Book Club

Good Morning! A few notes as we head into the weekend:

• We have sold out of turkeys but still have Chickens from Tad available for your Thanksgiving table. You can also donate towards our initiative with Elevate Youth to provide a great meal for 130 Families in the Boston Area. Huge high-fives to everyone who has already donated! (Did you know that the secret to the perfect High Five is in aiming for the elbow? #dadfacts)
• We are taking the weekend after Thanksgiving off. No orders will process on Monday 11/23 and there will be no deliveries on Saturday 11/28 or Tuesday 12/1.
• New Product Alerts! We have new products coming to the add-on section! Flour from Maine Grain, Spices from Curio Spice, a Bread of the Week option and more. Our goal is to make our store more of a complete shopping experience, so you can find the local, high-quality version of anything you might need (we're still searching for local lemons and avocados - those might take a while).
• More Technology! When you log into your account, there's also a new cart slideout (click on the cart icon if you're an existing subscriber), that shows you all of the items in your existing subscription. You can add and remove products and skip a week without having to go into your subscription details. We hope this makes the shopping experience a bit easier. We love receiving your ideas and feedback. Please let us know how we can improve further! 

Have a great weekend, cook something tasty and stay dry folks!

Erin

Book Club

Recently I have been reading a lot of foodie type books. One might say, ahem, that I have been devouring them. 

It is culinary escapism at its absolute finest. You skip from peering into Bourdain’s life as he climbs the rotten, explicative-coated ladder of kitchen hierarchy, to being tucked into Ruth Reichl’s pocket as she dines at hidden Parisian bistros. You plod along happily with Bill Buford and he visits the restaurant of another Lyonnais culinary juggernaut; tasting the finest saucisson and vin rouge (yes please!) to the poulet en vessie, a chicken stuffed with foie gras and truffles (yes, yes I’m with you) and then is poached in a pig’s bladder (aaaaand I’m out). 

The writing is so fine and transformative that you feel that you’re adventuring right alongside them, an invisible interloper. You harken back to simpler times; before social distancing was a thing and well before you knew anything should be cooked in a bladder.

And there is always something to learn, always something that sticks. 

In Michael Pollan’s Cooked he dives into the four fundamental and transformative elements of cooking: fire, water, air and earth. He explores each with surgical precision and boundless curiosity. (Cooked was also turned into a Netflix mini-series, if you haven't already discovered it.) 

In the section on fire, he writes about the humble onion. How the chopping, sautéing and the seasoning of onions is the bedrock of so many cuisines. He explained something familiar; that we are so often in a rush to get to the “important” part of the meal, that we overlook the beginning. We’re distracted and don’t chop finely enough, aren’t patient enough with the butter bath. 

And this resonated deeply with me. On any given day I’m running around like a squirrel who just ate a fistful of amphetamines. His advice to slow down a moment and when you’re chopping onions, just chop the onions is something that sticks with me.

And I’m not trying to swerve into the spiritual lane here; I’m not asking you to talk about your onion journey or to pen an ode to mirepoix. But when everything feels a little bonkers, and like life is moving at breakneck speed, it is nice to be reminded to steal a moment where you can. To slow down and enjoy the onions.

WHAT'S IN THE BAG?

Note: If you order a "Meat and Fish Share" you will just receive the meats listed, not the "dairy" items (eggs, yogurt etc). If you order a "Fish and Seafood Share" you will receive the fish listed, and not the dairy items

Add-on Grain of the Week - Cranberry Bread from Forge

HALF SHARE

Omnivore Protein - Chicken and Eggs from Feather Brook Farms
Pescatarian Protein - Sea Bass from Red's Best; Eggs from Feather Brook Farms
Vegetarian Proteins -  Sujuk (an Armenian Style "Sausage") from Littleburg and Eggs from Feather Brook Farms
Paleo Proteins - Chicken and Eggs from Feather Brook Farms​
Fruits and Veggies - Greens from Queen's Greens; Spinach and Onions from Brookford Farm;  Tomatoes from Long Wind Farm and Five College Farm
Grain - Pizza Dough from A&J King
Special Treat - Brownie from A&J King

WHOLE SHARE 

Omnivore Protein - Chicken and Eggs from Feather Brook Farms; Sea Bass from Red's Best; Cider from Kimball Fruit Farm
Pescatarian Protein - Sea Bass and Albacore Tuna from Red's Best; Eggs from Feather Brook Farms; Cider from Kimball Fruit Farm
Vegetarian Proteins - Sujuk (an Armenian Style "Sausage") from Littleburg and Eggs from Feather Brook Farms; Cider from Kimball Fruit Farm; Chickpea Patties from Mandarava Kitchen
Paleo Proteins -  Chicken and Eggs from Feather Brook Farms​; Sea Bass from Red's Best
Fruits and Veggies - Greens from Queen's Greens;  Beets, Spinach and Onions from Brookford Farm;  Tomatoes from Long Wind Farm and Five College Farm; Apples from Kimball Fruit Farm
Grain - Pizza Dough from A&J King
Special Treat - Brownie and Palmiers from A&J King

DOUBLE SHARE

Omnivore Protein - Chicken and Eggs from Feather Brook Farms; Sea Bass from Red's Best; Cider from Kimball Fruit Farm; Bacon from Brookford Farm; Muhammara from Magic Bites
Pescatarian Protein - Sea Bass, Scallops and Albacore Tuna from Red's Best; Eggs from Feather Brook Farms; Cider from Kimball Fruit Farm; Muhammara from Magic Bites
Vegetarian Proteins - Sujuk (an Armenian Style "Sausage") from Littleburg and Eggs from Feather Brook Farms; Cider from Kimball Fruit Farm; Chickpea Patties from Mandarava Kitchen; Tempeh from Rhapsody Foods; Muhammara from Magic Bites
Paleo Proteins - Chicken and Eggs from Feather Brook Farms​; Sea Bass from Red's Best; Bacon from Brookford Farm
Fruits and Veggies - Greens from Queen's Greens;  Beets, Spinach, Fennel and Onions from Brookford Farm;  Tomatoes from Long Wind Farm and Five College Farm; Apples from Kimball Fruit Farm; Sunchokes from Langwater Farm
Grain - Pizza Dough from A&J King; Tortilla Chips from Mi Nina
Special Treat - Brownie and Palmiers from A&J King

RECIPES

Caramelized Onions: Takes a bit of patience but it is awesome to have in your culinary quiver.

Caramelized Onion and Spinach Pizza: This also calls for bacon. Go for it. Or skip. Or cut up some of the sausage from Littleburg

Cider Braised Chicken: This one is from the NYT. If you are not a subscribed, another version can be found here.