Capturing my love of whole foods, combined with the activity of a bustling kitchen. A weekly collection of photos from the center of my home. * * * * * top to bottom: radish slaw fixin's, mushrooms, scallions from the garden, rat's tail radish (our new garden favorite), peas, margaritas (best when fresh picked ingredients are used!), strawberry ginger syrup in process for homemade soda, crispy sage leaves with coconut aminos, and our home roasted coffee beans.
In the summer there is so much making. So I thought this week I would focus on ingredients and didn't take many meal shots. There has been so much rain rain rain that there are now swarms of mosquitoes. So garden excursions are quick and involve a lot of smacking and waving. But so much is ready every day that it is worth it. I think. This week will involve a lot of weeding and pickling, I think. We are loving the rat's tail radishes this year. With the sudden heat blast not long ago a lot of our other radishes bolted and I let them flower for pollinators. But the rat's tails are perfect no matter the temps and the perfect crisp radish flavor with the pea texture is fantastic. I know they could get a bit bigger, but I was impatient and we are eating even more of them today. I'm definitely planting a lot more of those! Be sure to visit Heather at Beauty that Moves for all of those in the blog hop this week!
4 Comments
We are getting into the groove of our weekly CSA again. It feels good to chat with the people in line - the question is always WHAT DO I DO WITH THIS? Give a few ideas, chit chat. G is the boss of the CSA line. He selects each item out of every bin to be sure he has the exact one he wants - I only get to be the bag holder - while A visits the chicken coop. We then grab scissors from the rack and walk out to the herb field. Later in the season we will have veggies to pick too, but this time of year we pick some chives, oregano, sage, thyme, basil, dill, mint. I grow a lot of variety in my garden, but with such a small space that isn't full sun, many of the more mediterranean heat loving herbs don't do so well, so having a CSA which has fields to pick from is wonderful. That saves my pot real estate for unusual varieties that I cannot find anywhere else - like my holy basil or pineapple sage. After filling our bag with what we will use this week, we wander back to the car and the short but beautiful rural drive home. Having a CSA makes us conscious of our time every Wednesday. It will take awhile to process everything - rinse, cut, bag, store. What to make for dinner now, what to put away for the rest of the week. What can go right into the dehydrator. Love it. in our share this week: summer crisp lettuce, sugar snap peas, kale, broccoli, cilantro, summer squash, scallions, hakurai turnips, salad mix, garlic scapes, spinach. u-pick mint, dill, basil, oregano, thyme, chives, sage.
What is in your farm share this week, or in season locally where you live? Capturing my love of whole foods, combined with the activity of a bustling kitchen. A weekly collection of photos from the center of my home. * * * * * top to bottom: dairy free cardamom panna cotta with roasted rhubarb topping | A & his exotic fruit | rhubarb roasted with red wine, hibiscus tea, lemon peel, and ginger | chicken burger over greens with grilled zucchini | salad (we will be eating a lot more salad this week - checkout our CSA box) | grilled asparagus and radicchio with salmon burger | grilling veggies | sauteed figs in red wine reduction with local sheep milk cheese (a treat for my husband, away from allergy boy) | G
This was a busy kitchen week, but I remembered to take a few pics. We had a new grocer open (a big deal in that we have been waiting for it for 10 years - now we can walk to a store) so we had a grand opening last week for the neighborhood, plus a few jaunts over to check out what they have. A has been buying a new exotic fruit each trip because he decided he wants to check out the inside of every single one. We had a neighborhood Farmers' Market visit. Our CSA started. The garden is going gangbusters. From now to November my kitchen will be overflowing and I will have that (GO GO GO GO) always in the back of my mind. GO! The dehydrator is full, the fridge is packed with so many leafy greens I cannot find anything. Ahhh, summer. Be sure to visit Heather at Beauty That Moves for all in the blog hop! I know! I missed week 1! In all our decade+ of having CSA shares this was the first pickup we have ever missed. When we had to choose between CSA pickup and time away for that whirlwind 50 hour Minneapolis trip...the choice was easy. We have only a few short months in summer when my husband has a somewhat normal work schedule and when September gets here he will burrow away and we won't see him much until the holiday break! So, we missed our pickup. Our CSA farm donated our share last week to the local food pantry, so I feel better knowing someone got some organic goodness last week. So this week we were particularly enthusiastic about going to get our weekly share. For those of you outside of the US, CSA means Community Supported Agriculture, and it is basically where you buy a "share" of a whole growing season of produce from a local farm. This means that each week we get our "share" of produce. Some CSA models have urban dropoff locations - places to get your box right in town from someone who hosts a pick up spot. We have always preferred on farm pick up, and living at the edge of the city makes that convenient for us. My boys get to visit a farm each week, we get to know our farmer, and we have freshly picked organic produce from June to November. The CSA farm we have now is wonderful, and we have been with them for several years. When I say I love our CSA, I am not exaggerating! Seriously. Love. So today was comfort and routine and everything good about summer. Both boys were so happy to carry the bags, load up one of this, one of this, 10 of this, 2 of this. They chatted with people. They visited the chickens. We went to the u-pick herb field area to pick some fresh herbs for use throughout the week. Everything was green and smelled of mud. If you have followed my previous blogs or instagram feed you know that I love to post my CSA share each week for the whole season. I also love to post in season recipes from what is in season and that is most likely in your box or market stand. I also would love to hear what you have in season in your area if you have a CSA share, farm box, or buy from local farm stands or markets! CSA Box 2: head lettuces, green curly kale, spinach, sugar snap peas, radishes, pea shoots, scallions, hakurai turnips, salad mix, garlic scapes (garlic scape pesto or lacto-fermented garlic scapes), honey U-Pick: mint, thyme, dill, sage, chives
This is when I start to feel that hum - when the CSA and garden are going strong and spare moments are spent picking or weeding or preserving. Thank you, June. ++ Do you have a CSA share/farm box? What is in season in your area right now? Capturing my love of whole foods, combined with the activity of a bustling kitchen. Top to bottom:: cashew hummus, roasting marshmallows, hibiscus tea, almond/cranberry/raw cacao liquor turtles, salmon burgers, strawberries ready to dunk in chocolate, tea making, hotel kitchen. Today I am posting from a hotel room."Testing" the iPad interface for my blog app (I have never used this to post, only view stats and comments), so I apologize if it adds funny borders or makes the photos small. We shall see! A key feature to any travel with food allergies is a hotel room with a full kitchen, and packing all snacks and meals and condiments to take along. We cannot eat in restaurants, stop for fast food, or grab a snack anywhere we go. No breakfast buffets. While it may seem very cumbersome and inconvenient to have to travel this way, it also has many benefits. Yes, we haul a lot of food and don't exactly travel "light" and can only stay where there is a kitchen, but we also eat healthier since we eat our own food (and don't stop for fast food). I've also realized how much extra money it saves us (giving us a bigger budget for other things). If we need something we find a grocery store, not go out to eat. We don't leave home for long as my allergy boy is also very sensitive to being away from our house, but we love short outings! Be sure to visit Heather at Beauty That Moves for all blogs in the blog hop! Ah, weekends. Winters are long here, and after half a year of cold - just when you think that is IT you cannot do one more winter - THIS happens. An emerald land with a cobalt sky. Wisconsin wildflowers blooming in a riot of color everywhere you go. The garden. Not too hot yet, with cool breezy evenings. That is why we are here. "I wonder what it would be like to live in a world where it was always June." - L. M. Montgomery Hope you had a lovely weekend! ________________________________ And, of course, I couldn't forget the drawing for the Summer 2014 Tend Magazine giveaway!
I love baking. Since two of us have had to eliminate all gluten, I tend to bake less, use the dehydrator more, and would generally just prefer to eat other foods rather than "substitute" foods. But my two that are fine with gluten and also love baked goods are so very happy when I bake. My husband also loves to have something for his kaffeeklatsch (he works from home most days). He tends to work non-stop most of the day and leaves half of his lunch untouched on his plate up in his office. He is usually starving by mid afternoon and this helps him get along. Any gluten free goodies that I bake have to be approved and dearly loved by those that COULD eat gluten if it wasn't for us (ahem), as well as by my allergy boy. By having a few base recipes that I can adapt to whatever fruit is seasonal in the garden means that I have something I KNOW everyone likes and that I can make easily with whatever is ready NOW. This cake is a great base. And with strawberries and rhubarb? Over the top. Gluten Free/Dairy Free Rhubarb Upside Down CakePrint |{wholly rooted}A not too sweet gluten free / dairy free cake that is delicious warm or at room temperature. Seasonal goodness! {ingredients}
First prepare your rhubarb. Place your 2 cups of rhubarb in a saucepan with the 1/4 cup honey. Sauté until the rhubarb is soft, about 10 minutes. Turn off heat. Let sit. As I said, the main recipe is a great base. If you don't want to make it using strawberry/rhubarb, make everything as a stand alone cake (skip the rhubarb/strawberry steps, leave out the cinnamon, and no need to invert). My boys love it as a pound cake with a lemon glaze over the top (see above). Now, for the GF flour mix. I really like theratio guide over at Gluten Free Girl and the Chef. It is clear and easy to remember and no matter how I mix it, it is a solid ratio and things come out great. I have used this cake recipe with several different blends of my own making as well as a few different store bought GF all purpose blends. Always good. This rich dark amazingly delicious rhubarb upside down cake was made using a blend I made that has several different GF whole grain flours including buckwheat, which is what adds to the lovely color (in addition to coconut palm sugar). So good and moist.
Now I want to go make another rhubarb upside down cake as the last one disappeared quickly. And in not too long I will have fresh raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries to add to it. Yum.
Don't forget to zip over and leave a comment on my giveaway post for a chance to win the Summer 2014 issue of Tend Magazine! Comments will close at midnight Sunday, I will announce the winner on Monday.
Capturing my love of whole foods, combined with the activity of a bustling kitchen. A weekly collection of photos from the center of my home. * * * * * top to bottom: italienischer lettuce, kale egg cups over skillet GF bread, poached eggs over greens with pumpkin and sesame seeds, filling the dehydrator sheets, sweet potato buddha bowl, kale egg cups in progress, sunburn soother (for my husband who had a long business lunch outside in full sun midday and burned himself), strawberries puttering along, and where we eat our meals when the weather is dry and sunny.
This week we started eating more out of the garden. Greens and greens and greens. Radishes. Peas. Herbs. Rhubarb. Our first blackberry. Our CSA starts next Wednesday, and I am excited to return to my weekly posting of our share, plus recipes to eat in season. Ahh, I love that. We have the best farm for our CSA too, and we all always enjoy seeing everyone each week and chatting a bit to catch up. I can't believe it has been 7 months since CSA season ended - we must pack the most we can in between June and October! I love the season of eating from our garden, CSA, and local farmstands. Oh, and I am having a giveaway! Visit my post from yesterday and leave a comment for a chance to win a Summer 2014 issue of Tend Magazine. I have several great summer food & herbal recipes in this issue, including the sun soother spray. So go enter! I need more comments! :) Be sure to visit Heather at Beauty That Moves to see all in the blog hop this week! It is hard to believe that it has been just over a year since I told Debbie that I'd love to be a contributor to her new magazine project. It was perfect timing - I had been writing again, developing recipes, taking photos and scribbling away in my notebooks. I wanted to start publishing again and get to where I was ready to start on the always in the back of my mind book(s). To push myself with deadlines and themes and recipe development. While you have now only seen two issues (Spring 2014 released in March, Summer 2014 just released this week), I just submitted yet another issue of content this week to my chief editor of awesomeness, bringing it up to four for us, and we will be starting on the fifth! I was initially focused mainly on my photography and writing, but I have also found that I enjoy managing a section. I have been working with several great people who are contributing articles to the Whole Foods and Herbal Health category and it has been fun to brainstorm ideas, tie it all together, and see what they come up with! Last weekend the Summer 2014 issue launched. It is lovely. Everything summer should be. Important conversations about ethical business and consumers, sustainability, economy, families, mothering. Gorgeous gorgeous vibrant home shots celebrating outdoor summer living. All kinds of summery recipes ~ grilling, side dishes, drinks, cold treats, using herbs, herbal sun relief and summer vinegar. Peeks into beautiful sustainable living. Really fun projects for kids (it is going to take us all summer to work through them - spy kits, secret messages, ciphers - SO COOL!). Plus several lovely craft projects for wee ones, patterns patterns patterns, DIY projects. Book reviews. I really could go on and on. 166 pages (more of a book than a magazine!) of amazing things to keep you busy, happy, surrounded in beauty, thinking, and satiated all summer long. So many talented people have contributed, and I am like a kid in a candy shop myself seeing all of the lovely projects and articles. So, to celebrate the launch of the latest issue (did I mention it is 166 pages!?!), I am doing a drawing for one FREE copy of the Summer 2014 Issue of Tend Magazine! Here is how to enter: Leave a comment on this post. You can earn additional comments by liking my Wholly Rooted Facebook page, liking the Tend Magazine Facebook page, sharing this post via Facebook, Twitter, or your blog, or following Tend Magazine on Instagram. So, you can earn up to 7 entries! Be sure to post a separate comment here for each action you take to receive the entry. I will pick one winner from a random number generator draw using the comment numbers. You have until midnight Sunday June 8. I will announce the winner on Monday June 9! And, of course, go check out the preview of the latest issue! Be sure to visit the Free Projects page for a yummy herbal infused water recipe.
So enter your comment, come back to comment if you have done any additional entries, and I will announce the winner on Monday! Here is to a great summer! |
denise cusackI am a certified aromatherapist, clinical herbalist, permaculture designer, organic gardener, plant conservationist, photographer, writer, designer, artist, nature lover, health justice activist, whole foods maker, and mother of two young adults in south central Wisconsin. Categories
All
©2007-23 Denise Cusack, all photos and text. Feel free to share my posts on FB or Twitter or online media or pin on Pinterest (thank you!), but please keep the links back to my website intact (meaning please do not take or copy my images off of this website and share them unattributed or without linking back here or use them without permission). Thank you! :)
|