Recipe from the Farm Box: Using up tomatoes

ANNOUNCEMENT! 

Quick! Look to the left hand side of the blog... Do you see it? That's right! The Suggestion Box is up and running! This blog is constantly evolving, dear sweet readers, and in the end that evolution is all about YOU. So if you have a suggestion on how to make it better, or a recipe I should try, or anything you can think of, reach out to me at jackieandthefarmbox@gmail.com. 

Of course what I am SURE you are more excited for, is the prospect of being involved in the fantastic torture that is the Chopped Challenges. So if you have a suggestion of an ingredient he should try, or a combination of ingredients, now you can write The Husband at TheHusband519@gmail.com. 

You might just see your suggestions on this very page! 

Now Back to Your Regularly Scheduled Programing!

I've been slacking, dear sweet readers, The Box ingredients have been piling up in my Fridge and on my counter and some of them have gone to that sweet sad place, the trash, because of my neglect. So when The Husband walked through the door, The Box in hand,  I knew the goal was, this week, to get rid of some of the items I have in over abundance. Here is what I got:

• Dinosaur Kale
• Celery
• White Eggplant
• Red Tomatoes
• Heirloom Tomatoes
• Cucumbers
• Zucchini
• NY White Garlic
• Leek Flowers
• Peaches

Dear sweet reader, that brought the Zucchini count to at least 4 big fatties in my crisper drawer. The Green count to One HUGE bunch of Swiss Chard (about to go bad) and two kinds of kale. Three fat cucumbers, and an EXCESS of Tomatoes. This weekend will be about cleaning out my fridge BEFORE things go bad. The first step, USE UP SOME TOMATOES, and I know exactly how to do that.

This is why you do your research

This is one of those weeks where even though it is only TUESDAY and yesterday was only MONDAY I already feel like I don't have enough time for anything ever again. It's probably because The Husband and I have a fully booked August, and I am not quite sure if I am ever actually going to get around to watching all the TV currently building up on my DVR. Hypothetically I know it will slow down eventually but for now it feels like rush, rush, rush. Anyway. Last night The Husband walked in quite late with the Farm Box in his arms. Actually in a Large Bucket in his arms. Apparently our Farmer has been over feeding his crops. I mean some of this stuff was HUGE. And all really exciting. It makes me want to cook for days. Here's what I got:

• Chard
• Hungarian Hot Wax Peppers
• Parsnips
• Broccoli
• Heirloom Tomatoes
• Red Tomatoes
• Cucumbers
• Zucchini
• NY White Garlic
• Blackberries
• Sweet Basil

Oh man do I really just want to bake and cook for the rest of my life. And everything was so OVERSIZED. The Zucchini looks like it was trying to escape the farm by growing weird and large. The Blackberries were fat and plump. The Heirloom tomatoes barely fit in my two hands. The Chard was as big as my head, at least and a gorgeous hot pink. And the Parsnips had greens attached that were at least 3 feet long. 

As I am going away this weekend, I wanted to try and make sure my produce lasted as long as possible. So I was doing some research on storage. One of the things I wasn't sure about was the Parsnips. I figured, since they were attached, that the greens were edible and was wondering if I should store them separately or still attached. Of course it didn't take me long to learn my mistake. Parsnip greens are NOT edible. I repeat NOT EDIBLE. This is why you research folks. Not everything that comes from the ground is safe for eating, no matter how pretty they are. Ah well, into the trash they go. 

Week 9 Box 9

We had a very productive weekend. Not only did we bake Zucchini Bread, we cleaned and organized our office which it desperately needed. See, when we moved in we unpacked, but we didn't really think about where things were going. It was kind of a, let's just get everything AWAY so we don't have to look at it any more and we will deal with it later. Now, 1 year later, we've dealt with it, the office feels neater and my life less chaotic. Bonus: organizing the office freed up the giant tea storage box we had been using as a junk drawer and suddenly we could condense the 5 boxes of wedding gifts into one box, getting rid of the clutter! Think of all we could do if we just put in some shelves (hint hint).

In addition to the cleaning, we took apart the old entertainment stand in preparation for a Brand New (also ordered this weekend) Wall Unit. We drove the old broken down Subaru up to the MIL house for final disposal,  opening up the garage for our needs. We watched Identity Thief, drank way too much Port AND, to top all that off spent a wonderful morning with our Friends Amy and  Ben, breaking in their new home. It was busy, busy, busy but HEAVEN. I love when The Husband has weekends off.

In the Chaos The Husband, who does so much so that I don't have to and who loves me and is amazing, brought me home The Box. I was very excited and hopeful after last week's berry surprise. However, there wasn't too much exciting in this week's box.

Let me walk you through it:

Week 6 Box 6

With The Husband and the MIL relaxing away at Cape Cod this little plebeian slaved away in the summer heat. She also found herself alone this Monday and the only one able to pick up The Box. This requires a 40 minute trip north (thankfully not in traffic this time) at top speed trying to make it to the Temple by 6:30.  I made it at 6:20 and picked up my abundance. 

If you've ever wondered what a full farm share box looks like in comparison to the 1/2 a box I get every week, this is your chance. When I got it all laid out on the table, needless to say it did not fit nicely into the big bowl:

I apologize for the cruddy picture, The Husband has the good camera with him on The Cape. So what are this week's contents? I'll tell you, but feel free to guess before reading the list.

Week 5 Box 5

This week I had a nice little change of pace when it came to picking up The Box.  It was not sinister-ly delivered to me by The Husband.  The Husband was working late so... I went. I took the 45 minute trip north through the traffic (and I HATE traffic) to get to my MIL's house where the abundance of veg was waiting for me. Once there my MIL and I lazily divided the contents in almost-half, chit-chatting and catching up, then we went out for a delicious pizza dinner where we discussed the various uses of the various veg we received.  It was delightful and made the following a little less of a conundrum.