I simply love our new CSA. The thrill of opening the box and finding out what’s inside is something that I have come to enjoy week to week. Of course, this time of year has brought mainly greens – lettuce, kale, chard, spinach, etc. But we also have had zucchini, sugar snap peas and beautiful bunches of basil (yes, technically “green” but more enjoyable than just greens).

I was pleased this week to find in our share some spring turnips. Small, milky white bulbs that are a little spicy when nibbled on raw and turn deliciously sweet when roasted. Admittedly, I didn’t do anything fancy with these little guys, just quartered them and tossed them into a foil packet alongside my usual new potatoes and yellow onion for the grill, but the result was perfect. We even sauteed their greens, which turned out to be tasty but a bit bitter for my liking. I preferred them once I paired the sweetness of the onion with the bitter greens.

I never tire of a simple lettuce salad with a little lemon or balsamic vinegar and olive oil, but I am running out of ideas for the kale and chard. I still love to find them in my share for the week, but I’m really looking forward to the veggies that we’ll receive in the height of summer.

Okay, so having a CSA isn’t exactly “gearing up for veggies” but there is something I haven’t yet shared. We have a garden, too. At the end of May, we planted a garden with some friends in their yard. This was a first for both couples, so we decided to go in together.

Small plants of tomatoes, squash, cabbage, brussel sprouts, watermelon, peppers, cucumbers went into the ground, testing my patience for when we could reap the benefits. With the traveling I’ve been doing, I haven’t been over to visit it in a bit, but when I did a couple weeks ago, they were growing strong (except for a sad little cucumber plant that didn’t make it).

Needless to say, once our CSA peaks and the garden starts producing, we will be up to our ears in veggies. I can’t wait to pickle, jam, can and cook it all!

Saturday morning, we headed down to the Mill City Farmers Market. Last weekend was opening weekend, but I was out of town so I missed it. Some of the same vendors from last year were there and some new ones as well – should be a good summer! I’m super excited that Bread Coffee and Cake is selling bread there – remember the chorizo bread? Yum! We picked up some jam from Lucille’s Kitchen Garden and some organic lilacs from Shining Hills Farms in Wisconsin. They really brighten up my kitchen!

After the market, I headed out for a day of shopping and cooking. Check out Heavy Table tomorrow (Tuesday the 19th) to see what kind of cooking Lori and I were up to. As soon as I returned home, it was time to prepare our dishes for our Cooking Club meal. More on the dishes and meal in another post. But, as always, Cooking Club was a blast!

Sunday morning we got up and decided to make crepes (the leftover batter was from our French cooking theme the night before…) I had a bunch of rhubarb as well, so made some rhubarb syrup to pair with them, topped with candied pecans and powdered sugar. The crepes were good – tart and sweet – but something was missing. I think they lacked a dollop of whipped cream on top. Next time…

That afternoon, after running errands, we headed to Ed and Carly’s to start planning for our vegetable garden. I don’t have a spot to garden (only potted herbs for me), so we decided we would give it a go at their house. Between the garden and the CSA that starts in June, I think we’ll have plenty of veggies this summer! We had planned to rent a tiller and get all the prep done, but unfortunately the rental shop was closed. We were forced to sit back, have a beer (or two or three) and enjoy the beautiful day. Ah, shucks!

Carly then humored us and made Mexican food for dinner – fajitas! She served them with a black bean salsa over spinach leaves. Fresh, fantastic and I didn’t have to cook – the weekend couldn’t have had a better ending!