How I Used My CSA: Weeks 22 & 23

Week 22: red kuri squash, portobello mushrooms, romaine lettuce, red onions, red gold potatoes, and bok choy.

Swapped out escarole (reason later) and Cajun peppers (grow our own peppers) for extra red kuri squash and portobellos.

As the CSA season comes to an end, we've found that eating through a week's share before the next one arrives is impossible. I just can't burn through winter squashes, potatoes, sweet potatoes, radishes, and beets like I can the tomatoes, corn, and cucumbers of summer.

Thankfully, a lot of the produce that comes in during fall stores well. Our refrigerator is ridiculously full after weeks of stashing produce away to eat at a later date. It will be months before we get through all our our CSA haul.

I'm very glad that we waited until the end of the 25 week CSA subscription (this week is our last pickup, but I'm a bit behind on posts) to see if we wanted to extend four extra weeks into December. We are set. No need for more squash or potatoes!This escarole goes back to week 20 of the CSA, but it took a couple weeks and a couple unsuccessful tries of eating the very bitter escarole raw until I just braised in it vegetable stock like I would collards or mustard greens. It was still bitter, but now palatable. Escarole is not one of my favorite greens!

Federal Donuts

With Federal Donuts' Pennsport location right in my 'hood, I could have easily been first in line this Monday at 7am for their opening day, but I patiently waited until their third day of business to pay a visit.
The small corner takeout store specializing in donuts, coffee, and Korean fried chicken, opened by Steven Cook and Michael Solomonov (Zahav, Percy Street), Thomas Henneman and Bob Logue (BODHi Coffee), and Felicia D’Ambrosio, may seem like a odd food pairing catering to a niche market of food lovers, but from the turnout of people at Federal Donuts clamoring to get their hands on the long anticipated vittles, it seems the niche market of 'nuts and chix ain't so small.

Winner: An Evening with Anthony Bourdain and Eric Ripert


And the winner of a pair of tickets to An Evening with Anthony Bourdain and Eric Ripert at Merriam Theater is deleahrium with the comment: Sucked fingernail through straw in mimosa. Congratulations! Please email me at mac.and.cheese.review (at) gmail (dot) com.

There were some real doozies in the comments about bad restaurant experiences (hairy hush puppies, bloody pizzas, chicken tumors, strippers, bad breath), but only one comment elicited an audible response from me. It took a split second to wrap my head around what actually happened in deleahrium's comment, but, when I did, I gasped at the computer and scrunched my face.

There are only a few things that make me squeamish, and unsavory acts involving fingernails is one of them. The velocity of the sharp fingernail traveling up the straw. The moment of unknowing when the fingernail shrapnel hits the tongue. Pulling out the unknown object to discover it's a fingernail. The horror!

For those that didn’t win, tickets can be purchased here. Enter password “RESERVATION” to receive $5 off the ticket price.

Ticket Giveaway: An Evening with Anthony Bourdain and Eric Ripert

Thanks to Mills Entertainment, I have a pair of tickets to An Evening with Anthony Bourdain and Eric Ripert at Merriam Theater Wednesday, November 2, 7:30pm to give away to one lucky winner.

From the event's page:
    Selling out across the nation, mater chefs Anthony Bourdain and Eric Ripert share an evening of storytelling, providing the audience with a provocative back-and-forth about what really goes on behind the kitchen doors.

    To enter to win, leave a six-word comment describing your worst restaurant experience.

    Contest ends Wednesday, October 19 at 6pm. Be sure to check back for a blog post announcing the winner, to see if you won.

    For those who don't win, you can receive $5 off tickets online, by calling (215-893-1999), or by visiting the box office with the password: RESERVATION.

    Talula's Garden: Not Too Late To Enjoy The Garden

    One of the cutest and lushest outdoor dining spots in Center City is the patio at Talula's Garden, this year's new urban daughter to Amy Olexy's much lauded rural Talula's Table in Kennett Square.

    Yes, the temperatures are dipping and the season for dining under the stars is quickly fading, but it's not too late to eek out a few more weeks of outdoor dining. Talula's Garden is stretching the al fresco season as long as it can with it's new staff of outdoor heating lamps.Talula's Garden is not just a restaurant with "seasonal American food inspired by the farm and garden" by Amy Olexy, but is also a restaurant by Stephen Starr, who is undeniably a master at designing themed restaurants. Theme for Talula's Garden: farm and garden. For all of you out there that swoon over Urban Outfitter's home and garden shop, Terrain, you are going to love Talula's Garden; it was hit with the same rustic and repurposed, but deliberate and chic design aesthetic.

    How I Used My CSA: Weeks 20 & 21

    Week 20: Collards, escarole, romaine lettuce, cilantro, edamame, bok choy, spaghetti squash, and butternut squash.

    Swapped potatoes and onions (have plenty!) for edamame and escarole.

    Lancaster Farm Fresh (the CSA I'm a member of) has an 8 week fall/winter vegetable share that runs from the week of October 31 to the week of December 19. A full share costs $225.00 and a half share costs $140.00. The deadline for subscribing is October 14.

    Here is a list of other CSAs that offer an extended fall/winter shares in our area.
    Week 21: sweet potatoes, butternut squash, kale, yellow onions, edamame, white onions, and crimini mushrooms.

    Swapped out fennel leaf (the boy doesn't like it), romaine lettuce (still had some), and hot peppers (we grow our own) for extra onions and sweet potatoes (they store well), and cilantro.

    I'm trying my darnedest to stay on top of each week's share, but social engagements, out-of-town trips, and special holiday menus that mean trips to the store for ingredients other than what is in the CSA share are making it hard. I feel like I will never catch up and eat the fridge down (I just love a fridge where I can see every thing, and at the moment it is packed).

    Burger.org

    The bright orange and green walls with mirrors and lights make me feel like I'm tripping. Ordering at the bar while staring at a poorly designed menu on the wall is awkward. The long wooden bar says alcohol, but there's none to be had. I'm just not sure what to make of Burger.org, the kosher and in-your-face eco-concious burger joint right in the heart of South St.'s drunken mile.
    Here's what I do know though: Burger.org makes one of the best veggie burgers in town! Didn't see that coming did you? Neither did I.
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