New Year's Day: A New Year, A Few New Things

Happy 2011 Y'all! Five days in, it hardly seems right to say "Happy New Year," the way the years fly by now!

I wrote a curmudgeonly post a few days ago all about how I had no hope for the new year. (I chose note to post it.) Surprising since the final days of 2010 weren't bad at all. My mother-in-law had our boys for a few days and Scott and I partied like rock stars, going out every night until the wee, wee hours and then sleeping in the next day. I even met a few cool people on New Year's Eve and had several drunk very nice people guess that I was in my 20s or early 30s. How cool is that?

Still, I felt very negative the first few days of this new year and still do about some things, but right now I feel pretty good about writing and want to be writing. I also don't want to be guilty of adding more negativity to the Universe, so I'm trying hard to keep those thoughts to myself.

To that end, I decided to post this yummy Cream of Potato and Turnip soup recipe I created last week. It was delicious and the perfect thing to keep January's chills and darkness at bay. Hope you enjoy it!

Cream of Potato and Turnip Soup
1 large Irish potato
1 medium to large turnip
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 stick butter, plus a dab
4 - 5 Tablespoons flour
32 oz. chicken stock, broth, veggie broth or water
2 cups milk
1/2 cup cream
1 stem rosemary
Salt to taste

Peel then dice your potato and turnip. Place in pot and cover with broth or water. You can also place into a steamer basket and steam them. I find boiling them in broth adds a layer of richness to the soup that I enjoy.

Boil potato and turnip until tender. Remove from heat to a clean bowl. Add dab of butter and minced garlic along with salt to taste. Mash to your desired consistency.  I prefer mine kind of chunky, but if you want a super creamy soup with no lumps, you can whip them with a hand mixer.

Rinse and dry the pan you just used (for no other particular reason than conserving pots and pans). Place butter in pan and melt, once butter is melted begin to gradually add flour, whisking as you go along. If it seems too dry, you can add more butter. (Also, note, some folks prefer to make a roux with oil. It can be made with any melted fat, but I prefer the taste of butter.)

As your roux thickens, gradually add the milk, whisking constantly. Next, add in the mashed potato, turnip, garlic mixture and stir it in. I also add a bit of salt, here, too. If it seems too thick, you can gradually add a bit of milk. Float rosemary (the whole stem) on top of soup, reduce heat to low and allow to simmer for about 5 min.

Remove rosemary. Stir in cream and serve.

Sadly, I forgot to take a photograph of my soup, but I can assure you it tasted great!

If you try this recipe, let me know your thoughts. I'd love to see how you like it.

Happy Cooking!

It Ain't Easy Being Green: Step One Toward a Greener Kitchen

Wednesday has quickly become my favorite day of the week.
And not merely because reaching Wednesday means we're halfway to the weekend.
Nope. I love Wednesday because that's the day I get my box of fresh organic produce from the Riverview Farms CSA program. 
It's so thrilling to know I'm supporting a local farm and farm family while doing something good for the Earth. Better than that is getting a bounty of superfresh, from-the-farm, dirt still clinging to them, delicious veggies, some of which I would never buy if left to my own devices, not because they're not delicious but because of my fear of cooking vegetables I've never cooked before.
I picked up my first box last week, coming to the game a bit late. I have wanted to participate in a CSA for some time, but hesitated because of the upfront cost. After reading Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma, and watching Food, Inc.,
., 


I decided that I had to just stop dabbling with feeding my family in a more conscious manner and really commit to it. 


We had already eliminated almost all high-fructose corn syrup and Nutrasweet. Giving up Diet Coke was a major sacrifice since Scott and I were both kind of addicted to the stuff. And giving up HFCS has meant thoroughly reading every single label and much to my children's dismay giving up much-loved breakfast cereals in favor of healthier choices. 


Joining a CSA just seemed like a good choice for us. And at just $25 a week for a huge box of organic, locally-grown veggies and fruit, it's also kind of a bargain. 


Just look at the photos here to see what last week's box contained: okra, green beans, zephyr squash, cucumbers, six ears of corn, over a quart of the sweetest blueberries I've ever tasted, two huge heads of garlic, a mix of new red and Yukon Gold potatoes, tomatoes, and fresh basil. 

I have no doubt that I had bought the same amount of organic produce at Whole Foods or in the organic section of my grocery, I would have paid well over $25 for the lot. Organic blueberries alone are $5 a pint and I can't say that I've ever even seen organic okra at either of those places. 


And even though my first thought with the okra was yuck!, I managed to find a way to cook them that was truly delicious and opened my mind to how good it could really be.


I can't wait to see what today's bounty holds and what new recipes I'll get to try as a result. I'm hoping there will be zucchini that I can use with the remainder of the corn to make a corn and zucchini salad. 


I'm also hoping for more of those crazy good blueberries.


But we'll see. That's part of the joy and excitement of belonging to CSA. There are few truly fun and good surprises left in life and for me, opening that box to see what natural bounty lies in store for me and my family is one of them.


As I work toward creating a greener kitchen, and a happier home, this is one easy change to make. And hopefully, just one of many that will result in a happier and healthier family and also make our Earth just a wee bit happier and healthier, too.