Hi everyone, Jess here with the final pickup of the Winter CSA! The weather is starting to corroborate that spring is here! Flowers are in bloom, the greenhouses are green, and life is good! Springdell’s farm stand opens with it’s spring hour schedule on Saturday, April 27th (8-5)! The rest of the week (Sunday included) spring hours are 9-5. Hooray!
Meanwhile, let’s see how the last of the winter goodies was enjoyed in the Anderson household!
These rutabaga noodles were pretty great, definitely easier to work with than other veggie noodles as they had less “fall apart” factor, holding up well. I used a mandolin slicer which made for shorter noodles, but if you have time and patience, a veggie peeler would make longer noodles such as these. The noodles honestly could have stood on their own, but the addition of a bright lemon parsley garlic shrimp was welcomed! Here were some Springdell Pork Chops with fall applesauce. Some roasted gold and red potatoes were in the oven. Once the pork chops were seared, I transferred them to the cookie sheet with the potatoes and finished them off in the oven. Relocating the chops allowed me to pop the mushrooms, shallots and parsley into the chop pan, flavoring the veggies with the browned bits. A little white wine and cream reduction, and this was good to go!Having the chops transferred to the roasting pan with the potatoes I think added a little extra flavor there as well! I think Springdell Country Style Ribs are my favorite (yes, even better than baby back!) They are so tender and meaty, and hold up well to slow cooking (which is often all I have time for).This was Nan’s meal, including a fork-pulled rib and mashed sweet potato. This is the meat from just one rib!!!I started a chili-ribbed Springdell top round roast in the oven at 325 with some cubed sweet potatoes tossed in olive oil. I texted my other half as I was headed out the door and they were coming in. “I have to run, dinner is in the oven, if you take it out now it’ll be very rare, so you may want to go another 10-15 before checking. Please snap a pic before eating!” The family apparently opted for the rare version, and none were disappointed. We’ve been away on a road trip but brought our remaining produce with us. Here is a midnight sandwich assembly line in our travel trailer, complete with CSA lettuce and the rest of that top round roast, thinly sliced. My other half said it’s the best roast beef sandwich they’ve ever eaten!
Finally, here’s a blurry little pic from our road trip. This is me standing in front of the USDA while carrying our geriatric dog, in his Springdell Farm bag. As he can’t walk far on his own anymore, this bag has become his preferred method of transportation. In this bag and on this particular trip, he traveled the Washington DC Metro, the National Mall, the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, and the mountains of Westford Virginia.
Though the delicious Maryland Crab Cakes and Tennessee BBQ was scrumptious, it’s good to be home and I’m looking forward to getting back to my local routine. Hope to see some of you at the farm stand on Saturday for the spring opening. Oh, and be sure to save the dates for the Springdell plant sale (May 17-19th) and the Annual Sheep Shearing event on May 27th!
I hope you enjoyed reading the Winter edition of the Springdell Show and Tell. Sign-ups for the Winter Farm Shares are now available for next year (if you are interested, I recommend signing up early for early-bird pricing!) I hope you’ll will stick around as we continue in our fifth year of this the farm-to-table cyber-journey, it’s a fun and tasty one!
