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Dear Common Thread CSA Members,

The End of Season Celebration is this coming Sunday, October 5!  We offer a farm tour at 4 pm.  Starting at 5 pm, we will have face painting for the kids and pumpkin decorating for all ages followed by a potluck meal.  A potluck means anything goes - it can be helpful to bring a card with the name of a dish and it's ingredients to help people out who have food restrictions.  Wendy is planning on making two of our favorite desserts - chocolate zucchini cake and pumpkin pie. We hope to see many of you there! An RSVP is helpful.  

We still have Winter CSA shares available.  Winter CSA members enjoy storage crops and hardy greens in November, December and January. 

You can find out what the vegetables for the week are by going to our "What's In" page on our website and checking out the PYO page on our website.   

We have pie pumpkins this week! In addition to pie, pie pumpkins are great in quick breads, soup, and pancakes. There are also some nice recipes with pasta.  This recipe from myrecipes.com is for canned pumpkin, but you can bake and puree your own!

Fettuccine with Pumpkin Sauce
Ingredients
  • 8 ounces uncooked fettuccine
  • 2 applewood-smoked bacon slices, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh sage, divided
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 3/4 cup canned unsalted pumpkin puree
  • 2 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated (about 1/2 cup)
  • 3/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons heavy cream
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Preparation

1. Cook pasta. Drain in a colander over a bowl, reserving 3/4 cup cooking liquid.

2. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add bacon; cook 4 minutes or until almost crisp, stirring occasionally. Add 1 tablespoon sage and garlic, and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in pumpkin puree, Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper. Add pasta, reserved 3/4 cup cooking liquid, and heavy cream; toss to coat. Cook 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Sprinkle with remaining 1 tablespoon sage and parsley.

 

 

Celery is here!  Celery can be eaten raw or cooked.  Here are a couple of tasty looking recipes from food52.com:

Roasted Celery Soup
  • 8 large celery stalks cut into 2 inch pieces
  • 1/2 bulb fresh fennel cut into 2 inch chunks
  • 2 large whole garlic cloves
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 3 medium redskin potatoes, peeled and cut into a 1 1/2 inch dice
  • 6 cups chicken broth
  • 1/2 cup light cream or half and half
  • 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
  • Salt and pepper for re seasoning if needed
  • Celery leaves and fennel fronds for a little garnish
  1. Place the cut celery, fennel and cloves of garlic in a 9x13 inch roasting pan. Add the salt, pepper and olive oil and toss to thoroughly coat everything. Roast in a 350F oven for 40 to 45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the edges of the vegetables just begin to brown.
  2. While the vegetables are cooking, cook the potatoes in the chicken broth until tender..about 10 to 12 minutes. Set the pan aside to cool a bit.
  3. When the vegetables have finished roasting add them to the potatoes and broth. Let everything cool a bit.
  4. In a blender puree the soup in batches. If you have a "liquify" setting on your blender use that. If you like you can strain the soup through a mesh strainer. Once pureed. return the soup to the pot and bring up to the boil. Stir in the cream/half and half and the lemon juice. Re season if needed and garnish each bowl with celery leaves and fennel fronds if you like.

Italian Celery and Mushroom Salad 

  • 7 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil, divided
  • 1 pound mushrooms, delicate varieties such as cremini, oyster, or shiitake are best, wiped clean as sliced as thin as possible
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 8 ribs celery, shaved paper thin (use a mandolin if you have one)
  • 1 cup shaved parmigiano reggiano cheese
  • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • 1/4 cup chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley
  1. SAUTE THE MUSHROOMS: In a skillet, heat 3 Tbsp olive oil over MEDIUM HIGH heat. When the oil is hot, add the sliced mushrooms and saute until golden brown, 5-6 minutes. Season with a little salt and pepper and then set aside to cool.
  2. TOSS THE SALAD: In a large serving bowl, whisk the remaining 4 Tbsp olive oil with the lemon juice. Add a little salt and pepper and then taste. Add more oil or lemon juice as you like. Add the celery, cooled mushrooms, cheese, and parsley to the bowl and toss until combined. Season with sea salt and pepper and serve.
Yours in the field,
Wendy and Asher