Weekly CSA Share - last for the season

1 Acorn Squash or 1 Butternut Squash

5 spice butternut squash soup w/ shrimp

Enjoying the Autumn Produce

We've been cooking fairly regularly around here. And the nice thing is my daughter has been helping too!
We made these thai tofu lettuce wraps and Shara crumbled the tofu and helped plate.

thai tofu lettuce wraps

We also made scallion pancakes. When I was picking up my CSA order, I was talking to Kelly, my Langwater friend, and she was planning on making them too and didn't even see the PIN I had found to the recipe on Serious Eats. Things are so coincidental, or maybe not... Either way, ours came out great, but we didn't eat until about 7 PM that night!

rolled out - before first fold

all ready to go

pan-fried goodies

shrimp w/ spinach & mushroom soy sauce, 

daikon, carrots & onions, scallion pancakes

I tried to fry these with a bit of oil, not too much. Next time I think I'll try doing these with some spray in my non-stick griddle, all at once. There should be enough flavor from the sesame oil in between the layers.























For a dinner party, I also used my CSA sugar pumpkin to make a version of "Pumpkin Stuffed with Everything Good" I used a ciabatta roll, about a 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk instead of cream, 4oz. light swiss, garlic, thyme, sage, nutmeg, and a chopped apple. I think that's it. It was very good and only a few Weight Watchers points for the cheese! I've followed the recipe before, just adding the bacon as Dorie suggests. In our house we say everything is better with bacon.

Last night, pre-Sandy, I sauteed chicken breasts, removed them, then added some Port to deglaze. Into the pan went a bunch of mushrooms - baby bellas, White Beech and portobellos. Sauteed a bit, then added some vegetable broth, thyme and Szechuan peppercorn salt, and the chicken. Yum!

Mixed mushrooms & chicken in Port sauce, roasted 

acorn squash, sweet potatoes, white 

potatoes & garlic w/ szechuan salt & pepper

Weekly CSA Share

1 Sugar Pie Pumpkin - Pumpkin stuffed with everything good - Dare I? Thinking of trying it in the crock pot.
1 head of broccoli - roasted w/ garlic
3 Green Peppers - fried w/ onions & eggs
1.5 lb Sweet Potatoes - Twice-Baked Sweet Potato Cups with Sour Cream, Chipotle, and Lime

1 bunch Red Russian Kale - sauteed w/ garlic & pasta
1 bunch Spinach - braised w/ garlic, chopped acorn squash, ground chourico, and vegetable broth

Also purchased:

3 large beets, 3 onions, lots of apples

I got the beets to try and recreate what we ate at the Empty Bowls Project from Muza's. It was much thicker because I cooked it for the day in the slow cooker with the potatoes and kidney beans. I put a couple of sliced carrots, the chopped beets, a couple chopped cloves of garlic, a chopped onion, and the chopped potatoes and beans in the slow cooker along with (I embarrassingly admin) a couple of cups of frozen, sliced red cabbage from last year! I only had about a cup of vegetable broth left, but put in water until it came about 1/2 way up. I vetted the idea, as I usually do, by finding something similar that's already been tested. My model was this Beet Root Soup with Kidney Beans.

After it cooked for the day, I added sour salt, table salt and white sugar. We sprinkled some dill in our bowls and Alan and I added hot pepper flakes too. Next time I'll use vinegar and a different kind of sugar. Maybe brown sugar to give it a little more depth. It was a little flat, and the beets lost most of their color. However, I'm looking forward to having it for lunch tomorrow!

Shara's Happenings: More Family Visits & Photo Catch-up

Shara's Happenings: More Family Visits & Photo Catch-up: This weekend we went to Schenectady for my 25th High School reunion. Shara spent a nice evening with Bubbe and papa - they had dinner and ...

Weekly CSA Share

1 Delicata Squash or 1 Acorn Squash - got both and baked with apple cider & cranberries

4 Sweet Peppers or 1.5 lb. Green Tomatoes - coated w/ egg white & roasted

1 bunch Radishes traded for a head of lettuce - salad & wraps
1 bunch Tat Soi - spicy tofu lettuce wraps, made with Shara
1 bunch Red Russian Kale - sweet & savory kale
1 bag Arugula or 1 bunch Chard - sauteed w/ garlic

Weekly CSA Share

1 Delicata Squash - roast w/ either italian or indian seasonings
1 Yellow Onion
3 Sweet Peppers or 1 bunch Beets - turkey chili or a Chinese stir-fry
1 bunch Hakurei Turnips
1 bunch Kale - sauteed w/ red onion & garlic, mixed in with a little mushroom soy sauce
1 bag Arugula Spinach - asked to switch the turnips & arugula. - spinach, beet, boiled eggs, & bacon salad w/ garlicy dressing

salad w/ egg

eggplant w/ ricotta cheese & chipotle garlic salsa

I also got lots of Honeycrisp and Macoun apples, a beefsteak tomato, a Japanese eggplant, 2 summer squash, baby bok choy, and a poblano pepper. I'm planning on making a stir-fry with the bok choy, eggplant & squash and a turkey hominy chili with the peppers & onion.

Shara designed chicken burger

corn dogs!

Shara w/ a grilled mushroom wrap