CSA, final week.

We’ve been flat out crazy busy since school started. I can see a time when things will slow down a bit (October) but for now, things are hectic. I’ve been canning some and have a number of things on my list to get to– this week I need to preserve herbs, and do the pickled hot peppers I’d been hoping I could do (my pepper plants have at last begun to fulfill their goal of producing actual peppers). The apple season is forecast to be short, so I should be doing applesauce every week, too, and I’m on the tail end of the tomatoes. I’ve been keeping a list of what I make and the yield, which I’m hoping will help us with planning for next year.
We have had some Epic Fail situations. Two tattler lids that somehow became completely separated from their jars (I know I had measured headspace because I double-checked). A quart jar that broke with applesauce (what a mess. I was thankful I had recently read Food in Jars take on dealing with the situation, because it helped me Keep Calm and Can On. I put hot water in my biggest stockpot, placed it on a towel, and placed the intact jars in it. Then I took care of the broken glass, and carefully emptied the boiling water. I washed it up as best I could, filled it with hot water, and replaced the jars. They processed without issue (no applesauce oozing out of jars! 3/4″ headspace and a waiting period of 5 minutes before removing jars from the canner seem to help). But wow, what a mess). This was following my failure to screw on a small, but vital part of the foodmill, an error discovered halfway through the applesauce-ing process…. I won’t forget that thingy again.

It’s the last week of our summer CSA… sadness. We are doing the fall/winter CSA, but splitting the share with my parents. While we easily ate much of the produce, I could just not get through the ton of winter squash. Hopefully the split will work out well, and I’ll be able to supplement our share with some bulk potato, onion, and garlic purchases.

This week we have (no photo. Completely forgot.) :

Leeks  2 pounds
Hot Peppers  4 count
Tomatoes 1 pound
Cherry Tomatoes 1 pint
Potatoes 2 pounds
Squash, Zukes and Cukes 1.5 pounds
Garlic 2 heads
Carrots   2 bunches
Kale 1 bunch
Onions  1 pound

Cooking this week: tonight we had tomato pie and corn; also planned: leek, potato, and sausage soup; kale chips; greens/white beans; pesto; pizza. I made a roasted tomato variant on pesto last week that was pretty good. We’ll eat roasted carrots and also some eggplant soup (my awesome, willing-to-catch a bat neighbor makes awesome eggplant soup. Now I just need the recipe….) I plan to preserve some hot peppers, dry dill seeds, and freeze herbs.

And there is also that small matter of the half marathon on Saturday. Gulp. I am getting more anxious by the day.  I am mostly trying not to think about it, and when I do think about it, focus on how happy I will be when IT IS OVER AND I NEVER HAVE TO RUN THAT FAR AGAIN IN MY LIFE. I will be glad to go back to my 5-10K runs. However, I’ve done 10 miles twice and just finished up with an 8 miler this weekend, so I am told by my more experienced friends that I should be Just Fine on Saturday. So…. we’ll see. It will be over soon.