WILD HARE WEEKLY FALL #4/11

Sometimes you’ve got to give yourself permission to be a day late on getting the newsletter out, and this is one of those times.  I’ve been lucky enough to share the farm with so many wonderful folks over the past week—not only our CSA members and the kiddos coming for their Fall Field trips (who are indeed many), but I was honored to spend a whole lot of time with my family honoring my grandma (aka, Pizza Nonna) who celebrated her 80th birthday last week.  88 guests stopped by her house to enjoy the roughly 30 homemade pizzas that we rolled out that day, including my grandmother’s Aunt Edie, who came by the farm on her own birthday last Thursday.  One of the preschoolers who was here on a field trip that day excitedly hopped up to Aunt Edie and said, “Hi.  Today is my birthday!  I’m five today,” to which my aunt replied, “Hi sweetie. Today is my birthday.  I’m 93!”  The birthday girls spent several days together cooking up a storm, loving our winter squash and roasting the last few sweet peppers we’ve picked.  Feeding the people you love is such a powerful thing, and looking around my grandmother’s house, watching us all cook together over the past few days, I had no question as to how it was that I ended up farming in this life.      

The temps are cooling off, and the rain is supposed to return.  I can already feel the sniffles creeping in, so I’m fighting them with sliced up apples and radishes (I’m winning too!).  Did you know that radishes are great sources of Vitamin C?  Well, they are.  And that bit of heat at the back of the nose doesn’t hurt either.  I’m going to be making this salad tonight I think.  To go with some Red Daikon Radishes, we’ll also have Spaghetti Squash & Honeycrisp Apples for the CSA this week.  Now that spiralizers are taking off in the world of kitchen gadgetry, just about any squash can be turned into a noodle.  However, Spaghetti Squash just requires a fork and a bit of your time.  You can certainly prepare it with Marinara sauce like its namesake, but Mark and I love it seasoned with warm spices and served in place of rice alongside Mexican and Indian meals, as one of our market customers suggested a couple of years back.  

Have a great week!

Katie

PS: I just heard from Mark that we’ve discovered a surprise out in the field—there are just enough heads of Cauliflower for us to harvest for the large shares this week.

IN THE FARMSHARES THIS WEEK:

Red Daikon
Spaghetti Squash
Kale
Garlic and/or Onions
Carrots
Celery
Honeycrisp Apples

SEASONAL RECIPES, TIPS & INFO

HOW TO COOK SPAGHETTI SQUASH IN THE OVEN - The Kitchn
SPAGHETTI SQUASH WITH PEANUT SAUCE - Food Network

TWICE BAKED KALE SPAGHETTI SQUASH
Food 52
 

·  1 Medium Spaghetti Squash

·  2 cups Kale (cleaned and cut off rib and into bite size pieces)

·  1-2 Cloves of Garlic (minced)

·  1-2 teaspoons Olive Oil

·  1 Medium Sweet Onion (thinly sliced

·  1/2 cup Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

·  1/2 cup Shredded Parmesan Cheese

·  1 PinchRed Pepper Flakes

·  Optional Sea Salt/Pepper to taste

 CONTINUE TO RECIPE

 

SPAGHETTI SQUASH WITH GARLIC, PARSLEY & BREADCRUMBS
Martha Rose Shulman, The New York Times

·  1 spaghetti squash, about 3 pounds

·  2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

·  3 to 4 large garlic cloves, green shoots removed, minced

·  2 tablespoons breadcrumbs

·  2 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

·   Salt

·   freshly ground pepper to taste

·   Freshly grated Parmesan

CONTINUE TO RECIPE


SPAGHETTI SQUASH WITH INDIAN SPICES
Ivy Manning, Fine Cooking

·  1 small (3 lb.) spaghetti squash

·  1 Tbs. vegetable oil

·  1 tsp. brown mustard seeds

·  3 Tbs. unsalted butter

·  1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onion

·  2 tsp. minced fresh ginger

·  2 tsp. chopped garlic

·  1 tsp. cumin seeds

·  1/2 tsp. ground coriander

·  1/2 cup seeded and chopped tomato

·  1 small serrano chile, seeded and minced

·  Kosher salt

·  1/2 cup coarsely chopped cilantro

CONTINUE TO RECIPE