Thursday, September 28, 2006

cooking from scratch, y'all

so last semester i signed up to get a share in this locally-grown, organic vegetable box and let me just say this:

it is stretching me. i have to find uses for squash, copious amounts of tomatos, leek, kale, all kinds of crazy stuff i would not normally buy.

remember how i was freaking out about the crockpot? yesterday, i made spaghetti sauce from scratch. SCRATCH, people. this is serious.

it turned out well. i simmered away a lot of the sauce because i had the heat up too high, but i made it, and it was good, and cheaper than regular sauce (i think -- in the long run -- maybe not -- the math is too much for my head). and it used wine! crazy.

my roomates made fun of me for my fanatical measuring, and the fact that i was shaking the salt into the teaspoon, as opposed to directly into the sauce. "it says 1 tsp!" i protested, but they just shook their heads at me.

also, i made potato leek soup, which was yummy. this time i'm going to try it with half and half instead of heavy whipping cream so i don't gain a bajillion pounds just by looking at it.

also, i have three little squashes that a friend recommended i make squash ravioli with. i'm a little hesitant but i may try it this weekend. stay tuned.

5 comments:

Torgo said...

Ravioli is easier than you'd think. Pasta from scratch is super simple. That doesn't mean I make it often, because it's messy, but it's not complicated.

Why did you plant leeks? That's a strange choice.

Xtina said...

well, i don't do the planting -- angel organics does. then they pack up stuff in boxes and send the boxes out to everyone who signed up. so it can be random. for my one share, it was $70 -- not too bad for a semester's worth of vegetables.

and re: the ravioli, my friend recommended putting the squash in won ton wrappers and boil it like that.

Anonymous said...

as one of the roomates who at the aforementioned sauce - it was delicious!!!

Anonymous said...

That's supposed to say ate the sauce... sigh - fast typing

Rainster said...

My boss does one of those seasonal veggie box things, except there's apparently an option for a family of 4, too, so she has to find creative ways to make her kids eat everything.

$70 for the semester??? That's a seriously good deal! Me, I've been a fan of my George Foreman grill lately...