CSA Fun Continues...

So far so good... I have not wasted any food, but this week was a lot of lettuce and there is a limit to how much salad a girl can eat.... So I fear, this may be the week I don't use it all... but I am trying.

So this is what I got for week two and week three...
 Spinach - 1 bunch Red Romaine Lettuce - 1 head Green Boston Lettuce - 1 head Red Boston Lettuce - 1 head Strawberries - 1 quart Swiss Chard - 1 bunch
 Lettuce Mix - .5 lb bag (not washed) Salad Turnips - 1 bunch Bok Choi - several pieces Red Kale - 1 bunch Arugula - 1 bunch Romaine Lettuce - 1 head

 

I had an extra bunch of spinach and some arugula, so I blended it together with some toasted walnuts and lemon zest and fresh squeezed lemon juice... and it was yummy, zesty and so fresh tasting.

As you can see, I tossed it over whole wheat pasta the first night.  The next night I had some extra chicken cutlets around and I layered the pesto on that with some sliced mozzarella and toasted it and it was even better!

 

I have never in my life cooked a radish...in fact, I never ever thought you could.  But this has been part of the fun of getting the CSA shipment each week.  I cut the radishes on my mandolin and then sauteed them in a little bit of olive oil and some dill from my yard.Then at the last minute I added in the greens to wilt.  I was surprised how much I liked them.  Cooking them mellowed out the bite and actually brought out a sweetness. 

On Father's Day I decided to use up the beets I had roasted earlier in the week.  I paired them with sliced ripe avocado and layered it on a bed of arugula.  I also had these baby arugula micro greens, which just looked so pretty.  I put a light lemon vinaigrette over the top, which not only helped from keeping the avocado from turning brown, but brought out the earthiness of the beets. 

 

For our Father's Day BBQ I also decided to make the rainbow Swiss chard as a side dish. I started by sauteing the stems first (since they take longer to cook).    When those were tender, I added in some toasted pine nuts and golden raisins and garlic.  Then I added in the leaves of the Swiss chard and covered and let it meld together and wilt down.  I took it off the heat and then added just a splash of balsamic vinegar.  It was DELICIOUS!

The finished product- it was so good and it looked so pretty too!

 

And of course I used up some more of the lettuce (did I mention there was a lot of lettuce in this weeks box?!) and made a salad.  I got fancy and cut the carrots into hearts... but I tossed it with a vinaigrette that I made with the chive blossom vinegar I made from the first batch from the CSA.  

 

Up next... white salad turnips... I know these are meant to be eaten raw, but I actually roasted them in the oven to bring out the sweetness.  I just coated with olive oil and pepper and let it roast in the oven while I was roasting some beets for the boy.  At the end, I added in the turnip greens to wilt.  It was a huge hit in our house- in fact... my daughter who will NOT eat a vegetable, declared it was delicious... she is all on board with trying new veggies now... of course her "trying" is taking a very teeny bit and making faces, but it's a start! 

I also made yummy radish sandwiches.  I made a quick dill butter, slathered that on some crunchy bread and added sliced radishes.  It was crisp and delicious. 

And last, but not least, I made Brazillian collard greens.  We go to a great Radizio place by us that has this as a side dish.  I thought I would give it a try and I was surprised how easy it was and how good it was!  I started by cutting the collards into thin strips (removing the stem).  Then I made a paste of minced garlic, and good sea salt.  Then I heated a pan super hot with olive oil, added the garlic paste I made and then added the collards.  Tossed to coat and covered with a lid to wilt.  They were yummy and such a bright green. 

 

Can't wait to see what is in this weeks box! 

Winding Down the School Year...

I cannot believe that an entire school year has gone by!!!

My daughter is finishing up kindergarten and my son finishes nursery school this week.  I know it is cliche but it does feel like we just started the year!!  I made a goal to try and do my daughters hair each day... she was a willing participant for much of it, but there were many morning she just wanted to wear a simple headband... that was no fun.  But she did say she loved the attention she got, especially for super fun hair styles like when I made her hair into a shamrock for St. Patrick's Day.  I will post a bunch of the highlights of the year later.   I also set a goal to make fun lunches for her each day.  She LOVED them and quite a few moms made fun of me for it, but they thought it was cute too.  My daughter got more adventurous as the year went on and she actually bought lunch more than I thought she would... but it was fun coming up with ideas each day.  I will also post some highlights of her lunches at some point.

Anyway... As the school year winds down, the end I the year festivities pick up.  So far I have successfully made luau inspired cake pops for the PTA installation dinner and an earth cake for a teacher appreciation/retirement party for my sons school.... That was quite a week, in a heat wave no less!

Now I have been switching gears to end of the year gifts.  I wanted to do something fun and cute for each of their classes and this is what I came up with...

For my son's class I found these cute Crayola coloring book rolls at Target.  I made up a little tag that reads "Have a colorful summer!" and wrapped them up for the kids.  

For my daughter's class I found these cute colorful high bounce balls at Five Below.  I made a tag that reads "Have a Ball this summer"  I added the tag to a heavy stock and had her sign it.  I think they came out adorable.

What's Behind Box Number 1?

It's been a busy few weeks , especially with the kids winding down their school year... But I wanted to share quickly that yesterday we picked up our first box from the CSA we joined.

Just staring at the box was like Christmas morning for me.  I loved the anticipation of what was inside and it didn't disappoint.
  This week's shipment is a "pre-week" so it seemed a little light, but it was still full of fun things... 

This is what I got:

Lettuce Mix - 1 bag (not washed) Spinach - 1 bag (not washed)
Mustard Mix - 1 bunch Radishes - 1 bunch
Collards - 1 bunch
Chive Blossoms - 1 bunch
Oregano - 1 bunch Toscano Kale - 1 bunch

**isn't it SO pretty!

 

Now the fun begins...what to make?  I haven't made anything yet, but I decided to make a chive blossom vinaigrette right away.  I wanted to get that going, because it is best to let it sit for a few days.  I am thinking that will be delicious over the salad greens and some sliced radishes!

Since there wasn't a ton of blossoms, I only used half of the jar size of vinegar.   I snipped off the blossom and added them to the vinegar.   Then I closed up the lid and will leave it in a cool place to sit for a few days. 

Update....This is day three of the vinegar...it's getting a really lovely purple color.   

A Tree Grows...

I started this post a LONG time ago...and then got busy and in writing a new post, I realized I never finished this one...so here it is. 

We had a fundraiser for my daughter's school recently.  It was the pretty standard dinner dance with raffle baskets.  This year however I wanted to introduce a new element we called the "treat tree."  The basic concept is that you buy an ornament off the tree ($10.00).  Each ornament has a number on it and that number corresponded to a gift.  So you buy your ornament and then get a gift.  The best part is that each "gift" is worth $10.00 or more, so everyone is a winner.  It was a huge hit and because we really pushed we had 100 ornaments and sold them all- I am so happy!

I used branches that I put into a planter.  I used spray foam to hold it all in place... I didn't realize how much it would grow and grow and grow... it literally grew for three days!  Next time I would use less and wait it out...I put this together the day before and it grew a little too much! 

To help it stay upright until it was hard, I tied the branches to my fence. 

After it was all done, I spray painted the foam black and then added some tissue paper at the bottom.    I forgot to take a close up of the ornaments, but I used two different scallop punches and Tiffany blue ribbon to make them- they looked so pretty all hanging on the tree.

Sorry this is blurry...but here is the final tree at the event.  Behind the tree are all the gift bags that were numbered and corresponded to the various numbers on the tree.  It was so much fun watching people picking numbers and opening their gift! 

A Garden Grows...

My garden themed cocktail party was a success! My guests loved all the little details. I know I make myself crazy with the details but when the guest notice them,  it is all worth it.   I thought I would share...

I made a garland for over the food table (the table isn't set in this picture, but you get the idea).  I bought vintage looking seed packets from the dollar store and strung them on green ribbon. 

Here is a close-up the garland.

These are the favors I made.  They were seed packets in organza bags inside little pots.  The tags read "Sow Seeds of Kindness Every Day!"

The food table set-up.  I had polenta triangles with goat cheese and oven roasted tomatoes, tortellini skewers with a pesto dipping sauce, homemade white bean dip, hummus and veggies and assorted crackers, a baked feta with olives and roasted red peppers and stuffed mushrooms. 

So I had left over wood grain contact paper from my sons Birthday party-so I wrapped up shoe boxes and used them to add height to the table.

I used a long planter filled with ice to hold the dips!

I also used a planter to hold the white wine!

Some of the yummy desserts.  I found these adorable cups and mini spoons and knew I had to use them.  They made a cute presentation and were super easy.  This is a little yogurt parfait.

I also made homemade cannoli parfaits.  I layered them with crumbled hazelnut cookies.  YUM!

I had fruit, but decided to jazz it up with flower toothpicks (I used them on the polenta as well).  I just hot glued little rosettes to toothpicks.

It was such a fun night and everyone had a great time!

Seeds of kindness...

Among the many hats I wear these days, I am president of my sons cooperative day school. My first term of presidency is over and I agreed to stay on for a second term. However, the board has a tradition of holding a transitional meeting at the outgoing presidents house. It is attended by both the outgoing and incoming board members and our director. It is a nice night to thank everyone for their year of service and to welcome the new and returning members. I of course have to make it have a little theme... So I decided on spring flowers.

I planning on having appetizers and desserts and serving some wine and sangria.   I am also planning on giving the outgoing board members a bottle of wine as a little thank you gift. However, I wanted to work on a little something to thank everyone for coming and this is what I came up with...

Favor tags that read "Sow seeds of kindness each day" 

I got three different varieties of flowers and put them in little organza bags and tied them with the favor tag.

Then I put each little packet inside a plastic flower pot with green or yellow tissue paper.

A better detail of the finished product.  I think they are cute and simple and just a nice way to say thank you.

Easter dinner...

The days seem to flying by.  April is always a busy month, but with the addition of T-ball and warmer days playing outside I have neglected to update.  But I made it through my first Easter meal!!!


I made my own napkin rings from burlap and added a little button for a cute touch.  I also put a small chocolate bunny on each persons plate.   I also carried the burlap theme on my table runner...

 The kids table!

I found these cute bunny chair covers at the Dollar Tree.  I only had four kids so I just set the kitchen table for them.  At each place setting I made carrots for the kids.  I used my Wilton piping bag and filled them with Annie's Cheddar Bunnies.  Then I tied them off with lots of green curly ribbon.  The kids loved them!

The Food!

I roasted my very first leg of lamb.  I made up a recipe... It was basically a marinade of rosemary and mint with lots of fresh garlic and olive oil.  I rubbed it all over the meat and let it marinate together overnight- stuck it in the oven and it was delicious.

 I also had great Swedish roasted potatoes, a ham and lots of veggies!  But a big hit was the bunny crescent rolls.  Even the adults thought they were cute.

 

Dessert! 

Since I was busy making the meal, being the bunny and the hostess for the day, I asked everyone to bring dessert.  But for fun the kids and I did make cupcakes.  They were cute and simple and I dressed up the cake plate with a little paper Easter grass and ribbon. 

Hope you have enjoyed!!!