I Love Produce Day!

Cheri and I run a small organic produce co-op. We love Produce Days! Our orders come every other Thursday, which is OK, but not really our best day. Fridays were better.

We used to get deliveries on Friday, which was great! It was an all day ordeal. She and her girls would come over mid-morning, have a little breakfast/brunchy meal (during which we'd talk about lunch) the big truck would come, kids would play while we'd leisurely sort and pack the produce, then we'd start making lunch as the other co-oppers arrived to pick up, and have a nice relaxing afternoon visit, potluck included of course.

It still happens sort of like this on Thursdays, but Cheri works at an architecture firm on Thursdays, and my son and I have jujitsu class in the late afternoon. It really puts a time crunch on our lazy day fun. We have to move a lot faster sorting and packing, which cuts into the gossiping. There's a much narrower window when people can pick up, which limits the potlucking, and the kids have to clean up and stop playing much earlier than if it were Friday.

Today was a Produce Day, or our "therapy session" as Cheri and I sometimes refer to it. It was definitely rushed. She's working on taxes and payroll. I'm working on my new organization and four upcoming events. We got a little done together, preparing for this weekend's Eat @ Mom's session at a local parenting conference. But that was kind of hurried too.

I roasted some beets since I've been saying for days that I wanted to make a beet and cucumber salad with dill from the garden. Didn't happen. ( Actually, it's almost 2 in the morning now, and the beets are still in my oven!) I did manage to throw together a quesedilla with mushrooms, kale and pepper jack, but not fast enough to give any to Cheri before she had to hurry to work. She did leave her oldest daughter with me, so at least the kids got to play. (Read playdough crumbs all over my floor in a 10 foot radius, which I'll likely get to after I tend to those beets.) I think all they ate today was fruit and berries that they swiped from our share of the produce! And some playdough.

At least our order was lovely! Carrots, yellow onions, red romaine, strawberries, Pink Lady apples, Florida blueberries, green beans and cantaloupe. It filled up my wagon with goodness and just as I was admiring it and flipping my hot quesedilla on to my plate, Produce Day got even better...

My friend Mansura ( I love that name) arrived to pick up her order. She was pressed for time too, as she had been making some traditional middle eastern foods for her Syrian mother who can't make them anymore. Can you guess what's coming? She brought me three, fresh, hot,  still-steaming in-the-middle, homemade kibbeh!  Bulgar wheat and beef and onions and pinenuts. And LOVE! Ugh, so deeee-lish! So, so deeee-lish!

Man, I love good food. And more than that, I love my good friends who love good food, especially when they share! And I really do love Produce Day no matter how rushed it gets!

Kristin