My Earthboxes are producing lovely lettuces. Every week I harvest a really large bowl of red and green and mixed leaf lettuces and share them with some of my neighbors. They taste very tender and spicy and delicious.
However, I know they will “bolt” soon, so I need to have an idea of what to plant next in the boxes! Anyone have any ideas? I live in Chicago. What can one plant in July?
None of this is from my CSA, but its one of my favorite recipes.
Get a huge plate of fresh, washed and chilled frisee.
Saute a couple of strips of bacon, cut up into a large dice.
When bacon is crispy, remove from pan to bed of frisee.
Pour some of your favorite vinegar into the pan and mix with rendered bacon grease. (I love Trader Joe’s Orange Muscat Champagne vinegar)
Add dressing to greens and devour.
Fresh from the CSA garden came some golden zucchinis and tender aspargus. I decided to saute them with some of the summer butter I bought made with milk from grassfed cows. Wowza. Henry laid on the table and insisted I feed him bite after bite. He ate about half my plate!
A couple of weeks ago I had a bowl of soup at a restaurant that really blew me away. It was a creamy zucchini and swiss chard. My most recent CSA box had some of beautiful zukes and chards, so I attempted the soup.
I shredded the zucchini and de-stemmed the chard. Sauteed them together with some olive oil and then added chicken stock and simmered until everything looked very tender, about twenty minutes. Cooled it for a bit, then put it in the blender. Added salt, pepper and a smidge of nutmeg. It was really, really delicious. Mine was thicker than the restaurants, I could have thinned it out, but I liked it. It would even make a very interesting sauce for a pizza or even on noodles.
Our friend Bonnie introduced me to this salsa. I had it for the first time at a party at her house. I had never had anything like it, but I got her recipe and have been making it ever since. These flavors just go together so perfectly, and I love it best on El Milagro corn chips, which are thick and crunchy.
I think it tastes perfect when the amount of chopped mango equals the amount of all the other ingredients. This time I used 2 large mangos, which gave me around 2 cups diced fruit. Then you need about 1 1/4 cups diced cucumber and 3/4 cups diced red onion. Add a few squirts of lime juice and then as much jalapeno as you like. To be honest, sometimes I dont even put any jalapeno. But if I was making it for a party, I would. And, if you like cilantro you can put some in. Yum.
I found some really pretty drapery samples at the Ravenswood Manor garage sale. I used one of the panels to make my friend Hilde a set of market totes. I even made a small drawstring bag to put them all in. She could reused that to wrap another present or to carry something small.
I also made a tulle tutu for my mom to give to her step granddaughter. Zibby tried it on to see how long it was. I used this tutu-orial
This was my first attempt at making a baguette from the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day recipe. Ive since made several, and they all turned out delicious!
I like mine best with some Earth Balance soy and dairy free spread and some warm-from-the-crockpot roast. My roast came from our CSA, and is grass fed and pastured. I put the roast in the crockpot with some homemade chicken stock, some carrots and celery and 21 season salute from Trader Joes. One of my favorite meals to eat.
I found some really great drapes at the Village Discount Thrift store. I was thinking the material would be perfect for pouch slings. A nice medium weight, but with a little stretch. And I loved the color.
I made one for my friend’s husband and for their soon-to-be-born baby to eventually use with his dolls and toys. Ive made a few pouches before. Basically I use one that I already have that is really big and have the person try it on, pin it to fit, and then use that as the pattern for the new one. I cant wait to see little baby Anderson all snuggled up in his daddy’s sling 
So, I was cruising around Etsy and came across several shops selling reusable sandwich and snack size bags. I immediately decided I should make some for my mom (and everyone else I know). I messed around until I sort of figured out what I was doing, and made 5 in various sizes. I used up a pillowcase I had thrifted from Goodwill recently. Sent them out for Mothers Day.
Later, I found a tutorial online for them, realized this was much easier than how I was doing it, and made a few more for my sister. Its her birthday soon.
For hers I used fabric from my stash. Last year I made my daughter an outfit from it.
My other recent project turned into a purse for my aforementioned sister. It started out as maybe being a diaper bag for a friend, but then it got kind of large. My friend is short and my sister is very tall, so I turned it into a purse/tote for my sis. Luckily her birthday was coming up. No project goes to waste around here! I got both the denim skirt and the diamond printed lining material at the Goodwill. I bought a zipper and straps. I also used some quilt batting as an interliner to give it some structure and a nice feel. I have to say, sewing an existing garment poses special problems. It was murder to sew in the lining over the front zipper in the skirt. I used a dark purple thread that didnt show very much, which is hiding a multitude of sins. But overall, I think it turned out pretty cute.
There is an amazing store in Sunny Isles, Fl, called Epicure. Its like a more expensive and more sexy Whole Foods. I bought some of this matzoh ball soup and it was everything I hoped it would be and more.
Since my husband has lately been on a matzo ball kick, I made some with the ubiquitious Package Mix except I used schmaltz instead of vegetable oil. My husband said his Jewish coworker told him this is key. My broth turned out a little too salty. And I didnt know that the balls would plump up like dumplings. I was worried about how small the recipe said to make them.
Overall, this recipe was super easy and delicious. We all had some while we were sick this last week. Now we dont have to spend 5$ a bowl at the Bagel for matzo ball soup!
