EcoMommyo's blog

2009 is breathing its icy breath down our necks. It was a mighty chilly Christmas holiday with either ice or slush to line your path. Again, the cook runs to the kitchen with all haste to conjure up warm and comforting food. We are taking a two week break from the weekly CSA delivery (like at Thanksgiving, even farmers get a little break) but we were sent off with an extra heavy bag to tide us over until the first week of January.

We have passed the Winter Solstice, the longest day of the year, and now are definitely pointed toward spring. However you wouldn't know that with a week of snow headed our way and a white Christmas on tap. Since the days have been grey as of late, I've been looking for light and warmth in the kitchen. Thankfully the oranges of squash, the reds of pomegranates, and the verdant greens have been helpful in that regard.

We had several lovely salads this week; salads beautiful in color and composition. They were all great but strangely unsatisfying. I can eat as many nourishing greens as I can fit on a plate and I have realized that unless they are warm, it's just not going to scratch the itch. In contrast, the baked acorn squash with the chicken fricassee last night was just great. I know I'm supposed to eat lots of greens and they are the tried and true diet food but nowadays they need to be paired with something warm.

Thanksgiving, the great American holiday, is come and gone and the push toward Christmas begins. We had a fine and snowy Thanksgiving in northern New Mexico. The snow was soul satisfying since we are still waiting for a real occurrence of the white stuff in the middle of the state.

On the eve of Thanksgiving, I'm grateful for another week of wonderful produce and a little bit of my money going to farmers around the Southwest who aren't trying to fuse trout genes into my potatoes. Box #2 arrived last Thursday with an extra bounty to carry us through the Thanksgiving holiday. No delivery this Thursday, even farmers get a day off. I daydreamed about the produce as I lopsidedly carried away my heavy bag. We got several acorn squash, five pounds of yellow potatoes, more pomegranates, pecans, and greenery of all sorts (salad mix, arugula, spinach).

Last Thursday, I picked up the first of our winter CSA share courtesy of Beneficial Farms. FYI, Community Supported Agriculture is something all the cool kids are doing. You provide a farmer with a lump sum of dough and over a season they provide you with a weekly supply of fresh fruits and vegetables. As an added bonus they are often organic and local. Our CSA provides produce from farmers all around New Mexico. I'm looking forward to learning about my state's agricultural bounty; apparently it extends beyond green chile.