Back on the CSA Wagon!

When we moved in October, we put the CSA on hold for what we thought would be a short hiatus… which turned into a 5 month break from locally grown veggie boxes. I’ve got a litany of excuses, but mostly we were just lazy. Actually, one decent excuse we had was that we spent a bit of time looking around at other CSAs. As much as we loved Eatwell’s practices and farm events, we weren’t always 100% happy with what we got in terms of variety and quality. So, after much searching, we decided on Full Belly Farm. One thing that convinced me to go with them is a quick survey of their farm using Google satellite maps. (Don’t you just love technology??) Much like Eatwell, you can actually SEE the diversity of the Full Belly Farm just by the variety of colors and different width rows of vegetation. Also, we’ve heard lots of good things about Full Belly’s produce. Finally, the price is right! We are paying only $16 a box with Full Belly, compared to Eatwell’s $27. We get a bit less food as well, but that’s not always a bad thing, especially in the winter when we used to get bags and bags of greens. Don’t get me wrong — I love greens, just not 2-3 servings per meal.

We’ve gotten 3 boxes from Full Belly so far, and we’ve been quite happy with the produce. Our boxes have included navel oranges, butternut squash, leeks, beets, kale, lettuce, the cutest little cabbages I’ve ever seen, broccoli, fennel, celery root, potatoes, lettuce, spinach, arugula, and even popcorn! Full Belly also sells walnuts at a very reasonable price, so we’ll probably be adding those to our next box.

Without further ado, here are the pictures from the last 4 weeks of CSA goodness!

Our first CSA box from Full Belly Farms!

Rustic potato and leek soup from The New Best Recipes cookbook. We added bacon = YUM.

Butternut squash veggie soup. It was a bit bland at first, but I doctored it up with some spices and it got better. TC, the lactose tolerant, added cream, which he thought was really good.

Cabbage and chickpea soup from the Post Punk Kitchen. Really nice.

Roasted squash (also from the PPK) with a side of cous cous.

Spicy cole slaw from the Chez Panisse Vegetables cookbook. Awesome and really quick and easy!

We added the spicy slaw to cod filets and half -baked buns from Trader Joe’s. We loved these sandwiches so much we made then twice in 2 weeks!

 

The World’s Largest Food Court

The food court in Taipei’s central train station (“Breeze Taipei Station”) claims to be the largest food court in the world. I’m not sure if they are referring to square footage or to number of stalls, but it is pretty huge. It’s split up into four smaller food courts, each with a different theme: beef noodle soup (famous in Taiwan), curries, Taiwanese specialties/small eats, and desserts. In addition, there are a few full service restaurants as well as bakeries and specialty shops.

My parents don’t eat out a lot but they like going to this food court because it’s relatively convenient and the food is high quality but very reasonably priced. The food court has a nice clean aesthetic which makes meals even more appetizing.

On this particular day, we all went for various kinds of beef noodle soup. There were about 10 different stalls selling subtle variations of the same thing, so it was difficult to decide. Like at many American fast food joints, all of the stalls push combo meals, usually composed of a bowl of noodles accompanied by a couple of side dishes.

My combo meal: hand cut noodles with a meat-filled pastry and pickled cucumbers (my fave).

Close up of my noodles. Drool.

Close up of pickled cucumbers. More drooling.

My sister got the tomato-base soup which was yummy.

Beef noodle soup in clear broth. Light and savory.

My dad got the curry beef noodle soup. He was also very helpful with the food styling. Thanks dad!

Happy diners!

If you ever find yourself in Taipei train station, head up to the 2nd floor to find this food court paradise!

How Sweet It Is

The Taipei 101 Mall

We met up for afternoon tea with our cousin M at the mall in Taipei 101, formerly the tallest building in the world. On the fourth floor, there’s a fancy indoor “courtyard” full of fancy coffee shops and restaurants. At the place we went to (the name escapes me), the afternoon tea menu consisted mostly of teas accompanied by tiny sandwiches or a slice of cake. Here’s a sampling of our indulgences:

Cafe latte and biscotti

Mmm, chocolate cake.

My cake. I think it was some sort of amaretto/coffee cake?

The tower of temptation: cakes, sandwiches, and scones.

The sweetest things of the afternoon: my nephew and my second cousin!