Refrigerator organization and another Cherry Grove pickup

When last I left off, I was preparing for the holiday weekend. I did manage to make the planned pasta salad for Saturday lunch/dinner. I used all the broccoli, minus 1 stalk, and most of the basil in the sundried tomato vinigraitte. But no green salad was made that day, and because of our scheduling miscalculations, we arrived late at the gathering and went home with nearly all of the pasta salad.

Luckily, on Sunday we had extra mouths to feed. Sunday brunch:

We had 2 kinds of coffee. Andrew came with his own bag of Small World Rocket Blend, a Melitta drip cone, and filters. Matt had a Stumptown Guatemalan Bourbon varietal, which he usually makes in a french press. They dueled, and the Small World Rocket Blend won. Everyone agreed that the Stumptown had a much better and more complex aroma, but that the Rocket Blend had nice body and mouth-feel. Next we should try brewing the coffee in the drip cone and the french press and decide which is better.

Beignets. This time, they were really good. Fatter, more doughy.

Leftover pasta salad and a quickly-made tofu scramble, with carrots, cabbage, kale, fresh herbs.

Strawberries.

On Monday, I made a pot of Rancho Gordo vaquita beans, and some creamy salad dressing which used up the rest of the basil, plus chives and oregano from the porch containers. I washed and dried a whole lot of salad greens.

I suggested some dinner ideas to Matt. He made Monday dinner:
Big mixed green salad with red and green leaf lettuce, arugula, and radishes.
Tuscan Ribolitta with the vaquita beans and celery, carrots, cabbage, and chard.
Great dinner. I brought home some bent spoon mango and coconut sorbet for dessert.

I have a strategy for dealing with all of this food in our refrigerator. Organization is a key part of the strategy. Unfortunately, Matt is not privy to the workings of this system (also, is uninterested) and does not usually put things back precisely where he found them.

So on Tuesday, I discovered some squished and blackening salad mix, and semi-frozen, semi-wilted arugula in the refrigerator. I had to throw out the salad mix and the frozen part of the arugula. And we got more food.

Tuesday score from Cherry Grove Farm (Week 5 or 6?):
1 bunch beets
1 large bunch basil
1 large bunch lacinato kale
1 large bunch toscano kale
1 bunch carrots (can't wait to eat these)
1 head garlic
2 heads green cabbage
2 heads escarole
2 heads lettuce (1 red, 1 green)
8 cucumbers
4 pounds broccoli
1/2 pound of salad mix

PYO: 30 stems flowers, including black-eyed susans, yarrow, agastache (I think), and 2 snapdragons. Small bunch of parsley, a little thyme and mint.

Immediately, I thought of making vegetable juice the next morning. Hours later, I remembered that one of the juicer pieces has a crack in it, a bad one. Have determined to duct tape it.

At home, we still had 2 giant heads of escarole and some radishes, 1 stalk of broccoli, and the arugula left over. There was no way I could fit the rest of this food in there. So I gave two heads of escarole, a couple of broccoli stalks, 2 cucumbers, and a cabbage to Michele. Then I finessed the rest into the fridge. I also made 2 small batches of basil pesto -- 1 with the farm basil, and 1 with the porch basil. The porch pesto went into the freezer. I then washed and dried some of the arugula, a few stray lettuce leaves from last week, and most of the new salad mix.

Tuesday dinner:
A big, big salad of greens, radish and cucumber with leftover creamy herb dressing.
My version of Francis Lam's koshary. I use brown basmati rice, Rancho Gordo beans, and whole wheat elbows, instead of white rice, lentils, and presumably white pasta. I think my way must be better.

Wednesday dinner:
Matt made another big salad with radishes and cucumbers and carrots and leftover dressing.
And whole wheat spaghettini with the farm pesto, broccoli, red onions, and yellow squash.

For Thursday, we need a portable dinner. We are planning to picnic and hear some music.