave of absence around Thanksgiving last year and finally resigned in February. Rumors swirl around his departure, but none of them seem to indicate any horrible misdeeds, and there have certainly been no charges filed against him. Whatever the reasons, the whole situation makes me very sad. Mr. P. gave unstintingly of his time and energy for the band and contributed greatly to Ben's development as a musician and a person. He allowed Ben to take a leadership position in his section, and gave him lots of time for practicing and learning outside of school hours. The band also provided Ben a framework for his social life and the opportunity to develop trust in a male role model. He has spent many hours in class, rehearsals, competitions, and road trips so the relationship went far deeper than that of any other teacher. It has been unsettling to have Mr. P. just disappear from his life with no closure and no understanding of the circumstances. It makes me very sad for Ben's loss and for whatever has happened in Mr. P.'s life. I wish him and his family strength and success as they reshape their lives. I am left with unexpressed gratitude for the contribution he has made to our lives.

While Logan is debating, Ben and I will be farming. Tomorrow is our "work share" day at the farm. I hope they have an easy grandma-type task. In the past, I have sorted seeds and started seeds in little soil clumps. I have great enthusiasm for gardening in the spring; problem is, it fades by the time summer heats up. This year I'm confining my efforts to herbs and flowers in hanging pots on the deck because we may be moving this summer (if our house sells). I don't want to sow anything I won't be around to reap! So, I'll limit my sowing and focus on sewing. (Sorry, couldn't help myself.)

What's New

For tonight's dinner shredded kale and sliced leeks will be stirred into fried potatoes and sausage. That will leave the sweet potatoes, Jerusalem artichokes, spaghetti squash, baby salad greens, spinach and onions for later in the week. I really love planning meals around the weekly CSA harvest, but I suspect this may be our last season as members. I have to drive round trip 50 miles to pick up the vegetables each week and soon a year round farmer's market will be opening at about half the distance. Fortunately, I expect my favorite farmers (Curtis and Sarah Millsap) will be participating in the new market -- don't know for sure, haven't checked it out with them, but I'm jumping to that conclusion based on press coverage about the new market involving some of the Millsap kin.  

Please note the new and enhanced setting for my vegetable photo. I replaced my old kitchen table and six chairs with this smaller table and four chairs. Our dear departed pet, Cinder (AKA Chainsaw) had gnawed on the legs and seat of each of the old chairs and every time I looked at them, I got mad all over again. So, the new arrangement accommodates my notion of downsizing, extinguishes my anger, and provides a back drop for my handiwork -- the table runner, place mates and napkins which I'll use for the month leading up to St. Patrick's Day. I'm just finishing a set that will take us from March 17th through Easter. If I can keep the momentum going I'll finish up next spring with twelve different table top ensembles. We'll see.

In weather news, we came safely through last night's dramatic storm. Tornado damage occurred just 30 miles to the south (Branson) and 30 miles north (south of Buffalo). The boys spent the night sleeping on the floor of the torndado shelter while I risked sleeping in the bed in the adjoining room. (It's a basement room and the bed is below ground level, so I feel fairly safe and very comfortable.) I got out of bed about one A.M. and very unsafely watched the storm from a window. The lightning was amazing with magnificent branching seemingly over the neighbor's house and so close together you could read by it.

Oh, Yum!

This is my adaptation of a recipe Valery sent me. Our CSA share included a nice big leek and a butternut squash this week, so this worked out perfectly. I'm sure the original was just as good, but my spin added some meat and saved me the fuss of cutting up the bread. Here's what I did to make this:

Savory Bread Pudding

1 Med Butternut squash cut into 3/4" cubes. Put in a plastic bag with
2 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Shake to coat squash and dump squash onto a jelly roll pan (cookie sheet with sides)
Roast in 375 degree oven about 30 minutes, until tender, but not squishy

While squash is roasting:
Saute leeks and
4 cloves garlic in
2 Tbsp butter
add 1 Cup cooked meat (I used diced ham)

Set aside and whisk
4 eggs
3 Cups milk (I used 1 1/2 cups 2 % milk and 1 1/2 cups half and half
1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1 tsp. dried thyme
Salt and pepper to taste

Stir leeks, garlic, and meat mixture into the egg and milk mixture

Pour over
6 cups cubed stale bread (3/4 in. cubes) (I used garlic croutons) spread in the bottom of a 9x 13 inch pan



Bake at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes — until custard is set.

It smelled really good while it was cooking and it was yummy.


Logan is generally averse to new food or any kind of change and he did say he doesn't care for butternut squash, but he ate it all.


I would have enjoyed it more if my "Pine Nut Mouth" were gone. I developed a bitter taste in my mouth last week and thinking it must be a symptom of something dreadful, I googled and found a number of references to a bitter taste developing a few days after eating roasted pine nuts imported from Asia by Trader Joe's! No kidding. Just a week ago, I fixed Brussels sprouts with parmesan, garlic, and pine nuts (guess where I got my pine nuts). I was fine tuning the recipe I planned to serve for Christmas dinner. About four days ago, I developed the bitter taste and learned about "Pine Nut Mouth." What I don't know is whether it is an allergy and only a few of us lucky folks will get it, or if everyone who eats the same pine nuts will get it. Unfortunately, I used the rest of the pine nuts to make a huge batch of pesto which I froze in cute little containers with the intention of passing out Italian themed Christmas gifts. Today I pitched the pesto. Let them eat Marinara!

Keep Peas, Beans, and Corn Out of the Equation.

I was married to a man who would eat no vegetables but peas, beans, or corn, fresh, frozen, or canned. I think that is one of the reasons I love our CSA assortment of veggies. This week we have lettuce, cauliflower, spinach, cilantro, onion, pepper, sweet potato, and spaghetti squash. I'm going to roast the cauliflower with olive oil, lemon juice and parmesan. I don't know yet whether I'll use the spaghetti squash as a pasta substitute and serve it with meatballs, or let it stand alone as a vegetable side dish. We like it both ways. I'm still undecided about how I'll use the cilantro and the sweet potatoes. Another reason I love the CSA assortment is because they provide a foundation for meal planning which can get tedious after 50+ years. As I write this and look at the picture, I think I've come up with a way to fix the sweet potatoes; I'll slice and fry them with the onion and pepper and toss in some of the cilantro at the end. The spinach is almost like a dessert -- it is so sweet and tender and there are so many ways to use it: in salads, soups, omelets, stir frys, and just slightly wilted. 

Ben is going to his first math competition on Friday in West Plains. Math is easy for him -- it's like his native tongue. So far this school year he's carrying a 103% average in his trig class. It's completely foreign to me and just bewilders me when I watch him get pleasure out of solving equations. But then, he doesn't get much out of quilting.

The Name Game

Amanda and Ash threw their traditional Thanksgiving bash and we all had a great time with much to be thankful for. Way too much food was prepared by Amanda and contributed by the rest of the fam.
Because of an abundance of butternut squash in my CSA shares recently, I prepared three different squash dishes: mashed squash with creamed cheese and pineapple (not my fav), candied squash with apples (pretty good), and savory roasted squash with fresh sage, olive oil, garlic, pine nuts, bacon, and parmesan (yummy -- you could leave out the squash and it would still be good). The rest of the menu included a moist, blackened turkey, dressing, cranberry, Chinese noodle salad, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, garlic bread, some yummy apples dishes, pumpkin pie, cheesecake, cheese, summer sausage and crackers, brownies, clam dip, sparkling cider and some Missouri wines. 

 When not cooking squash, I made labels for a few quilts -- the one above is for Logan's Halloween quilt from last year.

The following labels are for Rick and Kathy's quilts which I will be sending off to them in early December. I made them in gratitude for Kathy's visit to help me after my knee surgery in June. To understand the labels, you need to know that Rick and Kathy call their home "Toad Ranch" and Kathy affectionately calls Rick "Top Toad."

This is on the back of Rick's quilt; it says, 

"Top Toad

made with love especially for

my brother, Rick Blair

by Melody Moore, Ozark, MO

November, 2011     Quilt #42"

and this label on Kathy's quilt, says:

"The Princess and the Toad

made especially for Kathy Felch

with love and gratitude

by Melody Moore, Ozark, MO

November, 2011

Quilt #41"

Life In a Small Town

A couple of years ago in a burst of creative boredom, Logan fabricated a game of "Ozarkopoly." He made men, houses, hotels, and dice out of modeling clay and then painted and baked them. From construction paper he fashioned Chance, Community Chest, and property cards. The money was made from printer paper. Names of properties were pulled out of the right side of his brain and included local restaurants, landmarks, streets, public buildings. No railroads in Ozark. Also only eight spaces to a side and capricious rents to make the game more interesting. I hate to play monopoly -- I think it brings out the worst in everyone (especially me); however, I was able play along with this game for a couple of hours tonight, enjoying the more sophisticated agitation the more mature boys provide. And then I threw over the game board (in a very sophisticated fashion). 

 

Today's lunch menu was a revival of one of Danny's favorite sandwiches. Andouille sausage from Trader Joe's, with sauteed bell peppers (from the CSA) and onions served on a ciabatta from Sam's Club. I'm trying very hard to use up all our CSA veggies before I go pick up some more. Tomorrow I will turn the bag of basil into pesto, and make something like ratatouille from the eggplant also incorporating green tomatoes and that should do it. Except for the purse-lane. Purse-lane is the new turnip. 

For dinner tonight, we had cock-a-leekie soup (leeks, chicken, and barley). It used up our leeks and hopefully helped cure the cold that is running through the family. Logan was pretty sick this morning, but seems to have rallied this afternoon (it was that rousing game of Ozarkopoly) and now I feel like it's my turn.

If CSA Married TJ

 After a six-month break for knee surgery, we have rejoined Millsap's CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). Today in our first pickup of the winter season we got salad greens, spinach, purse-lane, basil, a leek, butternut squash, egg plant, green tomatoes, mung bean sprouts, bell peppers, and red potatoes.

 And I made this: tossed green salad with plum tomatoes from far, far away, raw fried potatoes with onions, topped with just barely wilted spinach and served with Trader Joe's sausage. All but the sausage, tomatoes, and onion were from our CSA share.

 For the grownup in the family who doesn't have to drive anywhere tonight (football and marching band season are over!), a glass of Chardonnay/Viognier from Chile (by way of Trader Joe's).

And in the mail today, a glorious assortment of Good Earth teas to accompany my Trader Joe's triple ginger snaps.

No, we don't have Trader Joe's in Springfield. Sharon and I drove 360 miles round trip to Kansas City and spent $50+ on gas so that we could each buy $200 worth of groceries. We are hoping that a couple more people will join us on our next trip so we can spread the gas cost around a little. Let me know if you want in.

AND IT'S VALERY'S BIRTHDAY! HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE SIS!

Hillbilly Cookin' -- NOT

This is what I made for dinner a couple of nights ago:
2 cups pork loin cut into 1" cubes
4 cups swiss chard
2 good-sized Yukon Gold potatoes sliced
1/2 sliced onion

Using very large skillet, saute pork in EVOO until cooked through. Remove from pan and set aside.
Fry the potatoes and onions until cooked through. I brown them on high heat, cover and reduce heat until cooked through. Stir raw swiss chard into the potatoes, cover and let wilt. Add pork back to the mixture, season to taste and serve.

I could have made the same dish using hog jowls, turnips, turnip greens, and onions and it would be perfect hillbilly fare and taste the same as the dish I prepared -- maybe a little better because hog jowls are really just another form of bacon.

Then it occurred to me that there are "uptown" versions of lots of hillbilly food. Take sausage, biscuits, and red eye gravy for instance. How much different and how much the same would it be if I used prosciutto, hollandaise sauce, and a baguette? In fact, add an egg and it is eggs benedict!

Or okra. In the south, this nasty vegetable is either served as a slimy mess, or breaded in cornmeal and fried. But, it is really good if you sprinkle it with garlic and rosemary infused olive oil and grill it, taking care not to pierce the pods. Add salt and pepper -- delicious!

I think this is a cookbook waiting to be written. I wouldn't mind a bit if you steal the idea from me, I'd even help you with it, if you like. I'm not going to get around to it.

Lent -- Day 1

During Lent this year, I'm going to try to serve meatless meals at least twice a week. Fish counts as meatless. It's more a nod to Ben's aversion to meat than to the Christian tradition. I love much about Christian tradition, but some of it befuddles me if I try too hard to understand (or maybe it's because I don't try hard enough?). Anyh0w, for the 4o days of Lent, which occur during the 46 days before Easter (I think Sundays are exempt because they are supposed to be feast days , but there's still one extra day in there somewhere), we will significantly reduce our meat consumption. Tonight's inaugural meal was a frittata made with eggs, cheese, and one of our mystery greens from this week's CSA share. Apple wedges, biscuits, and for the grown-up in the family, sauvignon blanc (0rganic, from Sterling Vineyards, Mendocino) rounded out the meal.

We won't be participating in the CSA for the summer season because I expect to be out of commission, driving-wise for about half of the season due to knee surgery recuperation time. It makes me very sad, but we will shop at the Ozark farmer's market instead, still getting a lot of fresh local produce. One important reason I choose to participate in the CSA is to get the cost of transportation out of the price of food and into the bank accounts of local farmers. Using the farmer's market even closer to home than our CSA farm will accomplish that. Another reason is to instill in us the discipline of eating more vegetables -- both in variety and quantity. Then there is the whole sustainability issue. So, we are still committed, just altering our practice a bit. We will miss the Millsaps whom I consider to be our friends as well as our farmers. I wish them a successful summer season and we'll see them again in the fall!

It's So Nice to Have a Man Around the (Green) House

Ben climbed the ladder to dismantle the satellite dish so we could return the component you can see sticking out. Dish Satellite graciously (?) allows us to keep the dish, but we are required to return the other gizmo or pay $150. Now, what are we supposed to do with a disabled satellite dish, pray tell? We had to package up a bunch of equipment and send it back to them. They left it up to us to dismantle the equipment and package it and pay for shipping. They make it real hard to disentangle from their services (the reason we now have a new phone number, grrrrrr).
With both feet on the ground, Ben is filling our basket with our allotment of winter vegetables, either from storage, or grown in the hoop house.
Stuffed in the basket is the biggest Chinese cabbage I've ever seen -- it must weigh close to ten pounds. But, it's very tender and mild. We ate a bit of it last night in a mixture of ham and potatoes. It was pretty good -- Logan complained at the mention of it and then enjoyed it. There's also a mighty big turnip, about the size of a softball, to the right of the carrots. Greens, onions, butternut and acorn squash, potatoes, and a bell pepper round out the share. Our farmer and his wife welcomed a new baby girl over the Christmas holidays. This is the fourth girl born to them and they have four foster girls, all under eight years old.

Ruby Salad

What to do when life deals you beets and arugula:

Here's the recipe I promised a couple of weeks ago:

Yeah, I made up the name, what else could I call it when it's made of red potatoes, red onions, ham, and beets?
Here's what I think I put in it:
2 C. diced cooked red potatoes (skin on)
2 C. diced cooked beets (peeled)
2 C. chopped arugula
1/2 small red onion, diced
1 C. diced ham
2 hard-boiled eggs

Dressing:
1/4 C. Mayonnaise
1/4 C. Sour Cream
2 Tbsp. Dijon
Salt, pepper

And then I tossed some chopped roasted walnuts on top. Fortunately, I thought it was yum because the boys thought it was yuck. So, it lasted several days.

Still doing that Veggie thing

This week I'm challenging myself to use up the vegetables in as few dishes as possible (except the peppers; I'll freeze some of them and use them all winter). Ben and I drove out to the farm to pick up our share this afternoon. And, as usual, the smell of freshly picked vegetables mingled with a little bit of "clean" dirt, filled the car. I couldn't resist the smell and grabbed a few leaves of peppery fresh arugula to snack on during the ride home. This week's haul included kale, arugula, lettuce, beets, carrots, onions, peppers, summer melon, butternut squash, Thai basil, red and yellow cherry tomatoes.

Tonight our lasagna meal was enhanced by this salad with farm-fresh lettuce, red onion, carrot, red tomato, baby yellow cherry tomatoes, grated carrot, and diced red bell pepper. Tomorrow a crock pot meal will use some of the others. I plan a potato salad later in the week with some unusual ingredients. I'll show it to you when I get to it.

School starts the day after tomorrow. The boys had a "farewell to summer" sleepover last night. Because we didn't take a vacation trip this summer, the boys have had a sleepover once a week, but now it's back to the old grind.

Confessions of a Pale Green Environmentalist

• I drive a gas-powered vehicle. My next car is likely to be gas-driven. I don't like it, but I don't think hybrids are the right answer. This hypothetical next car will get 17% better gas mileage than my current mini-van. I'm not sure why 17%, but I read somewhere that if everyone improved their gas mileage 17% something magical, mystical, and all together wonderful would happen. I forget what, but the number stuck with me, so I'm sticking with it. Honda Civics beat the mileage of a Prius, so that might be my choice. We'll see. Although I do like Honda CRV and Pilot. I seem to be fixated on Hondas. A new driver in the family will probably be the driving (hah!) force behind the acquisition of a new car. And Ben turns 15 in July, old enough to get his permit. No trepidation here, only dreams of liberation from half of my chauffeuring responsibilities, plus a little relief in the errand category.
  
• I don't recycle as much as I could. They don't recycle glass in our town and there are some limits on the plastics. I could save these up and take them in to Springfield, but then that would be a trip in the car, gas, pollution, etc. I don't recycle the paper from my shredder. Having just discovered I can line my shredder with a plastic bag and save a bunch of mess and hassle (I'm a slow learner!), I'm not willing to dump it out into something recyclable. We do recycle far more than our neighbors, using three bins where every one else uses one. Or maybe we consume more.
  
• I bring my own bags to the store and I never see anyone else doing this, but then I don't live in California, Massachusetts, Colorado, or Vermont, or any college town.
  
• I belong to a CSA and get my organically grown veggies, meats, and eggs from them. I like them (the people and the products) and feel it is the right thing to do -- locally grown, support the local farmer, understand food production, eliminate the middle man and transportation costs, etc. I have also boiled caterpillars, eaten "lacy" vegetables, and I have learned to eat things I would never otherwise have tried. Have you ever had kohlrabi? How often do you eat turnips? What do you do with Daikon radish? And what are those mysterious greens?
  
• Nearly all of the almost 200 light bulbs in my home are fluorescent, but I never unplug appliances unless I'm afraid an electric storm is going to blow them out.
  
• I tend to buy organic goods at the store (flour, sugar, chicken broth, etc.) But, I also buy Eggos, frozen pizzas, Spaghetti-O's and highly fructosed breakfast cereals.
• I can't bring myself to use raw milk. It's available, but I just can't get over childhood memories of milk-borne TB.
• I use free-cycle to get rid of stuff I don't want. Or I have a garage sale, or I call the scrap metal folks. I am honestly trying to shed (and shred) stuff and the need for stuff -- to teach the kids to live more simply.

What else should I do? What do you do?

When Life Gives You a Heat Wave -- Make Lemonade!

The Millsap girls turned the heat wave into a business opportunity and sold lemonade garnished with mint leaves for 50 cents a glass, refills were free. Five of the seven girls were involved in the enterprise and it was doing very well. The cup near the center of the table is packed with dollar bills -- the astute business women took advantage of the fact that Tuesday afternoons are share pickup days, so a steady stream of traffic and nearly captive customers are guaranteed--95 degree heat with a heat index of 105 also gave business a boost.

Here's yesterday's share, embraced by a "seedless" (not!) horseshoe-shaped cucumber. I sliced it into sour cream and onions along with some of the dill, but Cinder got to the bowl before I did. Fortunately, a two-foot long cucumber lasts for several meals.

Behind the veggies is my market basket -- a product of a women's micro-loan funded business in Ghana. I find it very versatile as well as good-looking and it was a bargain at $16 (marked $26, but I had a $10 coupon).

Cinder chewed up another shoe yesterday. He's three and a half years old -- I guess he's never going to settle down. Oreo has mellowed into a very manageable sweet pet (except she bolts out the front door every chance she gets and runs like the wind).