kitchen adventures
Autumn lasagna with squash and chard: it carries the flavors of fall: roasted squash, sage, sausage and cheese combine to make a memorable dish. It’s no more complicated than any other lasagna: there’s a sauce, there are noodles, and there are fillings that get layered in. Inspiration can come from
Folks, we’re pitching right into autumn. The temperature is dropping, and while we are in no danger of frost this week, it’s clearly going to happen. Our farmers send us summer crops like beans or tomatoes as long as possible. Some of the tomatoes this week are green, since they
I have a weakness for molasses cookies of all kinds. The best of them are deeply darkly delicious; chewy, both sharp and mellow with spices. They will keep for weeks, if only I can hide them from my family. (I’ve never been able to keep any long enough to test
There’s definitely a touch of autumn in the air. It’s much less humid, and while there are parts of the days where the sun makes it very warm, it’s clear that the season is changing. We see it in this week’s box: only four tomatoes (sob!) and a quart of cherry tomatoes.
For a few days, we had a hint of cooler weather, and then a return to summer. I take this as the sign that our lovely warm weather will end soon. Our farmers are planting fall crops as well as continuing to harvest summer goodies. This week’s box contained kale, carrots, radishes, green
Autumn in Michigan means changeable weather. Yesterday was sunny and bright, but today is grey and dank, with a clammy chill shivering in the air. This is exactly the sort of day that calls for a steaming mug of chocolate. No, not just any mug: how about the best hot chocolate?
We’ve had rain and hot weather, which the plants love. This week, our CSA box has even more ripe red tomatoes (hooray). We also have collards, purple cabbage, kale, bell peppers, arugula, garlic, and lovely apples.
Have you eaten stuffed grape leaves? Common in Greek and Middle-Eastern cooking, they’re leaves stuffed with a rice/meat mixture, often served cool or at room temperature. This is a version using fresh chard. This is not a quick recipe, but it’s a great one to make ahead of time. Don’t
Not all salads are based on lettuce! Horiatiki salad, a Greek classic, is a summer favorite at our house. It’s quick, easy, and delicious – especially when we grow luscious ripe tomatoes. Fresh ingredients are the star in this salad. Use ripe tomatoes and local produce, if at all possible.
Hot weather returns, and makes the farm’s tomato plants very productive! We have a double helping of ripe red tomatoes this week (hooray). We also have basil, sage, garlic, Swiss chard, radishes, multicolor carrots, and yellow (wax) beans.
Our weather has been cool these last few days. Summer is far from over; we have more hot and sunny days to come. It’s clear, though, that the summer harvest is destined to end, perhaps in a glorious abundance of ripe tomatoes any week now. Come on, tomatoes! This week our
The hot weather this week has been good for summer crops. I keep telling myself that while I hate hot humid weather, the tomatoes love it, so I should count my blessings. This week, the basket has tomatoes and cherry tomatoes, a definite bonus – along with carrots, kale, daikon radish, collards, cucumbers, sage,
I’m Maurita Plouff, and I write about cooking and preserving the local harvest in Southeast Michigan. Any recipe you find here is something I have cooked myself, and enjoyed, and think you might like too. I invite you to try the recipes, and leave comments.