In the CSA box today

As the weather cools down, I am greeted with something new in our CSA box every week. This week, it was green I had difficulty identifying (I narrowed it down to either kale or mustard greens, but it didn't seem curly enough for either and the stalks looked very kale-like). However, after e-mailing, Brent, the farmer, I learned it was in fact a variety of kale. Easier to identify were the two beautiful large sweet potatoes we got. Keep the sweet potatoes coming!

One of the things I am enjoying about the CSA box is unpacking it from my cooler and putting everything away. It has become a weekly event for M and I---something she really enjoys doing. We go through the cooler and she sorts things. She's getting pretty good at knowing that squash comes in all colors and shapes as does eggplant. The basil this week she tried to identify by smelling it. She thought it smelled pretty good. :)

So, in our box:
a bunch of kale
two sweet potatoes
more eggplant than I know what to do with it
4 tomatoes
a couple bulbs of garlic
a small variety of summer squash (a zucchini and several small patty pan squash)
5 or so bell peppers
a bunch of basil
okra that I left behind
hot peppers I left behind

Like I said, I am not quite sure how to use all the eggplant before it goes bad. We still have some baba ganoush left from last week and there weren't any of the long skinny Japanese eggplant I like grilled with fontina cheese. Maybe I'll need to try eggplant sandwiches (slice an eggplant, soak in olive oil, grill, and top with fontina cheese, maybe a tomato slice and put on bread). The summer squash is going into zucchini bread.

I also went by a Wednesday Farmer's Market and picked up a couple of butternut squash. I had used all my mine and wanted my pumpkin desserts. I learned the squash were just picked this morning so I will have to wait a couple of weeks to use them to let them sweeten. Bummer. Pumpkin chocolate cheesecake, pumpkin gooey butter cakes, and pumpkin flan---I don't know if I can wait two weeks (this is why I can eat relatively healthy and still never lose weight!).