Day 9: National Apricot Day

Are they even in season right now? Can't recall having a fresh one. 

Dried apricots.

Better than prunes.

Fin.

Field Goods 2013 Week #2

Just when I thought I was done with the frozen vegetables, I got green beans and cauliflower from The Farm at Miller’s Crossing. If anything can be said about my eating habits since signing up with Field Goods, it’s that my vegetable consumption has gone through the roof. Straight through… sky high.

Salad greens! Half a pound of it, and it’s keeping remarkably well in just the plastic bag. Definitely will take this over the store bought stuff… seems hardier. If that means anything. Organic, from Pleasant Valley Farm.

Swiss Chard from Barber Farm. Organic, and I got half a pound. Will probably end up just sautéing it.

Two pounds of Empire apples from Migliorelli Farm. Oh boy… if I eat these apples I will turn into an apple. Seriously. It’s applesauce from here on out, folks!

Two pounds each of Adirondack Blue and Red Skin potatoes from Rexcroft Farm. I bought some leeks so potato leek soup is in my future. And then there is your traditional roasted potatoes. Toss in a bit of oil, with some salt and pepper.

Field Goods 2013 Growing Season

Last week was the official start to Field Goods 2013 season. Seems a bit odd that their season starts in April, but then again they run just about all year. I actually have more thoughts on this company, but I figured for now I would share with you what I got in my bag. I get the standard share, which should feed about 2 people… or just me.

Week #1

Frozen corn and flat beans from Migliorelli Farm. The end of last season I got a lot of frozen vegetables. Mostly green beans, corn, and kale – which I appreciate… but I wouldn’t have minded a little more variety. According to this week’s email, there shouldn’t be any more (which my freezer would appreciate).

Living Greens Microgreen Medley. Along with the frozen vegetables, another one that I got repeatedly at the end of last season. They’re great, but it was turning into too much. I ended up using it as a topping when I made soba noodles. I think they would be more ideal to go into sandwiches, but I’m not really a sandwich person.
 

 
~ 10 oz. of shiitake mushrooms from Bulich Farm. This one threw me for a loop because I don’t cook often with mushrooms… and when I do it’s usually white or portabella mushrooms. I’m used to dried shiitakes, and those I’m only okay with. They just have a weird taste to me. I threw them into some fried rice I made tonight, but something about the smell made me not want to eat it. Oh well… M has lunch now.

2 pounds of kholrabi from Migliorelli Farm. I grew this summer last year but never actually harvested it. I got some in past vegetable share but kinda… forgot about it. And so it started to grow. And now it’s in the raised beds. But these will be used. How… not a clue. I’m thinking salad. Maybe a slaw?

2.25 pounds of fuji apples from Migliorelli’s. I got apples a lot last season. Which was fine at first, because I love me some apples. But there’s a difference when you eat an apple in season… and one way out of it. It’s still good, mind you. But it just isn’t the same. Last time I went downstate I bought a bag full of them so my sister could make something with them. Hopefully she remembered.

Homemade Berry Ice Cream

I am almost convinced I need to get this ice cream maker. Nothing fancy, a mix of strawberries and blueberries. I'll try to do a write up of this recipe later this week.

If I do buy this ice cream maker, I am making sure I get an extra gel canister. I think it will cut down on the ice crystals (not that there were too many... they disappeared when it softened up a bit). And I need a proper ice cream scoop.

Persimmons

My dad planted a persimmon tree maybe… three years ago? Anyways, the first year it didn’t fruit. Last  year, there were some sprouts, but the squirrels ate/knocked them down. My dad has since wrapped the base of the tree with chicken wire and hello fruit! There may be about a dozen on the tree… growing wonderfully! As you can see, it’s starting to take on the yellow-orangish hue that you would associate with persimmons, and come Thanksgiving I will be noshing on these babies. They’re as big as the ones they’re selling in the stores, and I know for a fact these haven’t been touched by any pesticides.

Dear squirrels -

Don’t you mess with these. Or there will be hell to pay.

<3

Fruits of Labor

Green Papaya

Berry First Batch

The strawberries are ready! At least, they look like they are. M and I tried a few and they were still pretty sour. But that hasn’t stopped something roaming the garden. I’ve found a number of half-eaten berries, and red splashes on the ground and leaves.

Bursting with flavor… even if it is the tart kind.

Fruit Platter

My parents made two large fruit trays for their church party. Luckily they bought too much fruit, so I get to snack on the leftovers.

Honey Citron Tea

I found this on my last trip to H Mart. At first I was wondering why they were stocking marmalade in the tea aisle, but it turns out this marmalade is a type of tea. I figured it would be worth a try so I picked up a jar.

The ingredients are simple enough – sugar, honey, and citron. I’ve done some research and this type of tea is common in Asia, especially in Korea where it is called yujacha. It is made by cooking sliced citron with honey and sugar until it becomes thick and jelly-like. To make a cup of tea, a heaping spoonful of this jelly is mixed with either hot or cold water. The rinds that are left after the liquid has been drunk can also be eaten.

The blurb on the label states that citron contains three times more Vitamin C than lemons and oranges. It also boasts the importance of Vitamin C that I’m sure we’re all familiar with. I’m down with the health benefits, and it doesn’t hurt that it tastes pretty good. I haven’t had it on its own yet, I’ve been mixing this with my other teas. It makes boring Lipton tea tastes oh so much better.

Dragon Fruit (Pitaya)

 

I’ve seen these all over Chinatown, but had no idea what exactly they were. [Info that follows in this paragraph came from Wikipedia] Turns out they’re dragon fruit, otherwise known as strawberry pear, huǒ lóng guǒ, and thanh long. It’s in the cactus family, the genus Hylocereus. Dragon fruit is low in calories, and high in antioxidants (not that you need an excuse to eat interesting things like this… right?).

Breakfast

Cherries and Muscadines

More Apple Picking

I guess it’s official – apple picking season is over. I was in the car this afternoon and the reporter had mentioned that most orchards are just about picked out. The warm spring led to earlier harvests, and the storms that passed through this area didn’t help with the whole pick-your-own situation. But it does help with cider making… and I do love cider.

Altamont Orchards

I finally got my apple picking fix! The plan was to hit up Indian Ladder for the apple goodness, but The Profussor gave me the heads up that they may be out.

And sure enough, they were. Luckily, I had a back up plan, Altamont Orchards.

As of Sunday, they still have apples. 55 cents a pound, or 11 bucks if you completely fill up the 1/2 bushel bag. Great deal, considering it’s going for $24.95 at Maskers. I’m not sure of all the varieties they have still, but I do remember Spy, Empire, Fuji, and Red Delicious.

Neighborly

 

The girl next door dropped off these pears the other day. Her grandmother has a ginormous garden, not to mention a number of fruit trees. These were so good, just ate the last one this morning.

Sweet Mango

Before their trip to the Caribbean, my aunt gave me some mangoes that she bought from Costco. Instead of eating them immediately, I let them sit out for a few days. Lately I’ve had this streak of waiting until fruit is at the point of over ripeness- the cantaloupes this season got the brunt of it.

This mango was sweet. Too sweet. It was like mango concentrate, stomachache inducing with all that sweetness. This would have been fantastic in a smoothie… or ice cream even!

Hawaiian Vacation: Breakfast

It’s not that I’ve forgotten about mentioning my trip on here, it’s just that I’ve been really busy with other things.

What you see here is what I typically ate for breakfast – nothing out of the ordinary, other than my coffee being Kona. Not really one to eat in the mornings, and besides, soon after waking up I ran straight for the beach. Don’t need the breakfast bloat as I’m laying out on the sand.

On one of our last days at the hotel, we (Mags, my sister, and I) tried out the breakfast buffet in one of the hotel’s restaurants. It was pretty good, lots of fresh fruit and “Hawaiian this” and “Hawaiian that” breakfast items. The waffles were especially delicious… I think I scarfed down at least six of them.

Mags was all about those biscuits for some reason. Biscuits and loads of butter. I didn’t even notice they had any out, I was too busy eating waffles.

One of my sister’s creations. Lasted long enough for her to take pictures with all our phones. I think I helped out with the nose… and maybe an ear.

Blueberry Pancakes

I'm guessing it's blueberry season, since they are on sale everywhere. Over the weekend I picked up three containers, with plans of making lots of yummy things. There's blueberry pie, blueberry cobbler, blueberry cake, blueberry ice cream! Can you think of any other recipes that uses blueberries?

To start, I decided to whip up blueberry pancakes. There was some Bisquick in the pantry, so I decided to use that, and following the directions to make them supreme, I added sugar, baking powder and vanilla. I added the blueberries at the very end, just before cooking.

I ladled the batter into the buttered pan by the 1/4 cupful, resulting in pancakes that were about the size of a CD. Cooked on medium-low heat and didn't turn until the batter was bubbly.

I think that looks pretty good to me. I ended up eating about 4 pancakes, all wonderful and the blueberries were sweet. I still had a lot of batter, so I cooked up the rest so I can eat them later during the week.

Once they were cool, I put them in sandwich bags (2 per bag) and placed them in the freezer. So now if I'm in the mood for pancakes, all I have to do is heat them up in the toaster oven.

Veggie Mobile

One of the things I wanted to do while I was up in Troy was to check out the Veggie Mobile. According to their schedule, they wouldn't stop in Troy until the afternoon, allowing us to sleep in and get some things done. We drove over to the Kennedy Towers and the familiar green truck was parked in front of the building.

I oohed and aahed as I walked up the steps into the truck. I looked at the chalkboard sign which listed the prices of the fruits and vegetables. And I also realized that I wouldn't be able to buy much, since we weren't planning on heading back to the apartment until the evening. But the strawberries I couldn't pass up. At 2.25, it was slightly more expensive than what I've been buying at the store... but then again, I guess it would be worth it if the store comes to you instead of the other way around.

When we got back, M sliced about half of the strawberries and tossed with just a bit of sugar. Definitely hit the spot.