CSA Share Week 7

It's been pretty hot here. So much so that I figured I would preface my post by letting you know how warm it has been. Glenn was just telling me the other day that we have only had 78 minutes of summer so far this year. "Summer" is being defined as temperature at or above 80 degrees. I have no problem with that and have found our incredibly mild and cool summer to be absolutely dreamy. Imagine my dismay when it hit around 85 degrees. Normally this wouldn't really be that much of a deal, but when you do not have air conditioning and chose this particular day to do housework, things don't look so pretty. In any event, it was hot today but it should cool down for the rest of the week. Yay!

Our produce this week is very similar to what we got last week. Some things we got more of (raspberries, YAY) and other things we got less of (shell peas, boo). Our entire haul this week included eggs, chard, cauliflower, summer squash, rainier cherries, raspberries (notice how I had already eaten half a carton by the time I took the picture), fava beans, lettuce, and some more shell peas. At the time I write this I have finished off a carton of raspberries and hoarded the rest with the intent to make muffins with them.

The items we got in last week's share garnered mostly positive reviews. The cherries were great, as were the raspberries. I cannot get over how deliciously sweet and tart these raspberries are! I've just been eating them all by themselves. The eggs went the route of hard boiling, like they usually do. It's nice to just be able to grab an egg for a snack or smash a couple into egg salad for a yummy sandwich. As a side note, our next door neighbors brought us a few eggs from their chickens the other day. I thought that was so nice of them. Glenn and I (mostly Glenn) chatted with them for a little while. They're pretty cool people and laughed a lot at whatever Glenn said - it was pretty funny.
Anyway, I forgot we even had beets until now. Then I remembered when Glenn started slicing them up for his salad and I was astonished at how beautiful they were inside! They had these gorgeous pink and white stripes. They were so pretty I just HAD to taste it. I immediately wished I hadn't. Glenn thought they were great. I thought they tasted like dirt with an awful aftertaste that seemed to affect the taste of everything else I ate afterwards. I haven't eaten anymore of them. They are actually an heirloom beet from Italy called Chioggia Beets (the things you learn from Google.)
The shell peas were my favorite item in the share. I really enjoyed shelling the peas for some reason. We added them to some pasta a couple nights and they were just so firm, sweet, and delicious. I hope we continue getting them. Glenn has been enjoying the zucchini, but I have not. I don't like zucchini unless it is fried and covered in cheese like this restaurant in Puyallup makes them. The greens we got were hit and miss this week. The red leaf lettuce was okay, the cabbage was pretty good, but the unidentified bunch of greens that was like 3 feet long was just gross. Neither of us liked it and tried to eat around it in our salads. Live and learn I guess. The onion is still by its lonesome in the fridge. I don't really know what its future holds.

Strangely enough, after my mini rant about the lack of email newsletters from the farm in last week's post I got an email just minutes after my post. I guess they read my blog (or not.) They still are not regular with the newsletters, as we got one for week 5 and week 7, but not week 6. We'll see about the upcoming week.

Hope all is well with all of our friends and family. Love to all!!!