Produce

While I wish we were already growing all the food we want to eat, we aren't.
While I wish wonderful organic produce was available where we live, it isn't.

And so we make do.  We forage, fish, barter, and grow what we are able.  We also get stuff at Costco when we make the trip down below.  In the in between times we can go to the store here in town.  It's not great.  Most things come with an odd, greasy smell.  Really not good.

A few weeks ago I started doing Bountiful Baskets here.  The first week I did the organic box, but have since just ordered the regular, both for cost and quality issues.  I picked up my two baskets today.  For $31.50, I got 34 plums, 2 quarts strawberries, 2 pints blueberries, 10 apples, 11 bananas (or bananananananas as Cupcake calls them) 5 pounds of grapes, 3 fennel bulbs, 6 tomatoes, 4 heads of lettuce, 11 chili peppers and 18 yellow bell peppers.  You don't get to pick what you want, but sometimes you can find someone wanting to trade.

We stopped by the store later to fill in the gaps.  They were having their fill a bag for $10 on select produce.  I stuffed one bag with 5 oranges, 5 broccoli bunches, 5 cucumbers, 2 onions and 10 pounds of carrots.  It was a pretty full bag.

I added in our garden spinach, arugula, radishes, tarragon and chives for an amazing salad with dinner.

There's a potluck at church tomorrow.  I was teasing Sweetheart I was going to make something with fennel and peppers to take since none of those things are a hit around here.  I was surprised at dinner though.  I sliced up a yellow bell and they ate it all.  

So, send your fennel and pepper recipe links on over and we'll see what we can do....Or maybe I should send the peppers to you, Dad, for Fathers Day....

All these veggies might just counteract the six-seven sticks of butter I went through yesterday.  Three pies, a tart, corn on the cob, sauteed morels & zucchini use a lot of butter.  No, I didn't eat it all.