The Glory of the Day, by Angela

"Oh what a day!  Glorious!
Gather 'round
There's nothing better
Than a friend
Oh what a day!  Glorious!
The smell of rain
Has hitched a ride
Upon the wind
I've got good friends
To the left of me
And good friends
To my right
Got the open sky above me
And the earth beneath my feet
Got a feeling in my heart
That's singin'
All in life is sweet
Oh what a day!"

~MaMuse, Glorious, http://www.mamuse.org

Ma Muse Album, The Integration of the Awkward
Art by Mara Friedman (source)

MaMuse is a duo of wonderful female musicians that I had the pleasure of enjoying in person during my time in Chico, California. The song listed above has been murmuring through my head incessantly during this week, with the return of the summer rains and time again mingling in the share room. Such a simple reminder of appreciation and gratitude to claim the days for the beauty within them, as we peak out in our heirloom tomato harvests and welcome the arrival of the blackberries.

It has been rather a fall-like week on the farm as our temperatures have dropped, and the yearly task of clearing off fence vines is in full swing. Hurry up and wait continues to be the mantra of this season, as we ebb and flow with the weather once again. It's never boring here, and as predictably as plants want to grow, we are experiencing new perspectives every week with what is possible in this quantity of rain and the vigor of the plants.

Crazy Bed Head Raspberries!

Take our raspberries, for instance (see photo above). I thought the trellising system would hold these power-packed canes, but it appears that they really do desire to continue their "crazy-bed-head-flying-all-over-the-place" look, with just a minimal amount contained within the wires. Oh well, I'll continue working on that delicious dilemma.

Wicked Good! by Melinda

Brown Butter Tomatoes (source)

I seem to be hung up on this decadent combo of tomatoes and butter. The source of this wonderful and easy recipe is "Food 52," the crowd-sourced recipe and food blog we follow on this blog (click here). Amanda, one of the principals in the endeavor, notes that the tomatoes must be sliced 1/3rd-inch thick, not 1/4 or 1/2!!!!  This serves 4 as an appetizer or two as a light meal. By the way, this will not work by substituting oil for butter--browned oil is completely unhealthy, carcinogenic!

Brown Butter Tomatoes

• 2 large or 3 small, ripe, beefsteak-type tomatoes (our heirlooms would be great!)
• 6 tbsp unsalted butter
• Flaky sea salt, like Maldon
• coarsely ground black pepper
• baguette or other country bread, for mopping up the butter (try some of Jerry Sheehan's bread!)

Core the tomatoes & slice them 1/3rd-inch thick. Divide slices among 4 plates [or 2], overlapping them just a little. Put butter in small, heavy-bottomed saucepan & set on medium-low heat. Let the butter melt completely; it will begin bubbling. Let the butter simmer away, cooking off its water, until it begins to smell nutty and brown. Swirl the pan every 30 seconds or so. When the butter turns the color of a hazelnut, remove it from the heat. Use a soup spoon to ladle it over the tomatoes. They'll sizzle! You want to dress the tomatoes with the butter generously! Season the tomatoes with salt & pepper, then rush the plates to the table so everyone can taste them while the butter is still hot! Mop up the butter and tomato juices with good bread. Toast to summer!  (recipe source)

Beer-Cheese Tomato Soup, by Melinda

Beer Cheese Tomato Soup (source)

Beer Cheese Tomato Soup--both the cheese & the soup sound incredible! Makes 4-6 servings.

Basic Beer Cheese

• 4 oz block sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1/8 cup onion
• 1 clove garlic, peeled
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce [w/o anchovies, if you're a veg]
• 1 tbsp hot sauce (or to taste)
• 1/4 cup beer

Tomato Soup

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled & minced
• 4 lbs tomatoes, cored & chopped
• 2 tbsp dried basil [or 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil]
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/4 cup crushed red pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper

In small food processor, add the cheese, 1/8 cup onion, 1 clove garlic, Worcestershire, & hot sauce. Pulse till ingredients are blended. Pour in the beer & continue to pulse till it reaches a spreadable consistency. Set aside. [If you intend to make this on its own, w/o the soup, put it in a crock & refrigerate.]

In a soup pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat, & add onion & garlic. Cook for 2-3 min, till onions soften. Add tomatoes, reduce heat, & simmer, stirring often, for 15 min. Once the tomatoes start to break down in the cooking, remove pot from heat. Use an immersion blender, or transfer in batches to a blender. Puree till smooth.  Stir in the basil, sugar, & red pepper. Add salt & black pepper to taste. Return to heat & simmer 2-3 min. Stir in beer cheese. Serve warm.  (source)

Red Hill Farm Week #10, by Angela

This is a Full Share and Bi-Weekly Friday pickup week.

Sunny on Monday, but our rain is back in the forecast for the rest of this week.  Man, seriously getting a good dose of regular rain showers this year.

Our Salsa Contest is coming up on August 16th!  Check it out (see poster) and start your own test batches for the event with all the wonderful tomatoes on the horizon.

Poster by Joanne Rosenbaum!

Unfortunately, we will not be putting on the Farm-to-Table event this year. Instead, all of our end-of-season efforts are going into the Harvest Festival--FUN for ALL!  This family event will be Saturday, October 19th, from 4 to 7 pm--details to come later.

This week, in the barn, you may anticipate:

• heirloom tomatoes
• garlic
• sweet white onions
• blue potatoes
• eggplant *or* green peppers (limited quantities of each at each pickup for a choice)
• and some surprises!

Don't forget to do your U-Picking, the best way to maximize your farm membership.

Blue Potato Recipes, by Melinda

Blue Potatoes really stand out!  (source)

Blue potatoes (ours are called "All Blue," as both the skin and flesh are bluish purple) are an excellent multi-purpose potato. They're great bakers, but also are fine and tasty when mashed, steamed, microwaved, roasted, or made into chips! As you see in the above photo, they also look pretty--e.g., in potato salads--in combination with other color potatoes (some folks make 4th of July red, white, and blue potato salad!). In fact, in most of these recipes you can change out blue potatoes for other colors and types.

Fork-Crushed Blue Potatoes--serves 4, unless you're a mashed-potato freak!

(source)

• 1 lb blue or purple potatoes, washed
• 4 shallots, minced
• 2 tbsp fresh-squeezed lemon juice
• 3 to 6 tbsp olive oil (to taste) [non-vegans could use butter]
• Fleur de sel to taste [you could use regular salt]
• white pepper [or black] to taste
• 2 tbsp chopped parsley

In large pot, cook potatoes w/ skins on till tender, ~15 minutes (blue potatoes are a smallish variety). Remove potatoes from pot & peel them while still warm. Put potatoes in large bowl &, using a fork, gently smash them, maintaining a fairly chunky consistency. Fold in minced shallots, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, & pepper. Sprinkle w/ parsley & eat!  (recipe source)

Blue Potato Salad w/ Lemon Basil Vinaigrette

(source)

• 1 3/4 lbs blue potatoes (or mix of blue & white)
• 1 small bell pepper, diced (a lavender one is nice if you can find it)
• 1/4 large onion, chopped fine
• juice of one lemon
• 1 tsp apple-cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tsp sugar
• ~15 fresh basil leaves [& extra for garnish, as in photo above]
• salt & pepper to taste

I cook the potatoes using a method taught by my mom. Place the whole potatoes in a poet, cover w/ water, cover the pot with a lid, and bring to a boil. Once they boil, turn off the heat. Leave the lid on & let them sit in the hot water till potatoes are softened. For this recipe, that's ~15-20 min. Drain the potatoes & let them cool [peel or not, your preference]. Chop into bite-sized pieces & add bell pepper & onion. In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, vinegar, olive oil, & sugar. Chop the basil & stir into dressing. Pour dressing over potatoes & toss to coat. Salt & pepper to taste. Eat while warm, or refrigerate for 15 min. before serving. Either way, serve soon after making, as the potatoes' color lightens the longer they sit.  Serves 6.   (recipe source)

Double Blue Rosemary Potato Mash--I adapted this from a recipe calling for Yukon Gold potatoes, b/c I think it would be much prettier with Blue potatoes.

• 6 tbsp unsalted butter, plus more for the baking dish
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled & smashed [not minced, just smashed into largish pieces]
• 1 tbsp finely chopped rosemary leaves [or substitute other chopped herbs if you don't care for rosemary]
• freshly cracked black pepper
• 6 Blue potatoes, peeled & cut in chunks
• kosher salt
• 1 1/4 cups crumbled blue cheese (recommended: Shropshire blue)

Butter a 6 to 8 cup shallow baking dish. In small saucepan, heat butter, garlic, rosemary, and pepper, to taste, till butter is melted. Allow to sit over very low heat to infuse flavors & keep hot while cooking potatoes. In large pot, add potatoes, cover w/ water and add a heavy pinch of salt. Bring to a boil on medium heat, then reduce heat & simmer till potatoes are fork-tender, ~15 min. Immediately drain the potatoes & put back into hot pot over very low heat to dry thoroughly. Next, pass them through a food mill over a bowl. If you don't have a food mill, use a potato masher or a ricer.** Preheat the oven broiler [set to "broil"]. Remove smashed garlic from warm butter and whisk about 1 cup of the blue cheese into the butter. By hand, mix this cheese/butter sauce into the potatoes & season w/ a little salt & pepper to taste. Spread into prepared baking dish & top w/ remaining blue cheese. Broil till cheese is golden & melting, ~3 min. Remove from oven & serve. (recipe source)
**Whatever you do, don't ever try to whip potatoes in a food processor or blender--they get gluey.

Today, August 1st, is Lammas, the "First Harvest," by Melinda

In older Europe and North America, temperatures were colder on average than they are today, and August 1st was the traditional day for harvesting "first fruits," including grains.  Lammas (according to a lunar calendar) marked the end of summer, though it may not feel like that nowadays! It may have originated in an earlier Celtic holiday called Lughnasadh, an agriculture-based fertility rite commemorating the seasonal passing of the god of light, Lugh (equivalent to Dionysos in ancient Greece or Apollo in Rome). Lammas celebrated the first harvest, as it was vital to a community to put away enough food, as the day-lengths shortened, to tide them over the winter.

First Harvest Fruits (source)

By mediaeval times, Lammas had been incorporated into the calendar of Christian church holidays. It also has affiliations with the Jewish harvest holiday, Sukkot, though the dates of Sukkot vary from year to year in the Jewish calendar.

In the Christian church, Lammas is translated as "Loaf Mass"; it was celebrated with loaves of bread made from the first harvested grains. These special loaves of bread were taken to the local church and placed on the altar for blessing and as thanks for a good harvest. Indeed, Lughnasadh or Lammas is celebrated even today in some churches interested in Celtic spirituality, like All Saints Brookline, an Episcopal church near Boston (click here for their excellent history of the holiday). Indeed, as they note, in Ireland, Lammas was the traditional day for harvesting the first potatoes, so consider our Blue potatoes a tribute to Lammas!

Celtic Lammas emblem, All Saints Brookline

Popularly, Lammas was a time for feasting and games, with artists, Morris dancers, and town fairs. It also was celebrated by the creation of "corn dollies" ("corn" was the word used for what today would be wheat, barley, or rye). They were based on the popular belief that the spirit of the grain could shelter in the corn dolly over the winter, and then be plowed back into the ground in the spring to ensure another good harvest.

Corn Dollies of various sorts
(British tea towel I own)

The final Lammas tradition was making barley beer, as in the British folksong "John Barleycorn," about the suffering and death of the grain as it was processed, only to be revivified in a new form in the Lammas ale. For a version of "John Barleycorn Must Die" by the group Steeleye Span, click here.

Lammas Ale, Vancouver (source)