It's February, so it's time to start thinking about how I'll be getting my groceries in the summer. Summer seems so close, especially with the warm weather. We've actually picked a CSA! I'll get to that in a minute.
By the amount of flour I've bought in the last few weeks, you'd think I did a lot of recreational baking. You would be incorrect. I just have been in a bad habit of overbuying flour. I ran out of whole wheat flour several weeks ago and asked Sous Chef Brian to pick some up... but the idea that we were out of flour really stayed with me, and I kept ordering it from the buying club. So we're all set with that. Plenty of flour.
I really don't do recreational baking, mostly because I'm not interested in the end result. I've had chocolate chip cookies on my to-do list for a week, and that result I am interested in, but otherwise, what am I going to do, bake a pie? No. We have these apples that we're having trouble finishing up, so I asked Sous Chef Brian if he wanted me to make an apple cake or some sort of crumble or something to use them up - I wouldn't eat that, but would he like a cake? That was met with a resounding no, so the apples sit and I haven't had a use for flour beyond the day to day pasta and bread and pizza dough.
We have no problem using up bacon.
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| From Forrest Acres Farm - no website. |
Cookies. I mentioned the first time I ordered cookies that it was too expensive and I should just make my own, but whoa, these are incredible cookies. I've had the oatmeal and the chocolate chip and now the ginger cookies and they're a once-in-a-while splurge but so worth it. Besides, they're a good cause. Also honey from Margerum's.
And dairy. Eggs from L&L Farms (no website) and my favorite cheese from Hillacres Pride and my favorite yogurt from Pequea Valley (no website) and milk from Maplehofe Dairy.
Veg. Spinach and spring mix from Rineer Family Farms, amazing dried tomatoes from Margerum's and Mother Earth Mushrooms.
And as I said in the beginning, we've picked a CSA. This is our third in three years - there are so many great options around here, we haven't been able to stick with a farm. This year, we're going with Greensgrow. I was concerned the pickup would be difficult, because it's pretty far from home compared to my past CSA and Buying Club pickups, but that's the only real drawback. Since their market is open at the same time as pickup, if I need other stuff I can do it all at once, and I like that the CSA share is more than just veg...I'll still get plenty of (5-8) vegetables and I'll get fruits, and a cheese every week (yay cheese) and I'll have an option to choose another dairy/protein and it just seems a bit easier than doing a CSA *and* going to a separate farm market on another day and supplementing with the occasional grocery store trip. We're pretty excited about it.