213/365 Farm Fresh Delivery

Forgive me for making this a little bit of an advertisement, but I've recently signed up for a service that I find incredibly cool.

It's Farm Fresh Delivery. They deliver organic produce and natural groceries to your door on a weekly basis.

Some friends of mine have raved about this service for years, but I just now live in an area where they deliver. Here's how it works: You set up a standing order (of at least $35) that includes a bin of fresh produce. Each week, depending on what is available, fresh and in season, they compile a mix of fruits and vegetables (amounts are based on the size of your order) and deliver it to either your home or office -- with no delivery charge!

They also have natural groceries in their store, so for my order last week, I added a box of pasta, a loaf of fresh whole wheat bread, and a bar of dark chocolate. All you have to do is set the green bin out on your doorstep on the day of your scheduled delivery, then they bring your items -- packed in insulated bags and/or with frozen ice blocks if necessary -- and fill your bin.

Last week my produce consisted of a spaghetti squash, red potatoes, portobello mushrooms, three yellow beets, salad mix, red pears, apples, and black grapes.

I signed up to make sure I get plenty of fresh variety in my diet. I figure if I've already paid for it and it's delivered right to my door, I'll feel compelled to eat it, right? It's a lot easier to pass it by in the produce aisle at the grocery store than when it's staring you in the face on your counter.

Here's to home cooking and fresh produce!

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD1000 in mixed lighting

231/365 Fresh kiwi

My Farm Fresh Delivery bin this last time contained some wonderful kiwi. I never think of them as a fall/winter fruit, but I guess they are!

At least they're a fresh fruit in California at this time of year. And that makes me wonder about the kiwi I had in April of 2008: that's six months' difference. Where did that kiwi come from? FFD concentrates on providing local and U.S.-produced food, so I know this one came from the States. The standard grocery store isn't quite as conscious, so who knows where the April kiwi originated.

Makes you wonder, doesn't it?

Camera: Canon 40D with 60mm macro lens and 430EX Speedlite, 1/125s, f/2.8 at ISO 400

A chicken education

The average American consumer may expect to open their carton of grocery-store eggs and see a dozen uniform specimens: all the same color, all the same ideal egg shape.

Me? I love opening a carton of farm-fresh eggs and seeing variety.

I stopped by my neighbor's farm on Friday to buy a couple dozen eggs from her, and an hour later, I'd met the hens who lay the eggs I was about to enjoy.

Each visit to this farm is an education. She keeps a couple different broods of chickens; one hardier, larger brood remains outdoors through more of the winter and produces the eggs I enjoy for breakfast. These chickens are large, and while she has many different breeds mixed together, they look like what I think of as a textbook chicken, with smooth feathers and an iconic silhouette.

All those different breeds mean that each egg is different. A carton of eggs includes at least six different shades of brown, in addition to some that are more rosy or even green, and each has its own unique shape.

My neighbor's second brood of chickens stays in a garage through most of the winter, where they're kept warm with heaters and lamps. I find these incredibly interesting—before last summer, I'd never seen chickens like Seramas and Silkies. They're each a third the size (or less) of the hardier egg-business birds outside. The Silkies are particularly striking: contrary to their name, instead of smooth, silky feathers, they instead look like they're covered in soft, fluffy fur. And they're covered in this plumage from the crowns of their heads to the tips of their toes. When you do get a look at the body beneath the feathers, their skin is black and their earlobes are royal blue. Silkies are also known for their sweet, loving temperaments.

A special treat for my visit: I got to hold a couple chicks that were only a week old. They fit in the palm of my hand and only weighed an ounce or two.

I'll be going back to the farm sometime this spring with my camera, for sure. I'd love to photograph these beautiful, interesting birds, in addition to the herd of alpacas that roams outside.

Until then, I'll just be enjoying some delicious omelettes and frittatas!

346/365 Broadening my cooking horizons

Time to break out of the norm.

I signed up for Farm Fresh Delivery not only to encourage myself to get a big variety of fresh food in my diet, but also to encourage myself to cook more and try new recipes.

I've got goal number one down pat. Check it off the list. I love getting my produce delivery every other week!

Time to tackle goal number two. One way to do it? Pick some recipes from the fabulous cook books I have (which have primarily been functioning as dust-gatherers to this point). The Better Homes & Gardens must-have New Cook Book. Two Rachel Ray selections. The latest from Curtis Stone (Suggestion for the editors: on your next release, offer an edition that features audio of his spoken instructions. I guarantee sales will soar even higher!).

I've been flipping through these, page by page, marking recipes that catch my eye with some of my fantastic, trusty Post-it flags.

No, I haven't made anything new yet, because the organizer in me wants to finish perusing all pages before I start narrowing it down. But it's certainly whetting my appetite!

Camera: Canon 40D with 60mm macro lens and 430EX Speedlite, 1/125s, f/2.8 at ISO 640

258/365 Red cabbage

My last Farm Fresh Delivery bin contained some beautiful red cabbage that I couldn't resist photographing.

I've been having their organic produce delivered to my door for a couple months now, and I absolutely love it. It's giving me healthy variety in my diet -- as well as some great photo subjects.

When the fruit and vegetables are delivered on your doorstep -- already paid for -- it's hard to ignore them. And when they're attractive and interesting, that's impossible to resist, too.

Camera: Canon 40D with 60mm macro lens and 430EX Speedlite, 1/125s, f/2.8 at ISO 800

262/365 Craft supplies

A couple years ago, I was shopping at the mall, and a salesgirl at a store was wearing a really cool necklace. It looked like fabric-covered ping-pong balls with a knot between each one.

So I went home and made one. Instead of ping-pong balls, which seemed a little large, I used wooden craft balls. These are about the same diameter as a dime.

I have quite a few left, so for this photo, I grabbed a handful and sat them close together on a table. They remind me a little bit of farm-fresh eggs, except for the wood grain that you can see on those that are in focus.

Camera: Canon 40D with 60mm macro lens and external E-TTL flash bounced off the ceiling, 1/250s, f/2.8 at ISO 200.

216/365 Portobello mushroom

Ask me my favorite pizza toppings, and I'll tell you: mushrooms and black olives.

More often than not, when I tell someone that, they make a face at me like I'm crazy. Rarely, someone will say, "Ooh, yum, me too!" It doesn't happen often.

I love both mushrooms and black olives. My Farm Fresh Delivery bin this week included two perfect portobello mushrooms. I had the first one sauteed on top of spaghetti squash, and after I photographed it, I had part of the second one raw on a salad.

Fantastic!

How could I resist photographing the underside of this mushroom? The repeating pattern was too hard to resist.

Camera: Canon 40D with 60mm macro lens and 430EX Speedlite, 1/125s, f/2.8 at ISO 320

312/365 Winter citrus

One bright spot in the dead of winter:  citrus fruit.

Yum.

My Farm Fresh Delivery bin once again came stuffed with some great produce and willing photography subjects, including some excellent grapefruit, pictured here.

Eating grapefruit always poses an interesting challenge. I don't know anyone who peels it and eats the slices like an orange. So that means you have to slice it another way, and many methods end up leaving a lot of the juicy fruit behind.

The easiest way? Just slice the darn thing in half and grab a spoon. Even though that means wiping up some juice splatters, it doesn't keep me away!

Camera: Canon 40D with 60mm macro lens, 1/125s, f/2.8 at ISO 125 at about 10:00 a.m. on an east-facing window ledge.