Week 14 Summer 2016 CSA

Produce for this Final Week of September, the 24th through the 30th

Autumn Salad Mix with Edible Flowers,  Red Leaf Lettuce,  Spaghetti Squash,  Heirloom Tomatoes,  Cherry Tomato Mix,  String Bean Mix,  Escarole

Bags of Eight Mile Creek Farm Salad Mix Ready for CSA Delivery

Melissa, Chris and Pam at farmers’ market in Peekskill last fall

Meet Christine (Chris) Rice

As if we needed another reason to prove how important our vegetables are for us, it was truly a large head of romaine lettuce that brought Chris Rice into our lives, and we are blessed beyond words for this.  It was two summers ago, at our stand at the Peekskill Farmers’ Market, on a late summer Saturday, when Chris approached our stand.  She had been drawn in by a large head of romaine.  We struck up a conversation about the lettuce, which led to a discussion about our growing practices and our farm.  Each week from that point on, Chris came to the market and we would talk about farm events which had happened that week.  She was always so interested and even worked a farm visit in on her way back from a trip to Maine.  We discovered that we both loved Wendell Berry, and Chris would bring us recordings of his speeches to listen to on our long drives back to the farm from farmers’ market.  Our friendship grew.  Chris has since made numerous trips to our farm during which she has helped Tyvec and side our well house, after we nearly lost our pressure tank during that crazy 40 below weekend last winter.  She has gone into our forests here to help us cut firewood.  She has rebuilt two doors in our dairy barn.  She taught us how to grow mushrooms so that we could have another product to sell and distribute in our CSA baskets, and put in 1000’s of shitake mushroom plugs for us.  She came up this week and helped us lay almost 3,000 feet of very unwieldy, non-user-friendly water line for a project we are working on with Soil and Water and NRCS……a job most people would back away very quickly from…Chris not only volunteered, but helped make it fun!  And at the end of each of our long work days Chris spends with us, she cooks for us one of her incredibly fabulous dinners, complete with a glass of wine and a few songs from her guitar.  We have come to realize that Chris can do anything!  We are so fortunate to have her in our lives and to be able to call her our  friend.  As some of her other friends have described her, she is an amazing, strong woman with a Buddhist heart;  an artist, and a fierce friend,  that can move mountains.

Pam and Chris laying out the water line Monday

Chris and Melissa (down the lane) with the unwieldy water line

The back door on our dairy barn.  Chris repurposed an old front door, complete with peephole to be our all-important dairy door

 

Over the years, our farm has helped bring us together with many wonderful people.  We are very lucky to have so many such incredible customers and friends in our lives!

Spaghetti Squash

Carefully pierce squash in several places with a sharp knife.  Place on a baking sheet and put squash in oven at 350.  Bake until tender.  A knife should pierce skin easily.  Remove from oven and let cool 10-15 minutes.  Cut long ways and open.  Carefully remove seeds and discard or dry and later salt and bake until crisp as you would with pumpkin seeds.  Using a fork, scrape out the “spaghetti” and serve with sea salt and butter, or spaghetti sauce and parmesan cheese.

Dairy cows grazing on a beautiful autumn day on Eight Mile Creek Farm

Lemon Pudding Cake

One of the scrumptious deserts made for us by Chris.

3 large lemons

1/4 cup flour

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup sugar

2 Tbsp sugar

3 large EMCF eggs, separated

1 cup EMCF milk

1/3 cup EMCF cream

Preheat oven to 350.  Finely grate zest from 3 lemons, then squeeze all of the juice from those lemons into a small bowl.  Whisk together flour, salt, 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp sugar in a large bowl.  Whisk together yolks, milk, zest and juice in a small bowl and add to flour mixture, whisking just until combined.  Leave for 20 minutes.  Beat egg whites in another bowl with electric mixer until they hold soft peaks.  Beat in remaining 1/4 cup sugar, a little at a time, and continue to beat until whites hold stiff, glossy peaks.  Whisk about 1/4 of whites into batter to lighten, then fold in remaining whites gently but thoroughly (batter will be thin).  Pour into buttered 1 1/2 quart ceramic or glass baking dish and bake in a hot water bath until puffed and golden, 45-50 minutes.  Transfer to a rack.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

adapted by Chris from food.com

Happy Autumn!

Next week….more mesclun, acorn squash, and kale

Have a great week!