That gnarly beauty pictured above is celery root, or celeriac, the one we promised you in an earlier newsletter. It's a farm favorite. It has a mild celery flavor, and once cooked it turns tender like a potato. Don't let the rough exterior scare you off. Just slice away the knobby outer skin with a sharp knife to reveal the creamy flesh inside. From there, cube it into a soup, mash it alongside potatoes, or make it the star of a gratin.
Fall is a season of contrasts, and the kitchen is a fun place to play with them. Sweet honeynut squash balances spicy seasoning beautifully, and it makes an amazing addition to a warm pot of chili. Apple and pear galettes make an easy weeknight dessert (and who says they can't be breakfast?). Around here, we joke that our favorite grapes are the ones we freeze in the fall and snack on during hot June harvest days in the field.
Over the years, CSA members have told us that there is a secret beauty to Fall CSA Shares. That is, just when the summer abundance starts to feel overwhelming, the fall harvest arrives, and it keeps for winter! Winter squash will store for months somewhere cool and dry. Once you remove their greens, roots will last for months in your crisper drawer. Garlic and onions will hold well into the winter holidays. Iowa State Extension has a helpful guide to storing winter vegetables.
We hope you enjoy these final fruits of the season from our farm and our partner farmers. The weather has continued to challenge and test all of us. Some crops we hoped to share didn't make it through the heavy rains and our clay-based soils. Luckily, local eating is a web of cooperation and collaboration. That web makes our local food system resilient, whatever weather brings to our Illinois farm or our partner's farms in the region.
So take time in your kitchen to savor or preserve the flavors of a Midwest fall. They're not to be missed!
