Hi everyone, Jess here. It is hard to believe that we just picked up our last share box of 2015, and yet here we are! It has been a wonderfully delicious experience so far, and we look forward to continuing to enjoy this farm to table journey together. Let’s take a closer look at what came home with us from the farm stand today:
1 bag of brussels sprouts- 4 large beets
- 2 pounds of ground beef
- 1 pie of our choice (Jess chose Wild Maine Blueberry and Sarah chose Maple Peach Bourbon), baked by Sweet E’s Pie & Cake of Chelmsford
- 10 carrots
- 10 potatoes
- 1 head of lettuce
- 1 bag of baby spinach
- 2 large turnips from Four Town Farm of Seekonk
- 2 half Gallons of Milk from High Lawn Farm in Lee, MA
- 1 half Gallon of Apple Cider from Box Mill Farms in Stow, MA
- 1 dozen eggs
- 1 bunch lacinato (dino) kale
- 6 onions
So many scrumptious goodies to enjoy, a venerable cornucopia of items! Cooking with these ingredients will be fun, there are many possibilities! I decided to start with some of the more perishable goodies.
I picked up some good looking oyster mushrooms from my friend and fellow locavore Farmer Elizabeth Almeida from Fat Moon. These beauties are ready to be enjoyed today, maybe even yesterday. Did you know that she is starting a mushroom CSA? For a little over 100 dollars, you can enjoy fresh mushrooms (or cultivate your own) from January until May! Would be a nice compliment to the Winter CSA don’t you think? As I look at the block of shiitakes I am trying to sprout on my own kitchen counter (more on that soon) the gears are definitely turning! (I did mention in my bio that I’m a CSA junkie, correct?)
Fresh and local lettuce is a rare gem in December, and I don’t want to let this lose any of it’s deliciousness sitting in my fridge so I washed and separated the leaves. These will be perfect for lettuce cups!
If you’ve followed this blog, you’ve seen me do lettuce cups before. I love that they are fresh, flexible in their ingredients, and so easy! The kids also love making these. 
I quick marinated the mushrooms in a mixture of soy sauce, sesame oil and honey. Into the frying pan went a hodge podge of ingredients in order of cook time. Here I started with the mushrooms, some chopped turnip (kind of mimics the water chestnut), raw cashews, grated ginger, minced garlic, and onion. Next went in some shredded cabbage (kind of mimics a bean sprout) and carrots, and kale just near the end of cooking time.
Here is tonight’s final product! Try to experiment with your own fillings, it’s hard to go wrong when working with fresh and tasty ingredients! Until tomorrow, my friends, sweet and savory dreams!