Today was the second Thursday I received produce from Monroe Organic Farms. This week we got:

• 2 lbs 3 oz red potatoes
• 1 lb 12 oz zucchini
• 8 oz yellow squash
• 1 head lettuce
• 1 lb 13 oz beets (with greens)
• 13 oz green peas
• 1 lb 11 oz onions

Jaeger’s mother is here so she’s going to teach me how to make potato salad her way with the red potatoes. I have a rough recipe here but it’s one of the few recipes where she doesn’t have precise measurements.

Today was the first day I received produce from the CSA farm I joined a couple of months back. They started distributing last week but Jaeger and I were in DC for the ALA conference (American Library Association). With the produce came a newsletter that contained general information and included tips on how to prepare various vegetables. Last week they distributed kohlrabi which apparently many people didn’t know what to do with. I was hoping for some this week since they are too expensive in the grocery store and I was curious to try them. However, we didn’t get any this time.

The newsletter stated that the first couple of weeks will be a little sparse as they wait for the crops to mature. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the variety we got this week:

• a little over a 1/2 lb of snow peas (maybe more but I’ve been snacking on them all night )
• 6 small turnips
• 1 head of red leafed lettuce
• 1 small zucchini
• 1 broccoli crown
• 4 onions (with greens still attached)
• 2 lbs of small red potatoes

I didn’t realize that turnips grew in the early summer. I always associated them with fall and soup. So, I’ll get a chance to try preparing them a different way (it’s not soup weather right now). I’m tentatively planning to use them in a Maple-Glazed Turnips recipe I have from The Roasted Vegetable. I understand the greens are technically edible but I suspect I’ll give them up as a lost cause. I like chard, spinach and beet greens but I’m a little dubious about other greens.

We’ll be receiving produce everything Thursday from now until the end of the produce season. It’s going to be a little bit like Christmas every week

Early this spring I decided to join an organic csa. They pick most of the produce and pack it into boxes which are shipped off to various distribution centers scattered around Colorado for pickup by members. However, there are two crops that require the members to pick if they want any: asparagus and strawberries. I decided not to pick asparagus because I didn’t think I’d want enough to make it worth a drive to the farm. However, I love strawberries so I made an appointment to pick.

It’s been years (decades?) since I last picked strawberries and I couldn’t really remember what was involved. When I called the farm, I was told to bring “flat” boxes (strawberries get squished if piled too high on top of each other). I wandered down in our basement and discovered that the top of paper ream boxes seemed about the perfect size.

Today turned out to be very cloudy and windy. Fortunately, Colorado has a tendency to rain so I had stuck in a rain coat but it was still colder than I expected. Usually I take a walk during lunch but decided to abort the exercise today due to the wind. Unfortunately, the wind hadn’t stopped by the time I was ready to leave for the farm. As I pulled up, another car pulled up and two women from Denver emerged. They had also picked the 6:00 time slot to pick.

We were each given a row to pick and told we could pick as much as we wanted. It was nice having two other people in the vicinity to talk to as we picked. I discovered that I’m quite pampered. My back doesn’t like picking strawberries for extended periods of time. I was also very surprised by the state of the strawberry rows. Granted the last time I picked was years ago but I rememberd neat rows of strawberries with lots of fruit to pick. Probably due to the organic nature of this farm, the strawberry plants were in neat rows but they also had a fare number of weeds interspersed with the strawberry plants.

By the time I filled two boxes, the other two people decided they had enough of the wind and quit. I figured this was a good time for me to quit too. I didn’t end up picking as much as I would have preferred but I did get more than I was afraid I might. When I arrived back home, I weighed the strawberries and discovered I had picked around 14 lbs.

Growing up, mom spent a lot of the summer canning and freezing. Mom allowed us to watch movies if we helped her which was a treat for us. So, I spent many hours during the summer watching The Sound of Music, The King and I, and Fiddler on the Roof. Feeling a bit nostalgic, I decided to listen to Fiddler on the Roof as I washed, stemmed and froze the extra strawberries.

The experience was kind of fun. However, I’m very glad that I don’t have to do this for a living!

As usual the Fest was great fun. Unlike previous Fests, I did my normal exercises every day. In addition, on Saturday I walked 7 miles and Sunday I walked around 8 miles. Unfortunately, this didn’t stop me from gaining 3 pounds. I always overeat when with groups. I’m not sure why but I can’t stop eating if people are around. Fortunately, Jaeger is an exception to this rule. Otherwise I’d be in big trouble

I was halfway expecting that I’d gain weight over the vacation so I wasn’t as distressed as I might otherwise have been. I’m disappointed but now that I’m back to my regular schedule I should be able to lose it again. Hopefully someday I’ll be able to control my eating in group situations. I’ll have plenty of opportunity to try. In fact, for the next couple of months I’ll have monthly tests on my eating skills in public:

• June – Washington DC trip for the ALA Conference
• July – visit my family
• August – visit Jaeger’s family
• September – potentially another Fest

Like I said, lots of practice. I’m sure at some point I’ll figure out a good abstaining solution.

Friday night I made my Boulder Veggie Bowl and Jaeger made beautiful sushi.

I went ahead and prepared the rice for him. As numerous books pointed out, the rice is one of the most important parts of sushi (which makes sense since apparently sushi means “vinegared rice”). Preparing the rice is a fairly involved process.

• Use a short grain Asian rice (don’t use the type of rice for risotto)
• Start by rinsing the rice well until the water is clear instead of cloudy
• Combine rice and water. I was surprised to learn that the proper ratio of rater to rice is 1:1 (I make normal brown rice with a water to rice ratio of 2:1).
• Let the rice soak in the water for 30 minutes
• Combine 6 tbs rice vinegar with 2 tbs sugar and 1 1/2 tsp salt. Mix well until sugar and salt have disolved. Set aside (this is for about 3 cups of dry rice).
• Cover pan with lid, turn on the heat and bring the rice to boil
• Reduce heat and cook for 15 minutes
• Remove from heat and let sit for 15 minutes without removing the lid.
• Pour onto cookie sheet and spread out.
• While rice is still warm, pour vinegar on top and gently mix into rice (one book likened this to the same method used for folding in egg whites)
• Technically, while you stir in the vinegar you’re suppose to fan the rice at the same time to cool. However, I’m not coordinated enough to do this
• Give the rice ample time to cool. Once cool, it’s ready to be used for sushi. Note: multiple cookbooks state that you should never refrigerate sushi rice. However, if you have too much, you can freeze it.

For the sushi stuffing, Jaeger cut into shoestring pieces the following ingredients:

• dakion radish
• avocado
• cucumber
• carrots

For actual assembly and more information, see this website. Technically it should be served with wasabi and soy sauce mixed together on the side. Unfortunately, I neglected to acquire soy sauce so we did without.

The sushi turned out very well. I think Jaeger took pictures which he’ll probably post on her website at some point.

I just finished my morning exercises. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday I do a combination of pilates, toning, and abs (I mix and match so the combination is not more than 45 minutes). On Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays I do a step aerobic workout.

I really like the toning video I use. You choose how long you want to work out and then it randomly picks enough one minutes exercises to fill that time. However, in one way the instructor really annoys me. Almost all fitness instructors like doing exercises in multiples of four. Often one will do 8, 12 or 16 reps depending on the exercise. However, Lessig’s toning video doesn’t. Sometimes we’ll do 10 reps but sometimes it’s 11 or 22 or 19. This always throws me off balance. If I know at the beginning of the exercise how many reps I need to do, I can usually stick it out. However, without knowing sometimes I give up. Oh well, other than that it’s an excellent video.

We have a new cat in our neighborhood. Unfortunately, this cat has taken to taunting Cat5 at 5:00 each of the last three mornings. This results in Cat5 making sounds similar to what I imagine eternally damned souls might make. It’s truly an awful noise to wake up to. The first time I heard Cat5 make the noise, I was upstairs and immediately rushed downstairs expecting to see burglars skinning her alive. Yes, I have a vivid imagination but truly, this noise is terror inspiring.

I wish the new cat would either make it’s appearance earlier or later in the day. I usually get up around 5:30-5:45 each morning. Earlier would make it easier for me to fall back asleep and later would mean I’d probably already be up.

I’m contemplating shutting the cats in the basement for the next couple of nights in the hopes that the new cat will forget there are interesting cat like creatures at our house. However, it’s a hassle trying to remember to herd them into the basement every night. Now, what would be really useful is a motion detector that’s hooked up to a sprinkler system of some kind. It’d be great if the moment the cat sets foot on our porch it got deluged in water

I’ve always thought a place needed to have big trees, mountains and water (preferably ocean size but Lake Michigan works in a pinch) to be considered beautiful. You’ll note that Colorado only truly has the mountain part going for it. Thus, I wasn’t surprised when I moved out here to discover that I didn’t think Colorado was beautiful (much to the apparent consternation of everyone else that lives out here). However, recently I’ve come to the conclusion that what I really need to consider something beautiful is space. Trees, mountains and water are nice but space is essential.

I drove to one of our rural libraries today for a meeting. Even though Weld County has none of the things I traditionally consider beautiful, I love driving on the country roads. Life just seems better when there’s breathing space instead of row after row of houses. I don’t expect I’ll ever end up living in the country (Jaeger really enjoys civilization) but it’s nice to be able to drive through it and dream

I’ve located a sushi mat! I originally thought Bed, Bath and Beyond would have them but they don’t. Most places I looked suggested I go to an Asian food store but I couldn’t find any in Longmont (I’m sure they exist, I just couldn’t find them). Eventually, I thought to call Whole Foods (sometimes also referred to as “Whole Paycheck”) and they have them!

My next project was to find sushi recipes. I know there are lots of recipes on the Internet but there are also a lot of bad recipes on the Internet and sometimes it’s hard to distinguish between the good and the bad. So, I surveyed my surrounding libraries and discovered that Longmont seemed to have the best selection of sushi books. I decided to put three on hold:

• Sushi for Dummies (the reviews specifically say they contain vegetarian recipes)
• The Great Sushi and Sashimi Cookbook
• Sushi Taste and Techniques

I’m hoping at least on of these has a couple of good vegetarian recipes in them.

The library is a dangerous place to work. Every day I come home with at least 3-4 interesting looking books to add to my “To Be Read” pile. I don’t know why I keep bringing them home. There is no way I can actually read everything. However, the library is dangerous in another way. They offer staff a discount when we buy books through them. On most books we get a 40% discount off the retail price and don’t have to pay shipping. The downside is you don’t get immediate gratification. The books you order usually take a couple of weeks and sometimes a month to arrive. However, it’s very tempting to spend all one’s discretionary money on books when you can get a brand new hardback for around $16 and new paperbacks for $4.50.

I just got an email that two books I ordered have arrived. They are The Roasted Vegetable by Andrea Chesman and King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking. I originally checked out both of these books from the library and kept them for many months until I started to feel selfish (the library lets you renew an unlimited number of times unless someone else is waiting for them). Finally I decided that I really should buy them

I didn’t have nearly enough time to try out all the interesting King Arthur recipes so I’m excited by another opportunity.