If Life Gives You Snow, Make Snow Ice Cream!

In honor of the record-breaking snowfall we've had this month, we bring you this snow ice cream recipe from allrecipes.com. It's local, it's free, and it certainly is abundant.

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1 Tbl. vanilla extract
2 cups milk

Put a large bowl or pan outside to collect snow; approx. 1 gallon.

In a saucepan, heat sugar with vanilla extract, and milk. Heat gently until sugar is dissolved. Put outside (or in refrigerator) to cool.

Once enough snow is collected, add sweetened milk mixture and stir until desired consistency is reached.

You can substitute maple syrup or honey for the sugar/vanilla (use about 1/4 cup) and half & half for the milk (use about a cup).

Enjoy!

Thinking of Joining a CSA? 5 Tips for First-Time Members

This month guest blogger Emily Gilmore was kind enough to give us some helpful hints on how to decide whether joining a CSA farm is right for you. It's something she knows a thing or two about, since she's the former Program Manager at the Robyn Van En Center, a national CSA resource center.

So it’s getting to be that time of year again when farmers are preparing for the upcoming CSA farm season. This is also the time of year when old and new members are considering whether or not to join for the new season. If you’ve heard of the concept of CSA, but aren’t sure whether you’d like to join, here are some tips for helping you decide:

• Consider a half share: If the price of a full share seems a bit intimidating, or if you just want to test the waters to see if joining a CSA works for you, you’ll be pleased to know that many farms offer partial or small share options. There may also be other ways to reduce the cost – some farms offer working shares, where you can help out at the farm in return for some or all of the cost of your share. And remember to divide the cost of a share by the number of weeks in the CSA season to get a clearer picture of what you’re getting for your money.

•  Visit the farm and meet the farmer of your prospective CSA: most farmers are happy to meet potential members and answer questions about their farm.

• Be open minded about the variety of local, seasonal foods available: CSA farms are limited by what grows well in our area, so shares may not include all of the produce you’re used to seeing at the supermarket. On the other hand, you’ll be getting vegetables at their freshest and CSA farms often grow tasty heirloom varieties that aren’t available in stores.

• Talk to other people who are familiar with CSA and/or who are already members: If you don’t know anyone who is already a member, the farmer should be able to put you in touch with some of his or her members.

• Remember that a choice to join a CSA has many benefits, just to name a few: it supports a local grower, it is kind to the environment (many CSA’s growing practices use natural methods, and food does not have to travel as far to get to your home), sustains the local economy, builds community and provides healthy, fresh and nutritious food.

If you’re not sure if there is a CSA near you, there are many ways to locate them. Check out Buy Fresh Buy Local South Central PA, Local Harvest, or visit the Robyn Van En Center .

Good luck finding a local CSA and making your decision. If you decide to go ahead and join, enjoy your share and get involved - it will enrich your experience!

Emily is enthusiastic about local food and sustainable agriculture. She also would like to have the opportunity to educate people about food system issues . While serving as the program manager for the Robyn Van En Center, she also worked part time at the Fulton Farm CSA. She is currently looking for employment related to her background and interests. She can be contacted at em_gilmore@yahoo.com.

A CSA Farm in Winter

A Peek Behind the Scenes at Shared Earth Farm, Mechanicsburg, PA

Most of us have an idea of what farmers do during the spring, summer and fall. We’ve been to CSA farms, farm stands and farmers markets. Maybe we’ve chatted with a grower about the weather and the work to be done that week on the farm.

But what do farmers do during the long, cold winter months? Do they just putter about the house in their pajamas, waiting for the snow to thaw? Or is there a whole world of farm work being done behind the scenes to make the summer’s bounty possible? I talked to Amy Leber of Shared Earth Farm CSA to find out.

“There’s about two weeks of just putting your life back together after the growing season has ended,” said Leber, who works up to 14 hour days, 7 days a week during the growing season.

So the first couple weeks of the winter are a time to tackle ‘spring’ cleaning, repairs and projects around the house, and general family to-do list stuff that piles up over the spring, summer and fall.

Then it’s back to work on the farm, but during the winter Leber only works 8 hour days and weekends are off-limits. The first thing she does is evaluate the previous season. She decides where mistakes were made and what was done well, and thinks about what they could do differently this year.

"We get a lot of ideas in the summer, but we just don’t have time to fully evaluate them until winter,” Leber said.

Next she starts laying out her plans for the new year. Deciding what she wants to grow is fairly easy, she said. “The harder part is deciding how much. So how many weeks do we want to give out kohlrabi before people get sick of them?”

She plots out each stage of the growing season, working backwards from harvest to planting. It's an exercise that involves several spreadsheets and takes a long time.

Finally, Leber orders the seeds and prices her shares.

A peek at Leber’s Off-season To-Do List:

• Remove stakes, weed suppressing plastic and other materials from fields
• Inventory current seeds
• Order new seeds
• Source potting soil
• Catch up on bookkeeping
• Answer member emails
• Fix machinery (fertigator, tractor) & perform maintenance
• Clean and organize greenhouse. Patch any tears & clear fans of bugs.
• Compile recipes for CSA members
• Brainstorm some newsletter/blog article ideas

And the growing season gets underway sooner than you might think. By mid-February, Leber and her mother, Sheila, start planting the spring crops under indoor grow lights.

“We already have some seeds planted – mostly spinach and stuff that’ll grow in cool weather,” she said. “Onions, leeks, shallots and parsley should be starting right now.”

And in about two weeks Leber plans to dust off the plow and start preparing the fields.

"Winter is still very busy, but it’s a different kind of busy. It’s not sweaty work outside in the sun. It’s a lot of thinking, not so much doing.”

Andy's Beef Stew

Here's a simple beef stew recipe, courtesy of a local CSA member, Andy A. The red wine combined with the aromatic vegetables and herbs gives it a rich, fruity complexity. You don't have to use an expensive bottle, but make sure that it's good enough to drink on its own. Whatever flavors are in the wine will be concentrated during cooking.

Ingredients:

2 lbs. beef stew cubes
1 large onion, diced
5 carrots, sliced
4 stalks celery, sliced
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 lb. potatoes, 1" dice
5 sprigs thyme
2 or 3 branches parsley
bay leaf
flour
1/2 bottle red wine (or substitute beef or chicken stock, or water)
32 oz. can crushed or diced tomatoes
salt & pepper to taste
large (family size) dutch oven

Preheat oven to 300F. Brown beef cubes in oil or butter in the oven (in batches if necessary), toss cubes in flour seasoned with salt & pepper, and set aside. Pour fat from dutch oven. Deglaze oven with a little red wine, being sure to scrape up and stir all the brown bits until they dissolve, and reserve this liquid.

Add the onion, carrots, celery and garlic to the dutch oven and cook for a few minutes, until the onion softens. Add the beef cubes, reserved liquid, potatoes, tomatoes, parsley, thyme, bay leaf and red wine (or stock or water), leaving an inch or two of room in the dutch oven.

Bring to a gentle simmer, and then place in the oven. Cook for 2.5 - 3 hours. Check in occasionally to make sure the stew is still simmering slowly, and adjust the oven temperature if needed. Enjoy!

Comfort In A Bowl

'Tis the season for comfort foods, and what could be more satisfying than a hearty braise or stew?

Braising and stewing transform cheap cuts of meat into meltingly tender bites, while infusing the cooking liquids with rich, complex layers of flavor. Best of all, you can put together a meal with whatever ingredients and flavorings you have on hand, once you know the basic steps to follow.

A braise usually uses larger pieces of meat (often with the bone in) and less liquid, while a stew generally uses bite-size pieces of meat. Both methods make the most of more inexpensive cuts. A pricier (& usually leaner) cut will dry out during the long cooking time required, but an economical cut (think shoulder, leg, shank, or tail) will stay moist as the connective tissue and fat dissolve during cooking. You can always skim the fat from the braising or stewing liquid before you serve it!

1. Season the meat with salt & pepper. (You can do this a day ahead of time for extra flavor).

2. Brown the meat on all sides in a heavy pot, in batches if necessary, and set aside.

3. Pour off the fat.

4. Deglaze the pot with a little wine, scraping up all the browned bits, and reserve the liquid.

5. Cook the aromatic vegetables (any combination of onion, celery, carrots, fennel and leeks) in a bit of fat.

6. Add the meat & deglazing liquid back to the pot.

7. Add stock or water. For a braise, the liquid should come about halfway up the meat. For stew, it should almost cover the meat.

8. Add any flavorings, like sprigs of herbs (e.g. parsley, thyme & bay leaves) and spices (e.g. whole peppercorns in cheesecloth).

9. Bring the liquid to a boil, then lower the heat to a gentle simmer and cook (either on top of the stove or in a 300F oven) until tender (usually around 4 hours).

You can play around with this basic formula to end up with any number of meals. Try marinating the meat before you cook it. Add tomatoes, potatoes or other root vegetables to the pot. Serve with dumplings or on a bed of polenta. Or season it with spices from the Middle East or South Asia. Enjoy, and let us know if you do!

*photo by jspatchwork