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Goldfinch Farm CSA
Goldfinch Farm Newsletters
| For Beth's Ramblings and Rants click here. |
Issue No. 5: Wks of August 4 & 11
GOLDFINCH FARM CSA NEWS
Farmers: Jon & Beth Weaver-Kreider * 252-3894
www.goldfinchfarm.com * screechowl@paonline.com
Half-Season Shares Coming Available
It turns out that we have space for a few more shares for the remainder of the season. If you have friends who would like to get in on the
rest of the season, with a cost pro-rated for the weeks that have already passed us by, please let them know to contact Beth at 717-252-
3894 as soon as possible.
Bush Champs Not Such Champs
Last year, we noticed that the large meaty Bush Champion tomatoes we were growing were a little spongy, with white streaks in the inner
chambers. They had done well for us in previous years, so we thought it was due to the vagaries of weather or soil conditions. We planted
some of them again this year, and now we see the same thing. Fortunately, we have lots of other tomatoes that are doing well. We just
won’t have as many of the big red ones as we would like.
We’ll try a different variety next year.
In the meantime, we’ll offer what we get of the Bush Champions as extras, and you can use them to bulk up your sauces.
Traveling
Beth and the boys are traveling to West Virginia over the weekend of the 7th and 8th of August. We will try to make sure that there is plenty
of everything set out for you to serve yourselves on those pick up days.
I’m thinking of making a couple of salsas for the rice and beans dinner, a red one with a spicy pepper or two in it, and a mild yellow one
using only Golden Girl tomatoes. Oooh--maybe I‘ll make a black salsa with Black Sea Man, Paul Robeson and Cherokee Purple tomatoes.
Bag the Bags
In order to reduce our impact on the environment as much as possible, we ask you to do what you can to remember to bring your own bags
or boxes or baskets from home in order to take your produce home. Some people even bring their own refrigerator containers and put their
salad mix or beans or herbs right into them, so the veggies are all ready to pop right into the fridge when they get home.
We do, however, like to have some bags available here for folks who forget theirs at home. If you have a stash of plastic grocery bags that
you’ve been saving, we would love to take the clean, intact ones off your hands. Feel free to bring them to pick up days. If you have clean
clear produce bags from previous pick-ups here at the farm, you can bring those along as well. Thanks!
Eggplant
I (Beth) think I put my mother’s favorite eggplant soufflé recipe in the newsletter every year, but it’s my favorite way to eat eggplant, and it has
such good memories for me. We lived in Tanzania for several years in my early childhood, and then for a short time in my late teens.
Joash Odongo, the man who helped us in the house with our cleaning and cooking, would make this soufflé and serve it with fried
potatoes (and catsup).
My family eats this meal with warm memories of Odongo singing Luo songs in the kitchen or laughing with Eliazar, who worked next door.
I remember sitting on a high stool in the cool, dark kitchen, whipping the egg whites with an egg beater while my mother and Odongo
boiled up eggplant and chopped potatoes.
I am copying the recipe out of my Grandma Weaver’s copy of The Mennonite Community Cookbook. I added some clipped tarragon this
evening--delicious!
Eggplant Soufflé
1 large eggplant 2 tsp. grated onion
2 Tbsp. butter 1 tsp. catsup
2 Tbsp. flour 1 tsp. salt
1 c. milk 1/8 tsp. pepper
1 c. grated cheese 2 eggs, separated
¾ c. soft bread crumbs
Pare eggplant and cut in ½-inch pieces.
Cook in salt water until tender & almost dry.
Make a white sauce using butter, flour and
milk.
When thickened, add mashed eggplant,
seasonings, cheese, crumbs and
beaten egg yolks.
Fold in stiffly beaten egg whites.
Pour into greased baking dish and bake at
350 for 40 minutes.
Creole Green Beans
(based on a recipe from Mennonite Community Cookbook)
about ½ lb. green beans, lightly steamed
about ¼ c. diced onion
about ¼ c. diced sweet pepper
1 tsp. salt
4 Tbsp. butter
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. flour
2 med. tomatoes, chopped
Sauté the onions, peppers and cooked green
beans in the butter until lightly brown.
Mix flour, salt and pepper with tomatoes
and add to bean mixture. Cook slowly
together for 6 to 8 minutes.
Potato Puffs
(also based on a Mennonite Community Cookbook recipe)
3 c. mashed potatoes 1 tsp. salt
1 c. hot milk 1½ Tbsp. butter
2 eggs, separated ¼ c. grated cheese
1 tsp. parsley
Add beaten egg yolks to mashed potatoes.
Add salt, parsley and milk and mix together.
Fold in stiffly beaten egg whites.
Drop by spoonfuls into a flat buttered
baking dish, placing cakes an inch apart.
(May also use greased muffin tins.)
Sprinkle with grated cheese and bake at
400 for 20 minutes.
Cabbage
Cabbage is such a humble vegetable, poor thing. If you read in a novel or story about someone whose home smells of boiled or sour
cabbage, chances are your characters are either poor or eccentric. If your ancestors come from central or eastern Europe, cabbage likely
figured large their diets.
It may not be the swankiest veggie in the basket, but as a basic, stable food with a good amount of versatility, cabbage will edge out some
of the sexier veggies. It will take a myriad of dressings for a thousand varieties of slaw. You can boil it, sauté it, wrap it around other
things. I like to fry sliced cabbage in a little butter and then scramble some eggs in with it.
Try sautéing up some onion and green pepper in a little butter (with some ground beef or pork, if you want); then add some chopped
tomatoes, cooked rice, shredded cabbage and your favorite seasonings. Cook for a while (10-15 minutes) until the cabbage is crisp-
tender, put in a large bowl and stir in some sour cream. Sprinkle some grated cheese on top and eat. Or pour it into a casserole and bake
for ½ an hour at 350.
.