My basket runneth over
Every two weeks on Saturday I crawl out of bed at 07:00, pull my hair back, throw on sweats, a tshirt and flip flops and head over to pick up groceries at a park just down the street. I’m sure I look dreadful, but in my mind’s eye the pink Coach sunglasses cover a multitude of sins. Not unlike when playing hide and go seek with five year old…if they have their eyes covered, then you can’t see them, right??. Anyway, by getting up at such an hour on the weekend, I score two small laundry baskets full of organic produce for $25 through a local co-op called Bountiful Baskets. Totally sweet deal and honestly too much for one single gal, but twice a month I end up with tons of yummy produce and best of all, I’m forced to come up with creative ways to use it all.
This week I received:
Veggies –
- Leeks (this week’s mystery veggie!)
- Red bell pepper (all unfortunately rotten, which is rare, what the heck?!)
- Romaine lettuce
- Cauliflower
- Celery
- Yellow squash
- Acorn squash
Fruit –
- Concord grapes
- Champagne grapes
- Apples (5# bag)
- Pears (10 large)
- Cantaloupe
- Plums (about 2#)
Upon picking up the produce, I realized that I am in Yuma two days next week so I have to figure out the best way to preserve what I can until my return Weds night. PLUS I still had two pounds of sweet potatoes left over from last time.
On the menu this week? Sweet potato pie and concord grape sorbet using mostly organic ingredients (however, I chose an easier route and bought a Marie Callender’s pre-made pie crust). I made two pies — baked one and froze the other.
Making the grape sorbet was a bit more complicated than the plum/raspberry flavor, but that just made it even more fun to make. I loved the rich purple color after the grapes simmered in the water. It smells just like grape jelly while it’s cooking also, which was pretty awesome. When I return, I’m making peanut butter ice cream to serve with it…sort of a frozen peanut butter & jelly sandwich.
My next endeavor — locate grass fed beef in quanitities that is single-girl friendly. Seriously, who besides a family of six buys 1/4 of a cow?!
