Newsletter w/c 11th July 2011

Well, I did write the newsletter for 2 weeks ago in plenty of time, but, me being me, I forgot to add it to the blog. I’ve added it now. Better late than never. You’ll have realised from the previous post, that we were on holiday last week and that there was no delivery.

We spent the week, at the seaside, in Crail, in the East Neuk of Fife. The weather was as good as it gets in Scotland. We had three days of blistering sunshine, one day of light showers and the other days were warm with broken cloud and dry. We walked, cycled, picnicked, fished and generally had a good time. On the wet day we visited the Secret Bunker which is a couple of miles down the road from Crail. It’s a refuge and control centre from the Cold War era and is worth a visit. There’s a lot of historical information as well as all the military and political memorabilia you’d expect. I’d avoid the café though. Lynda had done her homework on the accommodation, as the cottage we’d rented was right on the harbour, one window in the lounge looking over the lobster boats and the other one looking over the beach. It took until Friday for the boys to venture into the water, the first couple of hot days brought a shoal (not sure what the collective term is!) of jellyfish into the shore. I thought this would put them off, but it resulted in a huge jellyfish fight where a few lads on the beach started throwing them at each other like snow balls. I thought they stung or gave you rashes or something, but by the time I hauled our two out of it, they had been hit a few times and were unscathed, thankfully.

Anyway, we’re back to the normal routine this week and things seem to have slowed down a bit so I’m holding off with salads and milans until later in the week or possibly longer. We have new season carrots, so we can forget washed ones for a while.

Holidays always cause a bit of confusion and some customers who don’t receive a bag weekly, will find that although their delivery week, wasn’t while we were away, they still will be a week later getting a bag. Everything will have settled down again by the end of next week, then we’ll be back on our normal cycle for everyone.

Here’s a list of the veg that should appear in the standard bags this week, if substitutions haven’t been required:

Potato Solanum tuberosum. We’re onto new potatoes now. Colleen is the variety. It’s such a nice change when we move to new potatoes from the previous season’s stored ones. They are very easy to prepare when they’re as fresh as this and really only need a wash and a scrub. Potatoes are the only commonly available source of B3 and Iodine. Excellent source of Vitamin C and also Vitamin B6, Potassium and fibre.

Onion Allium cepa. Used in stews, pasta dishes, soups. Source of Vitamins A and C, Iron, Calcium and Potassium .

Carrot Daucus carota Carrots are eaten fresh in salads or cooked in just about any way you like. They are an excellent source of Vitamin A and also contain significant amounts of Vitamins B, C, D, E and K. and Potassium.

Tomato Lycopersicon esculentum. Can be eaten fresh in salads or cooked into sauces, the famous soup, or for the unhealthy option fried for breakfast. A good way to store them is to go along the sun-dried tomato line. Put a tablespoon of oil in a baking tray. Cut the tomatoes in half lengthways and scoop out the seeds and pulp. Lay them on the baking tray, sprinkle over another tablespoon of oil and put in an oven at 150oC and cook for 45 minutes. Take out of oven and leave to cool. You can either eat them like this in salads or pasta, or store them in a jar filled with good quality olive oil. They can be stored like this, unrefrigerated, for up to 6 months.

Parsley Petroselinum sp. (100g) This is the more traditional moss-curled type of parsley Excellent for flavouring all sorts of dishes or cut into saladsor, cut over boiled potatoes, with a little melted butter. If it’s looking a bit limp when you receive it just trim the base of the stems off and pop into cold water, shake dry and then pop into a jar of water, covering the bottom of the stems by about an inch.

Garlic (1head). Use a clove of garlic to flavour savoury dishes. Split a clove off of the bulb, peel off the skin and crush or chop finely. Mix with butter and spread on bread or toast to make a tasty snack.

Celery Apium graveolens (1 head) This biennial veg is high in Vitamin C, folic acid, potassium and fibre. The stalks are generally eaten fresh or used in soups and stews. To cook it, boil it in a little salted boiling water for 15-20 minutes or steam it for 25-30 minutes. Serve in cheese or parsley sauce or smothered in butter. Waldorf Salad is quite simple to make. Take 85g of raisins and soak them for an hour, drain them. Peel and core 3 apples, slice them thinly, then put in a bowl with 50g of walnut halves that have been toasted lightly in a frying pan. Add 4 celery stalks, thinly sliced and half the raisins. Coat it with mayonnaise, season to taste and toss well. Arrange a shredded lettuce around the base of a salad bowl, then add the celery mixture. Sprinkle the remaining raisins over the top and a few celery leaves and a tablespoon of chopped parsley leaves.