beauty that moves

veggies and brownies!

Here we are, week nine into our CSA, and it occurred to me that I've only photographed the first week, that just won't do! There is far too much gorgeous farm fresh, organic produce rolling through my kitchen these days not to document it with a quick snap of the camera. So I will try and do that from this point on... you can be sure this is a flickr set I will be visiting often come February.

This week I took a break from ordering zucchini and cabbage (red and green), but will return to their abundance next week. I have a yummy coleslaw dressing to tell you about...

Now, onto the brownies. I still haven't officially broken into the world of gluten free scratch baking. To be honest, going gluten free during the summer hasn't been that difficult. Even for someone who is accustomed to baking everything from scratch. It's not exactly prime baking season after all. Emily however sure doesn't mind a little treat here and there, so I've been sampling just a few mixes. So far we've tried Bob's Red Mill Vanilla Cake Mix, Bob's Red Mill Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix, Namaste Muffin Mix, and Namaste Brownie Mix. The only one that was a definite "do not repeat" was the cookie mix. There was no pretending it resembled anything close to a chocolate chip cookie familiar to us. There was a very distinct, um, flavor. (I'm sure plenty of people like it very much, it just didn't work for our taste.) The other three mixes were pretty good though. I did add some sucanat to the muffin mix (plus blueberries with a lemon streusel topping) as there was zero sweetener in it and we prefer a slightly sweet muffin.

I've found doctoring to be the key to these mixes, adding a few custom ingredients to make it somewhat special. So for now, I'm playing around with that concept in mind. Come September, with the first bit of autumn in the air, I'll be anxious to do some authentic baking. I'm thinking almond flour seems like a successful way to go, but I really don't know for sure. Elana's recipes always look amazing and I love the simplicity involved. I'd really prefer not to use a lengthy list of flours, starches, fillers, binders, etc. The idea of that doesn't feel right to me. If anyone has experience with almond flour baking and would care to share, I'm an eager listener!

So, these brownies... my changes to the recipe on the package: coconut oil instead of veggie oil, and the addition of 1/2 cup chocolate chips, 1/2 cup shredded coconut, 1 smallish zucchini (shredded), 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla (gluten free). They turned out unbelievably moist and chewy. Total yum.

Thank you, sweet people, who've come from all corners of the globe offering support, wisdom, and kindness around our homeschooling journey. My girl is spinning with excitement since we made our decision official. I'll be responding to each and every one of you within the comments over the next few days. In little pockets of time here and there, I will connect with you and share my gratitude. I've got quite an abundance of that these days.

our first csa! (sort of)

Look at all that gorgeous green! Saturday, we picked up our first bundle of goods from a friendly farmer couple, Bruce and Abbie of Birdsong Farm in Hampton, CT (for you locals, email or call them if you would like more information!).  I've written before about the lack of CSA's in my area (though this year there seems to finally be a small explosion of them according to Local Harvest - yay!). In the past, it wasn't much of a concern for us considering I set up shop so often at the Coventry Farmers Market. We also have an amazing neighborhood natural foods co-op that is always filled to the brim with local fruits, veggies and cheese.

This year I will not be vending at the market (I've been meaning to tell you, many have been asking), and while we will of course still visit as much as we can, it is more of an outing (albeit a wonderful one) and I think on a regular, weekly basis, a quick one stop in and out approach might be more realistic. So I sent an email to my former market 'neighbor' asking what they were up to this year. I remember him telling me last year that they had their own version of a CSA, not even calling it a true CSA actually, but a type of service that worked (and still works!) for them.

Here's how it goes: on Tuesday of each week Bruce and Abbie send an email to everyone who would like to be on their mailing list, they include a list of what's being harvested that week on the farm with  prices/sizes/weights of each item. Customers email them back by midnight on Thursday with their order, listing what they would like and how much of each. Beautiful! Pick-up is on Saturday at the farm, and all of the veggies are harvested just a few hours before you arrive. I cannot tell you how awesome this is. Their prices are incredible and nothing beats the chance we will now have each Saturday morning to head out of our little city... just fifteen minutes away, to visit our farmers, and to thank them in person.

We are so happy to finally be part of the CSA club... sort of.