really fresh tomatoes...and a request...

...all they really needed was a little coarse salt and pepper



...at the farm stand yesterday there was some talk about making a fantastic sounding tomato sauce...i'm hoping, we'll be restrained enough to get past the slice and eat instinct one week so we can try it

...that's one of the great things about going out to the farm stand, it's a real community where people share ideas for recipes and just chat...

that gives me an idea

to our fellow CSA subscribers: we'd love to hear from you...please post some comments* about what YOU are doing with your weekly box! actually, anyone with recipe ideas or good stories or anything vegetable related, please post your thoughts!

*you do have to register with blogspot.com to post to the site, but we hope you might be willing to do that to help us start up a little community spirit here! thanks to Sarah for the carrot recipe...see "Week 5 Cont..." for her post

Caramelized Onion Bruschetta

Used the pearl onions and some of the red onions...




since the chile cucumbers were for me, these toasts were all David...they didn't last 5 minutes after this photo was taken, so I'd say the pearl onions were pretty darn good...

cucumbers with chile and lime...mmmm

Evidently, this is a popular road side treat in Mexico...all I have to say is that it is addictive! Evie, at Tierra, provided the recipe on our weekly menu...she says it's also done with melon...we'll keep you posted on that...for now:

Slice cucumbers, dress with lime juice, salt and chile powder...the heat from the chile and the cool of the cucumber is a terrific summer treat...please try it!

Week 7

Wow, it's been hot! But, we have great veggies again this week.

Clockwise from left: Zuchinni, early girl tomatoes, brocolli, carrots, lemon cucumbers, pearl onions, squash and espelette chile powder!

Week 6

Wow, 6 weeks flew by! This week we have:
...tomatillos...garlic...basil...lemon cucumbers...zuchinni...Jersey Wakefield cabbage...fennel...summer squash...and green beans!













Lots of possibilities here. Of course, pesto (David's favorite) is first on the list! It will be used on everything....bread, pasta, pizza, potatoes--it will probably also dress the green beans and squash. Everyone always says you can freeze it, but we never seem to have any leftover!

Almost forgot these...

Summer squash grilled and tossed with the blue lake green beans, some peppers and those incredible red onions...yum!















The little head of cabbage sure made a lot of slaw...used the same marinade as the refrigerator pickles below...rice wine vinegar, a little sesame oil, salt, a bit of sugar and a dash of chile de arbol.

















Tierra cucumbers are unbelievably sweet...especially the ones that look a little tough on the outside...here they're making a terrific salad with some red onions (I think we've decided to use these in everything we make!) and some little tomatoes!

Week 5 Cont...

amazing how the chard shrinks when you cook it...i have to say that i have never enjoyed chard as much as this bunch...it was great sauteed with garlic, red onions and some vegetable stock...David even tried it (and had more than the usual obligatory bite!!!)...score one for Tierra!

A side note...I'd love to be able to do an antioxidant count on our weekly box...just looking at all the deep, beautiful colors, we know it's got to be good for us!


sweet, sweet, sweet carrots...too good to cook with...made old school carrot sticks (remember the days before baby carrots???)...

CSA Week 5

This week's box includes:
...Blue Lake green beans...zucchini...chard...carrots...basil..cucumbers...broccoli...red onions...and mint(smells AWESOME)!

Week 4 - continued...

Plenty of stuff to choose from for dinner tonight! We settled on sesame noodles with stir fried broccoli, yellow squash, red onions and garlic with some bell peppers...adding some chile de arbol for a little kick!

On the side: refrigerator pickles! We used the recipe on the menu list that came with our box and added some red onions and chile de arbol for extra interest! They were great...very refreshing.

CSA Week 4 (Happy 4th)

Week 4's bounty!

This week our "box" included: green beans... zuchinni... broccoli... "gonazales" cabbage... turnips... beets... pickling cucumbers... leaf and freckle lettuces... and exactly one-quarter pound of garlic!

Also pictured the impulse buys we picked up while we were at the Tierra farmstand: strawberries (we've vowed never to buy them at the grocery store again)...tomatoes...and the awesome red onions!


As soon as we got home, it was time for lunch and we began feverishly chopping veggies...









...washing and drying lettuces is new for us, the former "salad in a sack" devotees, but you can't get better than the lettuces from Tierra. Makes us wish we hadn't sold the salad spinner at our last yard sale, though.



Voila! Our star-spangled red-white-and-blue(well, almost) Independence Day salad!



Can't wait for dinner!

Rhubarb Update!

For those of you who were worrying about what we were going to do with the rhubarb from week 2...never fear! We made impromptu blueberry-rhubarb jam...very tasty, if a little tart!

Most importantly, this means that, to date, we've put everything in our boxes to good use!

Meet Pebbles - Our New CSA Blog Dog

She won't be eating any of our veggies, but likes hanging out in the kitchen with us while they're cooking!

Of course, if she does form any opinions about the selections in our weekly boxes, we'll be sure to let her post her thoughts...

Pebbles is a Chihuahua/Boston Terrier mix who was rescued by another great Sonoma organization -- A Leg Up Rescue. We're happy to say that we have adopted her and are looking forward to giving her a long, healthy and happy life!