Lots of kitchen time

Both kids now have colds.  I can feel my body fighting the cold off big time, especially at the beginning and end of the day.  In the meantime, I am cooking, cooking, cooking.  (And wondering how I would hold everything together if I had to work outside the home, too.  As it is, I can barely do more than superficial cleaning.  The apartment is feeling a bit feral these days.)

Yesterday, I tried a new-to-me banana bread recipe.  It is much softer than the usual recipe.  Sag prefers it, Gem does not.

I came across a recipe for blueberry buckle at the same site (I follow her blog, she posts a ton of recipes that are kid-friendly, simple and comforting) and felt a thrill.  I'd only recently learned about buckles and find them appealing.  Cap and Sag and I like this.  Gem has not tried it yet.  I used partially thawed frozen blueberries (local and organic acquired through our CSA at the start of the summer) and there was the expected leaking of purple liquid, but it was not as bad as I thought it might be.  The cake-y parts are, for the most part, a pleasant tan, likely due to the use of coconut sugar which is very brown.

It brings me joy to be reminded of how close these two are.

I didn't remember the CSA email mentioning okra so I was surprised to see these beauties come out of the bags.  They were so pretty, in fact, that I wasn't absolutely sure they were okra.  I posted the pic to Facebook and had it confirmed.  Lana mentioned they were yummy dredged in cornmeal and fried.

After getting the CSA share organized (this was yesterday), I set about prepping for Taco Tuesday (which Sag is really hoping will stick).  I made a two-avocado simple guacamole: avocado mashed with garlic powder, salt, pepper and a splash of lemon juice.

It's a labor intensive set up, but is seriously worth it.  We are fans of the soft taco.  In addition to the guac, I served a new-to-me rice and beans dish (used pinto instead of black beans, added two cubes of vegetable bouillon, added half a small can of green chiles, used a few cloves of garlic instead of the shallot, and used olive oil instead of the butter), ribeye steak, lettuce from the farm, cilantro from the farm, salsa and whole fat Greek yogurt.  I melted cheddar onto Sag and my corn tortillas.  Gem opted not to have any tortillas last night.  He stuck to steak and lettuce.

Sag enjoying a big bon appétit bite!

Today I focused on some of the CSA share.  I googled around for a fried okra recipe and decided to use this one.  (I used palm shortening.)  It was straightforward and simple and the results were delicious.  Salty, so many satisfying textures, the goodness of local in-season produce.  A win, win, win.

There was kale so I whipped up one of my favorite recipes.  I didn't have orange or lemon to zest so I added a splash of orange juice to the dressing.

One of the best things to emerge from this CSA season has been getting to know green beans.  I finally figured out that it is essential to cook up green beans as soon as possible.  Snapping off the ends is tedious...so tedious, but once that's done, I just steam the beans for about seven minutes and they are good to go.  Maybe it has been a particularly good year for green beans, but, wow, they have been wonderful.  So pleasing to the eye, teeth and tongue.

I made Japanese-style pickles with the salad turnips and used David Lebovitz's recipe to pickle some radishes (photographed).  As I washed, spun dry and put away the lettuce, I felt a pang of summer's coming to an end.  Each season has its pleasures, certainly, but there is something special about having access to fresh, in-season produce that I love and will miss as the crops finish up and the fields goes to bed for winter.

Peace and love.