Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Eighth Pickup is Today 8.11.2009


Hello Everyone,

This afternoon we will see you between 4:30 and 6:30 for pickup number eight. This week Aaron will be out at the farm and Brad and Eric will be downtown at Two Leaves and a Bud.

We're excited to say that the walk in cooler at the Elma Lomax Incubator Farm is up and running. This will make our lives much easier. We're very grateful to have had temporary access to another cooler while this one was being set up but we are happy to now have one at the farm!

Last week we got help from the Bartnik Family as well as Teri Jones. Thanks for all your help. We enjoy getting to work with CSA members and we are grateful for the work you do!

Yesterday, on perhaps the hottest day of the year, Mallory Pitser from Know Your Farms came and worked with us all day. In addition to getting the harvest in we were able to get some other much needed work done. Thanks Mallory.

We're going to be part of the 2009 inaugural Charlotte Farm Tour. So will a lot of other really cool farms. If you're interested click the link for more information.

The okra is coming along slower than we'd like but the peppers are now coming in with some consistency. Everybody gets a couple this week. By far our biggest disappointment of the year is the tomatoes, or lack there of. Above is a picture I took yesterday morning of one of our tomato patches. We have more than 500 plants in the ground. The combination of a wet spring followed by 3 weeks of no rain and then 12 inches of rain in two weeks means that we got a late start and then the fruit was slow to set and now we're having problems with rot. We're still trying and hoping. Just wanted to prove to those of you who haven't been out to the farm in person that tomatoes are in fact planted there.

An updated price list for Creekside Farms is at the bottom of this post. Give Chad a call if you're interested. His number is at the top of the price list.

This week from Cold Water Creek Farms you will get some combination of most of the following:

Garlic
Basil
Green Peppers
Swiss Chard
Yellow Squash
Patty Pan Squash
Grapes
Green Beans
Tomatoes

On to the recipes...

Aaron



Sauteed Swiss Chard (EASY!)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Pinch of dried crushed red pepper
2 large bunches Swiss chard, stems trimmed, leaves cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-wide strips

Method:

Melt butter with oil in heavy large pot over medium-low heat. Add garlic and crushed red pepper.
Sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add chard; stir to coat. Cover; cook until tender, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes.
Season to taste with salt. Transfer to bowl and serve.

How to Roast Garlic

Cut the top (pointed end) off the head of garlic.
Place the head of garlic on a piece of foil large enough to wrap the garlic in. Or use one of those great clay garlic roasters.
Drizzle olive oil over the garlic.
Wrap the garlic well with the foil.
Bake in a preheated oven at 350 (175°C) for about 40 minutes, until garlic is soft.

Muscadine "Dump Cake"

Ingredients:

1 cup prepared grapes
1/2 stick butter
1 cup self-rising flour
1 cup milk
1 cup sugar

Method:

To prepare grapes, remove pulp; cook pulp until seeds loosen, then press through sieve to remove seeds. Add pulp to skins and cook until tender. Add sugar to taste, some grated lemon peel and a sprinkle of apple pie spice.
Melt butter in glass pie plate. Mix flour, sugar and milk in another bowl. Pour flour mixture over butter. Carefully pour prepared grapes over the top. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Do not open oven until baking time is up. Cake should be brown on top. Yield: 8 servings.

Mulled Muscadine Cider

Ingredients:

1 quart muscadine grape juice
Dash of ground allspice
2 (4-inch) sticks cinnamon
1 lemon, sliced
1 orange, sliced

Method:

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan.
Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes.
Serve warm. Yield: 8 half-cup servings.

Muscadine Pie

Ingredients:

pastry for 2-crust 9-inch pie
2 quarts ripe muscadines
2 tablespoons lemon juice (about 1/2 lemon)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon butter, cut in small pieces

Method:

Line pie plate with half of the rolled out pastry. Refrigerate pie shell and remaining pastry until ready to fill pie. Mash muscadines. Separate hulls from pulp. Strain so as to get juice, leaving pulp and seed. Cook hulls in juice until tender, adding a little water if needed. Let cool, then add lemon juice, flour, and sugar. Put fruit mixture in prepared bottom crust. Carefully arrange top crust over fruit, lattice style, if desired. Flute edge. Cut several slits in top if top crust is left whole. Bake in a 400° oven for approximately 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 375° and bake 30 minutes longer.
Serve with whipped cream or whipped topping, if desired.

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