CSA Week 13

This week you MAY have apples, tomatoes, onion, summer squash, cukes, lettuce, peppers, hot peppers, eggplant, kale, radishes?winter squash?leeks?

Paula Reds, Molly Delicious and now appearing the Redcorts!

I am thinking the Delicata winter squash will be making an appearance this week. You may recall me writing last week about the seed company snafu regarding our Honeynut seed…well we should have PLENTY of Delicata. Delicata has such a pretty, soft skin, you can actually eat it! Most of the other winter squash have very thick skins that are not pleasant to eat but provide great protection for winter storage. I confess that scrubbing a Delicata, stabbing it a few times and tossing in the microwave for several minutes has served me well as a quick side many times.

As we approach Fall, we should see broccoli again, cabbage, cauliflower, leeks, more potatoes and winter squashes. Let’s all hope for good weather with little drama.

delicata winter squash
Delicata
Carnival winter Squash
Carnival Squash

Recipes

Sausage- Stuffed Delicata Squash

Author: SimpleHealthyKitchen.com
Serves: 6-12 servings

  • 3 medium Delicata squash ( about 1 lb. each), halved lengthwise and seeded
  • 3 tsp. olive oil, divided (or coconut oil)
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 lb. ground pork sausage ( or ground chicken sausage)
  • ⅓ cup chopped onion (1 small)
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 cups torn fresh kale, stems removed
  • 1 small apple, diced
  • 1 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary (or 1 tsp dried)
  • 1 Tbsp chopped fresh thyme (or 1 tsp dried)
  • 1 Tbsp chopped fresh sage leaves ( or1 tsp dried)
  • ¼ cup dried cranberries(look for brands with no added sugar)
  • ¼ cup toasted pecans, chopped
  • Drizzle pure maple syrup (optional)

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Brush cut sides of squash with 1 tsp olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Place
cup side up on a baking sheet. Roast until tender (about 25-30 mins.)
2. While squash is roasting, heat remaining 2 tsp olive oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add
sausage, onion, and garlic. Cook until sausage is browned and onion is translucent, stirring to break
sausage apart (approx.10 mins.) Add kale, apples, rosemary, thyme, sage and additional salt and pepper
if needed. Continue to cook until the kale turns bright green and becomes tender (approx. 5-8 minutes).
Stir in cranberries and cook for an additional 1 minute.
3. Spoon sausage mixture evenly into squash halves. And sprinkle with toasted pecans.
4. Optional step- preheat broiler and arrange stuffed squash halves on foil lined baking sheet . Drizzle with
maple syrup. Broil until the tops of stuffing and squash are golden brown (approx. 5 mins).

The recipe above is very much like what I throw together…I wanted to give you an actual recipe 🙂 Sub leeks for an onion, sub fresh or dry cubed bread (stuffing mix?) for the sausage, toss in some cheese like Gorgonzola, cottage or ricotta… the sky is the limit!
You can stuff squash that is not cooked and bake until the squash is done. I typically cover the baking dish with foil to keep moisture in, then uncover for 10 minutes to brown up a little.

Also check out:

Stuffed winter squash

Apple-Filled Acorn Squash Rings with Curry Butter

Farm Dirt

We had another calf! They are so cute and their belts are extra white when they are babies. It is wonderful to see them bouncing around in the pasture. Glenn was able to mow their winter pasture last week and I am hoping we can move the cows back into it soon so they are closer to the house and have better protection from the other animals that live on the farm. Th ecalves aren’t the only ones kicking up their heels – the coyotes have been fairly vocal the past few weeks too and the young ones are full of themselves at this point. I have posted pictures of the torn up plastic in the Spring…well they are all adolescents now.

Hey, for all y’all who had to listen to me kvetching about school starting before labor Day: Faith had 3 half days called due to the heat…if they just had started after Labor Day! What’s funny and sad, at the same time is we had plenty of heat waves when I was a kid and we never had AC or school called off or short. I do recall the treat of popsicles on several occasions, handed out by the teachers. Simpler times? Fewer expectations? Easier to appease the savage beast adolescents? Even in college I recall a few small classes held on the lawn under a tree; obviously the Art History class with 250 students couldn’t be moved, so we had to sweat it out jammed into the lecture hall, dripping on one’s slide notes…ahhhh, those were the days. Now what will our kids find to complain about?

I’m not going to lie, I don’t really mind the heat, but I am also not rushing to tackle any major canning projects. I know I am spoiled to the extent that I do not HAVE to process tomatoes or peaches when it is 90° in my kitchen. We will not starve and there will likely be more fruit to put by. I have ended up making salsa on some scorchers, but usually I can schedule those jobs on a cooler day. I think about my grandmothers who had no such luxury and knew when the tomatoes were ready, one spent the day/s slipping skins, boiling water all day, and steaming up the kitchen. They thought they had it good and were proud of the filled shelves in the cold cellar.

We’ve got it great!

Who is up for a day at the farm picking up winter squash or potatoes? It would likely be a weekday and would entail picking up the harvest and filling bins. Give me feedback if this is of interest and I will start a list.

Eat well,

Geneviève Stillman   

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