Shopping on Amazon During the Holidays?

With Cyber Monday beginning for some probably today, if you order from Amazon remember to order through your favorite blog (such as my professional blog

The School Speech Therapist). Look for the Amazon link on the site and order from there. Or sign up for Amazon smile and send a few pennies to your favorite charity. It truly is only pennies but every little bit adds up. Since I can't order through my own blog, I support the Trustees of Reservations.

Scoop that Squash

Every year I make it a point to carve a pumpkin for Halloween.  If I have a lot of time I make a fancy one using a pattern and different cutting tools.  This year I ran out of time to do something fancy and ended up with a couple of simple pumpkins.  They were cute but I forgot to take pictures this year.

Over the years I've also use a variety of kitchen tools, spoons and plastic scoopers purchased in kits to try and get the inside of the pumpkin as clean as possible.  Well this year I finally had the perfect tool in my kitchen drawer.

On one of my many trips to Vermont I picked up a Maudie's Super Squash Scooper and some little country store.  This simple looking tool made cleaning out the pumpkins super easy.  So much less stress on my hand, wrist and arm.  Maudie's Super Squash Scooper has also made it easy to prepare the variety of squash received in my CSA share.

Maudie's web site can be found here http://maudies.us.  They list the places you can find their tool.

Teresa

Duck Eggs. Ever have one?

One of the best parts of working as a shop keeper at a CSA is meeting new people, learning their interests and chatting about food.  One family I’ve known for 3 years now has a preteen son who raises ducks and sells their eggs.  Once we found out they sold duck eggs both myself and my shopkeeper partner Charlotte wanted to give them a try.

So far I’ve tried them both fried and baked.  The taste is similar but a little different in texture.  I noticed that while the duck egg shells look more translucent they are more difficult to crack open using the side of the bowl.  The duck egg white seems to hold together better and does not spread out as much.  The duck yokes when cooked are a little thicker.

There are some nutritional differences between duck and chicken eggs which you can read about in this article.  In the course of my research I found that you really don’t have to keep eggs in the fridge when they are fresh but honestly that’s going to be a hard habit to consider breaking.  Not one article committed to keeping eggs out of a fridge all together or for longer periods of time.  

I’m going to try to bake some cookies using the duck eggs tomorrow.  I’ll let you know how they turn out.

My First Farm to Table Dinner

Farm to Table dinners are all the rage out here and last night I attended my first one at Appleton Farm in Ipswich MA.  It was an extremely pleasant dining experience and the food was excellent.  Last nights dinner was promoted as “Dinner in the Field” but because of rain the dinner was moved into the charming carriage barn on the property.  We were greeted with a signature cocktail of local rum, local cider and some spices/herbs that were fermented to add a licorice taste.  Dinner consisted of a tomato salad with a fennel fritter, the most delicious pork roast (apples, carrots, onion, kale and potatoes) and a side dish of polenta with ?.  While everyone had their own individual salad, the pork roast was served family style.  Dessert was a fantastically moist spice cake with the recipe provided.

This dinner was part of the Appleton Cooks program at Appleton Farm.  Farm Chef Carolyn Grieco and Appleton Cooks coordinator Susan Wood did not disappoint. The rehabilitated “Old House” is home to the industrial but homey kitchen where Appleton Cooks also holds cooking classes.  I’ve been able to attend many of the cooking classes and I’ve enjoyed every single one of them.  Appleton Farm is around 1000 acres and grows enough food to support a CSA of over 500 members.

You can visit Appleton Farm any time to walk the trails.  They have a dairy store on site where they sell their own milk, eggs and cheese.  Several tours for all ages are offered during the week including “Meet the Cows” and “Cheese making”  The visitor center at the “Old House” is open Thursday through Sunday 11-3.  The Visitor Center lets people explore Appleton Farm and Family history through family pictures, articles and oral history.  Appleton Farm is part of the Trustees of Reservations.  The Trustees own, maintain and manage many properties across the Massachusetts that have been entrusted to them.  Each property is unique and several offer fun programs and educational experiences for all.

Tonight: Bok Choy

     When you have a CSA you learn as you go along.  You really do have to experiment a little bit with the veggies.  Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.  Tomorrow is my share day so I try to use up some of what is in the fridge so I can restock tomorrow.

     Tonight I wanted to use up my Bok Choy. 

1.Cut the ends off the Bok Choy to separate the greens.  Soak twice to get off all the dirt.  Gather leaves, fold and cut Bok Choy into bite size pieces.  

2. In a pan place some sesame or olive oil garlic and ginger (fresh minced is best but dry out of the cabinet works in a pinch) not too much.

3. Once heated add Bok Choy and sautee until greens are wilted.  Add a little soy sauce during this process.  You can always add more later to taste.

4.  Optional,  add some toasted sesame seeds.

You can top this will almonds or serve over rice

I don’t think I’d ever eaten greens before getting involved in CSA.  Never remember them being served or even having them out of a can.  I’m learning to like them now but having a hard time getting the rest of the family to buy in.

Biggest thing I learned about cooking greens of any kind RINSE TWICE!  Unless you like gritty greens. Otherwise greens are EASY.

My favorite storage container

I have tried so many different types of speciality containers to keep my veggies fresh.  Most of these containers either turn out to be too small to handle a CSA share or made of such cheap plastic that they are no match for the dishwasher.  One thing I've never been good with is containers that are not dishwasher safe.

So my favorite container by far is the 9.7 cup Hefty clip container.  this container is big but fits easily in the fridge or freezer.  It's the perfect size for tons of carrots or lettuce.  Add a slightly damp paper towel and the fresh CSA carrots or lettuce will last for months.  Just try to remember to use the older carrots first.

I also use this container to hold my roasted tomatoes in the freezer.  I add a layers of cooled off roasted tomatoes as they become available.  When I have enough I make big pot of tomato sauce.

If these containers are actually empty around the holidays and not filled with my winter share,  they're great for big batches of cookies.

Next time my "plastic" is low I be trying these containers in other sizes.  Available on Amazon for around $10.  I picked my up at the Corning Store at an outlet mall.

Fish Chowder for Dinner

Here in New England fish chowder is a a staple in most homes.  Tonight my husband treated us to Rachael Ray's fantastic Fish and Corn Chowder.  He's made this before but the fresh ingredients from our CSA and local farm made it the best ever.  He made two batches thick and thin and we will send a little to some of the neighbors.  Since it is dairy based it doesn't usually freeze well but I'm going to try a serving for lunch at work.

From our CSA we were able to use our potatoes and onions.  From our home garden we used thyme and garlic.  Since it's corn season we bought some from Marini Farm.  They grow some of the sweetest corn north of Boston.  Almost forgot to mention the most important part, the fish was extremely fresh purchased at Ipswich Shellfish the same day.

This recipe takes some prep but is very easy to put together.  Looking forward to lunch tomorrow too!

Used up my eggplant!

I saw this recipe for Backed Eggplant Rolls on a friends Facebook page and realized I actually had everything I needed in the kitchen.  Looked and sounded yummy.  Turned out to be a little more labor intensive than I thought it would,  However, for once I made something that actually turned out just like the picture.

The Picture from the Recipe Not My Creation:)

The flavor was nice but you really have to like eggplant to enjoy more than two rolls at a time.  I had a little of the stuffing left over so I used my asian eggplant layering it in a casserole dish.  I also froze several small batches of 3-5 rolls.  I'll have to let you know if it freezes well.  Tasted a little better on day 2.

This appears to be almost gluten free accept for the two tablespoons of breadcrumbs which I think are probably to help hold the filling together.  If you are looking for really good gluten free breadcrumbs I recommend Aleia's Gluten Free breadcrumbs excellent taste and texture.  Noticed Aleia's products are available on Amazon.

Not a bad eggplant recipe but my favorite eggplant recipe is still Brighten Beach Eggplant.  I'll pull that recipe together for you next post.

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