Kasha - TheFarmGirlCooks

Author: Kasha

Field to Feast: The Busy Girl’s Guide to Canning Tomato Sauce

Posted on September 11, 2013March 5, 2018 by Kasha

Thomas went with us to market this weekend, as he does nearly every Saturday beginning in May and ending at Halloween. I was standing at my scale helping customers when a little hand, attached to a still-little-but-getting-bigger-quickly arm, reaches around me and starts fingering quarters in my coin tray. "Mom, can I have a dollar?" "Why do you need a dollar? <returning focus to customer> That's $8.25, please." "I want a pickle on a stick." <picking up small hand and squeezing gently until fingers release coins> "Well, if you want a dollar, go ask Grandma what you can do to...Read More

Field to Feast: Cherry Tomato and Brie Galette

Posted on August 29, 2013March 5, 2018 by Kasha

Easy make, easy eat. That's how I like it. Cherry Tomato and Brie Galette I don't have time for much else these days and I found myself buying Velveeta mac 'n' cheese cups and PopTarts (formerly known as Flood Food) to keep The Boy's belly full. After three microwaveable macaroni meals in as many days, Thomas has declared he won't be eating them again for a looooong time. He's so used to my homemade soups, meals, and snacks that it really ISN'T a treat to get store-bought, but sometimes my 9-year-old needs to experience what a lot of other kids...Read More

Field to Feast: Recipe Recap

Posted on August 15, 2013March 5, 2018 by Kasha

A recap of the seasons best recipes August is when the farm season heads into top gear at breakneck speed. Summer is in full swing, and with it a multitude of veggies are ready for harvest. By the end of the month, we'll have melons and early squashes ready, and customers will start asking for parsnips and Brussels sprouts. I realized that it was "that time of year" when Amy caught me at market last Saturday and asked, "when do things start to slow down?" "Thanksgiving." It dawned on me just what a long stretch of time that...Read More

Field to Feast: Genovese Basil

Posted on August 1, 2013March 7, 2018 by Kasha

It always amazes me how much produce we grow here on our 55 acres of Black Dirt. The sheer quantity is astounding. The veggies are all sold at farmers markets or through our CSA (community supported agriculture) programs. We also maintain numerous wholesale accounts. I realized the other day - when I was simply and utterly exhausted and barely had the energy to make my kid dinner - that I sort and/or stack about 85% of what leaves this farm. No WONDER I'm tired in the summer! It probably comes as no surprise to any of you that I'm ridiculously...Read More

Field to Feast: Fast & Easy Sweet Corn on the Cob

Posted on July 26, 2013March 8, 2018 by Kasha

The cooking method that has eliminated the hot mess that is summer corn on the cob. Many of you know I'm a fledgling photographer and I took the opportunity to join a local photography club a few months ago (thanks Kathleen!). I figured it would be great to learn the craft from those (FAR) more experienced than I. I never took into account the fact that you have to actually practice in order to learn and hone your skill and like anything else, if you don't use it, you lose it. That's kind of how I felt 2 weeks ago when...Read More

Field to Feast: Dill and Garlic Scapes

Posted on July 10, 2013March 8, 2018 by Kasha

Dill and Garlic Scapes It's the second week of July (yes, this is how long it's taken me to write this post) and we just held our sixth annual farm tour here in sunny, humid and oppressively hot Orange County. Ordinarily we would be setting up at our local farmers' market every Friday from Memorial Day through Halloween, but there is a special event in our town that is held each July 4th weekend, the preparations for which have forced our market's closing for the last six years. A typical farm summer doesn't allow us the luxury of a day...Read More

Field to Feast: Strawberries and Rhubarb… The Day After

Posted on June 30, 2013March 8, 2018 by Kasha

This pic pretty much sums up my absolute favorite way to use the strawberry-rhubarb sauce recipe which I posted earlier in the week. Well, other than just eating it with a spoon, that is. The full-fat ice cream, whipped cream and vanilla spongecake are outrageously decadent and surprisingly light! You cannot BELIEVE how much of this you can pack away before you even realize you're full! It all started with my grandmother, Babci Sophie. Babci was an excellent cook - not a professional chef, but very skilled nonetheless - and it was fairly common for her to bake a cake for her...Read More

Field to Feast: Strawberries and Rhubarb

Posted on June 25, 2013March 8, 2018 by Kasha

We plant about 500-750 new strawberry plants each year in addition to transplanting daughter plants and maintaining the previous year's mothers. These new 'bare root' plants come from a supplier in what looks like a box of tangled, dirty never-gonna-grow roots. With careful planting - the roots below the surface of a plastic-mulch-covered raised bed of soil, the crown just above - the plants will take hold, and begin to produce flowers in 4-6 weeks. That doesn't mean we'll get berries at that point. In fact, and this probably goes against instinct, but we actually pluck off the first set...Read More

It was the best of times… (Field to Feast: Spinach)

Posted on June 17, 2013March 8, 2018 by Kasha

It was the worst of times. Yeah, Mr. Dickens was right. I kinda want to punch him. But that's not going to stop the rain from falling. We had over 8 inches of rain fall in a week's time here at the farm. Perhaps you can imagine our poor little plants standing in puddles and mud for days and days. Perhaps you can't, so I'll show you. It hasn't rained here in 4 days and for that we are thankful. But the effects of such weather are long-lasting. The cucumbers that we planted a month ago probably won't be producing...Read More

Field to Feast: Green Garlic and Asparagus

Posted on June 3, 2013March 8, 2018 by Kasha

Welcome to my very first "Field to Feast" post! I hope you will enjoy the recipes and photos that Amy Roth of Minimally Invasive and I (Kasha Bialas of The FarmGirl Cooks) have in store for you this season. Our goal is to provide our readers with plenty of ideas and recipes in which local seasonal produce can star. We've learned over the years that some produce items, while delicious and absolutely edible, are completely unavailable in stores. One of those items is green spring garlic. Green garlic is just what the name implies - it's the green, very young...Read More