WILD HARE WEEKLY WINTER #4/8

Mondays aren’t always easy, but I’m thankful that this one is a little extra gorgeous. Our family just flew home from Tucson, AZ where we had the fortune of soaking up a bit of sun, warm visits with longtime friends, and yes, enjoying some amazing regional food, succulent flora and wildly fun fauna. As I unpack our bags and watch giant boxes of seeds arrive at our door today, I’m teasing out the ways in which our short time away has inspired and energized us. And this is a darn good thing, because as I mentioned, this is Monday in late January. The roots won’t dig themselves, and the payroll taxes aren’t going to file themselves either!

Mark is out digging carrots and assessing some holdout Celery Root in the field. Celery Root, aka Celeriac, is one of those vegetables that you pretty much have to know a farmer or be a farmer to get your hands on in the United States.  In Europe, it is a standby; however, here it is somewhat of an oddity if not a delicacy.  In fact, some of you newcomers to the Winter CSA may be enjoying it for the first time ever this week. I can still remember bringing my first Celery Root home from work more than ten years ago.  I wish you could have seen the look on Mark’s face when I handed him something that looked like a pineapple gone wrong and told him it was celery’s weird cousin.  After we got over the appearance, we cooked it up and fell hard for Celeriac.  And to this day, it has a special place in our fields, on our tables and in our hearts.  Double Celery Soup is the fan favorite as far as Celeriac recipes go, but there are plenty of other ways to enjoy Celery Root. I sneak it into all kinds of dishes throughout the cold months--chopped into soups, mashed with or without potatoes, grated into slaws, shaved into salads--even breakfast hash or "zoodles" for stroganoff.   What a treat to enjoy the clean and crisp aroma from a root!
Best,
Katie

One of the things that I love about winter vegetables is their capacity to satisfy my sweet tooth…but with the added bonuses of fiber, vitamins and minerals thrown in there too. Some winter vegetables, like Brussels Sprouts and Parsnips, really come into their prime flavor-wise after they’ve experienced a frost.  When temps drop low, the plants go into defense mode against the cold, sending all of their natural sugars into the roots and shoots. As a result, they become sweeter in flavor, and they roast up like a dream.  So, if you do nothing else this week on the vegetable cooking front, heat the oven up and get your squashes, sprouts and roots roasting!

Best,
Katie

We’ve had some frosty nights here in the valley, and I barely took two steps off the porch stairs this morning before I wanted to go back inside.  When it is cold like this, I crave things that warm and nourish me.  And while I know that it is probably the farmer in me talking, I happen to find a great deal of comfort in Rutabaga, which is the root that we’ll be pulling from the cellar for week two of the Winter CSA.  I never knew I’d become such a champion of the rutabaga year after year, but I think they’re a humble cornerstone of the Winter diet.  Bit by bit, people are catching on and finding the love too.   I’m also learning with every year what it is that Rutabaga lovers like to do with them—case in point, there’s a treasured recipe for Cornish Pastys that long time members Naomi and Jerod were kind enough to pass my way.  I’m sharing this recipe, and many others this week, so be sure to scroll through.  You’ll be able to do some good cooking and eating over the long weekend for sure!