2nd CSA Box

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This week’s box has….

  • Rio Red grapefruit
  • Onion (one red, one white!)
  • Garlic
  • Summer squash….mini balls, crooknecks, patty pans, Italian heirlooms…..lotsa!
  • Chard
  • Kale
  • Winter Savory
  • Beet
  • Carrots

I need to quit just looking at the Kale and try those roast Kale chips! I think we’ll roast the squash too.  And Trina tells me the beets would be yummy roasted too.

I plan to make the chard pasta dish again – going to pick up some shrimp today for a great dinner!

If I can find the juicer, I’ll juice those grapefruit.  But the last ones I just peeled and then dipped in a bit of sugar!  SOO good…a guilty pleasure!

Chard, Tomatoes and Pasta

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Yummy!

Yummy!

I tweaked this recipe ever so slightly and made this yummy side dish with my CSA Chard and fresh garlic.  I think next time I’ll toss some shrimp or chicken in and call it the main dish!  Or even try a meatless monday once in awhile!

Sadly all our chard is gone now.  I’m looking at the Kale and the Kale chips recipes (our CSA farmer sent a recipe very similar) and I’m just not sure.  What else can I do with it?

I had a grapefruit for a snack this afternoon….I peeled it and then dipped it in sugar.  I know that’s bad but it tastes SO good! 🙂

First CSA box

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My first CSA box is a smashing success so far!

  • I’ve tried (and fell in love with) a loquat
  • tried to entice #1 son to share a pink grapefruit with me, but when that failed decided to juice them.  Wonder where my juicer is….or even if I have one anymore!
  • nibbled raw almonds (yum!!)
  • hung lavender to dry (maybe I’ll put them into a sachet for my drawers)
  • nibbled carrots for lunch (even the boys loved them!)
  • admired the beautiful onion and garlic bulbs
  • and researched how I will prepare the chard (oh yummm!), Kale (? yum ?) and beet

Here is a picture of my bounty!

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Can you tell how much I love this?

BEST part?  I didn’t even have to go anywhere to enjoy all this!!

My Trees

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When we were shopping for a house…one of the things I wanted was a fruit tree.  I wasn’t sure what I wanted, but I didn’t find it.   So, my brother-in-law and sister said they’d take me to the bare root sale up in their area to pick out my own.  And yesterday was the day!!

To be honest, I wanted one of everything – so ending up with 5 seems pretty conservative to me.  Here are my new trees:

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Bing Cherry – one of my earliest memories is climbing the cherry tree when I was a kid in Mt Shasta and eating myself sick

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Bartlett Pear – Eric’s favorite fruit

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Arctic Jay White Nectarine – J1’s favorite fruit

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Combination Apple including: Gravenstein, Granny Smith, Red Delicious, Yellow Delicious, Fuji and Red McIntosh

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Dwarf Robertson Navel Orange

Can’t wait to see how they grow over the years! 🙂

What would you do?

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Hubs has promised me a dishwasher – and soon.  There are two options in front of us…

1)  Get a portable dishwasher – like this one – and tuck it into the space by the refrigerator. (pay no attention to price/features – I just grabbed first ones I could find)

Pros:  I could probably get it – and use it – in next few weeks.  No need to plumb or install anything.

Cons:  I’d have to worry about having it in middle of kitchen (blocking kitchen) when in use or when being loaded.

2)  Get a built in dishwasher – like this one – and install it under the counter to the right of the sink.

Pros:  It would be permanent.  There would be no concerns about blocking kitchen.

Cons:  I would have to wait until I could have it installed….and possibly have to pay for it to be installed.  I’d lose at least 1/2 cupboard and 1 drawer in my small kitchen (however, I would have room for a free-standing pantry in kitchen)

What would you do?