This week I had the foresight to look online to see what was being delivered before it arrived. In the past I’ve gone out and bought, say, a huge thing of spinach, only to find more show up on my door that same afternoon.

The week I received sweet potatoes, groundhog radishes, cauliflower, kabocha squash, sugarloaf radicchio, tat soi and onions.

The first night I steamed up half the cauliflower and made a cheese sauce for the kids to dip them in. Just melted butter, whisked with flour, then added milk all while whisking, then dumping whatever shredded cheese I had in there. I happen to have a mexican blend left over from my taco bar. Added a dash of dijon, salt and pepper.

I also sauteed the tat soi with olive oil and garlic and a little bit of water. So good. I love Asian greens done this way. So simple, so yummy.

The next night I paired the sweet potato and sugarloaf radicchio with the spice rubbed skirt steak and turkey sausages I bought from whole foods. The sweet potatoes were roasted in the oven until soft. This take a ton of time, well over an hour in the oven. But it’s super easy and the kids love it. The Radicchio was sliced in half long ways, drizzled in olive oil and sprinkled with kosher salt and pepper and grilled along side the meats. Afterwards I topped it with some balsamic vinegarette, hoping to make it sweet, yet bitter, salty and smoky. I envisioned it tasting umami good. But once again all I tasted was bitter. I’m still struggling to find the best way to make all these bitter leafy greens that they send me.

As for the squash, these winter vegetables sure are giving my hands a work out!  I’m getting cramps in my hands from cutting all these heavy, hard vegetables. After some research online, I found out the easiest way to peel the Kabocha squash was to boil it in water for a few minutes. I still needed my Chinese meat cleaver, but it was a lot softer.

In my minestrone soup this week I replaced the red potatoes I normally use with the rest of the cauliflower and the cut Kabocha squash. So easy to make and sooo good for you. Just chopped up leeks, carrots, celery, zucchini, shredded fresh spinach leaves, cauliflower, squash and put in a big pot. Add a tin of diced tomatoes, a parmesan cheese rind, salt and water to cover (about 8 cups). Simmer uncovered for an hour. When it’s almost done cooking I add a tin of cannelloni beans and a couple spoonfuls of pesto. I normally whizz the soup up in the blender before the kids eat it, and they think it’s funny to drink it with a straw. I think it’s funny that they are sucking down pure icky veggies and how no idea. This time, after pureeing, I added some whole wheat elbow macaroni in the soup.

I wasn’t sure what to do with the ground hog radish. My first search on google let me know that this vegetable ‘is commonly referred to as a “tillage” radish and “forage” radish, due to their ability to provide forage to livestock and deer and its ability to form a long, wide root that “tillers” into the soil and naturally loosens compacted soils.’ Great, if it’s so unpalatable they use it for fodder, what hope did I have?

I decided the best way to combat this was to pickle. I sliced it thin, covered it in rice wine vinegar, sugar and salt. Turned out surprisingly good. Actually, they would make a great accoutrement to a spicy dish.

Once again I’ve let it go too long! I’m combining the month of October’s fresh picks. I didn’t do a great job with them – October was a bit hectic and I let myself get lazy.

Sweet Potatoes, Celery, Green Pepper, Radishes, Red Mustard Greens, Frisee & Romanesco Broccoli were delivered on October 10th.

Romanesco Broccoli was steamed and dressed with a bit of olive oil, lemon, salt and pepper.

The Mustard Greens were sauteed in garlic and olive oil. I should have done more research on this vegetable because the it was so bitter I had a hard time eating it. Only my thrifty tendencies, coupled by the logic that it tasted so bad it had to be good for you, kept me going.

Sweet potatoes were baked and made into a side dish.

Celery was used in dishes all week, including a slow cooker lentil soup, a Bolognese sauce and tuna fish sandwiches.

Radish, Green Pepper, Frisee were forgotten about and by the time I got to them they weren’t good anymore.

On October 22nd I recieved Candy Onions, Red Potatoes, Red Beets, Broccoli Raab, Delicata Squash, Red Bok Choi, Saute Mix and Crimini Mushrooms.

The onions went into the food for the halloween party, the beef and chicken for the taco bar.

I baked the beets in tin foil until tender. I eat them with spinach, goat’s cheese and walnuts in a salad or just on my plate as a side dish or snack. Delicious.

Potatoes and Broccoli Raab went into Rachael Ray’s Sausage, Beans, and Broccoli Rabe Soup. I put part of it in the blender for the kids to eat. I probably should have put some into the ice cubes for baby food too but I ate it all instead.

I also made a soup from the Squash, Ina Garten’s Butternut Squash and Apple Soup. It appealed to me because of the 5 star reviews and the idea that I could use up more of the apples I picked! The kids didn’t like it. Maybe it was the curry spice? Jack said it tasted too much like apple sauce. Next time I get squash I’ll try something different.

I loved the saute mix the best. Sauteed with a bit of garlic and olive oil it was delicious. I did the same with the crimini mushrooms and loved every bite.

Bok Choy hasn’t been designated a place yet but I’m thinking of boiling it up in my ramen today. I know, not very fancy. But if you’ve ever lived in China, you know that every now and then you need a good bowl of ramen.

One of the many things I do on my groundhog days is make baby food. I’ve been making a ton of it lately. Building a stockpile of assorted foods.

Perhaps if I only had one baby I’d just by the jarred stuff. But two babies, that’s half my kids! Much healthier and cheaper to make the stuff at home.

I usually do it when I’m prepping dinner. And I usually prep dinner in the morning while the older kids are at school. Friday morning I made a Butternut Squash soup. At the same time I made pears into baby food. As you know, loyal readers, I never do just one thing at a time anymore.

Anyone out there interested in the process?

First you peel all the pears. (So far I’ve made sweet potatoes, apples, peaches and carrots this way.)

Next steam them until tender. I steamed the pears for about 20 minutes. A fork slid through them easily. If not, I would have just upped the steam time.

After they are good and tender, I put them in a food processor or blender along with the water in the catch tray of the steamer. I’ve heard it has nutrients still in it. If there isn’t enough liquid you can add water, breast milk, or formula.

Puree until smooth…

Then I put pour it into ice cube trays and freeze them.

After they are frozen I pop them out and put them in a labelled bag with the date on it.

When you are ready to use, just microwave them for a few seconds until warm, stir and feed!

When the twins get older I will do this with whatever we eat. In fact, on Friday morning we had some left over beef stew that I whizzed into baby food for next month.

I don’t know what it is about my friend Jennifer’s birthday. Perhaps it’s the time of year that makes us all a bit silly.

Last year this time we found ourselves in a karaoke bar at 2am, singing badly to a drunk crowd.

This year we celebrated Jennifer’s birthday at Sofra Turkish Kitchen. Turkish and Mediterranean food, BYOB and Belly dancing. It was definitely one of our more unusual mom’s night outs.

Happy Birthday Jennifer!

The place was not that packed, but oddly enough it seemed that everyone there was celebrating something special.

Pam printed out a restuarant.com voucher, buy $100 worth of food and get $50 off. That combined with the BYOB left our bill at a mere $12 a person. Much cheaper than our normal $60 a head nights out. I could get used to BYOB dining! Especially since I love ethnic food so much, and most BYOBs tend to be that way.

After dinner we lounged in the comfy pillows that surrounded out table until I was almost vertical. I realized I ought to find my bed before I fell asleep in the restaurant. I was up by 4am for the day and it was showing.

So, were you wondering what I did will all the apples?

I made apple pie.

I stuck them in lunch boxes for snack.

I snacked on them myself during the day.

Adam ate them for breakfast, crisp from the refrigerator.

I made slow cooker steel cut oats with apples, brown sugar and cinnamon.

I steamed and whizzed them up for baby food.

I made an apple cake. Twice. One for us and one for a play date. I took the recipe from the food network, Paula Deen’s Grandgirls Fresh Apple Cake.

I tried them with the radishes I got with my Fresh Picks delivery in a Radish, Apple and Onion Salad from Rachel Ray.

This week we received acorn squash, leek, beets, Japanese eggplant, corn, kale, poblano peppers, salad mix and oregano.

I’m kind of impressed with myself that this stuff didn’t all go to waste, considering the week we’ve had here.

I baked the acorn squash, drizzled with maple syrup, salt and pepper. You just cut it in half and bake cut side up. After it’s baked you can scoop out the flesh or peel off the skin. I added a pat of butter and ate it as a side. It was okay. I think next time I’ll try it in a soup or some other way.

At the same time I baked the beets. I also steamed some green beans. I let them both cool and put them in a salad with goat’s cheese crumbles, lettuce, and candies pecans. Balsamic vinaigrette. Love beets. Can not believe no one else in this house will touch them.

I threw the poblano peppers in with a tamale pie I was making in my slow cooker. So good. I hate the cold weather, but at least it means more slow cooker dinners.

The salad was paired with a pasta dish. Rotini with Italian Turkey sausage, mushrooms, and the fresh thyme from last delivery.

Corn was boiled up as a side dish. The eggplant was also a nice side. One night while I was grilling chicken I oiled, salted and peppered the eggplant and grilled it to a gooey, crispy yumminess.

Leek and Kale both went into a quiche for dinner. The left over salad leaves made a nice side dish with this.

The oregano is wilting in my fridge still, but I’m hoping to add it to a greek salad with leftover grilled chicken as a lunch one day before it gets too soggy.

I knew somewhere in the back of my mind that Adam and I were keeping up less with the new hot and trendy restaurants, but nothing put that fact in a more glaring light than the email I received from my friend Tami suggesting a list of places we should meet them at for dinner last night.

Of the list of 9 places, I had been to two, recognized two, and was completely unaware of the rest of them!

How fun was it to peruse all the different websites to see the menus!

In the end I couldn’t resist the menu at The Slurping Turtle. I love Asian food. And this menu had a great mix of it.

In Asia, restaurants are set up a bit differently. If you want sushi, you go to a sushi place. If you want ramen noodles, you go to a noodle shop. In Chicago, and perhaps America in general, they often combine all these concepts in one place. Sometimes in America they combine entire countries. I still have a hard time seeing Japanese and Chinese food together on a menu.

The Slurping Turtle stuck to Japan. But it was a combined sushi restaurant, noodle shop and yakitori grill. There was a lot of small plates so we got to try a lot of different things. Including an unusual sparkling sake. There wasn’t anything we tried that I didn’t love, but I would give a special nod to the Tartare of Hamachi in Taro Root Taco, the Pork Belly Snack (sort of a reconstructed Cha Siu Bao or Sweet BBQ Pork filled Bun), the Slurping Noodle (the broth was incredible, the noodles cooked just right), and the Caramel Soy Macaroon (I was expecting the Jewish ones, but found out later from Tami that they were the French ones. A small, meringue like cake).

The Slurping Noodle

Another trend in dining out that makes me feel old is the growing rate of shared tables. This restaurant had one long shared table in the middle, booths on the side and individual tables on the second floor. I was worried when they led us to the shared table. Would my one night out this month be ruined by some idiot trying to spew his political views next to me? Luckily after we were led to the shared table we were moved over to the booth instead. Perhaps we looked as old as I felt.

Once again I’ve blogged so much that I missed a Fresh Picks delivery. So, I’ve combined them in this blog.

August 29th we received True Lemon Cucumbers, Baby Bok Choi, a Red Pepper, Chard, Plum Tomatoes, Fennel and Sage.

Both the Lemon Cucumber, Red Pepper and the Plum Tomatoes made it into various salads. The Lemon Cucumber had a tough outer shell so after the first use I peeled it before eating.

Sage was warmed with salted butter and tossed with store bought tortellini and steamed carrots. It was delicious. I served it with a spinach and strawberry salad tossed in balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Yum.

The Chard was sautéed with olive oil and garlic and served as a side dish one night with Grilled Chicken and Rice.

Bok Choy was also prepared similarly to the Chard, this time is accompanied Grilled, Asian Marinated Portobello Mushrooms, Teryaki Salmon and Brown Rice.

Finally the Fennel. I had big plans for it, sliced and topped with parmesan and baked. But by the time I got to it, it had wilted. Maybe next time…

For September 12th, I received yellow cherry tomatoes, Chinese Eggplant, Kale, Romaine, Red Frying Peppers, Edamame and Sweet Potatoes.

Romaine and Tomatoes were lost in salads various salads (See my A Week of Salads and Another Week of Salads posts.)

The sweet potatoes were whizzed into baby food. Yes, we are almost at that stage.

The Edamame was nuked with some water and sprinkled with kosher salt for a side dish one night. That night we also had stir fry Chinese Eggplant and Red Frying Peppers, Garlicky stir fry Kale, Miso Cod and Brown Rice for dinner.