Food in the time of a pandemic

[liamsaunt]

This week's CSA box.  The growing season is officially over, so we are now into the "pantry" part of the share.  That means basically greenhouse greens (that is spinach in the back) carrots, potatoes, onions, and winter squash for the foreseeable future.  They did include a small bunch of kale as they are trying to keep it growing covered with cloth for as long as they can (it will probably die in tomorrow's snowstorm).  I was happy to see that Iggy bread is going to be in the pantry share again this year, and we can always use honey.  The thing I am most excited about, though, are the two whitish roots to the far right.  Those are Macomber turnips, a variety that was originally grown only in Eastham on Cape Cod, and now are grown in a couple of other towns in MA.  They have an incomparably sweet and mild flavor when compared to a standard turnip.  I really love them and look forward to them every year.

 

[Shelby]

I got my Misfits Madness box.  Holy crap.  We will be eating a lot of salads (not that I mind, this is a learning curve on what to order).  Their vision of lettuce that is supposed to feed 3-5 people is bigger than mine--but I did order a lot of lettuce in retrospect, and conversely, their vision of onions that is supposed to feed the same amount equals 2 onions.   That's ok.  I just grateful to be able to get anything at all!

 

Here's a list of all that I ordered:

 

Frisee

Curly Endive

Napa Cabbage

Yellow Onion

Flat Leaf Parsley

Curly Leaf Parsley 

Green Leaf Lettuce

Granny Smith Apples

Red Leaf Lettuce

Red Butterhead Lettuce

Celery Root (this was all due to @weinoo's celery root recipe that he posted a while back...also, celery root is sort of ugly lol)

Carrots

Lemons

Limes

 

Then, I paid extra for:

Avocados (2.99 total for 2)

Mushrooms (1.99 for the box)

Bok Choy (2.76 for 4)

 

I'm off to organize and make some more Little Green Dress....which will be very low on mint....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[weinoo]

2 minutes ago, Shelby said:

Celery Root (this was all due to @weinoo's celery root recipe that he posted a while back...also, celery root is sort of ugly lol)

 

You won't be disappointed - just be careful peeling the stuff! Oh - I see you have two - start with one to see if you like the salad. You can always cook the celeriac - goes great with potatoes for a nice mash.

[Shelby]

2 minutes ago, weinoo said:

 

You won't be disappointed - just be careful peeling the stuff! Oh - I see you have two - start with one to see if you like the salad. You can always cook the celeriac - goes great with potatoes for a nice mash.

Ok thanks!!!  I'm so excited to eat a new vegetable  

[KennethT]

I used to make a celery root puree all the time.  It's really easy, and gives a flavorful version of a fine mashed potato.  Just peel and cut into chunks.  Boil in salted water until tender, then put in the blender with a bit of the cooking water and a small amount (maybe a 1/2 teaspoon) of Vitamin C powder which keeps it from browning.  Once done, taste for seasoning, and add maybe a tablespoon or two of creme fraiche or sour cream.  You can also add a bit of olive oil while it's blending which will give it a nice sheen.

[Katie Meadow]

Celery root remoulade! No cooking involved, just grate and dress with standard remoulade sauce. Of course standard remoulade is meaningless, they vary from very French to very Louisiana. David Leibovitz has a simple one. I just looked at a few recipes on line. None of them include horseradish, which my mother always added to her sauce. And I seriously doubt she ever used anchovies, but I'm not positive. She always served it as an app with a variety of other non-finger foods for a cocktail hour. She must have grated it by hand, which isn't a easy chore, since she never owned a processor.

 

I also like it cooked and mashed with potatoes. Butter, cream, yum.

[weinoo]

56 minutes ago, Katie Meadow said:

Celery root remoulade! No cooking involved, just grate and dress with standard remoulade sauce. Of course standard remoulade is meaningless, they vary from very French to very Louisiana. David Leibovitz has a simple one.

Let's go French. This is the recipe @Shelby was referring to, when she was referring to me referring to Lebovitz in the post she was referring to.

 

No horseradish necessary; just some nice, spicy mustard.

[weinoo]

Of course, to really go French...

 

 

this helps tons...

 

 

I do think how nicely the root is shredded/julienned makes a difference in the final taste.

[chefmd]

My Misfits box has not arrived.  It was supposed to be here yesterday.  Some crap message about attempted delivery. We live in a building with 24 hour front desk.  I contacted Misfits just now.  The form only gives you four choices of what the issue is that were not applicable.  There was a free form type in box which is good.

[Shelby]

26 minutes ago, chefmd said:

My Misfits box has not arrived.  It was supposed to be here yesterday.  Some crap message about attempted delivery. We live in a building with 24 hour front desk.  I contacted Misfits just now.  The form only gives you four choices of what the issue is that were not applicable.  There was a free form type in box which is good.

Dang it!  I figure if they can find me, they can find anyone....is it coming by Fedex?  

 

For what it's worth, the customer service people answered me fairly quickly.....meaning the next day even on the weekend...

[chefmd]

26 minutes ago, Shelby said:

Dang it!  I figure if they can find me, they can find anyone....is it coming by Fedex?  

 

For what it's worth, the customer service people answered me fairly quickly.....meaning the next day even on the weekend...

It has arrived just now.  DH is on his way down to the lobby to bring it up.  Let’s hope that nothing is spoiled.

[chefmd]

Here is my box.  Cucumbers were slimy and escarole was wilted.  Tomatoes look inedible.  Everything else looks OK.  I can go to H Mart and be better off for 17 dollars (with Black Friday discount).

[Shelby]

Dang it, I'm so sorry.  My cucumber that I bought the first time lasted a week in the fridge with no problems.  The tomatoes--are grocery store tomatoes....I bought grape tomatoes which weren't too bad.

 

Has it been warm in your area?  I will say that my first box (the smaller one) was in a styrofoam container and it had ice packs.  This time it was in the above pictured box with no ice at all.....

[caroled]

On 11/12/2020 at 11:49 AM, kayb said:

 

Glad I brought a little happiness to your day! Be sure and let us know about your haul. I hope you're as happy with it as I am mine.

 Jumping on this a little late, but i saw it on FB, and went out and directly to their site. I was good with giving zip and email, but it wouldn't let me peruse the boxes without first signing up with my credit card info. Was this normal for the rest of you.?

We have plenty of food laid by for the winter without getting out to shop, but the one thing we regularly run out of is fresh, especially green veg. (we have a land tortoise who loves collards)  I'm very interested in joining, but things like that are off putting.  Thoughts, experiences?

[JoNorvelleWalker]

On 11/27/2020 at 9:05 AM, rotuts said:

@JoNorvelleWalker  

 

do you have any idea how many apples it takes to make a gallon of juice ?

 

way way too many.

 

Ive been to several Cider Mills 

 

in W MA and upstate NY

 

it takes a lot of apples.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6zB0KGQRpU

 

[chefmd]

10 hours ago, Shelby said:

Dang it, I'm so sorry.  My cucumber that I bought the first time lasted a week in the fridge with no problems.  The tomatoes--are grocery store tomatoes....I bought grape tomatoes which weren't too bad.

 

Has it been warm in your area?  I will say that my first box (the smaller one) was in a styrofoam container and it had ice packs.  This time it was in the above pictured box with no ice at all.....

It was in a cardboard box.  I think an extra day on FedEx truck caused the problems.   High temp on Thu and Fri was 54.

 

grape tomatoes were not available for my order, I would prefer those over the romas.

 

Despite these issues, i will enjoy cooking with the bounty.

[rotuts]

@JoNorvelleWalker  

 

enjoyed the video .  the guy seems to know what he is doing,

 

thanks

[rotuts]

@Franci 

 

are land crabs ' tasty ? "

 

pls  let us know 

 

if they are . maybe you can set upLandTraps ! 

[weinoo]

11 hours ago, chefmd said:

 I can go to H Mart and be better off for 17 dollars (with Black Friday discount).

The difference being - then you have to go to H Mart!

[chefmd]

1 hour ago, weinoo said:

The difference being - then you have to go to H Mart!

True.  I will keep Misfits delivery as an option.  I go to work every day so additional risk of going to a grocery store is relatively small.   

[Shelby]

Yesterday I had to go to the pharmacy to pick up some of Ronnie's meds (still working on coordinating everything together).  I leaned heavily towards just getting the meds and getting out of there quickly, but, we needed milk.  I need to look at Misfits next time...I thought I saw milk the first time I ordered, but I might be misremembering.  Anyway, far before the pandemic I thought about buying an extra gallon of whole milk and freezing it for the times that my milk goes bad or runs out.  I pulled the trigger and did it yesterday.  Internet tells me it will keep up to 6 months frozen.  It's a nice feeling knowing I have it.

 

 

For the billionth time I praise the Vacmaster.

[Kim Shook]

16 hours ago, Shelby said:

I got my Misfits Madness box.  Holy crap.  We will be eating a lot of salads (not that I mind, this is a learning curve on what to order).  Their vision of lettuce that is supposed to feed 3-5 people is bigger than mine--but I did order a lot of lettuce in retrospect, and conversely, their vision of onions that is supposed to feed the same amount equals 2 onions.   That's ok.  I just grateful to be able to get anything at all!

 

Here's a list of all that I ordered:

 

Frisee

Curly Endive

Napa Cabbage

Yellow Onion

Flat Leaf Parsley

Curly Leaf Parsley 

Green Leaf Lettuce

Granny Smith Apples

Red Leaf Lettuce

Red Butterhead Lettuce

Celery Root (this was all due to @weinoo's celery root recipe that he posted a while back...also, celery root is sort of ugly lol)

Carrots

Lemons

Limes

 

Then, I paid extra for:

Avocados (2.99 total for 2)

Mushrooms (1.99 for the box)

Bok Choy (2.76 for 4)

 

I'm off to organize and make some more Little Green Dress....which will be very low on mint....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's a lot of lettuce!  🤣😉

[Shelby]

Just now, Kim Shook said:

That's a lot of lettuce!  🤣😉

🤣I know sigh.

 

I'm getting ready to drag out my cookbook--Lettuce In Your Kitchen to find some ideas 

[heidih]

19 minutes ago, Shelby said:

🤣I know sigh.

 

I'm getting ready to drag out my cookbook--Lettuce In Your Kitchen to find some ideas 

Soup = always a friend and lettuce reduces dramatically. Or stir fried in a flash. You reminded me of some flat leaf parsley so gonna hit kitchen. 7 a.m. but smoke in air has me coughing and sneezing - might as well make something to make my poor nose happy  

[kayb]

9 hours ago, caroled said:

 Jumping on this a little late, but i saw it on FB, and went out and directly to their site. I was good with giving zip and email, but it wouldn't let me peruse the boxes without first signing up with my credit card info. Was this normal for the rest of you.?

We have plenty of food laid by for the winter without getting out to shop, but the one thing we regularly run out of is fresh, especially green veg. (we have a land tortoise who loves collards)  I'm very interested in joining, but things like that are off putting.  Thoughts, experiences?

I believe you can get a list of what they have any given week in the FAQs. It changes from week to week, naturally enough. I didn't discover that until I'd already signed up. I've seen no card-related issues, and as I told @Shelby, I'm truly impressed with their shipping and the condition the veggies are in when they get here. They have a big variety of greens, and I did in fact see collards this last time. I will PM you a link that'll get you a discount and me one as well for referring you, if you'd like. 

 

@chefmd -- so sorry to hear of your delivery issues. My two boxes so far have been right on target for delivery; in fact, the Thanksgiving week one was supposed to arrive on Wednesday, my regular day, but I got an email saying it would be a day early because of the holiday shipping schedules (?). My cucumbers held up OK for a week.

 

 

Edited December 5, 2020 by kayb (log)