Edition 57

December 4, 2009

• Local Box Contents
• News & Updates
• Recipe Corner
• Greenling Tidbits

• New- Edible Austin, winter edition available now
• New - More Baking Items, from various sources
• New - Gluten Free Miles of Chocolate
• New - Baby Food, stage 1 & 3 from Earth's Best
• New - Chestnuts & Macadamia Nuts
• New - Medjool Dates, from non-local sources
• New -Special Request Items, we've added all sorts of requested items
• End of Season -the freeze has ended any chance of peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, & more. Enjoy the last bounty this week
• New & Limited - Avocados, from local sources

Operation Turkey Huge Success

Thanks to your amazing generosity...and the pretty cool convenience of us picking up your donations...together we filled over 50 bins of donations for Austin's homeless!! That's 50 Greenling bins full of clothes, household items, blankets, jackets, & more. This was the largest single group donation they've ever received. So pat yourself on the back for helping Austin's less fortunate.

And consider volunteering next year. My father and I spent the first half of our Thanksgiving day helping make plates of goodness for Operation Turkey and we've decided to make it a tradition. The experience really accentuated the holiday & helped us better understand just how much we have to be thankful for.

Website Tip - Have you tried our Live Chat yet? It's a great way to ask us a quick question or just chat with your favorite food fairies

Click here to try it

Eat Local Week

This week is packed full of activities celebrating local food. There will be a screening of Fresh, farm tours, tea festivals, & much much more. Read more about it here.

The Great Holiday Turkey Raffle

Last turkey-talk for almost a year...We've got one 26lb turkey left in the freezer from Thanksgiving and we've decided to raffle it off for the Holiday season. Here's your chance to get what one customer this year called 'absolutely incredible...hands down, the best Thanksgiving turkey ever.'

Raffle tickets are only $10 (that's a $155 bird, mind you) and you not only get this amazing turkey, but we also sponsor a family through Foundation Communities in your name! You get a turkey and you get to be a holiday hero to a less-fortunate Austin family. If you don't actually want the turkey, please consider buying raffle tickets anyway and donating the turkey to a Foundation Communities Family! We'll donate that in your name too and you get to be a hero twice.

Add a raffle ticket to your next order OR call us at 512-440-8449 to purchase

Butternut Squash Sale & Uses

Butternut squash (& acorn) is on sale right now and we're even selling it by the case! What would you do with a case of butternut, you may ask? Don't let the thought of it squash your enthusiasm. Here's what we did with a case:

• Just cut in half, sprinkle with salt, bake at 350 until soft, scoop out, dice or smash & eat with any toppings (2 Squash)
• Butternut Squash Soup - one cool trick to this one is to add a green apple. The tartness of the apple balances well with the squash. here's the recipe (2 Squash)
• Squash cake - so moist & delicious, it just may be a new favorite birthday cake - here's the recipe (1 Squash)
• Squash pie - as delicious as pumpkin pie you can just substitute butternut in your favorite pumpkin recipe (1 Squash)
• Squash Stew - instead of blending to a soup consistency, just dice the butternut & mix with your favorite veggies, spices, & broth & boil or simmer until everything is soft and delicious (2 Squash)
• Garlicky Baked Butternut - awesome variation that adds some great savory flavors to the squash - see it here (2 Squash)

Leftovers from everything except for the cake seems to freeze well. Oh, and by the way, winter squash are AMAZING powerhouses of nutrients! Some of the highest vitamin A (powerful anti-oxidant) levels of any veggie and a whole list of nutrients just behind it including Omega-3s, potassium, manganese, Bs, & more. And unlike carrots, it's safe to eat every day without turning orange.

This Week's Box Contents & Local Items

The prospect of snow is this unique, fun thing to most people. To farmers it's nerve-racking. Many farmers anticipate an early frost or freeze and plan accordingly by covering crops or waiting to plant some things. Some just go harvest what they can before it happens. The bittersweet part is that it will probably be 80F next week and through Jan 1. The joys of food production in Texas!

Here's what's available from local farms on our website this week (the best selection of local produce in the state - guaranteed):

In Local Boxes ($34.99) this week (Dec 7-11):

• Louisiana Scallions - Acadian
• Baby Rainbow Carrots - Animal Farm
• Icicle Radish - My Father's Farm
• Persimmon or Mars Oranges - Indian Hills
• Red Potatoes - Naegelin
• Cucumbers or Green Bell Peppers - HomeSweet Farm
• Bibb Lettuce - Bella Verde
• Greens (Kale, Collard, Chard) - Naegelin
• Apples - Top of Texas
• Beets (small w/ big greens) - My Father's Farm
• Yellow Onion - Naegelin
• Herb - Pure Luck

Last Week's (Nov 30-Dec 4) Local Box Video:

In Farmstead & Local Produce Boxes ($49.99) this week (Dec 7-11):

• Duck Eggs - Purple Goose
• Holiday Cookies! - Sweetish Hill (various denominations)
• Assorted Artisan Cheese - Brazos Valley

Gluten-free Farmstead Box:

• Duck Eggs - Purple Goose
• Cookies - Wildwood Bakery
• Assorted Artisan Cheese - Brazos Valley

Order Here

Fresh, Prepared Meal Selection for this week:

Salad #1 - Hoisin Sesame Soba Noodle with Market Fresh Veggies (1 pint - serves 1 for lunch) - see website for full ingredients

Salad #2 - Hearty Veggie Fried Rice (1 pint) - see website for full ingredients

Produce from Local Farms

• Arugula, Baby - Animal Farm
• Herb, Asst - Pure Luck
• Herbs, Basil, Live - Bella Verdi
• Lentil Sprouts - Groovy Greens
• Sunflower Sprouts - Groovy Greens
• Habanero - Arnold Organics
• Gala Apples - Top of Texas
• Lettuce, Baby - Animal Farm
• Lettuce, Bibb - Bella Verdi
• Green Beans - Animal Farm/Lightsey
• Tangerines - Orange Blossom
• Meyer Lemons - G&S Groves
• Okra - Bradshaw Farms
• Mars Orange - G&S Grove
• Persimmons - Indian Hill Farm
• Corn - HomeSweetFarm
• Grapefruit - G&S Grove
• Pea Shoots - Bluebonnet
• Watercress - Bluebonnet
• Butternut and Acorn Squash - Massey Farm
• Red and Green Bell Peppers - My Father's Farm/Walnut Creek

Produce from Local Farms

• Limes - G&S Grove
• Microgreens, Arugula - Bella Verdi
• Microgreens, Broccoli - Bella Verdi
• Mushroom, Crimini - Kitchen Pride
• Mushroom, Portobello - Kitchen Pride
• Mushroom, Shiitake - Kitchen Pride
• Mushroom, White - Kitchen Pride
• Onion, Red - Naegelin
• Potatoes, Sweet -Naegelin
• Onion, Yellow - Naegelin
• Potatoes, Red - Naegelin
• Shallots - Lundgren Farm
• Jalapeno - Lundgren
• Serrano - Lundgren
• Eggplant - Naegelin
• Pickling Cucumbers - Naegelin
• Red Radish - My Father's Farm
• Collard Greens - Naegelin
• Purple Plum Radish - Millberg
• Lemongrass - Millberg
• Watermelon Radish - Ringger
• Mustard Greens - Naegelin

Holiday Soiree Cancelled

Sorry folks, December is just shaping up to be too busy of a month. You're welcome to send us your favorite local, holiday recipes and we'll feature them in our newsletter & possibly in the cookbook, but we'll pick up the soirees in January with lots of winter treats.

Think 'Sustainability' This Holiday Season

Does anyone really need more STUFF? I'm sure a few people do, but behavioral psychologists say we're moving to an 'experiential' economy and that with every thing available to us we seek out experiences instead. So, this holiday season give an experience that is also good for the planet! A Greenling Gift Basket! Check out these cool compilations and feel good knowing they're the most environmentally friendly holiday gifts you'll give this year. The baskets are hand-made from sustainable forests in Georgia (the closest we could find), the packing paper is recycled office paper and Chronicles, and many of these baskets have completely local contents:

Rise & Shine Basket

Put a smile on their face and a spring in their step with enough local breakfast items for the whole family with extra to share! Or send to your favorite business contacts to brighten their workday.

Chocolate Overload

How many ways can you enjoy it? With the famous Miles of Chocolate, Fat Turkey, and other local treats with some Dagoba (not local) hot cocoa you'll put someone into chocolate bliss for the whole season.

Wine & Cheese

Already an instant favorite, the Sustainable wine & local, artisan cheese basket will wow anyone.

Beer & Snacks

This all-local basket will get you straight to the heart of any sports fan or beer-drinker. Throw in some spiced nuts and jerky to make it a memorable holiday.

Hot & Spicy

Perfect for anyone who thinks the holiday season is bland. Spice up their day with local sauces, dips & chips.

Italian Dinner

Fresh, local pasta & local sauces with everything you need for dinner? What's not to love. Unique gifts are always the most memorable.

Recipe Corner

Apple Praline Dessert Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Flordia Crystal sugar
• 1/4 cup Organic Valley butter, softened
• 1 Ringger Family Farm egg, beaten
• 2 cups Top of Texas apples, grated
• 1 cup King Arthur flour
• 1 teaspoon Bob's Red Mill baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon Frontier nutmeg
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup Earth Bound Farms Thompson raisins

SAUCE

• 1/4 cup Organic Valley butter
• 1/2 cup Organic Valley whipping cream (unwhipped)
• 1 cup Flordia Crystal sugar
• 1 tablespoon King Arthur flour
• 2 teaspoons vanilla

Instructions:

Set oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8-in square baking pan. Cream together the 1 cup sugar with the 1/4 cup butter in a bowl.

Add in the egg and apples; mix well. Sift together the dry ingredients. Add to creamed mixture; mix well; stir in nuts.

Bake for 30 minutes, or until the cake tests done.

FOR SAUCE: Melt the 1/4 cup butter in a saucepan. Add the cream and mix well until blended.

Combine the sugar and the 1 tbsp flour to the butter/cream mixture; mix well until thickened, over low heat.

Add in vanilla, mix well. Serve warm over the apple dessert.

For More Recipes Check Out The Eating Out of the Local Box Blog. Also make sure to become a fan of Greenling on Facebook to get weekly recipes from Woman With A Whisk & The Best of Thymes food bloggers.