C&C in the Kitchen

It's hard to believe that it's already August! Where has the summer gone? One of my favorite things about summer is all the fresh fruit and veggies.

We have been berry picking four times.

We make at least one stop a week at a farmer's market (sometimes two).

And every Monday we pick up our CSA box. What does CSA mean? "Community Supported (or shared) Agriculture." A CSA refers to a group of individuals who have pledged to support a local farm, with growers and members sharing the risks and benefits of food production. CSA members pay at the onset of the growing season for a share of the anticipated harvest; once harvesting begins, they receive weekly shares of vegetables and fruit...whatever is coming out of the ground.

Our CSA comes from Tumbleweed Farm in Parkdale, OR. Taylor and Andrea are quite possibly the coolest farmers ever!

Coolest and cutest! Andrea makes dirt look chic! 

You might be familiar with Andrea through her widely known blog, Dishing Up the Dirt.  Remember recently Katie share some of her favorite recipe sources? Andrea's site was on her list (post here)!

I can't tell you how much I look forward to Monday and opening our box of fresh vegetables and herbs that have been harvested from the ground that very morning. I'm like a child on Christmas morning.

Andrea and Taylor truly know the meaning of hard work. I'm pretty sure when the Mini Fashionista gets older I am going to send her up there to learn what it means to really "get your hands dirty!"

Earlier this week I used the cucumbers we received to make this amazing Chilled Cucumber-Tahini & Herb Soup with Cumin-Spiced Roasted Chickpeas that Andrea posted on her blog (recipe here). It was super easy and so delicious.

This is what her soup looked like. 

Mine wasn't quite as pretty, but I know it tasted just as good. 

I am hoping to make a trip to the farm with the Mini sometime very soon, so I will be sure to recap our experience when we do!