Part of our family's annual Rosh HaShanah tradition is to go apple picking. Yes, I realize this activity is not in agreement with Jewish law/halacha. We go to appreciate God's Creation. We go to spend time as a family. And of course, we go to enjoy the apples and other fruits. I imagine this tradition will change as our kids get older. I envision the annual apple picking to happen around but not necessarily on Rosh HaShanah or at least such that we attend services AND get our apples too.
Justifications aside, let me share a bit of our experience from this year and explain the title of this post.
As in past years, we returned to Shelburne Farm in Stow, MA. We like Shelburne because of its size, the friendly farmers and staff, and the minimal pesticide usage. Oh, and the cider doughnuts are amazing. :) This year we decided to pick peaches as well as apples. Nom nom nom!
A peck of peaches, to be more precise:
We filled the box more than this picture shows, but you get an idea of what a peck looks like.
We also picked a half-bushel of apples - Cortlands and McIntoshes. I didn't take a picture of OUR bag, but this image will give you an idea of quantity.
SO what to do with so much fruit and only 4 people? I hear Bubba in my head...apple crisp, apple sauce, apple pie, apple in butternut squash soup. And those peaches? Peach cobbler, peach sauce, peach crisp... ooh what about apple peach crisp?
Yes, I made apple peach crisp and it was truly awesome. Here's a recipe for those who want to have divinely good food.
Apple-Peach Crisp (modified from Better Homes and Garden cookbook)
10 cups of sliced, peeled, cored/pitted apples and peaches
2-4 Tbsp. white sugar (I tend to use only 2)
1 c. regular rolled oats
1 c. packed brown sugar
1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger (OPTIONAL! I skip it because my kids aren't fans)
1/2 c. butter
Place fruit in 13x9 baking dish. Sprinkle and stir in white sugar.
For topping, in a medium bowl combine the oats, brown sugar, flour and spices. Cut in butter till mixture resembles coarse crumbs. I start this by "dicing" the butter, and I found a butter knife to work well for the task. Sprinkle topping over filling.
Bake crisp in a 375 oven for 30-35 minutes or till fruit is tender and topping is golden. Serve warm (perhaps with ice cream).
As much as we all could live on fruit crisp, it isn't the best option for processing so much fruit. The next thing we have been doing with the fruit is making sauce because it is wicked easy, gets through a lot of fruit, keeps well, and is delicious! Our first attempt of apple-peach sauce ended up being more like apple-peach juice since we didn't account for the amount of liquid in the peaches. That is, peaches are REALLY juicy and when they boil, they add lots of liquid to the sauce which ends up making "soup" or "goo" or "juice," depending on who names it. I'll let you figure out who named the concoction what in our house.
The second round of sauce making has gone much better. Here is what we did for proportions -- check out the simple ingredients!
Apple-Peach Sauce
5 peaches - peeled, pitted, and halved.
About 20 apples (we didn't count; we just filled our large pasta pot). We leave peels on because we're lazy and maybe there is extra healthy stuff in the skin.
2 cups of water - we probably could do yet less.
Put all in pot. Bring to boil and let fruit soften. Mash with a potato masher, immersion blender (my kitchen tool of choice), or food processor in batches. Enjoy!
We have about 7 quarts of this sauce - 4 from the soupy batch; 3 from the saucy batch. Caleb enjoys drinking the soupy kind at breakfast. Aaron likes the sauce straight from the pot, nice and warm. I like putting the apple-peach goo in my steel cut oatmeal. Ellie remains undecided about the goo, but she is intrigued. And it makes the house smell great!
To finish off the peaches before they became compost, we blanched about 10 peaches, which made removing their skins ridiculously easy. We sliced or halved them and put them in freezer bags. I'm excited about having sweet peaches in February.
Also on the storing front, I made a batch of grape jelly thanks to the generosity of our neighbors who have a grapevine that actually gives them grapes. This is in contrast to our grapevine which we ignore and thus get no noticeable fruit (or maybe the various critters get to it first?). I don't have a good system for storing jelly and jam since I have yet to make a cooked jelly/jam. I put the majority of the grape jelly in a quart container from take out soup, some in a 3 cup Rubbermaid container, and the last bit in an actual jam jar from the farmers' market.
Coming up in food storage - corn! Aaron made a delicious corn chowder tonight, so we will remove corn from cob and freeze it. I'm sure we'll store some corn on the cob as well since that worked well for us. Last year we stored green beans, but we blanched them a bit too long and purchased a bit more than we needed. This year, we'll purchase fewer pounds and see if we can get the blanch time right. I'd also like to store some bell peppers for things like chili and enchiladas, so I need to read a bit from our preserving book to see if I can just freeze them up too.
My bed beckons, but perhaps my next post will talk a bit about why we go to the effort of storing food from the summer instead of buying the same kind of food from a regular grocery store.
I have written about our local farmers' market before. We love it and go there nearly every Saturday. I went back to it today for the first time since our various trips. The weather was fantastic now that Hurricane/Tropical Storm Earl has passed. However, my trip to the market was not as idyllic as I had hoped.
For starters, I had both kids without Aaron. Aaron needed to prepare our office for painting today. This is the weekend we agreed to paint the office, otherwise it won't get done for another year. To make Aaron's job easier, I took the kids to the market. After all, we needed vegetables and fruits anyway and I missed our market.
Second challenge... since I haven't been to the market in a few weeks, I'm out of sync with the harvest. I had hoped to buy raspberries and lettuce. Aaron had asked for plums. Well, plums are out of season already. Lettuce will be picked again next week, three different farmers told me. And raspberries? Ha ha ha. I seem to remember that we went to Stillman's at the end of the CSA season and picked berries, so maybe hope remains. I also wanted broccoli, which I KNOW is in season, but somehow no one had any at their booths. :(
Even with those challenges, I bought some fine looking beans, corn, cucumbers (ours are on their way out), cherry tomatoes, peppers, and nectarines. Nectarines are named SO appropriately. The name means "nectar like," and nectar is considered food of the gods. I adore nectarines. I may have to buy more than the 8 I purchased this time. Such a fine, sweet, cool, juicy, delectable...
(dreamlike state in which nectarines dance in my head)
OK, coming back to so-called reality. Despite the challenges of not losing my children and not finding all the produce on my list, I was quite glad to return to our market. I like the ritual of it, seeing familiar faces and products each week, feeling the buzz of community, and acquiring some of my needs so close to home.
This week's box from Stillman's showed signs of summer's progress. We had fewer green leafy vegetables and the start of the squash harvest. Our bounty for this week:
- 2 bunches of different varieties of kale
- 2 heads of lettuce - red leaf and something in the plain green variety
- 2 bunches of beets (the variety name escapes me)
- 2 pounds of snap peas (NOM NOM NOM!!)
- MANY zucchini and summer squash (some were pick your own)
- a few cousa squash (look like smaller lighter green zucchini)
- several cucumbers - slicers and picklers
- 1 pint of blueberries
We happened to buy beets at the farmers' market this weekend with the intention of grilling them that night. We forgot. We now have an oversupply of beets. Aaron enjoys them roasted. I know the kids will eat them in risotto. My neighbor made a very tasty beet salad that I hope to try to make. We will get through the beets. Feel free to share your favorite recipes too!
Speaking of farmers' market, we bought LOTS of fresh fruit this week from Dan the Orchard Man as we like to call him. He is one of the farmers of Keown Orchards. From him, we bought raspberries, apricots, plums, and apples. I can't remember whether we also picked up blueberries there. We have had such great quantity of blueberries coming in that it is hard for me to remember their exact points of origin. Anyway, I am really happy to have local fresh fruit again. Caleb and Ellie have been whining for the fruit I set on the counter, so I don't expect it to last much longer. On the other hand, Ellie only acts like she wants food, so we may end up with masticated but not eaten fruit (blech).
I think my next post will be on meals eaten and those we intend to make.
Where to start? So much has been happening, and I seem unable to find time to update here. Daily swim lessons mean my mornings are consumed with time at our local pond. Until this week, I hadn't made a reasonable attempt at meal planning in weeks. Yes, I know I had tried some Weight Watchers recipes, but I didn't even get through the 3 I picked! Oy! On with some updates...
Garden
We have a veritable jungle in our raised beds. The pole beans are lush tipis and are beginning to flower. The carrots look like a mass of parsley. The misplanted squash (squash which inadvertently ended up in the big bed) is trying to take over the entire bed, but at least it is flowering beautifully. We even think the peppers might have sprouted at long last. I must remember to take pictures to share with you!
The only failure thus far has been the swiss chard. I will have to figure out a better way to plant chard in the future if I want to try to grow our own.
Our lettuce survived Ellie's enthusiastic and untimely harvesting, so we are still enjoying salads and crunchiness on our sandwiches. Our basil has grown enough that we made a small batch of pesto today. Caleb LOVES pesto. Love is an understatement in this case.
Food
The lentil burger recipe I tried was basically a bust as far as creating something that would make a burger. Aaron saved the recipe by adding several eggs, and the kids actually did eat the burgers. I think I will cook the lentils MUCH longer next time to see if I can avoid using an egg (saves on the WW points).
Tonight's dinner will be grilled Moroccan chicken kabobs. Caleb is looking forward to it, so at least 3 of us ought to enjoy the meal.
I made a crustless swiss chard quiche thanks to having delicious chard from Stillman's, and the kids really do love it. I think I may have to create a page just for recipes and link from daily posts to it.
Looking forward
As summer continues, we are looking forward to more fruit from our CSA and the farmers' markets. We have been enjoying strawberries and raspberries tremendously. The kids are not as enamored with blueberries as I recall, but I'm happy to have the locally grown fruit.
I'm excited to watch our garden's flowers become food and to watch my kids' excitement at the impending harvests. Both kids helped pluck basil leaves for the pesto we ate today, so I'm sure they will enjoy more picking as the season arrives.
My remaining challenge is summed up in my blog's title - meal planning. I truly have forgotten how to set aside to do this very simple yet important task. I am hoping that the box of goodies from the CSA will re-inspire me to get back to it. Cooking for my family is SO much easier when I plan.
In the meantime, I'll try to post garden pictures soon!
With such wonderful weather, I have not posted all the lovely garden happenings or the farmers' market experiences OR the biggest news for me personally - my weight loss journey while eating real food.
Garden Happenings
Our strawberries are turning pink and almost red!
This picture only shows green berries. Clearly I need to take new pictures. However, I know that at least some of these are pinkish. My kids are practically ready to tear down the netting to start the berry harvest. We need 1-3 more days of sun before we have a worthy harvest. I did notice one berry had been bitten, so we may have to study the netting's integrity.
In other delightful growing news, I mentioned that our squash and corn had truly sprouted. Here is some visual proof of that! The picture is old enough now (4-5 days old) that I can honestly say the plants are bigger now.
The corn (right side of picture, back of bed) looks like wide grass as of today. I expect to see a nice squash harvest given the size of the plants. We also talked about possibly needing to transplant some of our cucumbers or carrots based on how many actually took root and have sprouted. They look rather tight.
The only sad news to report is that not a single pepper plant seems to have sprouted from seed. Humph. That's what I get for ignoring the instructions on the package, I suppose. At least I think it's the peppers that didn't take... I didn't label my rows, relying on my fuzzy memory and somewhat alphabetical planting. *shrug* We plant; we learn.
Farmers' Market
Week 2 of the local farmers' market brought more lettuce, the return of chicken wings (meh to me, but Aaron loves them), hanging baskets of flowers for the front porch, tasty bread, and more lovely soap. Our vegetable man says he will have strawberries this coming week, and I'm SO looking forward to REAL strawberries.
Weight Loss Journey (again)
With my kids growing up and my own frustration at my size in mind, I decided it was time to get myself back in whatever shape I thought I might have been pre-kids. It's time to be truly healthy - for myself, for my husband, for my kids. I want to be around for a while, and losing the extra 40 pounds I have on my frame should help with that.
My doctor thinks I'm healthy as I am. He expressed no concern about my weight because I exercise twice a week. Yes, he actually told that to me. I challenged him and informed him that I knew I was not a healthy weight. He said he knew the weight would come off as I exercised. Yeah, well the weight wasn't coming off. I had been exercising for months and remaining at the same weight. I suppose I should be glad I wasn't gaining yet more.
I knew my food intake must be out of whack, so back to Weight Watchers (WW) I went. I am not being paid to endorse them or anything like that. I'm just writing about my own journey. I was hesitant to return to WW because I refuse to eat lowfat cheese and I don't want to give up cheese, but I know that it is a lot of points for a small quantity. Points, for those unfamiliar with WW, are a way of measuring the calories, fat and fiber in a food. Based on several factors, you get a certain number of points per day plus a weekly allowance for splurging. You can earn points from exercising (i.e., exercise enough to have more food). WW basically encourages a low fat, high fiber diet with lots of vegetables.
I've been successful at losing weight with this method before, and my only "failing" at keeping the weight off came from eating without thought when pregnant. I lost weight before conceiving Caleb. I lost weight after Caleb was born by joining and following WW. I expect to lose weight again, and I do believe I can keep it off. This time around, I actually have the activity/exercise component already in place. I actually like exercising - or at least, I don't hate it and I feel better on days when I do exercise.
In my first week of WW, I lost 2.8 pounds. :) I ate full fat cheese in very limited quantities, and I discovered full fat yogurt as a dessert option. I thought I didn't like full fat yogurt, and boy was I wrong! Trader Joe's makes a lovely full fat yogurt that basically makes me feel like I'm eating fruity fluff. I ate lots more veggies, but I also noticed I ate more fruit. I don't eat as many bread/cracker/cookie type foods. Perhaps more important than what I'm eating/not eating is the fact that I actually don't miss what I'm not eating (much), and I feel really good about what I am eating.
I also decided to mix up my cardio workout by attempting to follow the Couch to 5K program described here. I had seen this program many times and kept telling myself that I am not a runner. I still don't think I'm a runner, but I think I could be.
So how does this affect what I feed my kids? After all, this is a blog about what I feed my kids. :) Well, again it's about example setting. I want my kids to see what appropriate portion sizes are. I want my kids to see what well-balanced meals really are. I want them to understand that all foods are OK, in the right amounts and frequencies. I also want them to learn that a lot of things that look and taste like food aren't purely food (high fructose corn syrup, for starters). I want my kids to see that their mom takes care of them and takes care of herself.
As promised, I am sharing some thoughts on the first week of our town's farmers' market. The Natick Farmers' Market is a weekly event, every Saturday from 9AM to 1PM on the town green. The number of vendors varies each week, though there are regulars as well. The market is not just a food market, in fact it used to have more non-food than food! Aaron and I go for the food, especially the produce. The kids go for the samples and for the prospect of playing in the town green ("When can I climb the gazebo?!?").
At the opening week, we saw many of our regular vendors. Scott Freitas from Freitas Farms was selling beautiful flowers, herbs, and some greenhouse squash (HUGE zucchini). We are looking forward to his vegetables in a few weeks. His produce just looks pretty and smells great. Chestnut Farms had their stand and their van full of humanely raised meats. They provide the best chicken I've had since I was a child. We are hoping to take a trip to their farm for a tour this year. I saw the fish and seafood vendors, Tangerini's (another excellent vegetable vendor), and at least 1-2 flower vendors. Several of the craft vendors were there, as were different bakery-type stands - artisan bread from Framingham, delicious quick breads from Natick, cookies, and so forth. As I write about it, it seems like there was so much and yet there was not a lot of produce since it is May.
If you're curious what we bought:
- Rosemary bush (the very one in my flower box)
- Zucchini for enchiladas later this week
- Whole wheat bread
- 4 chicken breasts (nom nom nom)
We sampled delicious dessert options and managed to resist their pull - for now. I also foresee buying more of Pam's Black Bean Salsa and her wonderful pea creation called Salstina (looks like guacamole, but less fat and just as yummy).
Besides the farmers' market, we saw a table from our local sporting goods store. The owner is the father of one of my students, so I have more than one reason for trying to support the business. We ended up walking over to the store to buy Caleb a soccer ball so he could practice.
I'm looking forward to seeing more of last year's vendors return (Natick Community Organic Farm, for example) as well as the return of the fantastic fruits and vegetables. I love that the farmers' market is part of our regular summer routine and that my kids meet people who raise and create excellent food.
We filled the box more than this picture shows, but you get an idea of what a peck looks like.
