CSA Week 14... Thank you and have a great winter

Vegetable List
Bag 'o' Beets
Bag 'o' Carrots
Couple 'o' Leeks
Couple 'o' Heads 'o' Baby Lettuce
Quart 'o' Bell Peppers
Bag 'o' Radishes
Couple 'o' Tomatoes
Handful 'o' Delicata
Handful 'o' Honey Nut


Notes from the Farm
Time is a funny thing... it passes, it always seems to pass... like breaths, the breathing of years.
This growing season, here at the HFF, has passed, more quickly than I would have thought... our season is over.
We haven't been farming all that long... but long enough now to really lose track of the seasons. These days, each season seems layered on the last rather than a linear string of time.
Time is starting to play tricks on me... for example, when I think of June, and I see all the Junes, I lose track of the years... I see Matt Derose planting beets in the yard, Frayser and Melissa bundled up at a rainy Tomato Plant Sale, Liz and Will organizing the green house... not in order, all layered together.
And then I think of CSA distributions, all the members, all the years, it all seems to exist in this hyper-duality of the present and some ancient memory.
Beyond all of our reality, the more time I spend here, at Frank's Purity Farm, our farm, The Hancock Family Farm, I'm starting to really absorb the ghosts of this place... I'll find myself moving hay in the barn and be struck by a warm feeling of meta-repetition, repetition of all the women and men who have moved hay around the property for the last 200 years... and it happens kind of a lot... pulling rocks out of the field, eating a plum off the tree, squinting in the low hot autumn sunshine, rubbing flies off the backs of my cows, telling my kids a story on the side porch... it's all happened before, and it continues to echo.
This season, in a vacuum, has been a wonderful season... and you all are a huge part of that, so thank you... but the real joy isn't just in seeing this season, it's in seeing all the seasons, folded back on one another, taken in together, a blooming collective experience, retaining all it's identity... staring at the sun...


Recipes
Leek and Olive Tart with Two Cheeses
2 large leeks, white and pale-green parts only
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Coarse salt
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme
1 box (14 ounces) frozen puff pastry, such as Dufour, thawed
1 large egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Scant 1/4 cup Nicoise olives, pitted
4 ounces Pave d'Affinois or other soft-ripened cheese (such as Camembert or Perail), thinly sliced
1. cut leeks crosswise into 3-inch pieces; halve each piece lengthwise, then cut into 3/8-inch-thick strips (about 5 cups). Rinse well, and drain; set aside.
2. Melt butter with oil in a medium saute pan over medium heat. Add leeks and 1/4 teaspoon salt; cook, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until leeks are tender but not browned, about 15 minutes. Stir in thyme. Leeks can be refrigerated in an airtight container up to 1 day; bring to room temperature before assembling tart.
3. Cut or roll out pastry to a 6-by-14-inch rectangle; place on a parchment-lined baking sheet (reserve remaining pastry for another use). Score a 3/4-inch border. Brush with egg wash; sprinkle with Parmesan. Refrigerate 30 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake pastry until golden, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from oven, and press center area with a metal spatula. Arrange leeks end to end in rows within border of pastry. Scatter olives over leeks. Bake until crust is golden brown, about 10 minutes. If bottom is soft, bake 3 to 5 minutes more.
5. Remove tart from oven, and arrange soft cheese over top. Using an offset spatula, slide tart onto a wire rack; let cool slightly. Cut into pieces; serve warm or at room temperature (tart can stand at room temperature up to 1 hour).


Spiced Carrot Spread
6 medium carrots, thinly sliced
1/2 small garlic clove, chopped
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon finely grated peeled fresh ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon tahini
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
Coarse salt and ground pepper

1. Set a steamer basket in a saucepan with 2 inches simmering water. Add carrots. Cover and steam until tender, about 12 minutes. Transfer to a food processor, along with garlic, cumin, ginger, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, tahini, and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. Process until smooth, about 1 minute, adding up to 2 tablespoons water, if necessary.