CSA: Final week of 2010

Week 26 (11/4/2010):
- 2 lbs turnips
- 4 rutabagas
- 1 lb arugula
- 1 lb spinach
- 1 lb lettuce mix
- 1 lb braising mix (donated)
- 8 heads green lettuce
- 1 bunch parsley
- 1 bunch red Russian kale
- 2 bunches lacinato kale
- 2 bunches carrots
- 2 heads cabbage
- 2 heads cauliflower

Well, this was our last pickup.  I went all by myself.  It was pouring, and freezing too!  I had a great time doing this... but I'm also glad it's over.  It's been a real challenge to cook all of this stuff, but I enjoyed that challenge.  It was fun to try new things, make new recipes, cook with my mom and with my friends, save a few things for the winter.

I'd like to do this again next year.  Now that I've seen how it works and what it's like, I feel more prepared.  I have learned a bit about how to preserve some of these things, in the freezer for example.  While my freezer couldn't contain all the things I wanted to fill it with, I still stocked away a few things.  Next year, I plan to be more prepared when spring comes.  I like the challenge of trying to eat as locally as possible, so I want to stuff my freezer with excess.  I want to try to waste less.  That was rough for me - sometimes there is just too much, and I was too ambitious with what I was able to do.  If I'm more organized and plan ahead a bit, I can do a lot better waste-wise AND be more creative.

I still have a lot of the above produce in the fridge, so I will be posting some recipes while using them in the next few weeks.  When they're all gone, I plan on doing some kind of "challenge" to myself to use up things from the freezer and my pantry.  Plus, with colder weather coming in, I look forward to a lot of baking, something I haven't done since I had more free time in the summer.  I also want to learn a little more about preserving and canning to get ready for next year.