2silos Farm Winter Meat CSA

To this point I haven't posted much on our kitchen/food blog. Rachel has been after me to remedy this oversight and now the Restaurant Widow has taken me to task over not posting about my meat CSA. First off, what is a CSA? If you are reading a food blog, I expect you know already. For those who do not know, CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. The basic concept is that at the start of the season you pay a local farmer or cooperative a certain amount of money (anywhere from $300-$600 is the usual price). In return, you receive farm products on a regular schedule. The products available are up to the farmer and usually reflect current production. Previously Rachel and I have participated in vegetable CSAs. It is quite fun and enjoyable to receive a surprise bag of vegetables, fruit, flour or honey on a weekly basis.

This fall I decided to try something new. 2Silos farm offered a meat CSA for the first time.  2silos supplies local grocery stores with a variety of organic, heirloom and free-range eggs. Their meat CSA started in November and is slated to run until April. So far I have received pork, beef, chicken, lamb, rabbit and a goose for Christmas. The pick-ups occur on the first Saturday of each month and I receive a bag of approximately 10 pounds of meat products.

Cuts have been quite varied. I have had london broil, flank steak, round steak (made into jerky below), NY Strip, ribeye, and ground chuck from the beef family. As far as pig products, I had so very nice tenderloin medallions, loin chops, and bulk breakfast sausage. Each month, I receive a whole frozen fryer and a dozen eggs. The lamb has been ground and also in packaged chops. I just cooked a whole fresh rabbit last week and it was delicious. I also apparently have game birds to look forward to in the next couple of months (quail, pheasant, etc...).

The goose I ordered for Christmas has been one of the highlights of the meat CSA. While not an included feature of the CSA, the Christmas Goose option was only an extra $25. For anyone who has ever bought goose, you will know they generally run about $30-$35 for a frozen goose. Prior to this goose I have never cooked a fresh goose. This was hands down the most delicious goose I have ever eaten. I put it in a simple brine and then used Julia Child's steam-roasting method to cook it. It was incredibly tender and everyone loved it at Christmas-eve dinner. I have to give credit to 2silos for raising a very flavorful bird.

I also receive odds and ends each month. So far I have found pig kidneys, pig liver and chicken liver in my grab bag. I am still trying to decide how to cook the pig offal, and will update when I do. The chicken liver and goose liver made an excellent stuffing for the Christmas goose.

Overall, I have really liked this meat CSA. Denise at 2silos has done a great job running it and communicating with the participants. We receive a monthly newsletter and Denise is quick at answering any questions. The meat has been of very high quality and of a nice diversity. I like being able to easily receive a more than generous quantity of meat each month that is raised by a local farmer. Since the CSA began I haven't had the need to purchase any meat from a grocery store.

The intangible benefit of CSA participation is that not only do you get really high-quality product on a regular basis, you support your local agricultural community. Many farmers are being forced out of business by large scale factory and commercial farming. To survive, farmers have turned to non-traditional methods to generate revenue. Some have explored niche markets like heirloom vegetables and animals. Others have gone the organic route. Establishing a CSA is a very good way for a farmer to make a guaranteed income over a season.

So take a look at the 2silos meat CSA. Denise is accepting applications now for the CSA that will run over the summer. And if meat isn't your thing, consider one of the many fine vegetable CSA's that are available in the Columbus area. Either way, you will love the diversity of food you receive, and you will have the satisfaction of supporting a farmer in your local community.

Join the Garden Challenge

Do you grow your own food?  How about sharing some with those who can't?  This isn't a new idea, but a group of gardeners is hosting a Garden Challenge this season on The Barnyard. We are still finalizing plans for this upcoming year.  We know what grew well last season and we will add enough plantings to give 10% of the harvest away.

Ours will go to the local settlement house, the Clintonville Beechwold Community Resource Center.  Less than a mile from our house, we already donate canned items and household goods to the CRC regularly.  I know they will appreciate fresh produce too.

Will you join us?

Sugar Season coming soon, Maple Sugar that is.

A long time ago, my high school boyfriend did a winter maple sugar study.  He tracked data on trees in the forest behind our school, tapped them, and made maple syrup.  It required hours of work boiling off the sap from late January through March, and since I wanted to be with him, I helped with the sugaring. Since then, I've had a soft spot for sugaring.  As it turns out Alex (my husband) tapped a few trees in his backyard as a kid.

If you don't know the maple sugar process, here's a quick rundown.

1. Identify sugar maple tree or trees.  Red and black maple do have some sugar content in their sap but it is so low that it is almost not worth collecting.

2. Insert metal or plastic 'taps' into trees.  You just hammer these an inch or so beyond the bark

3. Hang a bucket or old milk jug off the tap.

4. Collect sap.  Sap runs when the nights are below freezing but the days are above freezing temperatures.  Usually sugar farmers in Ohio expect a steady harvest around February 14th.

5. Skim off any frozen water.  Sap will keep refridgerated for a few days.  Leave it out in the snow overnight (if there is snow) and skim the frozen water in the morning.   You'll be left with higher sugar content sap.

6. Boil sap in a large outdoor boiler or indoors in large pots.  Could probably be done in roasting pans in the oven too.  Keep in mind that sap contains between 3 - 4% sugar, and syrup is much more concentrated, so you want big vessels for this.

7. When you've reached syrup consistency, strain through felt to rid syrup of impurities.  (You can use a hyrometer and/or thermometer to measure, or just go by feel.)

8. Enjoy!  Or boil further to make sugar.

Much more detailed instructions are on the Ohio State University Extension fact sheet.

I'll warn you - sugaring is a lot of effort for a little precious syrup.  It is deeply satisfying to follow through the process, but shouldn't be taken on by those short on time.

If you want to simply observe the process, some farms offer great outings.  We visit Malabar Farm in north central Ohio for their annual Maple Syrup Festival.  They have real life reinactments of historic ways of sugaring up through a working modern production.  This year's festival will be held March 7, 8, 14 and 15.

Homemade Parfait

Here's what I had for lunch today:

That's homemade yogurt from Kate the cow's raw milk, frozen blueberries we picked this summer near Cleveland, local Ohio honey, and homemade granola.

Coming soon - a new series of posts called Make it Yourself!  We will be sharing all our tips and techniques for making commonly store bought food at home.

Fight anti-bacterial America with fresh food

Media is abuzz with talk this week about food bacteria.

First, updates about the Peanut Butter samonella outbreak recall foodstuffs nearly hourly.

Then, Jane Brody wrote in the New York Times about how eating a little dirt is actually good for you.  (The article also advocates pet ownership, something near to my heart.)

Cleveland food writer Michael Ruhlman's post connects the dots.  Processed food leads to elimination of good and bad bacteria leads to kids and adults with more allergies, digestive disorders, and diabetes.   He comes to the same conclusion I have - eat fresh whole foods, maybe with a tiny bit of dirt.  You will not be worried about recalls and you just might live a longer happier life!

How to Eat Homemade

Eating made from scratch meals is common in our house.  Most days we eat 3 meals of homemade food, mostly made from scratch. Many people we meet are stunned that we do this.  100 years ago everyone ate from home, but now many people are used to lunch out, and often breakfast and dinner on the run.

Yet research from dietitians and psychologists alike confirm that eating at home, and eating made from scratch food is healthier for our bodies and familial relationships.

So, how do you do it?

1) Make the commitment.  There are lots of reasons you might make homemade foods a priority.  We enjoy the food more than premade, like the culinary adventure, and feel closer as a family when we eat homemade foods.

2) Join a CSA, co-op, or herdshare.  This winter we have a weekly veggie CSA from Athens Hills, weekly milk /egg share from a farmer friend, a monthly meat CSA from 2Silos Farm, and monthly dry goods co-op from Frontier.  We've already paid for these items at the beginning of the season.  The pickups are closeby.  We can't stand to waste food, so once the groceries are in the house, we feel obligated to use them.

3) Plan.  Some people are meal planners who have a rotation of 21 dinners, or do a month in advance.  We are not such people.  We do try to write on a whiteboard on the fridge weekly our dinner plans.  That way we at least know how we will use most of the CSA foods and what we need to prep ahead.

4) Reduce trips to the grocery store.   When you have the right mix of planning and CSA/co-ops, grocery store trips become less needed, and the temptation to buy premade is reduced.

5) Take baby steps.  Slowly eliminate some of the processed food you eat and replace it with homemade.  You might start by baking bread once a week.  Or take a weekend day and make a big batch of jam, canning or freezing some for later.  Make double batches of soup, spice rubs, waffles, etc. and freeze or save the half you don't use for a quick meal later.  Much of the homemade food we eat is canned or frozen by us when we have time.  We all have things to work on: boxed crackers, corn chips, and cereal are still staples here, as is store bought kefir, cheese, and wine.

6) Lower your expectations.  Restaurant eating normalizes the experience of eating a meal with 4 or 5 components, often each with their own sauce.  Very often our homemade meals are much simpler.  Breakfast is yogurt and granola, oatmeal, or toast.  Lunch is usually packed for on the go eating: a simple protein (cheese, slice of meat, boiled egg), salad or veggie sticks, whole piece of fruit, and starch (chips, crackers, bread).  Dinner is protein (meat, beans, or meat substitute), starch (potato, rice, muffin), and veggie.  Here is a picture of tonight's dinner -fritatta with swiss chard, baked potato with leftover mushroom sauce from last night, and applesauce canned in the fall.

7) Enjoy the benefits!  If you make food from scratch more often, you might find yourself with a new friend in your CSA provider.  You will gain confidence in your cooking ability and your family will become closer.  You might even feel healthier.

What do you do to Eat Homemade?

Meyer Lemon in the House

We have grown a meyer lemon tree indoors (and outside in summer) for 5 years now.  About twice a year it blossoms with tiny white flowers that have a captivating sweet scent.  Usually at least a couple of the flowers turn into baby lemon buds.  Sometime after, they dry up and fall off.  Just 4 times has a bud ripened into an edible lemon. This past fall, one such lemon deigned to grace us.

Lillian declared herself caretaker of the lemon.  She checked the color constantly and protected the lemon from the dog's tails and other nosy kids. Here's a picture of her caressing her citrus.

We told her the lemon could be picked when the skin was completely yellow.  The time finally came last week.

She plucked the lemon from its stem. She took a picture of Alex and I with the lemon.

I washed it and sliced it open.  There were surprisingly almost no seeds.  This picture doesn't show it, but the flesh was a perfect bright yellow with stark white pulp and lots of juice.

We each tried a slice raw.  It was sweeter than a normal lemon, crisp and clean.  Alex and I juiced the rest later for a simple lemon martini.

The time and attention we put into this tree certainly doesn't pay off in terms of harvest value.  But we love the rare occasions we can eat citrus grown right here in Columbus OH.

(My apologies for unfocused preschooler picture.  Constantly moving objects are not easy to photograph but I am working on it.)

Last of the Garden Carrots

On Saturday our little wraskally wrabbit and I prepared the last of our home grown carrots. We planted these Japanese long carrots back in August, I think.  We tended them until the second hard frost when we pulled them out of the ground.  The leafy heads were chopped off, dirt left on, and we stored them in a loosely tied plastic grocery sack in the fridge.

We've been slowly eating them since, savoring every delicious bite.  Whole carrots are so much tastier than the prewashed bagged "baby carrots" I grew up on.  Home grown whole carrots are even better than store whole carrots.

So Saturday we scrubbed and peeled and ate the last of the harvest.  They were still crunchy and tasty.  Next year: more carrots in the late season so we can have more for winter!