Be back soon

First I went out of town, then my husband went out of town (with the camera) and my brother came to visit, and now I’m going out of town briefly again before starting law school. I’ve been cooking, but not taking pictures or taking the time to blog. I hope to be back in a routine soon!

If anyone’s still reading, I’d love suggestions of your favorite quick meals, since once I start school I’m not going to be able to devote the time to cooking that I do now.

Cleaning up

This week’s CSA box had two new vegetables: cabbage and squash (a yellow and green crookneck variety), as well as some usual suspects: onion, garlic, strawberries, beets (aye), broccoli, radishes and chard.

Our Saturday morning routine is to get all the veggies cleaned and dried (on clean rags on the table) before putting them away in bags in the refrigerator. (In an impulse buy a few months ago I picked up some of those As Seen on TV Green Bags, but I’m not sure they’re all that superior to other storage containers. ) So once everything’s washed, later in the week, it’s easier to pull stuff out to use.

What is that?

I’ve been anxiously awaiting the spring. Since late last summer we’ve talked about taking part in a CSA (community supported agriculture) program to make it easier to eat healthier, locally, in-season and organic. Saturday, my husband brought home our first box from our CSA share, and I was looking forward to seeing what sort of meals I could devise. There were strawberries, broccoli, arugula, vidalia onions and a whole bunch of bulbous vegetables. While my husband grew up in the country, I’ve never even been on a farm, and we were both a little stumped. Turnips? Beets? Radishes? After some quick research on Google images, I was convinced the white ones were turnips. But then I finally tasted one. Definitely radishes. Who knew they came in white also?

So begins the adventure of trying to base most of our meals around a weekly box of produce, and, in the process, expanding our culinary skills and experiences while eating more local, organic meals. This week’s box likely will be the smallest of the bunch, as the growing season is just getting started.