Plenty of news from the farm this week, but the note is dedicated to some tips for making your kitchen run smoothly when you’re cooking exclusively (or nearly so) from the share. Some of you have been doing it for years, but we have a lot of new members who are just beginning to make that swing from grocery store to farm food. It’s a big transition, but it doesn’t have to be arduous. These ideas may sound obvious, but they are some of the habits that have survived the long haul in my kitchen, and ones I find really useful.
1. When you are cooking whole food, the week needs to have a rhythm. Mine starts on Friday, when I clean out the fridge, toss anything that has made its final showing, repurpose anything that is still delicious and move it to the front of the shelves. Then I assess what I have in the fridge, pantry and freezer. I write down what I need to refill, like flours, eggs, beans, etc. I pick up our share on Saturday.
After I unpack the food I make a list of what I think I’m going to cook for a main dish each day and write it on the calendar. This is subject to change, but it gives me a fallback plan if I need it. I also write down what I’ve brought in for vegetables and post it. Sunday and Monday I try to cook more than we need so we have things prepared for the rest of the week, when our schedules get busier…” (Continue reading Kristin Kimball’s Essex Farm Note for more tips!)
In 2004 Mark and Kristin Kimball founded Essex Farm in Essex, NY. It was the first full-diet CSA farm formed (as far as they know)! Kristin wrote her memoir, The Dirty Life, chronicling her transition from city girl to farm wife and the first year of life at Essex Farm. Since then Kristin continues to chronicle life on the farm on her blog, which we give you snippets of here on the Essex on Lake Champlain Blog.
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