Veg*n Cooking and Other Random Musings: Weekly Local Booty - Farmer's Market and CSA - July 11, 2009

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Weekly Local Booty - Farmer's Market and CSA - July 11, 2009

Happy Sunday everyone. It is a rainy day here in Mid-Missouri, but we aren't going to complain, now we don't have to water the gardens, nature will do it for us! A bit of an aside - I apologize for the lack of Garden Updates this year, we have had some issues with our community garden that we have finally figured out a solution to, so hopefully next week I can get some pictures of both gardens and give an update.

As you will notice, we didn't get much from market this week. We decided it would be nice for me to have a bit of a break in the kitchen, so this week we are going to do really easy, tried and true meals, instead of 3-5 tester recipes that I have tried to plan each week. It will be nice to have a break, it is no fun when cooking feels like a chore. Not to mention, I still have some goodies from last week's market left over to use up.

Enough of my rambling, check out this week's goodies!

This is this week's DanJo Farms quarter veggie CSA share:


I decided to take the pictures outside this week for better lighting and a little change-up. Starting from the bottom: green beans, carrots, a cucumber, a very large zucchini, and four orange tomatoes.

And this week's farmer's market haul. This ran us a whopping $7.


Two heads of German Extra Hardy garlic from Chert Hollow Farm and two of the first of the season cantaloupe. To me, summer hasn't really begun until the cantaloupe have arrived. And I'm not sure if any of you care or are aware of this but cantaloupe is my favorite food - period, it even tops out sriracha and spicy food, there is nothing like a perfectly ripe cantaloupe.

Speaking of our cookbook though, I have enough new recipes for another teaser post which I will work on sometime this week.

I hope everyone has had a great weekend - though I must say, weekends are never long enough.

'Til next time.

12 comments:

Lisa said...

I haven't had cantaloupe yet this year! I just have to wait for a nice ripe one; the tasteless ones out of season are a shame. And I cannot believe that cantaloupe instead of peppers is your favorite!

SusanB said...

We bought our first canteloupe this weekend also (my partner's favorite, I'm not a big fan), and our first green beans (I won't buy them until they're both organic and local). Lots and lots of blueberries -- there's a blueberry pie and blueberry basil ice cream in my future. (My office makes ice cream about once a month, how's that for a perk?)

Chile said...

We just started getting melons at the CSA in the past few weeks. No cantaloupe yet, but I've learned to love the variety we get. As long as the melon is ripe and sweet, it's good! (And if it's not sweet, I just make kimchi with it.)

I'm envious of your green beans. None of those yet for us. Glad you're taking a rest from the kitchen when you need it!

Anonymous said...

Watermelon is hands down my favorite food--way above everything else out there--and everyone finds that so strange, so I am glad to find another melon lover out there! I love cantaloupe too, but watermelon..yummmmm :-)

I am super jealous of your melons and those lovely orange tomatoes! Tomato season is *just* starting here, so hopefully soon I will be able to stop drooling all over your tomatoes and enjoying some of my own!

Courtney

Karen said...

Jenn - I have a recipe for Cantaloupe Pie that is wonderful. I've had it for years and only make it when I have someone here that likes cantaloupe. If you want me to send it to you let me know. I think you can figure out how to replace the milk and butter and still have it come out with the same consistency.
Your Aunt EE brought me a zuccini, yellow summer squash, banana pepper, bell pepper and half dozen romano tomatoes from her garden last night. Oh Boy - I feel a stir fry coming on.

hmd said...

Looks great! Hope you have a relaxed week in the kitchen.

veggievixen said...

i'm SO psyched about melons @ the farmer's market. i agree, it's truly summer. only i think it starts when peaches are at the market. but melon too.

millions of carrots too!! do they really grow in this weather???

have a good break from the kitchen. sometimes i feel like buying the same amount of produce each week, or sometimes a lot, isn't always good. i love going to the farm market or finding new places to get good stuff but it takes up a lot of room in the fridge! and i hate wasting stuff.

have a great week!

The Voracious Vegan said...

I wish I could go to a Farmer's Market, your produce looks so fresh and lovely.

Anonymous said...

We haven't had cantaloupe here yet, yours look really big. And speaking of big, wow on the zucchini. Do you find a taste difference between the larger ones and the small? I haven't noticed a pattern, but some say the thickness makes a difference....

Erin said...

I couldn't say canteloupe is my favorite, but I do agree that it's not really summer till you've had a great one. Soon as the prices become reasonable I buy one almost every time I shop.

Bianca said...

I just had a fresh cantaloupe yesterday! Love it. I like to season mine with salt and pepper.

J said...

Lisa - I imagine they will be showing up quite soon! Yeah, I can't explain it, but even when I have no appetite at all, you can get me to eat cantaloupe, it is amazing, I love it.

Susan B - Ah, more for him then I suppose. Both Brett and I adore cantaloupe. Right on with your green beans, I love roasting green beans with garlic, we eat them like french fries! Blueberry basil ice cream? That sounds interesting and I can imagine it being quite good. And monthly ice cream at work doesn't seem like a shabby deal.

Chile - You know, I haven't really had too many melons beyond the Midwestern "trinity" of cantaloupe, honeydew, and watermelon, but I know there are tons of varieties out there.

I would have never thought to use unripe melons in that way.

Courtney - Well, you can have the watermelon and I will eat the cantaloupe!

I hope you get some nice big tomatoes soon so you don't have to drool anymore!

Nanny - Cantaloupe pie? Now THAT is interesting. Does it have a normal pie crust? If so, count Brett and I out, neither of us like pie crust one bit.

Ooooh, that will make a very nice stir-fry. You could also slice up the veggies in matchsticks and marinate them in a Mexican-ish marinade, even throw in some meat if you want to, and then fry it all up the next day and have it with tortillas, sour cream, and salsa!

Heather - I did, and I am really wanting to get BACK into the kitchen. I took last week off and this week I've been sick. Ick!

Veggie Vixen - You know, I think carrots do just fine here in the Midwest. We have purveyors at the market with all sorts of varieties at various times of the year. We are growing them in our garden and so far they are doing just fine.

I hate waste too, so when I notice I'm getting a stockpile, I have to keep myself from getting more no matter how good it looks.

The Voracious Vegan - Well, if you are ever in Columbia, Missouri on a Saturday between Mid-April and Late-November, come on down! ;-)

Living in a Local Zone - Yeah, these are a pretty good size. Last year the same woman had HUGE cantaloupes, we were wary, thinking they might not taste very good or be very sweet. But we were way wrong, they were some of the juciest, sweetest cantaloupes we've ever had.

I do notice a taste difference, I think they have more flavor and even a better texture when they get small. And the seeds really start to take over when they get huge. I like to pick 'em when they are between six and eight inches long personally, those are also of a much more manageable size. That zucchini was a little big for just two people.

Erin - Same here, they get cheaper and cheaper throughout the season and we really start to gorge ourselves on them. ;-)

Bianca - Is that a southern thing? I have never heard of putting salt and pepper on a cantaloupe. I might try it, at least once....

Selina - !!!!!