Friday, September 20, 2013

CSA Week 15, Manicotti, Figs, & Salsa

Im falling behind on posting my weekly post..  Imagine such a thing.  Its amusing in a way...

None the less.. Here is last Saturdays pick up!   It was a beautiful box!


As you can see there, there are 2 bunches of rhubarb but thats not what I got this week.  As I was leaving the pick up location, another gal asked me & my friend Cheryl if either of us would like to trade her rhubarb for something..  I jumped on it..  Sure I would..  How about 2 nice sized  kohlrabi?   She was happy to trade..
She said she'd never used rhubarb and really didnt know what to do with it..  I sure do. ;)

 Rhubarb Pie!



Yum!!

I tossed the blackberries in the freezer..  Mainly for smoothies but I ran across a recipe last night for blackberry port jelly that I think Im going to have to try... Oh dear.. oh sigh..

I made a recipe from my friend Didi from Dishin With Didi. with some of that celery..  I will tell you.. Im not really fond of Eggplant, however she makes a killer Roasted Garlic Eggplant Manicotti  that you MUST try.

Not only did I love it the first time around.. I made it again.. and made an extra few containers to put in the freezer to have on another day when Im in the mood for something yummy but not in the mood to cook.
Here is a picture of my plate... Oh Yum!! 


Then... 

My girlfriend Tammi came over to share how she makes the BEST Pasta Sauce M'honey says he's ever eaten..  We took off to the store & $80 and 8 hours later.. we had one GIANT sized pan of lasagna..


There was extra sauce left over so I canned it up and got 4 quarts to put on my pantry shelf!



M'honey came in one day this past week & told me.. "I think your figs might be ripe!"

YES!!!



Oh YES!!  Those baby's were ripe & ready for me to eat!!

These are Chicago Hardy Figs.  I planted this one bush last midsummer.. It grew like a weed before the winter came and I wrapped hay around it along with another covering over that over the winter.

It didnt freeze all the way to the ground so it had a head start this year.
I've read that after 2 or 3 years it gets more & more cold hardy and Im hoping thats so..
I couldnt believe how many figs it got on its second crop and I was afraid they wouldnt  ripen before the cold weather got here.. Thankfully, I now know they'll ripen in time.  I've been enjoying fresh homegrown organic figs for the last 2 weeks.
I even shared 2 of them.. haha.. ;)

I hope this baby gets HUGE & I get so many figs on it that I'll be able to make fig jam, figgy pudding, and have more than enough figs to share with friends & family.

M'honeyChild C tried one and declared that it was actually pretty good.. She was surprised. :)
 Someday, we'll have all the figs we can stand.. and then some.. I hope.

 Finally, yesterday I decided I needed to do something with my basket of tomatoes that were ripening.
It was a tough decision as to what to make with them but I finally decided to make a quick salsa.
 I had a few red jalapenos from my garden on the table and I had cilantro in the freezer so it just seemed like the right thing to do.
This batch has a medium heat.. You dont even really realize its warm until you stop eating it.. Then you get a nice not too hot burn in your mouth for another 5 minutes..  Yum!  Good stuff, Maynard! 


The few peaches left are sitting on my kitchen table.. but Im tempted to make peach jam..
We'll see what happens with them in the next few days..

I need to slice up the rhubarb and put it in the freezer for Rhubarb Pies come this winter.. That'll make M'honey so very happy.

So there ya go.. thats what I've been up to this week!
Have a great weekend & I'll see you soon!


2 comments:

  1. Great post Kim. Your energy is inspiring, hope a little rubs off on me!

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  2. Thanks Linda!! I always fall over in a heap after cooking. haha.. Here's to both of us getting a great haul of energy! Thanks for stopping by! :)

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