Thanks to everyone who came out to share a lovely evening at the farm with us on Saturday. A good time was had by all. I will print here for you a recipe for the chocolate beet cupcakes which were one of the finer points of the potluck. The recipe is from the Moosewood Dessert Cookbook, but altered some by one of our friends. Lately there has been a rash of beet cupcakes of different recipes and I have been making a carrot cake almost every day. The weather turns a bit chill and we all crank up the ovens to make ourselves feel better about it. It will be another week or two before you find beets in the box, but you can hang on to the recipe until then.
This week’s kale variety is a product of plant breeder Frank Morton’s work to cross Lacinato with Redbor, to get everything we love about lacinato plus some pretty reds and purples in the stems.

Marnie’s Red Devil Cupcakes
3 1/2 cups flour (1 1/2 white, 1 whole wheat, 1 oat/flax/germ)
1 1/2 cup cocoa (sifted) 6 eggs
1 Tbsp baking soda 1 tsp salt
2 cup sugar 1 tbsp vanilla
1 cup oil 2 1/2 cups cooked pureed beets
Mix butter and sugar. Add vanilla, salt, whisked eggs and beets. Sift together flours, cocoa and baking soda. Mix dry into wet. Batter will be plenty thick. Bake at 350 for 8-12 minutes.

Another nice recipe from The New Moosewood Cookbook:
Carrot-Mushroom Loaf (Casserole)
2 cups minced onion 3-4 medium cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp butter 1 1/2 lbs. Carrots, grated (about 6 cups)
1 lb. Mushrooms, chopped 2 cups superb bread crumbs
1 1/2 tsp. Salt 1 cup (packed) grated cheddar
1 tsp. Basil 2 eggs beaten
1 tsp thyme black pepper, to taste
1 tsp dill optional toppings: extra dill, cheese, sesame seeds

Lightly oil a 9x 13 inch baking pan. Preheat oven to 350. In a large skillet, saute onions in butter over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add mushrooms, salt, herbs, and garlic, and continue to saute for about 10 more minutes. In a large bowl, combine carrots, bread crumbs, cheese, eggs, and pepper. Add the sautéed mixture and mix well. Spread into the prepared pan and sprinkle with your choice of toppings. Cover the pan with foil. Bake for 30 minutes covered, then uncover and bake 15 minutes more. Serve hot or warm. Once baked, this casserole can be frozen. It reheats beautifully. The trick to making superb bread crumbs is to use superb bread.

Purple Majesty potatoes are firm and sweet and keep their color when baked or roasted best. They will fade a bit if boiled, but remain a lovely lavender shade. They make a great potato salad.

Nutritionally, Kale is vastly superior to most vegetables. It is very rich in vitamin A, C, and the mineral calcium. B vitamins and other minerals are also in excellent supply. Kale is also the highest in protein content of all the cultivated vegetables.

Cream of Celery Soup from the Joy of Cooking
1 tbsp butter 2 cups milk, divided
1 cup or more chopped celery with leaves
1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
1/3 cup thin onion slices
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock


My new favorite way to eat Kale, is steamed, then tossed with a spoonful or capful each, of tamari soy sauce, vinegar, and red chili sauce. The spicy aspect makes me want to eat more and more and more. And, friends, if there is one thing in this world that we really ought to be eating more of, that thing is KALE!!

Melt butter in saucepan, add celery and onion, and saute 2 minutes. Add stock; simmer 10 minutes. Strain or puree soup. Return to heat, add 1 1/2 cups of the milk and bring to boil. Dissolve cornstarch in remaining 1/2 cup milk; stir gradually into hot soup. Bring to boil again; stir and cook about 1 minute. Sprinkle with parsley.