It's That Time Again, Kids....

I am in heaven. Pure bliss. You know why? It's that time of year again, the time that all Chicagoans suffer 9 months of the year just to get to.

Yes, folks, it's summer.

DISCLAIMER: For all of you scientists out there, I realize that it is not yet officially meteorological summer. But I am sitting on my back deck, sun shining overhead, iced latte in hand, staring at my beautiful flowers, herbs, and veggie plants. To me, this is summer incarnate.

And of course the start of summer means the start of the outdoor Farmer's Market and Year 2 of our CSA from Iron Creek Farms. Unlike last year, when I obsessed over which CSA to sign with to the point where we missed  the first few weeks of the growing season, the BF and I were on the ball this year and signed up in time to get the full bounty. I am beyond ecstatic that my groceries will be organic and local for the next 6 months.

So what does that mean for you, loyal readers? For those who have been following my trials and travails since this time last year, you may remember my well-intentioned but ill-executed plan to keep you updated on what we received in the weekly box and how we used it. While pondering the blog post for this summery day I thought, what the hell, let's give it a go again. You know what they say: If at first you don't succeed, etc. etc.

As it is the start of the growing season, our box isn't super big as of yet, but still filled with quite an array of goodies. Oh, and as a quick side note: our experiment with a full share in the Fall/Winter box was still a bit stressful for us last year, so we decided to stick with the half-share this year. It should hopefully be just enough for us to use for the week, while still providing some extras to freeze and store for the winter months.

Week 1: (L to R): sweet potatoes, sungold tomatoes, basil, tomato, beets, radishes, leaf lettuce, spinach

How we used it isn't terribly exciting, but I'm not complaining. As much as I love trying out new recipes with exciting, fresh ingredients, sometimes its just nice to enjoy the raw veggies in their purest form.

From the above selection, we made a few salads with spinach, lettuce, radish, and tomato; sweet potato chips; and simple cooked sweet potatoes with just a little butter. The Sungold tomatoes were so sweet we ate them straight as a mid-day snack for work. And the basil, which is easy to keep alive and fresh in a glass of water, is being used in Aunt Florence's pesto recipe, which freezes beautifully in small containers for whenever the mood strikes us.

Today we picked up this week's box, and while there are some repeats, we've got big, exciting plans for some others... which I will save for next week's post. I'm such a tease! But one has to create intrigue, no? Stay tuned. Also, please let me know below on how you would have used the above box. You know what they say: Curious minds, etc. etc.