Midsummer Farm CSA Weekly Newsletter: Share Pick Up #10 Greetings - The harvesting has been going well this season! The garden is producing beautifully and always seems to have surprises in store! This has really been a fabulous growing year very fulfilling to gardeners and farmers. And we have to appreciate how lucky we are - just a bit west of here in NY state, they are having a horrendously dry summer. We had a touch of that in late June/early July, but our rains have come and things have recovered nicely.
Eggs The summer egg share, for those of you who signed up, was actually officially over last week. But our hens are laying in earnest despite the heat and decreasing daylight hours and so we have been continuing to add eggs to the baskets, and you'll receive eggs this week too. In past years, we've struggled to have enough eggs at this point in the summer, so this really is a real treat!
Because the egg laying has been so strong, we're going to offer a "Second Summer" egg share (which would be 6 dozen starting the week of August 20th) for $46.
So if you are interested in receiving eggs each week starting next week, let me know and please bring a check or money to your next pick up ....
 Peacock Feathers
Our peacock is moulting! If you want some peacock feathers, let me know and I'll add them to your basket~
A reminder - please remember to return your baskets! I'm running low!
It looks like this week may be out last week of zucchini - I see evidence of those horrid squash vine borers in the field .... but below some recipes in case you still have some summer squash around .... and some recipes for using peppers as well ...
 A note on storing peppers - they all freeze wonderfully. Just wash, destem, and take out the seeds. I usually cut them in halves and just pop them into freezer bags. They can last for years!
How to Roast a Chili Pepper. I 'roast' chilis in my broiler. There are three main steps to roasting chilis.
Step 1: Place whole chilis on a baking sheet under the broiler set to high. Keep your eye on the chilis - this all moves very fast. Once they are blackened and bubbly on the one side, flip them over and blacken the other side. You want the whole surface tobe mostly black and bubbled.
Step 2: Remove them from the broiler, and place in a bowl. Take another bowl and put upside down over the first so the peppers are in a dome. Steam them until they are cool.
Step 3: Pop the stem off and peel off the skin. Split and clean out the seeds. You can store the roasted chili in the fridge for several days or freezer them at that point.
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RECIPE: Zucchini Salad with Baby Arugula and Pine Nuts
Ingredients:
3 baby zucchini or small summer squash
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 large handful of baby arugula, rinsed and dried
2 tbsp finely shopped chives or 1 tbsp welsh onions or scallions
3 tbsp pine nuts
freshly ground black pepper to taste
Directions:
Trim both ends of the zucchini, cut each in half. Using a mandoline or julienne peeler, create long spaghetti-like strips of zucchini. Transfer to a bowl and toss with lemon juice. Drizzle with oil, and sprinkle with salt, tossing again thoroughly. The salt will start to draw water from the zucchini. Arrange arugula on each plate, top with the zucchini mix, sprinkle with onions and pinenuts and black pepper. Serve immediately.
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RECIPE: My Grandmother's Zucchini Bread
Ingredients:
2- 1/2 cup flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1-1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup olive oil
3 large eggs
2 cups grated zucchini or other summer squash (the bigger, drier ones work best for this)
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1 tsp vanilla
about 1 cup pignoli nuts for garnishing the top (optional)
Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees / grease pan. Mix flour and dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, beat sugar, oil, and eggs. Add dry ingredients to sugar mixture beat until smooth. Batter will be very thick at this point. Then, add the grated zucchini, chopped nuts, and vanilla, folding and stirring until consistently mixed.
Sprinkle top with pignoli nuts and bake about 1 - 1 1/4 hours until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Zucchini and Summer Squash do not store very well but I have stored it grated for making Zucchini Breads. I grate up a big bunch and freeze in 2 cup measurements so I can easily de-thaw and make breads all winter. The zucchini bread itself also freezes very well.
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RECIPE: Pepper Sauté
This is one of my favorite summer comfort foods.
Ingredients:
olive oil
dried or fresh oregano - about 1/2 tsp dried or 1 tbsp fresh
a sprinkle of chili flakes if you want
a sprinkle of garlic powder or minced fresh garlic
onions of various sorts
peppers of various sorts
little frozen "salad" shrimp
you can also add squash, kale, chard, or really any other vegetable!
sea salt and black pepper to taste
cooked pasta (retain a bit of pasta water in case)
Directions
Chop the peppers and onions into 1/2 sized pieces. Heat olive oil in a large saute pan. Add oregano, garlic, and chili flakes. Once warmed and starting to smell good, add onions, peppers, and shrimp. Cook until onions and peppers are softened. Add other vegetables such as squash or chopped chard. Once those are just getting tender, add pasta. Thoroughly mix and let pasta cook in sauce for a bit to meld flavors. If a little oily, add a dash of the retained pasta water. And then serve!
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Very best and thanks, Barbara and Mark Midsummer Farm
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