This week we got 2 pints of blueberries, 2 quarts of plums (purple and yellow), 1 quart of peaches, 3 cucumbers, 1 small head of lettuce, 1 bunch of beets, 1 large basil plant, and 1 bunch of radishes. 

We also got about 3 quarts of green beans and 3 LARGE cucumbers from our neighbor!  And even more cukes from my Mom's garden.

I'll start by saying that ALL of these cukes  have disappeared. Mark eats them whole as snacks and the kids like them sliced up. 

I also made a shredded radish/cucumber salad  (sub 2 cukes for 1 bunch radishes) with cucumber and the bunch of radishes.

The blueberries and ALL of the fruit were just set out on the table and have since disappeared.  The lettuce was quickly eaten as dinner salads.

The green beans were eaten raw (by the kids), and a bunch were stirfried with Tamari, Garlic, and a little sesame oil and served with baked tofu and brown rice.

The beet greens were made into a delicious Greens and Beans with Smoked Pork.  

I will be making the beet roots into this AMAZING recipe for pickled beets.  Alton Brown is one of my favorites and always knows what he's talking about!!

And the basil I pinched back some leaves and planted the rest of the plant in the garden next to our renegade tomatoes.  With any luck, by the time the tomatoes ripen, we'll have some extra basil to go with them. 

This week we actually went on a short (MUCH NEEDED) trip out of town.  We still didn't have any problem finishing up all of our fruit/veggie share for the week.  We'll be leaving for a long weekend at Grandma's house again in a couple of days, but I feel confident that next week will be equally easy for us to keep up with. 

I see now that I wrote about my projects last week, but failed to explain what was in our CSA box.   Well, we got 1 bunch beets, 1 bunch radishes, 2 quarts sour cherries, 1 pint blueberries, 1 pint wax beans, 3 cucumbers, 3 small zucchini, and  a head of red leaf lettuce.

We'll start with the beets.  I separated the greens from the roots and will be making roasted pickled beets ala Alton Brown's recipe . I usually fiddle with recipes and make them my own, but this one is SO GOOD that you'll eat the whole jar in one sitting.  Trust me.

The beet greens were stored in the refrigerator and later chopped and sauteed along with chopped swiss chard, bacon, salt and pepper, and a sweet onion.  We ate this with a loaf of crusty bread and it was a perfect light dinner on a 90 degree day!



At this point, I actually had 2 bunches of radishes waiting to be eaten.  I did a separate post dedicated to this because I came up with a radish salad idea that takes the bite out of radishes. And I was PROUD of it!




The blueberries were eaten before the day was out.

The sour cherries were pitted and made into Blackcap/Sour cherry wine (it's still bubbling on the counter!).  

I made the wax beans plus about a quart of green beans from my Mom's garden into Dilly Beans!   I wait all year to make these!

The cucumbers were eaten whole by my husband and kids.

The lettuce was washed, chopped and kept in a bag in the refrigerator for easy green salad making.

AND the zucchini will be grilled tonight in oil and garlic to go alongside some BBQ chicken.

ENJOY!!