Cold breakfast on a hot day.

It’s certainly feeling like summer here in Colorado Springs! The temperatures have been in the high 80s and even 90s with mostly sunny skies. Granted there are also the occasional fierce thunderstorms! I’m a fan of summer, but not a fan of really hot weather. Especially if I’m not near a natural body of water!

Anyhow, the best things about summer here for me are the thunderstorms, fierce and scary as they may be, and the fresh fruits and vegetables. Of course there are other good things about summer in Colorado, but look at my breakfast this morning! Can’t get fresh Western Slope cherries in the dead of winter! Unless you’re able to freeze them now for later, of course. I’m trying to do that, but we keep eating those delicious cherries like mad.

I also love making yoghurt with our weekly raw milk as I’ve mentioned before. Each time I make a batch, it gets better, which I’m glad for. I had trouble with the texture when I first started using the raw milk. A lot of the time I just ended up straining the yoghurt and making simple cheeses because the texture bothered me. Recently I made a batch of vanilla/vanilla bean & a touch of local honey yoghurt. I love this one the most! It has such a rich, creamy texture and the flavor of the vanilla & honey are so subtle yet so delicious.

Stay cool out there!

p.s. I’ve got some really fun news that I’m going to share with you all soon! I’m very excited about this little bit of happiness! :)

 

Documenting our CSA shares in The Springs.

We’ve now been living here a year and of course last year we went to the farmers’ market and bought our seasonal food there. This is our first year being a part of a lovely CSA here with Venetucci Farm. I’m loving it a lot so far! :)

Week 1- broccoli raab, beet greens, garlic scapes, cilantro, basil, tatsoi, arugula, lettuce, radishes, spinach, snow peas, & dried Hutterite yellow beans.
*also pictured are our weekly dozen eggs & raw milk from Larga Vista Ranch.

Week 2- garlic, mizuna, dill, tarragon, cilantro, kale, lettuce, spring onion, sugar snap peas, snow peas, radishes, spinach & basil.

Week 3- lettuce, spinach, baby leeks, baby carrots, beets, kohlrabi, salad turnips, garlic, dill, basil, collards, fava beans, & sugar snap peas.

Week 4- swiss chard, garlic, beets, turnips, baby carrots, kohlrabi, spring onions, broccoli, chives, dill, holy basil, pac choi, apricots, & sorrel.

Week 5- giant lettuce head, kale, broccoli, beets, turnips, carrots, leeks, garlic, kohlrabi, & 1/2 lb basil (!).

Week 6 – green beans, broccoli, carrots, garlic, savory, thyme, beets with tops, kohlrabi, lettuce, onions, summer squash (!), swiss chard & scallions.

Week 7 – yellow & green beans, savoy cabbage, eggplant, kale, leeks, 2 lettuce heads, purple viking potatoes, summer squash, swiss chard, turnips, garlic, 1 cuke, and sweet corn.

Week 8 – carrots, onions, yukon gold new potatoes, savoy cabbage, lettuce, swiss chard, garlic, summer squash, cucumbers, sweet corn, beets, daikon radish, basil, sage, and beans.

Week 9 – carrots, celery, cucumbers, eggplant, garlic, chives, mint, leeks, kohlrabi, bibb lettuce, green bell peppers, purple viking potatoes, summer squash, sweet corn, tomatoes, sorrel, turnips & a flower :)

Week 10 – green & yellow beans, beets with tops, savoy cabbage, carrots, celery, 2 kinds of cucumbers, garlic, basil, onions, 3 kinds of potatoes, 3 kinds of summer squash, sweet corn, swiss chard, 3 kinds of tomatoes, and turnips.

Week 11 – Napa cabbage, celery, carrots, cucumbers (2 kinds), eggplant, garlic, collards, fennel, Czech Black jalapeños (my favorite!), okra, onions, green bell peppers, yukon gold potatoes, chives, basil, summer squash, sweet corn, 2 cantaloupes, 1 watermelon (first of the summer, yay!!), swiss chard & tomatoes!

Week 12 – tomatoes, cucumbers (2 kinds), purple cabbage, garlic, onions, zucchini, summer squash, kale, baby leeks, green bell peppers, roasted Conquistador chile peppers, radicchio, sorrel, summer savory, oregano, yukon gold potatoes, watermelon & cantaloupe.

Week 13 – arugula, napa cabbage, celery, eggplants, sage, Aisla Craig onions, roasted Big Jim chile peppers, red potatoes, radishes, summer squash, swiss chard, tomatoes, watermelon, Long pie pumpkin, yellow beans, tomatillos, Thelma Sanders winter squash.

Week 14 – green beans, carrots, garlic, cucumbers, thai basil, aisla criag onions, sweet frying antohi romanian pepper, green peppers, yukon gold potatoes, spaghetti squash, swiss chard, tomatoes (I bought a couple extra too), and watermelon.

Week 15 – purple cabbage, celery, garlic, lavender, onions, red peppers, green beans, 2 types of cucumbers, roasted chile peppers, pie pumpkins, spinach, 2 types of heirloom tomatoes, watermelon. I also bought some swiss chard & a couple of eggplants oh and a few more tomatoes! ;)

Week 16 – it looks like I got a lot of tomatoes, but I actually bought a bunch of extras! green beans, carrots, cucumbers, beets, basil, eggplants, sage, onion, sweet bell peppers, roasted chile peppers, red potatoes, pie pumpkin, spinach, delicata squash, sweet salad turnips, & tomatoes.

Week 17 – not everything is shown in the photo but this week we got: beets (with tops), celery, the last of the cucumbers, sorrel, parsley, sweet red peppers, lettuce, onion, green bell peppers, roasted chiles, potatoes, parsnips, and a buttercup squash. oh, and a Venetucci Farm tote bag which is pretty nice! :)

Week 18 – small bag of arugula/mizuna mix, baby bok choy, multi-colored carrots, lettuce, 2 onions, lots of bell peppers, potatoes, sugar pie pumpkin, butternut squash, 2 tomatoes and a few Czech Black jalapeños.

Week 19 CSA (the final share) – 1/2 dozen pastured eggs, kale, lettuce, 2 onions, fresh red chili peppers, potatoes, yukina savoy tatsoi, and 4 small tomatoes.

sad that this season is over, but so happy to have been part of it! Thank you, thank you to Susan and all the farmers at Venetucci Farm who worked so hard to to provide us with amazing, fresh food.

 

Colorado Farm & Art Market is now open!

This afternoon I went to pick up our Venetucci Farm CSA share and I’m so incredibly happy that the market has officially opened. I’ve been waiting all winter for this and it felt like it was a long, hard winter. I’ve been spoiled just about my whole life with nearly year-round markets, so living here is a lesson in patience and learning. I appreciate all the farmers here so much and in turn I appreciate the fresh food that comes out of this short, difficult Colorado growing season. Wednesday will also now be when we pick up our lovely weekly raw milk & pastured eggs from our friends at Larga Vista Ranch. I love seeing familiar faces in one place!

I took some shots of the market and I’m looking forward to seeing the different products throughout the season.

Our first CSA share made me extremely happy because again I’ve been waiting all winter for fresh, local greens. We got broccoli raab, beet greens, garlic scapes, cilantro, basil, tatsoi, arugula, lettuce, radishes, spinach, snow peas, and dried Hutterite yellow beans. I couldn’t help but to taste everything as soon as I could! I’m familiar with all of those things, except for the the type of dried beans.

For dinner I made my husband and myself a huge raw salad with almost everything we got today and topped it with a homemade yoghurt dressing. I make yoghurt about once a week now with the raw milk we get from Larga Vista Ranch and I love it! A perfect meal on a hot day.

I’ve got nice plans for the rest of our lovely produce and I think I may have to make Flammkuchen with the garlic scapes, lovely bacon from Larga Vista Ranch, and some homemade raw crème fraîche. For a nice recipe click here! I hope everyone is enjoying their own farmers’ markets and local food! Don’t forget to say hello to the farmers!

Colorado Farm & Art Market is open two days a week (Wednesday 3PM-7PM & Saturday 9AM-1PM) and it’s my favorite market in Colorado Springs. I think I’ve expressed that before, but I can’t say that enough! It’s a producer-only market, you can find more about them here. If you live in the area, don’t miss it!