The cool temperatures and northerly breezes whisk us into a new month and October is here. We were so thankful for the warm temperatures of last week as they encouraged late plantings of green beans to ripen and we have reached the zenith of heirloom tomatoes. They were late to come on, but also have lasted a long time. Today's boxes are a mix of late summer and fall and the color is a sight to behold: buttercup winter squash, yellow onions, garlic, carrots, butterball potatoes, beets with greens, broccoli, green beans, sweet red pepper, purple cabbage, a big bag of basil, lettuce mix, tomatoes and for premium shares more broccoli, cucumbers, delicata winter squash and golden beets. Fruit shares receive grapes or pears.

We love winter squash at this time of year. We bake them whole, after washing them of dirt, on a cookie sheet at 350. Bake until soft, then take out and let cool. After they're cool to touch, you can scoop out seeds and then flesh. We mashed some buttercup this week with a little bit of butter, salt and maple syrup. It was divine! You know when the kids ask for squash for dinner two nights in a row, you've got a hit. If you don't like the texture of baked, mashed squash you can also slice very thin slices, following the natural shape of whichever squash you happen to have on hand, leaving skin on. Be careful doing this, I find cutting hard shell squash, well hard! You can then roast the squash with potatoes, beets, carrots, onion, garlic etc. in a hot oven(420) after tossing it all together in a bowl with olive oil, herbs of choice, kosher or coarse sea salt and pepper. A little honey is good too. Roast until a little caramely and brownish, tender but not overly crisp.

We know that not all of you are beet fanatics like we are, so we offer you this sweet treat that if secretly made and presented with a twinkle in your eye, just might fool the staunchest of beet haters:

BEET CHOCOLATE CAKE

-4 oz unsweetened chocolate -1c. mild vegetable oil(I like safflower) -3 eggs

-1 ¾ c. sugar -2 c. pureed cooked beets(3 medium) -1 TBL vanilla

-1 ½ c. all purpose flour -1/2 c. whole wheat pastry flour -2 t. baking soda

-1/4 tsp. salt -powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 375. Lightly coat a 10 c. bundt pan with butter and dust with flour. Partially fill the bottom of a double boiler with water and bring to boil over high heat; reduce to simmer. Put chocolate and ¼ c. oil in top of double boiler. Heat just until chocolate melts, remove from heat and stir until well combined. If you don't have a double boiler, try using a stainless bowl over a saucepan. Combine eggs and sugar in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until fluffy. Slowly beat in the remaining ¾ c. oil, chocolate mix, beets and vanilla. Sift flours together with baking soda and salt. Gently stir flour mix into egg and chocolate mix just until flour's mixed in. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake until toothpick comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Remove pan and let cool for 30 minutes. Carefully remove cake from pan, let cool completely and dust with powdered sugar.

Today's boxes include our thank you gifts to those of you who were able to pay for your share in full by the end of January last year. Our family is grateful to you for this; many of our expenses happen at that time of year when cash flow is poor. We acknowledge that to pay for something before it comes to you, is a big leap of heart, faith and love. From the bottoms of our communal heart, we thank you! Enjoy this garlic decoration and think of us when you eat the garlic.....

For those of you with egg shares, we apologize for the smallness of your dozen today. The hens are molting(or shedding feathers to make way for winter feathers) and production is way down. Love, the meadowlarks

This page last updated on 9/30/2008.

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