Blankity Blank : Pushcart Nom + Pie

Hi, family and friends! I don't know who is actually still reading these posts, but if you are, that's really sweet of you. There's been a lot going on around here, lately. After a week of super long (like, seventeen hour) workdays and extra commutes to and from Indy, Keith was in need of some good news. That good news came in the form of a Pushcart nomination!

November sunrise

I, on the other hand, have been suffering from severe writer's block. I think this is due in some part to a class I'm taking this semester called "Writing the Earth." The class, taught by Ross Gay (my mentor and one of the most wonderful people in existence), has been, at turns, incredibly empowering and totally paralyzing. It has completely opened my eyes to the depth and severity of the damage we've done to our world. It has also challenged me to face this mess with an active hope.

While I wait out this writer's block, I've been trying to keep busy with other things. So, when I'm not in the office, I've been listening this podcast, reading a lot about agriculture, farming, deep ecology, and environmental stewardship, and trying to incorporate more sustainable practices in our day-to-day lives.

Having the CSA has been a great way to eat locally and in season.

Keith and Joe Betz picking up our CSA

The CSA has also been challenging us to learn to cook different kinds of things.

Turnips, for example, were uncharted territory for us. What do you do with twenty of them?

After tasting one just steamed and finding it to be pretty bland, I was inspired by a recipe I read online.

So I boiled them together with the bag of red skin potatoes we also got in our CSA haul...

...and then added some onion and garlic and rosemary from Keith's rosemary plant (which has potential to be our Christmas tree this year) and smashed them all together. It turned out to be not bad at all.