I'm not a perfect locavore in any way. I try to buy local, in-season produce, but then sometimes I find myself with a pineapple, or a banana, or a mid-winter red pepper. But I try pretty hard. In the warmer part of the year, I get the majority of my food from a CSA and a farm market, and in the cooler part of the year, I rely on a buying club and can get almost everything I need from local folks. Don't look too hard in my fridge at the pickles or the worcestershire.

There are huge advantages to eating this way. You can get to know the producers. You understand what you're eating. You help the local economy. Your food is fresher. You get more variety, year round.

One of the tiny drawbacks, however, faces me every time I go to use an egg. I get my eggs from my CSA right now, and when that's over I'll get them from another fairly local farm. That means that my eggs aren't always sold in new cartons that are clearly labeled with the date. So sometimes, eggs are a gamble. Did we get those eggs two weeks ago, or was it the week before that? Which of the two cartons in the fridge is newer

This is a big deal because I'm a bit of a wimp when it comes to spoiled food, and I really don't want to open up a bad egg. REALLY don't want to. I'm the kind of girl who cuts my apples with a knife to get an advance peek and avoid surprises. So eggs can get me all anxious and sweaty, especially when I lose track of the date.

But even with a date, eggs can last way longer than what's stamped on the side of the carton. And we throw out way too much food, both as a society and in my own kitchen.

It was many months ago - really, it was early spring - when I was cooking with a friend and asked her to crack the eggs and told her why. She's not nearly as easily rattled as I am, so I thought she could handle it better. She looked at me, surprised, and said, "Don't you know how to test an egg?"

Nope. I had no idea how to test an egg. She pulled a drinking glass out of my cabinet, filled it with water and slowly dropped an egg in. It sunk to the bottom and she declared it safe to eat. Eggs that float, apparently, have begun to create gas inside the shell and are spoiling. I wasn't sure I should believe her - especially since all my eggs sunk - so I Googled. And this is a known trick. So I'm not sharing anything new here, just new to me.

I planned to write about it and tell you all - but I had one big problem... all my eggs sat at the bottom of my drinking glasses, fresh and gas-less. I had no example of the other outcome to share. My eggs were lasting forever in the fridge. Two seasons later, I have good news: one of my eggs spoiled! Yay, a rotten egg!

 This tip is cross-posted at Saturday’s Mouse, where I’m working on making food out of food.

This year I am going to plant some bulbs for spring.  I didn't do this last year because all my planting spaces were filled up with vegetables.  I did it the year before, though, and it was very nice to look out in the early spring and see little flowers coming up through the winter drab.

my daffodils two springs ago

It's still too early for bulb planting - you need to wait until around the first frost or later.  Two years ago I actually planted my bulbs in January (shhhh) and they still came up nicely a few months later.  You just don't want to plant them while it's still warm out because the bulbs will start to grow and then the frost will kill them.  And you don't want to plant when the ground is frozen solid because...I think you all can figure that one out.  But you do need to let them winter over underground and then they will start growing when the weather turns warmer in the spring.

Although daffodils and tulips seem to be the most prevalent bulbs out there, you could also choose to plant only bulbs of plants that sound like something four year old Sarah, who only wore pink, would make up:  snowdrops, snowflakes, starflowers... So this time I'm going for a mix, with daffodils (all yellow only, none of this yellow and white or orange crap), crocuses, snowflakes, starflowers, blue squill and some winter aconite.  And I think that's about all I'll have room for, unless I find some of these giant snowdrops, Galanthus elwesii, and then I will find a way to fit those in.

Member-Owner Wednesday - Soup Swap Wednesday, November 7, 6:30-9:30pm. Home of a Board Member at 12th and Dickinson Crisp fall weather is on its way so we’re kicking things off with a good old fashioned soup swap! Bring homemade soup, and go home with quarts of new soup and the recipes. Only 20 spots available for the swap, but friends are welcome to come, hang out, and watch the swap in action. Click here for swap details, rules, and to RSVP.

Member-Owner Wednesday - Food Day celebration Wednesday, October 24, 6-9pm American Sardine Bar, 1800 Federal Street Food Day is a nationwide celebration and a movement for healthy, affordable, and sustainable food. We'll celebrate by gathering with fellow South Philly Food Co-op member-owners and supporters to share a drink and learn about worm bins, aka vermicomposting. This is part of our monthly Member-Owner Wednesday program. Dana Mitchell will lead a workshop on how to start your own worm bin, and one lucky winner will take home the starter kit! You can create a mini-worm bin yourself - just bring a large glass jar and RSVP to Create Your Own Compost so we have enough supplies for you. The entire event is free to attend, and American Sardine Bar will provide a drink special just for our group. To learn more about Food Day, and the hundreds of events happening around the country that day, visit www.foodday.org RSVP online.

Bike Ride to Bartram's for The Switched-On Garden Sunday, October 14, 2pm Bike with fellow Food Co-op Member-owners and supporters to Bartram's Garden. Our trip coincides with Data Garden's event "The Switched-ON Garden 002," an opportunity to wander Bartram’s Garden and connect with their natural environment through live music, performance and sculpture. This afternoon is free and open to the public. If you'd like to bike with us, meet at the Passyunk Fountain at 2pm. The bike ride is about 8.5 miles. We'll return at dusk. If you'd prefer to drive, meet us at Bartram's around 3pm. RSVP online.

State of Young Philly DIY event Thursday, October 11, 5:30-8pm Kimmel Center, 300 South Broad Street The DIY event celebrates the revival of Do-It-Yourself in Philadelphia and aims to increase sustainability on the individual level. The Co-op will be included with several other and stations where participants can learn to make or do something using easy-to-find or reusable resources and their own labor and expertise. Free to attend! RSVP online.

I will make this short and sweet:  it's October and the peppers are turning yellow!

peppers

Two thoughts:

1.  Some of them are very small, like the size of my fingertip.

2.  I don't even like peppers.

It's pasta salad, without the pasta. You could call it Low Carb Pasta Salad, if you were a carb-driven sort of person or you could call it All Vegetable Pasta Salad, if you were a vegetable-driven person, or you could stop lying to yourself about the pasta and just call it salad. You're in charge here.

First, do up a spaghetti squash. Slice it in half longways, then into the oven at 400 for about 40 minutes. Then leave the kitchen because it's warm in there and you don't want to spend this time cooking. Take the squash out, let it cool until you can handle it (5 mins?) and scoop out the seeds. I use my melon baller for this, because I like to make sure my melon baller keeps busy and isn't just waiting around for melon. That'd be a waste of space.

Then with a fork, shred the squash. It falls apart into "spaghetti" pretty easily. Put the spaghetti in a bowl.

Next, I just chopped up some veg and called it a salad. A bell pepper. I had little sweet peppers but either way.

Some pickled jalepeño. Fresh is great too, but I pickled all of mine.

Some unphotographed onion and some tomatoes. I had cherries, so I cut them in half, but chopped tomato would be great too.

All into a bowl.

Plus black beans, which should be pre-cooked, defrosted or canned. I used two cups.

The cheese is optional and honestly, didn't really change much about the dish so don't feel like you'll be missing some key flavor if you skip the cheese and call this dish vegan. I used some cheese curds we got from Greensgrow, but queso fresco would be great here, or cotija.

Crumble that cheese on top, if you so choose. Toss it together and all you need is a dressing. I went with honey lime vinaigrette.

I started with a good jar that sealed well, added a quarter cup each of red wine vinegar and safflower oil, a tablespoon each of honey and lime juice (use real lime if you have it), a pinch (1/8 teaspoon?) salt, and a bit (1/4 teaspoon?) of both cumin and ground chile pepper. I used these Aleppo peppers - they're not quite as hot as cayenne, but cayenne works too.

Drizzle overtop and toss.

Chill and serve cold.

This recipe is cross-posted at Saturday’s Mouse, where I’m working on making food out of food.

 

Spaghetti Squash and Black Bean Salad

Ingredients

• 1 spaghetti squash


• 2 cups black beans, cooked or canned


• 1 cup bell pepper, chopped


• 1/4 cup onion, chopped


• 1-2 tablespoons jalepenos, diced


• 3 ounces mild cheese, crumbled (optional)


• 1 cup tomatoes, chopped


• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar


• 1/4 cup safflower oil (or other mild oil)


• 1 tablespoon honey


• 1 tablespoon lime juice (fresh is best)


• pinch salt


• 1/4 teaspoon cumin


• 1/4 teaspoon chile pepper

Instructions

Bake the squash, let it cool and string it with a fork. Toss squash with other veg.Add dressing ingredients to a jar and shake until well combined. Drizzle over salad and toss. Chill and serve cold.

• Prep time: 10 minutes


• Cook time: 40 minutes


• Total time: 50 minutes

Yield: 4 servings

Calling all members and volunteers! Check out three ways you can help the South Philly Food Co-op this fall, from setting up pizza to becoming a project manager:

Volunteer at the Fall General Membership Meeting

We're looking for a few volunteers to help with the upcoming Membership Meeting. Get a crack at the pizza when it's freshest by arriving early and helping out. Email us at [email protected] if you can help out with any of the following.

When: Thursday, October 25th
Where: EOM Athletic Association in Pennsport (on Moore Street between Front and Second; see map for directions)
What:

• • 1-2 volunteers to greet and direct members to the meeting room (needed at 5:45)

 

• • 2 volunteers to help set up pizza and drink table (needed at 5:30)

 

• • 1 volunteer to hang large post-its for people to write questions on (needed at 5:30)

 

• • 1 volunteer to photograph (needed at 5:45)

 

• • 1 volunteer to videotape (needed at 5:45)

If you're interested in becoming involved with the Co-op but can't help with this event then please consider the following opportunities:

Join the Membership Committee

Eager to see the Co-op open? Consider joining the Membership Committee. While all of the Co-op committees are integral to the success of the Co-op, it is our member-owners that make the Co-op possible. The main responsibility of the Membership Committee is to oversee member recruitment, engagement and training. The committee meets once a month and we're looking for people to help us reach our next milestone of 400 members. Whether you have new and creative ideas for recruiting member-owners, suggestions for the member-owner orientation or want to help with record-keeping and other behind-the-scenes work, please email [email protected] to get involved. This is your Co-op — get in touch to see how you can help make it happen!

Become a Project Manager for the Speakers Bureau

We are looking for someone to help us coordinate outreach to community groups. We have the established a group of committee members willing to speak about the Co-op, and now we need an organized person willing to work with our "speakers" and match them to community organizations for outreach and member recruitment. Some of the tasks involved with the position include: 1) maintain a list of active speakers bureau members, 2) assign civic and other community meetings to speakers bureau members and follow up to make sure they are being scheduled, 3) identify opportunities for the co-op to make presentations to other groups (community groups, parents groups, community parks and gardens, churches, etc.), and 4) triage requests for co-op presentations as needed. Much of this work can be done by email/telephone and is about 2-4 hours of time per month during the fall/spring months.


Volunteering is a great way to help the Co-op advance its main goal of the moment: getting to 400 members! If you are currently a member-owner, volunteering at any of these events will count toward your household’s annual 8 hour volunteer commitment. For those who haven’t become members yet but are interested in volunteering, your hours are being tracked and will be applied to your account when you join.

***Become a member of the South Philly Food Co-op today!***

 

Tomato!

Since my tomatoes were a little, uh, delayed this year due to multiple moves, I hadn't had more than a few tomatoes at a time.  But there's always this time when they all come at once and friends, we have reached it.  I picked a lot of these while they were still green because in my experience tomatoes will either rot or be eaten by insects and animals before they have a chance to fully ripen outside.  I just set my green tomatoes someplace darkish - I don't bother with that wrapping in newspaper nonsense that I tried last winter - and leave them for about a week, checking every so often to make sure nothing's rotting.  Like so:

row of tomatoes

Those tomatoes above may be on a windowsill but they actually won't get any sun...confusing, I know.  Row houses!  I just don't have any real counters yet in my kitchen so the windowsill will have to do.  This is a little more than half my harvest because I gave away a big bag of them to a friend.  Someday I'll learn to can things and make up a big batch of tomato sauce to use throughout the year but since my stove is sitting in the middle of the living room this is not the year for that.  Also it feels selfish to keep three or four dozen tomatoes to myself:  my boyfriend and I love tomatoes but I don't think anyone can love tomatoes that much.

The red tomato in the row is a Dr. Walter and very prettily heart-shaped:

Dr. Walter, I presume...wait, I've already made that joke

Such a perfectly tomato-y tomato!  Unfortunately it tastes, well, gross.  I mentioned this before when I got my first Dr. Walter:  they're just kind of bitter.  I thought that first one might just be a fluke, but these new ones were grown in different soil (back when I had gazillions of gardens) so I think it's just the variety of tomato.  Everything I read said that they were good for markets because they were pretty and that part is true, but I really don't like the taste.  I think these will be turned in to sauce...

I leave you with an updated view of the bathtub in all its vegetable goodness.  Welcome, fall!

bathtub