Blanching

OK, again, I should know better. When the forecast calls for rain on a farm day, it's not a good idea to wear strappy heels and new pants with a "Dry Clean Only" tag.

Silly me.

Anyway, I wandered through the fields with rolled up pants and muddy toes, and this week's share was:

• 1 head of lettuce.
• 1 bag of salad mix.
• 1 tomato.
• 1 bulb of garlic ("It's very small" said another woman, "Yes," said I, "but it's stronger than normal.")
• 10 leaves of really massive red kale.
• 1 bag of mix n' match, including, onions! as many as I wanted! that fit in the bag!, peppers of all kinds, broccoli, red cabbage, potatoes, carrots, nice looking beets, pat-a-pan squash, and my turnips are back so I can have them on toast for the fall!, and this just in Diacon radishes. Yay!
• Unlimited green beans (see below).
• Tomatoes, including unlimited plum, 2 heirloom, a pint of cherry, a pint of little plum.
• 4 edamame plants.
• 1 pint of raspberries!
• Unlimited herbs, but I didn't take much because I haven't frozen or used last week's.

Plus! There was a fruit share which consisted of:

• Apples.

Yep.

So today I blanched green beans. It was my first blanching extravaganza. You blanch beans before you freeze them. The first thing you do is start boiling water. While you wait, wash the beans and break them into pieces. Boil them for three minutes and then put them in ice water for three minutes. Immediately put them into freezer bags and the freezer. Yay! Beans in winter.

Yesterday I was watching Rachel Ray, and I just happened to have all the ingredients for the pasta dish she was making. You boil cut up potatoes, add some pasta, and then add shredded cabbage. Meanwhile, melt a stick of butter and add sage leaves and two halved cloves of garlic. Let the butter sauce blend a bit, then remove the sage and garlic and add chopped sage. Then you drain the pasta reserving one cup of the pasta water. Add the water to the butter, then mix in the pasta. Add salt and pepper and some romano. Mix mix mix. Yummy!