Enjoy our fennel, as it has a very short season. Now is the time to dry what you can’t use. Either lay out on your kitchen counter, or tie a piece of twine around the end and attach to anything in the kitchen (even a nail) that will allow it to hang to dry. Once dry, crumble into an air tight container for later use.

* Toss fresh or dried fennel on the barbeque to infuse its light, sweet taste to veggies, chicken or fish.
* Add fresh or dried to salads, dips and dressings
* Use in omelettes!
* Dry and use as a stomach settling tea, either alone or combined with mint, dried citrus peels, etc. Consider stevia as a tea sweetener.

Click on image to enlarge for easier reading.

Most of our mulberry trees are too young to produce much, so there’s not a lot of fruit to go around this year. But all larges this week received a small taste of a mix of our three varieties. Two are Pakistani and one is Himylayan, which looks more like a blackberry. You’ll note that the Pakistani fruit is sometimes less dark, indeed there’s an occassional ripe piece of fruit that is closer to white. The coloration of the fruit is much less uniform than, say, blackberries. There IS a mulberry that is ALL white, but it didn’t pass the taste test here; just too sweet and poorly nuanced. My favorite is the Pakistani, either one of the two kinds we grow has its fine points. The smaller, finer version has a sharper taste and aroma, and the fuller version is juicier and sweeter. I love them both. We have added a whole grove of mulberries, and expect to be in real production, this time next year. Can’t wait!

We had a sprout room failure between Tuesday and Wednesday morning. The thermastat stuck and heated the sprout room up to high and the entire room of sprouts failed overnight. So, Tuesday boxes received our amazing sprouts, Wednesday’s didn’t. Sorry!

Quick tip from Julie Janseen:
“I like to clean my lettuce as soon as I get it and have it all ready to eat so that making salads daily is quick and easy. The problem I encountered was drying it off–there is too much for a salad spinner and it is time consuming and wasteful to use paper towels – I am now putting my clean, wet leaves in a mesh laundry bag (Like what you would use for lingerie) and taking it outside and swinging it around until all the water comes off”” Not sure if others will find this helpful, but I thought I wouls share just in case.”

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp butter
6 green onions
2 Tbsp California Olive Oil
1.5-2 pounds parsnips, peel and chopped
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups chicken stock or vegetarian alternative
2 cups water
2 cups cilantro
1 Tbsp lime juice
3 crushed garlic cloves
dash of hot sauce

Heat butter, add chopped green onions, cook until soft. Add parsnips and olive oil; salt. Add stock and water. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for at least 30 minutes. Add cilantro, garlic, hot sauce and puree in a Cuisinart or similar mixer until smooth. Serve. Garnish with freshly ground pepper, a little cilantro or a tiny sprig of rosemary

The thing about parsnips, is they can be used almost like potatoes. They are a tiny bit more fibrous than your typical potato, and certainly more flavorful. I couldn’t enjoy a potato without salt and butter, but the parsnip comes with its own flavor package and can be enjoyed without added salt or fat! Try parsnips and you’ll be hooked!

I used many of the items from our large CSA box this week in this quick concoction. Peel the parsnips, and cut into pieces. They take the longest to cook, so I put them in the stir fry pan first, with the smallest amount of olive oil to prevent sticking. I add crushed garlic, pepper and a dash of hot sauce. Then I dd everything else; the green onion, celery (oops, captured this photo before the celery was in the pan) baby carrots. I toss a sprig of rosemary in towards the end so the rosemary flavor is there, but not overpowering.

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What’s new this week are parsnips! Somewhat like potatoes in their versatility, we’ve included a few ideas this week to enjoy these winter root veggies, see above.

Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon of White Sugar
1 Cup warm water
1 .25 ounce package active dry yeast
1 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons softened butter
2 Tablespoons of finely chopped rosemary
Teaspoon total of mixed seasonings (pepper, oregano, dried garlic, parsley, etc.)
3 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon California Olive Oil (as always—I recommend Temecula Olive Oil’s amazing freshly pressed oils)
1 egg
dozen or so large green olives, cut lengthwise

Directions: Dissolve the sugar in warm water in a medium bowl, and mix in the yeast. When yeast is bubbly, mix in salt, butter, 1 tablespoon rosemary, and your customed teaspoon of mixed seasoning. Mix in 2 cups flour. Gradually add remaining flour to form a workable dough, and knead 10 to 12 minutes.

Coat the inside of a large bowl with olive oil. Place dough in bowl, cover, and allow to rise 1 hour in a warm location.

Punch down dough, and divide in half. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Lightly grease paper. Shape dough into 2 round loaves, and place on the baking sheet. Sprinkle with remaining rosemary. Cover, and allow to rise 1 hour, or until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

Brush loaves with egg. Press halved olives into loaf. Bake 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.

Adapted from Allrecipes.com