Days 29 and 30: Better Late Than Never

So, I realize that it's May 12th right now, and that I haven't told all ya'll about days 29 and 30 of 30 Days Of Tacos yet, but just hear me out.

Short version: I was really busy, and then I was really lazy. 

Long version: Turns out I'm still pretty lazy, so I'd rather not talk about it.

Instead, let's talk tacos, and then I'll tell you guys about what I'm gonna blog about next!

So day 29 was a Sunday.  We had a friend in town. She was working with Derek. Some of the folks over at the shop wanted to go out for dinner. We went to Brasa Rotisserie. That place roolz (provided you like meat). Unfortunately, that meant that we had a huge dinner and then still needed to eat a taco for the day.

So sad.

So we had to go to Chipotle after dinner, all super duper full from the great meal, and have an emergency taco.

It was an uncomfortable pain in the ass, however it was also our first Emergency Taco, so I was fully willing to have the experience, even though I felt like barfing afterwards.  We each just ordered one hard shell taco. Mine had steak. It looked like this.

And I ate the whole thing.

For the final day of the month, we had a little palaver and decided that traditional, original recipe tacos were the way to go. It was a whole taco-bar situation, with homemade guacamole (I didn't realize that I didn't know how to make guacamole until I started making it and realized that I had very little idea what was supposed to be in it. So i mashed up a avocado or two and then threw in tomatoes, onions, lime juice, and some other stuff and then mixed it all around until it looked legit.)

What goes better with hard shelled, Ortega
seasoned tacos than tater tots?
 Nothing, I say!

On the side are tots (side note: we had a gluten free friend with us for the glorious conclusion of the month, so I got to learn that tater tots and hard taco shells are both gluten free foods. So that's something) and spanish rice from one of those bags of premade rice that you microwave for 90 seconds. I wish I could remember what brand it was so I could tell you to not EVER buy it.

So these tacos had Ortega seasoned ground beef, lettuce, tomato, shredded cheese, guacamole, pickled jalapeno, and green onion. Traditional. Delicious. A fitting way to wrap up 30 Days Of Tacos.



Ok, so now that we're past Taco Month (or the "Most Magical Time of the Year" depending on who you ask) I was thinking that I'd like to try blogging about something else.  Last year, I didn't have a plan, and even though I had the best of intentions (or at least some mediocre ones) I coudn't manage to do much actual writing to you guys. This year, however, Derek and I are trying a new food thing, and I was thinking I could tell you about it as we go.

In an effort to be more like our friends Aleisha and Josh, we joined the Harmony Valley Farm CSA. It's a thing where you pay them some money, and then every week or 2 (we're on an every-other-week plan) you (in this case "Derek") go to a site in your neighborhood to pick up a box of produce. They send whatever's in season. Along with the box is a newsletter that lists all of the stuff you're getting and has a few recipe ideas. We just got our first box on Thursday, and the newsletter is already very helpful, as I was unfamiliar with many of the varietals we recieved.  They also have meat, fruit, cheese, and coffee shares. Part of me regrets not getting a cheese share, but I don't think I could have eaten all that cheese. I would have had fun trying, though.

I stole this picture from Derek's
facebook page because I'm a
picture thief and bad planner.

This week the box included:

• Overwintered Parsnips
• Sunchokes
• Baby Arugula
• Salad Mix
• Nettles
• Green Garlic
• Chives
• Egyptian Walking Onions
• French Breakfast Radishes
• Rhubarb
• Asparagus

I had to have Josh explain the difference between the green garlic and Egyptian walking onions to me since they look almost identical. Also, we're glad they told us about sunchokes and stinging nettles. We look forward to eating those sunchokes, and the nettles went straight into the trash.

Every 2 weeks we'll get a new box with some different stuff in it. I was thinking I'd try cooking some of this crazy stuff and then tell you guys about it. I'll probably use a lot of the farms recipes (the website I linked to up there has lots of great looking recipes for it's produce) until my confidence grows.
So far, I've only used the chives from the box (good lord, we have a lot of chives), adding them to everything I've cooked since Thursday (so...one meal). Tonight I was thinking of trying some Spicy English Parsnip Soup and Garlicky Sunchoke Salad with Dill and Feta.


Ok, so I'm pretty excited about this new culinary adventure, and I'm pretty excited about sharing it with the internets. Sadly, I don't have anything else to share right now, and the tire on my car currently leaking air isn't going to patch itself, so I should split. See you cats later!