It has bargaining power!

We're more than half way through the winter CSA and I'm happy to say that we've only let one item go to waste! There is a bundle of kale in the crisper right now - and let's just say it's beyond the saving powers of any crisper. Even the crisper of all crispers. Aside from that, everything else has been put to use in our bellies, which also means whole lot of meals not eaten out. I might have actually stayed within my "restaurant" budget over the past few months.

We recently overcame a challenge that we didn't foresee at the time we signed up for the CSA. After a last minute decision to take a week-long ski vacation to Colorado, we realized that meant having 1 week's produce going to waste. Though Grasshopper makes arrangements to donate all unclaimed shares to those in need, I wondered if we could possibly expose some friends to the program by letting them have a week's worth of goods in exchange to a ride to the airport.

Being that all of my friends are so sweet and generous, the first friend I asked was more than willing to  give us a lift to and from the airport even without the share - that was just an added bonus. At the end of the week she reported back to me that they absolutely loved the experience of working with new ingredients. So much so that they're considering participating next season! How wonderful!

Sorry I don't have specifics about the past few week - but one thing I can say is that there has been PLENTY of sweet potatoes (more on that in a moment). As I had been informed prior to committing to the winter share, we were likely to eventually receive some preserved goods once winter got into full swing. Over the past two weeks, we have accumulated these goodies:

No plans just yet of how or when we will use these, but I will keep you posted once it happens. Or, if you have suggestions for any of these items, I'd LOVE to hear.  BTW - you can't see in this picture, but the tomato relish is HOT (spicy).

So back to the sweet potatoes... I noticed today that they were beginning to pile up (like 6 of 'em!). I knew some were approaching the 2 week mark and needed to be used. Realizing that I wasn't in the mood for the typical sweet potato casserole avec le marshmallows, a few google searches led me to this delicious recipe from Rachael Ray for bacon and sweet potato hash . Definitely going to be keeping this recipe around. It. was. yum. Rob thought so, too! To be honest, i put in much more bacon than the recipe called for (nearly a whole pack) and omitted the scallions... and the allspice (cause i didn't have any). So my version was modified, to say the least. I suggest giving it a whirl if you're looking for a non-trad SP dish.

Thanks for reading. Until next time - happy eating!