The dinner party was a success, although most agreed that Wolfert’s recipes are often overly detailed and complex, and sometimes require unusual ingredients and methods. Lisa did not love her Tangier flat bread with chickpea flour, served as directed, but it found a new life later in the week, cut into circles and topped with pesto and a smear of sour cream. Barrett thought her Herb Jam reached a good point way earlier than the recipe indicated, and that the recipe might have been a waste of two pounds of organic baby spinach. I screwed up the Artichokes by not reducing the wine before adding the artichokes, and the semolina and Greek yogurt was a little too tough for my taste.

The pasta with breadcrumbs was well received – breadcrumbs certainly enhanced the whole wheat pasta. The Greek shrimp and chicken with fennel both arrived in beautiful clay pots, as did the black eyed peas casserole. And the melon and dates were a nice finish to the dinner, with fresh flavors perfect for the warm spring evening.

For your enjoyment, here is the menu with photos from the evening:

Menu (photos are listed in order)

• Herb Jam with Olives and Lemon (on flat bread) – Slow Mediterranean Kitchen
• Artichokes a la Provencale Mediterranean – Mediterranean Clay Pot Cooking
• Greek Shrimp with Feta and Tomatoes – Mediterranean Clay Pot Cooking
• Casserole of Black Eyed Peas with Fennel and Tomatoes – Slow Mediterranean Kitchen
• Pasta with Bread Crumbs – Mediterranean Cooking
• Chicken with Fennel, Preserved Lemon, and Olives
• Tangier flat bread
• Melon con Anis del Mono (Melon with Anisette) – Mediterranean Cooking
• Greek Semolina and Yogurt Cake – Mediterranean Clay Pot Cooking
• Moroccan Dessert “Truffles” with Dates, Almonds and Apples

Our box from Mariquita Farms featured Strawberries, Lettuces, Kohlrabi, Sugar Snap Peas, Carrots, Swiss Chard, and Lacinato Kale.

Here is my menu plan for the week of May 14:

(Meatless) Monday: Crepe night – sauteed chard and cheese, salad, sugar snap peas and carrots

Tuesday: Eat out after soccer practice

Wednesday: Chicken Tikka-Masala in the crock pot, brown rice, kohlrabi slaw

Thursday: Leftovers

Friday: Takeout and Trashy TV

What is your plan this week?

This week’s menu plan is straight forward and simple, just like our box this week from Mariquita Farms. In addition to the Spring Onions above, we also found Strawberries, Sugar Snap Peas, Little Gem Lettuce, Erbette Chard, New Potatoes, Rosemary, and Purple Cauliflower.

Here is my menu plan for the week of May 6:

Saturday: Grilled skirt steak, roasted potatoes, grilled spring onions, salad with Little Gem lettuce, sugar snap peas to snack

Sunday: Roasted salmon, sugar snap peas, cherry tomatoes, sliced bread

Monday: Cookbook Book Club!

Tuesday: Slow-cooker Curried Chicken with Yogurt and Ginger, brown rice, crudites with ranch dressing

Wednesday: Leftovers

Thursday: Taco night? Or maybe Greek-style nachos?

Friday: TGIF Block Party – based on leftovers, I think we might go with the Fiesta Theme again!

What is on your menu plan this week?

Kohlrabi was the most discarded vegetable at this week’s CSA box pickup. It was also the most traded vegetable, as someone (or someone’s) took 4 big bunches of kohlrabi with them from the trade box. No matter, everyone is happy. That much kohlrabi would have been hard for us to deal with!

However, this week I tried two recipes that were very tasty, so now, if faced with multiple heads of kohlrabi, I know what to do. The standouts, included shredded and sauteed kohlrabi in butter with salt and pepper, and a tasty slaw with turnips, kohlrabi and in my case, shredded kale.

The rest of our box from Mariquita Farms contained Purple Cauliflower, Strawberries, Spring Onions, Kale, New Potatoes, Lettuces and Baby Turnips.

Here is my menu plan for the week of April 29 (I know, I am late this week!):

The above is the flatbread I made last Friday night on the BBQ, although mine did not quite look like the picture published in the paper. Flatbread with Leeks, Ricotta and Shaved Asparagus.

Sunday: Asparagus with Walnut-Orange Pesto and Citronette, Turnip-and-Kohlrabi Slaw, Fred’s steak, mashed potatoes, Chocolate Pie and strawberries

Monday: Roast chicken, mashed potatoes, sauteed kohlrabi, cherry tomatoes

Tuesday: Meat sauce with pasta, salad, sliced carrots

Wednesday: Taco night (a repeat from last week!)

Thursday: Roast salmon with walnut-orange pesto, brown rice, crispy kale, roast spring onions and purple cauliflower

Friday: First TGIF Block Party of the season! It is fiesta night with margaritas, taquitos, guacamole and chips. Party!

What is on your menu this week?

I love coming home from a trip away – the bed is more comfortable, the coffee is just the way I like it, and somehow, the air smells sweeter and better. This time, we had an extra bonus – our house sitters cleaned and processed our weekly Mariquita Farms veggie box, washing and separating the veggies for storage. All I have to do is come up with the menu.

Our box contained Purple Kohlrabi, Lettuces, Green Garlic, Spring Onions, Rapini, Red Radishes, Erbette Chard and Strawberries.

Here is my menu plan for the week of April 22:

Sunday: Local sablefish, celery root and fennel salad, grilled asparagus, brown rice

Monday: Creamy Polenta with Green Garlic and Erbette Chard, grilled lamb chops, salad

Tuesday: Fred’s Steak, roasted new potatoes, sauteed kohlrabi, salad, birthday cake

Wednesday: Taco Wednesday!

Thursday: Souffle night – savory and sweet, along with radish salad and a nice bottle of champagne

Friday: Take out and Trashy TV

What is on your menu plan this week?

Happy Easter! Our family had a fun morning hunting eggs and clues, something we have missed the last few years, as Spring Break usually coincides with Easter and we like to travel. It was fun to be in town and experience the kids’ excitement!

Our box this week from Mariquita Farms contained Broccoli (still have most of the bag from last week too!), Soup Celery (pictured above), Little Gem and Lolla Rosa Lettuces, Calcot Onions, Turnip Greens, Green Garlic, French Breakfast Radishes, Orange Carrots, Frisee, and Red Chard.

Here is my plan for the week of April 8:

Sunday: Roast chicken, creamed chard and spring onions, roasted broccoli, salad with little gems and lolla rossa, pie (TBD)

Monday: Broccoli soup with grilled cheese

Tuesday: Spaghetti with meat sauce, salad

Wednesday: leftovers

Thursday: Roast salmon, sauteed greens, risotto or brown rice

Friday: Takeout and Trashy TV

What is on your menu this week? Any big holiday plans?

Because folks are scared by turnips (why, I don’t know) I managed to collect three bunches this week when Mariquita dropped off their boxes. And one dish I plan to make is roasted turnips with green garlic slurry, featured in last week’s newsletter.

We also found Broccoli, Lamb’s Quarters, Hearts of Little Gem Lettuce, Hamburg Parsley, Erbette Chard, Yellow Chantenay Carrots, Red Beets, Red-bearded Scallions and Arugula.

Here is my menu plan for the week of April 2:

(Meatless) Monday: Erbette Chard Frittata (not sure the kids will go for this!), roasted beets, roast turnips with green garlic slurry, arugula and little gem lettuce salad

Tuesday: Sauteed red cabbage and sausages (last week’s box), steamed broccoli, arugula and little gem lettuce salad

Wednesday: Taco night, sauteed lamb’s quarters (might try this green taco recipe)

Thursday: Lyfe Kitchen’s Chimichurri Stuff from CostCo

Friday: Takeout and Trashy TV

What is on your menu plan this week? Any special Easter items you are planning?

Pretty food in our box from Mariquita Farms this week, including Spring Garlic, Gold Turnips, Yellow Carrots, Green Mustard, Red Cabbage, Kale, Raw Peanuts, Onions, Cilantro, Arugula, and Baby Purple Carrots, pictured above.

The peanuts might go into Chocolate-Peanut Spread from smitten kitchen. I made it last time, it was awesome.

Here is my menu plan for the week of March 25:

Sunday: Leftovers from Saturday night dinner – roast leg of lamb, roasted turnips, raw carrots, and a great salad with couscous, cilantro, parsley, arugula and pistachios from Plenty, by Yotam Ottolenghi.

(Meatless) Monday: Ramp and Parsley pesto (using Green Garlic), pasta, maybe a little goat cheese

Tuesday: Slow Cooker Braised Lamb Shanks, mashed potatoes, sauteed mustard greens, arugula, grapefruit and avocado salad

Wednesday: Roasted halibut or salmon, coleslaw, brown rice

Thursday: Beans and greens (probably with sausage) in the pressure cooker, raw carrots

Friday: Takeout and Trashy TV

What is on your menu this week?

Last weekend, we co-hosted a seasonal cooking class to benefit our school foundation. Working with Jonathan Miller, of Eat Right at Home, who created a menu of recipes suitable for the home cook, we created an event highlighting the best of our local farms. Mariquita Farms provided the vegetables; Happy Child CSA provided navel oranges and apple tartlettes; and Marin Sun Farms provided chicken and lamb. All of our participating farms were great to work with, and if you are considering joining a CSA program, or are interested in learning more about what they have to offer, I highly recommend you visit their websites:

Mariquita Farms – located in Hollister and Watsonville, a primarily vegetable CSA which runs March – November: www.mariquita.com

Frog Hollow Farms and Happy Child CSA – located in Brentwood, in the Sacramento River Valley, is a year-round fruit CSA: www.froghollow.com

Marin Sun Farms – located in Marin Country, is a year-round meat CSA, offering beef, veal, lamb/mutton, pork, poultry and goat: www.marinsunfarms.com

And, if you are looking for a chef to help you understand the best way to bring local, seasonal and organic foods into your diet, look no further than Jonathan Miller. A gifted cook, Jonathan demystifies much of the process of moving towards a seasonal kitchen through creative recipes, easy explanations of new ingredients and tons of patience! He is available to cook for your next event, or can arrange to come in and provide personalized family service cooking by the week: www.eatrightathome.com

And here are a couple photos of the food that we enjoyed last weekend:

Holy crud, Batman! I formatted the memory card with all the photos of last weekend’s dinner. The photos are all gone, including super cute ones of my daughter helping in the kitchen. Argh. So very sad. boo hoo, tears. You are going to have to believe me when I say the dinner was outstanding and the food superior.

Thank you to all our sponsors who participated and made this a great event!

Disclaimer: Yes, I was provided food for my event. I solicited the donations in the name of our school foundation. I did not indicate that I would write about the experience on my blog. I am a happy customer, and a ardent CSA supporter and I am writing about this event and the donations because I feel that others in my community would be interested in knowing more about the farms. I appreciate the donation, and I have and will continue to write about these farms, whether they give me free food or not. 

Images courtesy of Mariquita Farms, Marin Sun Farms and Frog Hollow Farms, because of the above mentioned photo tragedy.

Our first box from Mariquita Farms for the 2012 CSA season arrived on Thursday, and I was giddy. Andy, the farmer who grows the vegetables, was on hand to make sure the first day of deliveries went well. From my end, everything looked great and it was nice to see the steady stream of folks stop by the house and pick up their boxes!

Last night, we invited friends over to celebrate the end of a great season of basketball, and I sort of cooked a little too much food. Not a big deal, since the pan-roasted chicken with honey-thyme-cider vinegar drizzle was great. It does mean that I have quite a few leftovers for the week, which is also nice. Best part? Leftover Chocolate Bread Pudding for breakfast. Yum.

In our box this week, we found Little Gem Lettuce, Yellow Chantenay Carrots, Red Bearded Scallions, Arugula, Red Chard, Broccoli, Orange Chantenay Carrots, Radishes and Fennel. The fennel I cooked last night, using a recipe from Plenty, by Yotam Ottolenghi, a London chef with clever ways with vegetarian cuisine. The recipe was great, easy and well received. Might have to purchase the book (I currently have it checked-out from the library, but that means I have to be extra careful in the kitchen!).

Here is my menu plan for the week of March 19:

Monday: Lefotver pan-roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, steamed chard, salad with little gems and arugula

(Meatless) Tuesday: Roasted broccoli and carrots, tossed with pasta, green garlic and goat cheese (I am making this up, we will have to see how it goes)

Wednesday: Leftovers

Thursday: Roasted salmon, brown rice and sauteed chard (from the garden)

Friday: Takeout and Trashy TV

What is on your menu plan this week?

–> Unrelated to food – have any of you ever participated in the National Day of Unplugging? I am thinking about having my family take part this weekend.

Happy National Pi Day. Yes, I know it is that kind of pie, but I don’t care, we are still going to eat pie in our house tonight!

This week, I offer up photos of the chickens for your enjoyment. I am not being the best chicken-mama, since I forgot to fill up their water, but that allowed me to catch a lot of up close photos while they drank to their hearts content.

I am going to try to use up leftovers and freezer items this week, as well as any lingering vegetables (looking at you green garlic, turnips and cabbage). Thinking about a slight diversion for St Patricks Day, the modern Irish menu posted in the San Francisco Chronicle this weekend looked good. What is your family tradition on March 17?

Cookie of the Week: Taking a break to allow my blood sugar to return to normal. Guess who usually eats all the weekly cookies? That’s right, yours truly!

Sunday: Grilled steak, roasted turnips and carrots, farro and beet greens with green garlic

Monday: Dinner out to celebrate end of basketball season

Tuesday: Chili, corn muffins, carrots and celery with ranch dressing

Wednesday: Maybe dinner at Duarte’s?

Thursday: Roast salmon, brown rice, steamed vegetable (the old Thursday standby)

Friday: Trashy TV and Takeout

Saturday: Pan-Roasted Chicken with Honey-Thyme-Cider Vinegar Drizzle, mashed potatoes, salad and roasted brussel sprouts

What is on your menu plan this week?