CSA week #15

Wild berries either blackberries or black raspberries.  Whatever they are, they grow all over our place and are everbearing so we love it!  And, back to lettuce season again.  Look at that nice fall mix.

Duck processing

After much deliberation, we decided to process the remaining male ducks we had left. We weren’t sure if we were going to keep one and mate it with the female so we could have little ducklings, but we found out that you need to have 6 females for one drake due to their sex drive. We had four males to one female, poor girl!

So last Sunday, we took them over to a friends house who is a chef so he could help us break them down into pieces and let us borrow his vaccuum sealer. We decided to keep the female because she was laying eggs and we enjoyed having her around. Then, Thursday we had plans to make a nice dinner for ourselves and relax, but we had just a few more things to do outside before we were done. So, we put the dogs out while we got ourselves ready to go outside.

Then we caught our husky with the duck in his mouth?!?! We saved poor Mrs. Duck for a reason, and it just seems ironic that we kept her purposefully, and then our dog was a cold blooded killer. I mean, she was wondering around looking for her pack, so maybe she went into his reach on purpose. Maybe they made a deal, like a suicide pact sort of thing. It was a very somber day here, but she did not die in vain. Instead of making our nice dinner and relaxing, we decided to process the meat that night which led to a quick sandwich for dinner at about 11:30 pm. What a change in our daily plans… RIP Mrs. Duck, you will be missed!

What’s included this week?

1. Butternut squash- can be stored through the winter should you not want to eat them now
2. Radishes
3. Lettuce mix
4. Peppers- hot and sweet
5. Carrots
6. Apples

Recipe of the Week

Butternut Squash Lasagna- it’s like pumpkin ravioli except much easier!

1 T olive oil

2-3 butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1 inch cubes***

Salt and pepper

½ cup water

¼ cup butter

1/3 cup all purpose flour

4 cups whole milk

pinch of nutmeg

12 no-boil lasagna noodles (one pkg)

2 ½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Heat oil in a heavy, large skillet over medium heat. Add the cubed squash and toss to coat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Pour the water into skillet, cover and simmer over med heat until squash is tender, about 20 mins. Transfer squash into a mixing bowl and mash, add water if necessary. Season squash with more salt and pepper.

Melt the butter in a med saucepan over med heat. Add flour and whisk for 1 minute. Gradually whisk in the milk. Bring to a low boil over med high heat. Reduce the heat to med and simmer until sauce thickens slightly, whisking often, about 5 minutes. (If you let it thicken too long, it will be too thick. Just add a little bit more liquid and take off heat.) Add the nutmeg. Season the sauce with salt and pepper to taste.

Preheat the over to 375 degrees F. Lightly butter a 13”x9”baking dish. Spread ¾ cup of the sauce over the prepared baking dish. Cover the bottom of pan with one layer lasagna noodles. Spread half of the squash puree over the noodles. Sprinkle with ½ cup mozzarella cheese. Drizzle with ½ cup sauce over the cheese. Repeat layering once more, finishing with a layer of noodles covered only by white sauce.

Tightly cover the baking dish with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Remove cover, sprinkle the remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses over the lasagna and continue baking until the sauce bubbles and the top is golden, about 15 minutes longer. Let the lasagna stand for 15 minutes before serving. Enjoy! This recipe feeds about 8 people, but can freeze for another dinner later should you have a smaller family.

Thank you for your support,

Gretel and Steve