Can't Beat Fresh-Roasted Beets

I've said this before. Before I met my husband, I was not a fan of beets. You'd never find canned beets in my shopping cart, I wouldn't order it off a menu and no way would you get me to grab the root veggies from the produce aisle.

Fast forward to July 29, 2010, with me overloaded with beets. I already had six gold beets in my fridge from our Sandhill Organics share a couple weeks ago. So when we opened up the box this week and saw yet another bunch staring back at me, I knew we had to act.

I remembered Cooking Away My CSA participants posting about how easy it is to roast beets for eating immediately or saving for later to toss in a salad with goat cheese.

I had six to roast (at 375 degrees, wrapped in foil, for one hour), so we ate two with our sloppy Joe's. The rest will be for lunch tomorrow and salad over the weekend.

Here's one roasted until fork tender:

Easy peasy to peel:

Sliced and dressed with extra virgin olive oil, a splash of baslamic vinegar & sea salt:

More Beets, Tiny Potatoes, Herbs & Wax Beans in This Week's Box

So many goodies in this week's Sandhill Organics share.

Some of it even went right from the box into our supper.

I used one of the Walla Walla onions for sloppy Joes.

And I threw some gold beets (from a previous share) into the oven.

Here's what else we got this week:

Fresh Cilantro
Red Beets w/ Lush Greens
Green-Top Carrots
Mix of Yellow Wax Beans and Green Beans
Yellow Fingerling Potatoes
Zucchini & Summer Squash
Fresh Sage


I haven't tried any of the Sandhill suggested recipes yet, but I have my eye on this recipe for Goat Cheese and Beet Crostini. And I bet Sim would just love this recipe for Sage and Honey Skillet Cornbread.

Extra Gooey S'Mores w/Extra Large Marshmallows

On Saturday when I was doing my weekly grocery run, I noticed a new product, at least one that's new to me: ginormous marshmallows.

These Campfire Giant Roasters are a full ounce of marshmallow deliciousness.  The press release announcing the 2x2 treats suggests roasting and serving with a full-sized graham cracker and a whole chocolate bar. [Bonus, Campfire is a locally-owned and made product, with a plant right here in Chicagoland.]

Instead, we just used our regular half graham cracker, quarter Hershey bar and enjoyed the overflow of gooey fluffiness.

We were all such a huge mess that even the backyard hose couldn't unstick us.

So we went right from the backyard to the bath, then to bed.

Looks like we'll have plenty for our next backyard BBQ. We stuffed ourselves and didn't even put a dent in the bag. Who's in for the next round?

Cukes a Plenty. Time to Try Pickling?

The Irving Garden is just sick with cucumbers.

I picked a few last week and whipped up some cool cucumber soup. Then the head of our garden project went back and pulled another 13!

On my last day of weekly garden duty, I went by to check on the 20 classroom grow boxesand lo and behold, there were even more ready to be pulled. Admittedly, I pulled a couple before their time, but they were slightly deformed, looking more like gourds than cucumbers. I figured it was better to pull them now while there was enough flesh to eat.

But there was one that was a record for me, a hot-house looking beauty that measured 10 3/4 inches.

I still don't know what to do with all of them. I gave one to a neighbor kid who also goes to Irving. If I can't give the rest away, I may make another, more garlicky cucumber soup.

The real trouble is, these were just the tip of the iceberg, sort of an early harvest. There are dozens more cucumbers ripening on the plant. I'm thinking we may need to learn how to pickle...and fast.

One (of Many) Reasons I'm Still a Virtual Farmgirl

My oregano is about to become an invasive plant in my backyard garden and I successfully harvested shallots this weekend.

But for whatever reason, I absolutely cannot keep baskets or pots of outdoor flowers alive, at least not for long. It's the same story for my indoor plants.

I manage to keep them going for a while, even a couple months.

But inevitably, they literally die on the vine.

I remember at some point having luck when I made my own basket mixes from seeds and sprouts.

Maybe I'll have to go back to that, because I just haven't mastered the art of maintaining beautiful flowering hanging baskets.

Historic Flood Soaks Basements, Creates Traffic Headaches for Our Farmers

Judging from the bags of sopping carpet and soggy upholstered furniture in our alley, we can count ourselves among the very fortunate following Saturday's near record rainfall.

Our sump pump worked overtime and we only got a little seepage in our laundry room and what appears to be some roof damage that is causing a leak in our dining room alcove.

The first indication I got that this storm was worse than a normal heavy rain was an early morning email from an Oak Park Farmer's Market volunteer who alerted us that she wouldn't make her market shift because she woke up at 3 a.m. to a basement filled with 5 inches of backed up sewage.

Ick.

It turns out she wasn't the only one who wouldn't make the market that day. We were down three market vendors. The farmers who did make it in and set up tents in the torrential rain had a hard time getting back to their farms.

Right around 7 a.m., right as the market opened to the public, the Eisenhower Expressway closed to all traffic from downtown Chicago to Mannheim Road. The Blue Line shut down too, with trains stranded at Austin with flooding so intense that in many places you couldn't see the electrified tracks. Nor could you see the neighboring CSX tracks, which looked more like a canal than a train thoroughfare.

I saw the flooded highway and tracks after the storm finally broke after about 10:30 a.m. and the sun started to peek through. I had to get to the market for my 11-1 shift, but I dispatched Sim and the kids to the Lombard Ave. bridge to document the flood.

Would need hip waders to get to the train down this walkway:

I've never seen the Ike this quiet:

Can't see the CSX tracks at all to the left and can just make out the CTA tracks down the middle:

Celebrity, Carbs and Sweat - First Day of Pierogi Fest

If you watched CBS, Channel 2, news tonight in the Chicago area, you would have likely seen weatherman Steve Baskerville broadcasting live from Whiting, Ind.

We didn't watch him on the news. But we saw him dancing the polka and signing autographs at the 16th Annual Pierogi Fest, the year of the Jello Mold.

We braved the 97-degree heat to see if we could get the kids sketched by Peter Anton, who is one of the featured outsider artists at Intuit. No such luck. After much searching and some investigating with the local Chamber of Commerce we learned he should be sketching caricatures at a cafe at the end of 119th St. But he wasn't there.

We were early. He may be waiting for what we didn't want, the crushing crowds drawn to the festival celebrating the doughy Eastern European pastry that has as many flavors as you can dream up fillings.

We enjoyed the food so much that we left with boxes of pierogi and potato pancakes in hand for munching later, in the air conditioned comfort of our home.

Not long after we walked in the door, the clouds burst and it started to pour. Home just in time. Although, sometime around 3:30 p.m. in the brutal heat, I would have welcomed a good, cooling rain.

Scenes from the first day of the festival:

Mom, it's really really hot. I want to go home.

Little bit of rest in a pretty big chair.

Steve Baskerville, dancing the polka at the Polka Hantes Stage.

If you like pina coladas...

Cooling off in the misting tent.

Dessert Saved: Carrot Cake Crumbles w/ Drizzle Icing

This is about a VFG Test Kitchen failure that turned around, at least this once.

Here's my takeaway: Don't be too quick to give up on your baking efforts, no matter how much you smoke up the kitchen.

Here's what happened: I had a beautiful bunch of Sandhill Organic carrots in my share last week, but didn't really want to cook them into any veggie dish.

So when I was looking for a dessert when a guest came over for supper, I opted to shred the carrots and bake them up into carrot cake, or what I thought would be an easier batch up cupcakes.

My sister and her friend helped me with this Barefoot Contessa recipe to mix up and fill the cupcake pans while I made the portobello pasta, peach pesto chicken, green beans and cucumber soup.

Unfortunately, my oven was not behaving that night. Even though we checked the cupcakes early, they burnt to a crisp and were too far gone to eat. Well...almost too far gone.

My girlfriend and I scooped out the unburnt part of the cupcakes into a delightful, but unappetizing looking, heap of carrot cake crumbs.

I thought about just eating the crumbs as is or serving them in a bowl with a dollop of ice cream or whipped cream.

But doesn't everything look and taste better with icing? In this case, we went with drizzled powdered sugar icing.

That did the trick. Dessert saved. Tummies happy.

Chilled Cucumber Soup

One of my coworkers makes a fantastic, garlic lovers chilled cucumber soup.

After she shared once, I've craved it ever since. I even got the recipe. But when it came time for me to whip up a batch for supper last night, I couldn't find the recipe.

So I quit digging and threw together what I had. I thought it turned out quite nicely, though it wasn't a huge hit with my guest and the teenagers staying with us this week.

It doesn't have quite the garlic kick that I was going for. But I was pleased with the result and will enjoy the leftovers.

Here's the recipe:

4 medium picked-that-day cucumbers, peeled, seeded and chopped

8 ounces Greek yogurt

1 cup skim milk

2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped

Sea salt, to taste

Working in batches, blend all the ingredients until smooth. Chill for at least an hour, more to get the garlic to better infuse. Serve cold with a dash of hot pepper sauce for an extra punch.

In This Week's Box: Sweet Corn, Broccoli & Curly Kale

It's our off week for our CSA share, but here's what our partner family is getting in the Sandhill box tonight:

• Sweet Corn (though not from Sandhill)
• Green Curly Kale
• Broccoli
• Green & Gold Zucchini
• Parsley
• Green Beans
• Red & Gold Cipollini Onions
• Garlic Bulb

We're still doing just fine with veggies in the fridge and freezer, so I don't regret one minute our decision to share our share this season.

Green Beans Galore at Irving Garden

I've been spending some time at the Irving Garden this week. It's my turn to weed, water and harvest to help keep the grow boxes thriving.

All looks really good, so much better than my own backyard raised bed.

I wasn't expecting to do too much other than basic tending. But it was obvious when I got there that the green beans needed to be picked and trained up their tee pee. I ended up with a huge bag of booty from that one section. And it looked like I'll need to pick more in yet another green bean plot.

I also picked some cucumber, a couple radishes and a squash. The kids identified everything except the delicata squash.

The kids will go back with me tonight to take on the rest of the beans, and maybe trim back some of the basil.

If you're in the mood to get your hands dirty and are looking for some fresh greens for the dinner table, please join us, probably around 6.

This Week's CSA Booty

Here's what we get to pick up tonight:

• Green Beans
• New Red Potatoes
• Cucumbers
• Walla Walla Onions
• Carrots
• Leeks
• Fresh Thyme & Oregano
• Basil 
• Arugula or Tokyo Bekana Salad Greens (Hmmm. This is new to me and should be interesting.)

Slim Pickings

Strawberry season is over at The Farm. But that doesn't mean there aren't any berries.

Just starting to come in are some of the best red raspberries I've ever had. We only got a couple dozen out of our morning visit to the fence-row berry patch.

Looks like the birds got to a few of the other berries that ripened early. There was enough though for a good pre-lunch snack and not a bit more.

I hope we'll be back when more of the berry bushes are loaded with ripened fruit.

I'm thinking it'll take longer than a week. We'll be back next Friday to pick up our kids.

Wow, it was much harder to leave them than I thought.

And the house is so quiet. I don't know how to act.

Gas City Here We Come

We're headed to The Farm today to drop the kids off for a week. Good grief will I miss them.

But they need some time away from mom and dad. And we could use some time to be just a couple for a few days.

Best of all, our Future Farmkids will get to truly enjoy every inch of The Farm. They'll have plenty of adventures to share on the phone each day and when they get back.

Bonus, I'm hopeful we'll get to grab a handful of this garlic that was harvested this week. Doesn't it look fantastic?

Last year, the rains nearly ruined the hard neck garlic pictured here. The harvested bulbs were muddy and certainly not appealing for market. So dad replanted and voila, beautiful clean, white garlic this year.

That's some good news after a less-than-stellar strawberry season.

Red Currant Maragarita

There's only so many uses for red currant syrup, or are there?

I thought we'd just save the syrup I made last week for pancakes or corncakes in the coming days.

But then we got the bright idea to use it to help sweeten our Friday cocktails.

I can report mixed results with our Red Currant Margarita. I actually like the flavor combination of fresh-squeezed limes and currants. But the tart limes and currants were a bit much. I had to add agave nectar and a splash of orange juice to sweeten the drink up a bit.

And I think next time we might try a sugar rimmed glass. The salt and currant didn't go together. A sweet-rimmed cocktail glass may have been all balance this drink needs.

In the Box This Week: Cabbage, Cukes, Carrots & More

We're splitting our Sandhill Organics CSA share with another family this season, so I don't get to enjoy this week's box of goodies.

Actually, I still have some veggies from last week's share...which is why we're sharing the share...less waste.

But our friends should have some good eats in the next few days.

Here's what's in this week's box:

• Green Cabbage
• Cucumbers
• Green-Top Carrots
• Snap Peas (from Tipi Produce in Evansville, WI)
• Head Lettuce
• Broccoli
• Green Onions or Red Onions
• Gold or Rainbow Swiss Chard
• Newly-Dug Garlic Bulbs

Did We Eat More Than We Bagged?

We answered the call this morning to help with some Irving schoolyard garden maintenance today.

Our mission was to harvest the box of radishes. But when we got to the school, it was clear that the lettuce was more than ready to be picked. And to the delight of our future farmkids, a good number of sugar snap peas were prime for picking and immediate eating.

We're on watering duty in a couple of weeks. By then, we will likely see some mature cucumbers and some squash in place of the dozens of blossoms we saw this morning.

Oh, and the way things are going, we'll see a lot more peas.

What's That Smell?

We're a little sad right now, having said goodbye to my son's Godparents and their children.

It's the first time all four kids have had a chance to play together since the littlest one joined the picture a couple years ago.

We celebrated our time together with lots of good food, including greens -- thanks to our Sandhill Organics delivery -- a steady flow of drinks and fireworks.

Well, they resembled fireworks. I guess

They're pretty much the only thing that you can legally buy and light around here. But I'm betting the EPA will get involved soon and put a stop to those too because, as our kids can attest, they STINK, in more ways than one.

I'm surprised my backyard doesn't smell like we uncovered a cache of long-lost hard boiled Easter eggs.

The picture says it all.

Banana Pancakes w/ Red Currant Syrup

Happily, on holidays, I do not count calories.

Because of that, it was easy for me to justify loading my plate with a full stack of banana pancakes. I usually make pancakes for the kids and will have one or two. But today, I had an extra incentive to eat: red currant syrup I made this morning from the pint I received this week from our CSA this week.

I was going to bake the currants into muffins. Then it got hot out and turning on the oven seemed like madness. So I started hunting for alternative uses and found this easy-peasey recipe for Ruby-Red Currant Syrup from Under the High Chair.

I didn't do cornmeal pancakes, but I agree that the red currant syrup would compliment the flavor and texture of cornmeal quite nicely.

Here's the currant part of the recipe:

Ruby-Red Currant Syrup

2 cups red currants, rinsed
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup red wine (0r water) [I used water, but I'd try wine for a richer syrup]
1/2 cup water
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground cinnamon OR 1 whole star anise [I only had powdered and that was just fine. I used a pinch.]

Combine everything in a heavy bottomed sauce pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat ad simmer gently for twenty minutes, stirring occasionally. Berries will disintegrate and mixture should reduce and thicken slightly. 

 Remove from heat and pass through a fine mesh sieve. Cool slightly and serve with pancakes.

 The banana flavor and sweetened red currant syrup was a nice combo.