Seems like every recipe I make these days takes forever. And you know what? I’m OK with that. Cooking with all the ingredients we have available to us this time of year is a tremendous luxury, and I hope you can make some time to enjoy it this week. I spent about 2 hours making Ratatouille this weekend and it was quite lovely – especially with a little glass of wine on the table. Like a vacation in my own kitchen. If I'm not picking veggies, I'm cooking veggies or I'm reading cookbooks with gorgeous pictures of recipes. What a wonderful life! This week I’m especially excited to have a date with my new book, The Art of Russian Cuisine by Anne Volokh, and eat my way through a few of the tomato zakuskis (appetizers). I'll practice and be able to make some of these to serve you at these upcoming events!
Save The Dates!
Fall is party season out here in the country. The leaves are gorgeous, the harvest is sweet and colorful and the temperature is just perfect for a drive and a day out in the fields and forests. We’ve got a couple of events in the next month that we’d like to invite you to attend.
Delicious Driftless Fare
October 4th and 5th
Mineral Point, WI & Dodgeville, WI
This is the first ever local food fair in our neighborhood, and we’re excited to be a part of it! Farmer Kriss will be mediating a movie discussion in Mineral Point on Friday night the 4th, and Circle M will be serving veggie samples at a booth on Saturday. Also, Kriss’s bluegrass band, MooGrass, will be playing on Saturday at noon! Better yet, there is an old-time Potluck and Square dance that evening.
Oct 4th @ Mineral Point Opera House (139 High Street, Mineral Point)
6pm: Meet the authors of Super Snacks for Super Kids
7pm: FREE screening of documentary Hungry for Change
9pm: Wine and Cheese Reception at Grey Dog Deli, panel with local farmers
Oct 5th @ Folklore Village (3210 Cty Rd BB, Dodgeville)
12 to 6pm: Delicious Driftless Fare with vendors and live music
1pm: Keynote Speaker Steven Deller, UW Madison Professor Ag and Econ
6pm: Potluck and Barn Dance ($7 with a dish, $10 without)
Warm and Wooly Fall Farm Festival
Saturday, October 19th
Circle M Farm (1784 County Rd. H, Blanchardville, WI 53516)
This is our annual fall farm open house – we’ll be here from noon til night playing with wool, building bonfires and touring the farm to eat veggies and pet animals. The evening will culminate with a huge potluck dinner at 6pm and live bluegrass music at 7pm. Smores all night. Meet your farmers and bring friends, blankets, chairs and a dish to pass!
October 4th and 5th
Mineral Point, WI & Dodgeville, WI
This is the first ever local food fair in our neighborhood, and we’re excited to be a part of it! Farmer Kriss will be mediating a movie discussion in Mineral Point on Friday night the 4th, and Circle M will be serving veggie samples at a booth on Saturday. Also, Kriss’s bluegrass band, MooGrass, will be playing on Saturday at noon! Better yet, there is an old-time Potluck and Square dance that evening.
Oct 4th @ Mineral Point Opera House (139 High Street, Mineral Point)
6pm: Meet the authors of Super Snacks for Super Kids
7pm: FREE screening of documentary Hungry for Change
9pm: Wine and Cheese Reception at Grey Dog Deli, panel with local farmers
Oct 5th @ Folklore Village (3210 Cty Rd BB, Dodgeville)
12 to 6pm: Delicious Driftless Fare with vendors and live music
1pm: Keynote Speaker Steven Deller, UW Madison Professor Ag and Econ
6pm: Potluck and Barn Dance ($7 with a dish, $10 without)
Warm and Wooly Fall Farm Festival
Saturday, October 19th
Circle M Farm (1784 County Rd. H, Blanchardville, WI 53516)
This is our annual fall farm open house – we’ll be here from noon til night playing with wool, building bonfires and touring the farm to eat veggies and pet animals. The evening will culminate with a huge potluck dinner at 6pm and live bluegrass music at 7pm. Smores all night. Meet your farmers and bring friends, blankets, chairs and a dish to pass!
In The Box!
Basil – We can’t get enough of this in pesto, and now is the time of year when we start to freeze the little bits left over from each meal so we’ll have some in winter. Pesto freezes great, though basil by itself does not. This could be the last week for basil, if the temps really do dip into the 40s this next week!
Kriss’ Kick-@$$ Summer Salad Mix – I don’t want to offend you, but this is a really great, and powerfully flavored mix this week. We’ve got your tender lettuce greens, and on top we’ve layered some spicy arugula and some peppery nasturtium blossoms. That’s right, they aren’t just for looks! They pack a powerful flavor punch of their own. If you are up for it, just mix it all together (and add our purple braising mix to boot!), but if you like a milder salad, just pull the arugula and nasturtiums off the top and use to garnish other dishes.
Purple Braising Mix – Yay! Braising mix is back. This spicy-sweet blend of sautéing greens is a mix of Red Mizuna and Purple Peacock Broccoli, an Asian sprouting broccoli that is just gorgeous in the garden and was a big hit with our Soil Sisters Farm Tour visitors this weekend. Lightly sauté in coconut oil with a bit of sesame oil and soy sauce, or if you really like to spice it up, chop and add to your salad.
Tomatoes - This absolutely must be the peak of the year’s tomato harvest, but it seems I’ve been saying that every week for a while now. You’ve got all sorts of heirloom slicers – from the magical green Aunt Ruby’s German to the lovely orange, pinks and yellows. You’ve got the orange Banana, striped Vilms and red Federle pastes. And in your cherry boxes, you’ve got some beautiful cascades of ripe and ripening Currant tomatoes.
Eggplant – O my! We’ve been sooo enjoying roasted and grilled eggplant this year. If you haven’t already tried the Babaganoush, do! So wonderful on pita, chips, even cucumber slices.
Peppers – Finally some reds! Our hands-down favorite pepper for flavor is the long, skinny, twisty, red Jimmy Nardello fryers. Try this sliced thin and sautéed with onions, or roast in the oven with eggplant.
Cucumber
Mixed Kale – Are you sick of kale yet? We’ve been packing it for weeks and we keep getting wonderful feedback, so we keep putting it in the box. It continues to be sweet and crisp and we have enjoyed it in so many raw and cooked combinations this summer.
Herb Bag: Oregano and Parsley
String Beans – Nothing says summer like a string bean.
All-Red and All-Blue Potatoes
Garlic
Kriss’ Kick-@$$ Summer Salad Mix – I don’t want to offend you, but this is a really great, and powerfully flavored mix this week. We’ve got your tender lettuce greens, and on top we’ve layered some spicy arugula and some peppery nasturtium blossoms. That’s right, they aren’t just for looks! They pack a powerful flavor punch of their own. If you are up for it, just mix it all together (and add our purple braising mix to boot!), but if you like a milder salad, just pull the arugula and nasturtiums off the top and use to garnish other dishes.
Purple Braising Mix – Yay! Braising mix is back. This spicy-sweet blend of sautéing greens is a mix of Red Mizuna and Purple Peacock Broccoli, an Asian sprouting broccoli that is just gorgeous in the garden and was a big hit with our Soil Sisters Farm Tour visitors this weekend. Lightly sauté in coconut oil with a bit of sesame oil and soy sauce, or if you really like to spice it up, chop and add to your salad.
Tomatoes - This absolutely must be the peak of the year’s tomato harvest, but it seems I’ve been saying that every week for a while now. You’ve got all sorts of heirloom slicers – from the magical green Aunt Ruby’s German to the lovely orange, pinks and yellows. You’ve got the orange Banana, striped Vilms and red Federle pastes. And in your cherry boxes, you’ve got some beautiful cascades of ripe and ripening Currant tomatoes.
Eggplant – O my! We’ve been sooo enjoying roasted and grilled eggplant this year. If you haven’t already tried the Babaganoush, do! So wonderful on pita, chips, even cucumber slices.
Peppers – Finally some reds! Our hands-down favorite pepper for flavor is the long, skinny, twisty, red Jimmy Nardello fryers. Try this sliced thin and sautéed with onions, or roast in the oven with eggplant.
Cucumber
Mixed Kale – Are you sick of kale yet? We’ve been packing it for weeks and we keep getting wonderful feedback, so we keep putting it in the box. It continues to be sweet and crisp and we have enjoyed it in so many raw and cooked combinations this summer.
Herb Bag: Oregano and Parsley
String Beans – Nothing says summer like a string bean.
All-Red and All-Blue Potatoes
Garlic
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