Ground Cherry Salsa
… and more fun items from my CSA share
The angle of the sun has shifted, the kids are headed back to school and football fans are restless. All signs that summer is threatening to end. But because my Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) membership lasts until October – I’m refusing to admit summer is over. Having the freshest in-season fruits and veggies over several months is perhaps the most obvious reason to have a CSA. But your purchase of a CSA share or subscription also provides important support to local farmers throughout their growing season. I find that I plan my meals around what’s in my CSA box each week, so we actually end up eating more fruits and vegetables. Another one of my favorite things about belonging to a CSA is that it exposes me to unique produce items that I may never purchase otherwise - or that may not even be available from the grocery. Last week I received a pint of ground cherries. Ground cherries are housed in little paper husks sort of like mini tomatillos. Inside the husks are marble-sized orangish-yellow fruits that have a sweet-tart taste described by some as a tomato mixed with pineapple or mango. I had never tried these little gems. At first I wasn’t sure what to do with them, but they quickly found their way into a slightly sweet ground cherry salsa.
Yummy Strawberry Recipes
I was so excited for strawberry season this year, anxiously watching the Remlinger Farms Facebook page for opening day. When the day came, we drove out to the (very crowded) farm and told ourselves to not go overboard; we’d come back later in the month. And then it rained and rained, life happened, and we never made it back. So unfortunately, although I had intended on writing about strawberries and showing my pics weeks ago, that didn’t materialize. I did manage to make strawberry scones, and one batch of strawberry jam. Oh and maybe some ice cream bars and milkshakes and mocktails. Hopefully some of you still have access to strawberries either from a local farmer’s market or your own yard. The grocery store works too. Confession. I went to my freezer and dug out a bag of vacuum-sealed strawberries from last year and made what I call Strawberry Cookies & Cream Ice Cream. You know. Because we are having an unprecedented heatwave in the Pacific Northwest. And yes, I know that other parts of the US regularly have triple digit heat (I lived in Arizona for 17 years). But my and my husband’s stubborn streak said we don’t need no stinkin’ air conditioning when we moved to Washington. Ha! And if you must know, I had ice cream at 8am this morning. And again at 2pm. Read on for strawberry recipes and ideas.