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Halloween is only three days away, and while there is a cute family of pumpkins on the front porch, I haven't bought any candy yet. This could be the most exciting Halloween of my post-trick-or-treating life though, because it will be the first time I'll be able to legitimately hand out candy at my own house.
The last round of CSA veggies produced some noteworthy meals: a soup with turkey sausage, carrots, and broccoli rabe, along with two rounds of Swiss chard side dishes that we ate alongside various odds and ends. We had a few of the sweet potatoes with marinated pork tenderloin and roasted broccoli, and still have three or four left to enjoy.
I've felt the same mix of relief and disappointment both years after the CSA ended, and Davy and I are trying to decide if we want to do it for a third year. There is the possibility that our hypothetical garden will supply us with enough produce in the spring and summer of 2010, but we don't have a lot of experience with a garden and aren't 100% sure of our backyard conditions. Part of the fun of a CSA is also getting familiar with uncommon vegetables, and not knowing exactly what's coming each week. That element of surprise would most likely be the reason that we'd sign up again.
One thing that I don't want to be surprised about, however, is Thai takeout, and Davy and I have since corrected the Mom's Siam incident by ordering from Ginger. Twice.
October 26th-November 1st is Restaurant Week in Richmond, and on Monday night we went to Stronghill Dining Company for their $25 three-course offering. I had the oyster mushroom and duck confit miso soup, which was unusual but very worthwhile. Davy had the salad, which was topped with Manchego cheese and roasted pumpkin seeds.
Our main courses weren't very big, but they were rich and not at all disappointing. My butternut squash gnocchi were fluffy and sweet, and the accompanying leeks, pecans and oyster mushrooms complemented them with pronounced flavors and textures. I didn't try the flatiron steak, but Davy was impressed with it's tender bite as well as the potato parsnip mash and roasted asparagus.
Unfortunately the restaurant had run out of one of its two dessert options, a pumpkin apple pie, so we were both stuck with the espresso chocolate torte. This was not a problem for me at all, and while the torte was a worthy chocolate treat, it didn't blow me away. The decor alone is worth a visit Stronghill - it's an eclectic mix of upscale and factory chic in an unexpected location. While it is an interesting addition to Richmond's restaurants, and I was intrigued enough to want to go back, I don't think you'll find me there before I've eaten takeout from Ginger several more times.
Fall is definitely in the air, and the change of seasons has brought to light some notable events. Tuesday was the last CSA pick up, and it was a plentiful one:- broccoli rabe- radishes- swiss chard- sweet peppers- sweet potatoes- cilantro- basil- carrotsI decided not to get beets, and there was a bin of arugula that was optional and I completely forgot about it until I left. Fertile Crescent will have a stand at the South of the James Market for the rest of the month in case I need a fix.News about Gourmet folding was released on Monday. Even though I had a feeling it was coming, it's sad to see more and more print publications dying out. Gourmet was also the first food magazine I ever subscribed to, and I love Ruth Reichl's writing.Davy and I officially crossed a Thai restaurant off of our list of options last night. We wanted a quick meal at Mom's Siam, and were unfortunately both disappointed with the pad see ew. Maybe it's because we've been getting it from Ginger for too long, but it didn't have much flavor and neither of us felt great after dinner.The wedding went off just as it was supposed to, and the food was amazing. The first course was roasted red pepper risotto with shrimp, and the main course was grilled beef tenderloin with frizzled onions over greens with a horseradish dressing. I had known the cake I wanted at my wedding since I first tried it while working for Olga, and her Italian Rum Cake didn't disappoint. We had plenty of leftovers, which was lucky considering I only had the bite that Davy shoved into my face during the cake cutting. There are a few pictures below, courtesy of the lovely Shannon Lentz, and I should be able to post regularly again now that the wedding is over. Enjoy!
You may have noticed that I haven't been able to write much lately. My wedding is in 10 days (!) and between that and work picking up, I'm going to have to go on a blogging hiatus for a few weeks. Stay tuned for the conclusion of the CSA and some tasty wedding pictures!
The weather has been beautiful lately, and it's allowed for some late summer greens:- arugula- spicy salad mix- mustard greens- green beans- green and yellow Roma beans- squash
I didn't get to cook much this week between having a lot left over from the week before and going out of town for the long holiday weekend. On Thursday I mixed spicy arugula into a leftover cous cous salad with feta and olives. I gave the rest of it away to Davy's mom, who made us a lovely dinner on Friday night. She added the arugula to spinach to make a fresh tasting salad that also included the crisp carrots. In addition, we had medium rare steak, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, and our CSA mustard greens blanched and then sauteed in a little butter. I held onto the yard long beans and Roma beans since they last longer than leafy vegetables. I may end up freezing some since we're getting so many right now.
...and I may actually be able to start using my own basil, because there wasn't any of it this week. I turned down my parents' beautiful tomatoes because I thought there would still be some of those in the share, but I was wrong about that. I am very excited about what we did get though:- mustard greens- arugula- summer squash- yard long beans- roma beans- carrots
Two weeks ago when I picked up our share, including a basketball-sized watermelon, I had every intention of cutting it that night. Instead, my bachelorette party and a Michael Franti concert happened and I still hadn't touched it, and I didn't think that we would get more than a few days worth of the fruit. When I finally managed to chop it into bite-sized chunks, I filled a tall plastic container with only a third of the melon, and it lasted for a week's worth of mid-morning snacks. The following week I tackled another large piece, and filled another tall container for the week. It's still crisp, pink, and fresh after several days on the counter and even more time in the fridge, and the best part is that it's saved me many trips to the grocery store. I'm not even sick of it's summery flavor. The other produce has been just as useful and satisfying for the past couple weeks. We had some gorgeous bright red tomatoes that went into a Caprese salad on a night where there was an abundance of leftover grilled potatoes and sweet potatoes. More of the tomatoes were incorporated in a quick saute with zucchini and squash for the following dinner, which was then tossed with penne and mozzarella. You may begin to see a theme developing: for dinner on the third day we ate chard sauteed with garlic and our first homegrown Italian pepper of the season. Davy chopped tomatoes and added Italian sausage to the pan, which was then eaten over pasta. After another eventful weekend full of delicious meals, I revived the remaining pasta and sausage sauce by stirring in pesto, the rest of the mozzarella, and a mixture of sauteed zucchini, garlic, and grape tomatoes. All of it went into a casserole dish and I grated fresh parmesan cheese over the top before baking it for 20 minutes or so.One of the best surprises from the share so far was the Roma beans, which I had never tried before. I found a recipe for roasting the beans with thyme, olive oil, and garlic. They were remarkably tasty for a vegetable, and I've been waiting for more of them to arrive in the share every since. If you get the chance to buy some, it's really worth roasting them this way and eating them like chips.We got seven sweet peppers in our package, all of which were crunchy and tasted fresh even in their second and third weeks. I made turkey tacos in honor of Davy's birthday, and the chopped peppers were an added bonus. They were also good as an afternoon snack with hummus, and as a topping for Asian noodles with shrimp, edamame, and peanut sauce.Even though I was able to spend more time in the kitchen during the past two weeks, I neglected to take pictures. I guess there's still watermelon to document...
Basil and tomatoes are in abundance right now at the markets, and our CSA share was no different. Yesterday I picked up:- a huge bunch of basil- sweet peppers- a nice sized watermelon- heirloom tomatoes- grape tomatoes- roma beans- radishes- chard- zucchini- summer squash
Halloween is only three days away, and while there is a cute family of pumpkins on the front porch, I haven't bought any candy yet. This could be the most exciting Halloween of my post-trick-or-treating life though, because it will be the first time I'll be able to legitimately hand out candy at my own house. 
