Well, now that the U.S.’s Independence Day is behind us, summer is really in full swing, the weather is wild, and everyone’s busy having lots of fun. Right?? This newsletter is a quick read, so you can get back to all the…fun…you’re having.
What I’ve Been Cooking:
Veggies. The CSA shares have been bountiful. Last week’s share included:
Kale
Kohlrabi (plus greens-yep, you can eat them)
Beets (plus greens-I love these)
Spinach
Lettuce
Parsley
Garlic Scapes
Cabbage
I added a box of locally produced mushrooms. At the Farmers’ Market, I picked up carrots, scallions, pea shoots, strawberries, and raspberries.
Clearly, I had my work cut out for me.
I chopped and blanched the kale and kohlrabi greens together, and packed them into a freezer bag. Both greens have hearty texture and flavor, and will be great together in a winter soup or stew.
I chopped and sautéed the beet greens and spinach with the mushrooms and some garlic scapes, for a stuffing for baked sole fillets.
I tore most of the lettuce into pieces for salad, saving some leaves for The Husband to use in sandwiches, then washed and spun the the torn leaves in my salad spinner. They will keep in the vegetable drawer in a plastic bag for long enough to use in a couple of salads.
I roasted the beets, wrapped in aluminum foil, until they were tender. Have you tried this? You don’t have to peel them until after they are roasted. Leave them wrapped in the foil until they are cool enough to handle, trim off the stem and root end, and usually, the peels will just slip off in your hands. It makes dealing with beets much less messy. I julienne roasted beets and tuck them into a freezer bag to use in borscht during the winter. I enjoy eating beets in salads, but no one else in my family will touch them, except in borscht.
For our Independence Day meal, I shredded some of the cabbage and carrots for a sautéed side dish, and used strawberries, grocery store blueberries, and canned lychees to make a red, white, and blue fruit salad. Blueberries will be in season locally in the next week or so, and strawberry season will be over.
What I’ve Been Reading:
I am alternating between fiction, non-fiction/memoir, and magazine/website reading. It feels really good just to be able to read for an extended period of time without my brain melting and oozing out of my ears.
I just finished Alice Hoffman’s Practical Magic series. Highly recommend. These are great summer reads, because they are light and don’t weigh down your brain, but are rich with relationships and magic, and just enough history to establish time and place. If you are into magic, fantasy, and light romance and danger, these might delight you.
I am currently reading Sari Botton’s And You May Find Yourself…Confessions of a Late-Blooming Gen-X Weirdo. The title is self-explanatory. I feel seen, part of a sisterhood that has reached the age when women are often socially invisible and professionally ignored. As a member of the Late-Blooming Gen-X Weirdo Club, I highly recommend this book. Sari also has a publication here on Substack, and once I’ve dug into that, I’ll report back.
I love the quarterly magazine Enchanted Living. It invites me to dive into topics and genres I might not otherwise discover on my own, and totally removes me from the toxicity of everyday news. It might be an acquired taste (see the self-description above: Gen-X Weirdo), but I think it has something for everyone.
Also, I subscribe to Food & Wine. Better some months than others, but usually there’s a recipe or two that spark my imagination.
What I’ve Been Watching:
We went to the movies to see Spiderman: Across The Spiderverse. Just like its predecessor, Spiderman: Into The Spiderverse, it’s a work of animated art.
Much of my viewing these days is on streaming services on my television:
The Bear. If you have the streaming service Hulu, watch this series. I’d go out on a limb and say it’s worth a subscription to Hulu to watch The Bear. Let’s just get this out of the way: yes, there is ample use of the “F-Word”. This has absolutely no relevance to the show’s quality. Consider it exposure therapy. The Bear is full of complex relationships, frustrated dreams, and family dysfunction. It’s also full of resilience and redemption. Season 1 sets up the pins, and Season 2 knocks them all down. Also, Season 2 features Jamie Lee Curtis in what better be an Emmy-winning performance. I can’t wait for Season 3.
Cooking Competitions. Soooo many cooking competitions. Of all kinds. There are so many to choose from, on every streaming service. From different countries. Professional chefs vs. professional chefs. Home cooks vs. home cooks. A hybrid of this. Savory, sweet. I have a lot of thoughts about cooking competitions in general, but those will have to wait for another time.
Various Family Favorites. We love our sci-fi fantasy superhero dystopian entertainment here in the house.
-Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is back for a second season on Paramount +.
-Marvel’s Secret Invasion is a perfect summer confection for Marvel fans, on Disney+.
-The Witcher Season 3 has dropped on Netflix, the final season with Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia. AKA, possibly the last season I will watch it.
-We started watching From on Amazon+, and then they moved it from Free on Prime to purchase. We are on the fence.
I’d love to hear from you!
Need advice on a CSA ingredient? I can help! Leave me your question in the comments.
What are you reading? What do you think of my recommendations?
What are you watching? Do you watch cooking competitions? Which ones? Why?
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