Up North, Divine vs. Sysco: CSA Summer ’15 ” Week #12 (EO-B)

 In CSA Newsletter

NWyss Family Up North

Each year we manage to make it up north for about 2 days. This is thanks to a great field crew and market staff that takes care of everything for the Friday and Saturday we are gone. Thank you, crew!

We had a very relaxing, mellow time up there. It was mild enough we tried a dip in the cold, cold water.  We saw eagles and lily pads; birch bark and turtles.  We heard loons calling at night and imagined where all the fairies live in the greenness of the woods. The girls went fishing and had a lot of pride catching and then later eating their blue gill.

We love going up north. Just as much as the outdoor delights, there’s the company of family and friends, and always delicious food. Our annual trip up north always coincides with the height of yumminess at the farm.

On the breakfast menu this weekend was fresh eggs from Jamie’s chickens and plenty of bacon and sausage from our pigs. Meanwhile there was ratatouille with peppers, eggplant, zucchini, and peppers served over orzo ” with sweet corn on the side. Another night we had spaghetti and meatballs, with locally grazed beef. We snacked on sungolds and heirlooms, raw kale salads, carrots and gingergold apples from the farmer’s market. Divine!

A little stop at a bar and grill in Steven’s Point on the way home reminded us just how lucky we are to eat so well.  While it was exciting to have pre-season Packers blaring in the background (No, Jordy, No!) the food was not so exciting.  Every dish was a pile of carbs and meat, fresh off the Sysco truck.  Everything tasted so canned, so preserved. The  only fresh vegetables to be found were some steamed broccoli and limp iceberg lettuce.  It’s moments like these that force Mike and I to remember what a food bubble we (happily) live in.

There’s reasons and markets and forces that lead to a bar and grill serving food like this ” and I understand all of that.  I was glad we could stop along our drive and eat a sit down meal. Nevertheless, it made me sad. Not to eat it just one time, but to eat that meal with the full knowledge that for many folks, this kind of preservative heavy, industrial food is the norm.  That Sysco is the norm. Food can be so much better!

So cheers to good eating and doing what we can to help as many folks as possible have access to healthy, fresh, local food!  Thank you for supporting our food chain.

Sincerely,

Cassie, Mike, kiddos and crew

In the Box:

  • Beans, green or dragon tongue
  • Carrots
  • Cucumber
  • Eggplant
  • Garlic
  • Lettuce, either red leaf or multileaf
  • Onion, Yellow Sweet
  • Pepper, Jalapeno
  • Pepper, Red Sweet
  • Sweet Corn
  • Tomato, Heirloom
  • Tomato, Slicer
  • Tomato, Roma
  • Zucchini

Weekly Recipes:

  1. Marcea’s Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter
  2. Loe’s Green Beans
  3. Black Bean, Shredded Carrot and Bell Pepper Burrito
  4. Sweet Corn Soup
  5. Mascarpone Polenta with Eggplant and Tomatoes
  6. Jalapeno and Cherry Tomato Gazpacho with Polenta Croutons
  7. Tomato Tarte Tatin
  8. Balsamic Roasted Green Beans
  9. Broccoli and Carrot Fried Rice
  10. Sweet Corn and Basil Lasagna
  11. Baked Eggplant, Peppers and Tomatoes with Almonds
  12. Corn Bread with Jalapeno and Cheddar
  13. Chicken with Carrot, Green Beans and Zucchini in Tikka Spice
  14. Catfish with Jalapeno Browned Butter

 

Wednesday, August 26th” EO Group B