I have a long list of recipes that I saw in various cooking blogs I follow and didn’t try yet. Sometimes, I try a new recipe right away, but sometimes it might take months! I still keep these “not-tried-yey” recipes in a notes file with the hope to try them at some point.

This recipe waited for its turn since October :). On Sunday, I finally cut the last pumpkin from my CSA fall delivery:

I used a half of it to make pumpkin puree and then make a baked cheesecake, and pumpkin muffins, and then I used another half for this recipe,. It was so good, I can’t even describe! I could not imagine such a “simple” thing can taste so great!

The best part is, that a giant mushroom and a red onion were from CSA deliveries as well!

I haven’t participated in the CSA for two years in a row. First, my CSA in Palatine stopped home deliveries, and I knew it would be difficult for me to commit to Saturdays’ pickups for the whole season. And this year, I already knew I would be moving. 

Through summer, I bought fresh produce from several vendors at different farmer’s markets and asked everybody whether they were doing CSA. Several of them had a fall/winter CSA. I asked around and decided to try two. One of them, Nichol’s Orchard, had a short fall season with just seven weeks of deliveries, and another one, Urban Canopy, allowed to sign-up for a half-share (every other week, the total of four weeks. I think that this will help me to decide which one I will be doing next summer.

On Thursday, I had the first delivery from Nochol’s Orchard. I do not have a picture of the box because I had to be in the office on that day, and I asked Igor to wait for the box. Future deliveries will be documented :). 

Anyway, the box is here:). And what I love about CSA is that I am exposed to a variety of vegetables previously unknown to me, and I need to learn how to cook them. This delivery included spaghetti squash, which I know how to cook, but only because of the CSA:). The new vegetable for me was sunchoke, and I loved it! I made it roasted, and it was delicious! I gave some to Igor, and I ate the rest before I even noticed!

There was also some kohlrabi in this delivery; I always liked it, but this time I wanted to look up new recipes, and I found a salad with raw kohlrabi and apples, and it was great!

I can’t wait for the next one, and I am so happy that yet another piece of my life is back, or rather I found a new version of it 🙂