A slight breeze means FALL is coming here in TX!

I wrote this post right after Labor day but couldn't actually publish it when I was melting from the intense heat! Today had a great slight breeze that I enjoyed waiting in the Bountiful Basket pickup line; how can I deny that fall is coming after today. Enjoy the post even if it's been a week or so in the making.

Labor Day has come and gone and that also means the summer has slipped away quietly into the night. What does that mean for our basket loving community….thankfully nothing at all!

What we know is that in season produce tends to be more abundant and readily available, making them prime candidates for the Bountiful Baskets crew to acquire for our baskets. I like all members have no idea what to expect in the basket each week, but I do like to get an idea of what types of produce are in season. We all attribute fall with apples and pumpkins, but what else can we expect or hope to see in our baskets in the fall season.

I must admit that I turned to the internet to come up with this list, you can view the complete list here.  I must say that I stumbled on this site, but I am really loving that all the nutrition information and a really good picture is provided, this helps with the wildcard items (things that I have no clue what they are) that show up in the basket each week. I also used this list here to come up with my compilation; I typically like to go to a major source (thank you college literature teachers for making my paranoid about trusting information on the internet) but I really liked this list and the blurb about each item as it is a little friendlier. As you look over the list remember that we are very fortunate to be able to get a lot of traditionally fall items year round, but they are traditionally a fall item…think apples here. Ready here goes fall produce at it’s best:

 

Apples: We are lucky enough to have these in abundance year round that it is easy to forget that fall is their time to shine.

Asian Pear: We have already been seeing and loving these the last few weeks.

Artichokes

Beets: I usually give these away when they make their appearance in the juice packs, but I saw that you can cook and puree and add them into baking items. Now I am sad that I have given them away all this time.

Broccoli: We saw case offerings early in the summer which filled my freezer full of vacuum sealed blanched broccoli, but sweeter broccoli is coming in the cooler weather.

Brussel Sprouts: You can love or not love these and we are on the not love side. I still see the limp slimy attempt my mother made at cooking these and am completely on the not love side and willingly trade them with my super sweet neighbor who introduced me to Bountiful Baskets.

Cabbage: This was once on the not love side of the fence but then during one of our lettuce emergency weeks I saw the head at the back of my produce drawer and shredded it up into our salad. Once the mustard dressing I made was on it no one knew better, well if they did they didn’t say anything!

Cauliflower: Super excited to see the case offering last week, and the appearance in the last few baskets

Carrots: I am hoping these are a case offering again soon, I got 25 lbs earlier this spring and shredded them all and now regret not making slices for stews and carrot sticks.

Crab Apples: I haven’t even thought of these since moving from up north where the largest crab apple tree grew in the neighbor’s front yard when I was very young.

Cranberries: Give the cans a pass by this year and join me in hoping these make an appearance in the baskets this fall.

Celery: Celery is a great addition to juicing or to your freezer for easy stew additions, but this summer had some of the sharpest a.k.a. bitter tasting celery that I can remember. I am excited to taste it in the winter stews but don’t love the sharpness in my celery sticks. I am hoping that the cool weather mellows this out and I can get some sweet celery and maybe artichokes at the same time for some artichoke dip!

Chards, including Swiss Chard: This is a good friend of mine’s and fellow basketeer’s  favorite new item that Bountiful Baskets introduced his family to; also sweeter in cooler weather

Chiles: We have already been seeing the amazing Hatch Chiles in our baskets!

Edamame: I see this just as a fancy way of saying soybeans and I grew up with soybean fields but can’t say that I have ever eaten any!

Figs: Definitely something that I would like to try but don’t know anything about unless they are in those semi yummy newton cookies.

Garlic: Make sure you store your garlic properly for longevity….learn from my bad experience do not store it with measuring cups in a canister on your counter as it will sprout and grow. Lesson not learned as I type this I recall tossing it back in there after getting some while cooking dinner last night.

Ginger: Perfect timing for cold season. Grated Ginger and honey in hot water is a throat soother at my house. Before giving this to children make sure your pediatrician is on board with it, mine thankfully is fully supportive of it for mild colds.

Grapes: Is there ever a time when grapes aren’t a treat, but they are sweetest in the Fall.

Guava

Green Beans: The addition of these into the basket this morning was a nice surprise and another sign that Fall is upon us.

Green Onions/Scallions: This is another Fall favorite that made it's appearance.

Herbs: I am hoping for some more Herb pack add ons as we saw at the beginning of the growing season. I made herb cubes with coconut oil (these are long gone) and dried some in my pantry which are very sparse these days.

Jalapeno Peppers: This is so abundant in our area that it’s hard to remember that there is actually a season that they are abundant.

Kale: I have a love hate relationship with Kale and it really depends on the day and the sweetness, but the good news is the cooler weather supposedly keeps it sweet.

Kohlrabi: This hasn’t graced my table ever in the South so I am hoping it makes an appearance.

Kumquats

Leeks

Lettuces: Much like Kale cooler weather keeps this sweet, so maybe my family will eat it without drowning it in dressing.

Muscadine Grapes: I wanted these separate from the grapes so I could tell you that until recently I thought these were a made up fruit, but apparently we grew some when I was growing up; I remember the semi failed attempt at growing grapes in the North but that is about it.

Mushrooms: How can you not love these even if they are a cool weather loving fungus.

Okra: I have been drooling for a long time over all the pictures of homegrown okra, but alas I have a black thumb and can not seem to get anything to grow. Seriously I even make the plastic flowers lose petals in my house.

Parsnips

Passion Fruit

Pear: This gal is very sad that I passed on the case offering a few weeks ago and there hasn't been another case offering of pears since.

Pomegranates: I am super hopeful that we see these so I can see if the fresh ones are better than the frozen ones I buy to add to our fruit salad.

Persimmons

Pumpkin: Who thinks fall without these, but remember these aren’t just for decorating. I love pumpkin seeds year round and have been missing pumpkin butter since January!

Quince: This is a wild card but is on both lists and supposedly makes great jellies and desserts….hello dessert! I will add this to my list of items I hope we get.

Radicchio

Radishes: A great addition anytime we are lucky enough to get them.

Rutabagas: Think stews and definitely a crock staple….even though I tend to pass them by. I vow to use them in a crockin recipe should these appear in the basket.

Sunflower Kernels: Much like pumpkin seeds a much overlooked food item, I can’t see them being in the basket but wanted to include them on the list since this is so often overlooked as a great snack item.

Spinach: Much like the other green leafy veggies these are sweeter in the cooler months and are so versatile in so many recipes. Also very mild if you are beginning juicing!

Sweet Potatoes: Can you say bring on the case offering please! Great mashed with some cinnamon and butter (go lightly with butter if you must add it in to allow the sweet flavor to shine). I cook the sweet potatoes whole then scoop out the orange flesh and rough mash with a fork or pastry blender.

Turnips

Squash: We all love to use it as decorations, but try to step outside the box and give eating it a try once the Fall decorations have been put away.

Zucchini: Some amazing zucchini has been in the basket the past few weeks! Once I thought that it was only good for zucchini bread; but just this past week I shredded it lengthwise, sautéed it with garlic and served it with a few meatballs…amazing is all I can say and my kids loved it!

I have to admit there are a lot of items on the list online that I have no clue what it is or what to do with it should it be in the basket, but that is the best part. We can choose to enjoy or not enjoy a new item when it appears without much work or planning.  

I hope you are as excited about Fall as I am....if not just think that at least we won't be melting out in the TX heat while enjoying some sunshine!

I picked up my basket now what.....

Each Friday the Bountiful Baskets Facebook page reminds us to clean out our refrigerators. If you are like me you are terrible at this until something smells funky because you know someday you will need that half of whatever is living at the very back of your fridge. I have been getting better about making neat rows where everything has a home and is always put back, but who am I kidding with kids I don’t think that neatly  labeled refrigerator will be a reality anytime soon…..really who has time for that. So what I do on Friday evening to prepare for pick up is to try to very ruthlessly go through the refrigerator. I say I try because this is worse than sitting in bumper to bumper traffic for me so I will hit the high spots, basically the produce drawers and middle shelves where things go to be forgotten and create a big mess…no it is a big stinky furry mess if it gets forgotten in this zone. Random things find this zone home including the half eaten apple I pulled out this morning, those baggies of partially used onions where you know you will use that other half but then forget and get a new onion the next time you need a little onion. I am sharing this to let you know I am far from perfect and it is ok if you have this same phenomenon in your fridge.

 I am also fortunate enough to have a garage refrigerator where I am able to temporarily store any case items that I add to my basket. This is why I say prior to contributing for a case item you need to be certain you have a plan as to how you are going to use whatever it is because there is nothing worse than having 2 cases of peaches and nowhere to store them until you have time to can or freeze them. I had to learn this lesson the hard way and want to prevent anyone else from having to learn it the hard way as well. I did get my peaches canned and are enjoying them immensely but tripping over 2 cases of peaches for almost a week while life happened was not exactly fun for me.

This holiday weekend was super busy for me so I did have to use my garage refrigerator to store my basket in my tote until late Sunday evening when I was finally able to get some time to go through it, wash everything, have a little snack, and put it away. So here it is fresh out of my garage refrigerator after having been in there for a little over 24 hours. I thought I was going to have to chain the door shut so I would be able to share these pictures with you!




I know it is super exciting to see the produce all mixed up in the tote, but how about a shot out of the tote!

Here it is the contents all nice and arranged on my table: 4 ears of corn, 7 Hatch chilies, 3 green peppers, 2 zucchini, 1 head of romaine, 1 organic broccolette, 4 peaches (only until after I snapped this pic then it was 3), 3 Asian pears, 7 bananas, and 1 amazing smelling cantaloupe.

My Usual Plan of Attack!

Once the basket is picked up and brought home my family will pick through getting what they like best and digging in while I attempt to create some semblance of order where everything gets washed, sorted, and put away.  Washing produce is extremely important before it goes into the fridge if your family is anything like mine because once it’s in the fridge the kids....possibly a slightly older phone chatting flip flop wearing momma....will pick through and get a few grapes, blueberries, and maybe a slice of cheese and not think about washing the produce before popping it in their mouth. So while everything is hectic I begin filling up the sink with cold water and then add a splash of vinegar. If you are the measuring type which I was at one time too, this is 10 parts water to 1 part vinegar. If you have city water you can also splash a little vinegar into your dishwasher prior to running to help keep your glasses clear, but I digress.

 

Unless I have a specific plan to assemble salad jars at a later time everything including salad greens goes into a vinegar wash to make sure it is nice and clean; many people say this also extends the life of delicate items but I cannot speak to that as delicate fruits don’t last long in my house. I have a wire mesh colander where I put the small fruits and rotate them into the water wash. Sometimes I am in a hurry and leave some of the fruits in for just a few minutes, but if you can let them sit in the water a little longer then look at the film on the top of the water it is an eye opening experience to say the least. Also this will help any greens that the TX heat got to perk right backup……man now I know why the stores have those annoying misters that come on right as soon as I go to grab something.

I do like to let the produce dry a little prior to putting it in the fridge so I let it air dry on the counter or if I am in a huge hurry will shake the excess water off and call it a day. Both methods work extremely well and the road doesn’t matter if the end result is the same.

 

Because the peaches are so amazing I just couldn't help but immediately eat one....even before really soaking it...just a quick dunk and rinsed under running water. I will leave you with the amazing close up of all 4 of them together!

Once I have washed everything I know the kids….um or myself…can graze standing in front of the refrigerator with the door open and everything is mostly clean of all the things I imagine collect on produce as it travels from the fields and orchards to my kitchen.

Monday may be a holiday, but if you don't mind traveling into Fort Worth contributions open at noon and I know I will be traveling into Fort Worth bright and early Saturday morning!