sarahbyrdd

We have finally found a CSA that makes sense for us. I got it in my head to make an apple pie last weekend and did a little googling to find a local orchard that was selling their over-wintered apples. (Note: staymen apples are tart and firm and make an excellent pie.) The top of the list of local orchards was Hindinger Farm, closed for the season, but so local I checked out their site. Lo and behold, they offer a 24 week CSA of fruits and veg for a not outrageous price and offer a Wednesday pick up (crucial as we're away so many weekends during the summer) at the farm, which is maybe a 20 minute drive from our apartment. After doing a drive-by over the weekend to see where the farm is and get a feel for the place, I sent in the application and check for the CSA. I'm so excited!

This is a major step towards eating locally and seasonally. I feel like I'm putting my money where my mouth is. Plus, after having a few seasons worth of canning under my belt I feel more able to preserve the inevitable excesses as the growing season progresses. It'll be good discipline to prepare us for when we have our longed for kitchen garden. I've made a little list of potential preservation projects ...

-Proper dilly beans for sure (rather than the quickles I made last year that were too sharp)
-On going fridge jar of 3 bean salad
-Pickled asparagus
-Giardinera
-chowchow
-Salsa
-canned tomatoes
-tomato sauce
-Jams
-Blanch and freeze the hardy greens in sensible portions for later use.
-Fruit butters
-Dried apple and pear slices
-apple sauce
-pie fillings
-ketchup
-chutney
-kraut
-rumtopf

Also, my mother visited a few weekends ago and I broilled one of the T-bones from Ox-X. Best steak at home EVER. (A steak I had at Peter Luger's looms as the pinnacle in my food memory.) That sucker was so rich the two of us couldn't finish it, and we left the bone with many gobbets still attached for Bytchearse to gnaw when he got home from Mudthaw.