Hot Shots - March 24, 2023
Hot Shots - March 24, 2023
Severin R-B Danieli
Hello all,
We are officially in spring! There has truly been a shift of temperature here on the coast, and blue skies are making their return. Still, the mornings can be hovering just above freezing level, but during the day the highs are reaching 14 or 15 degrees.
This past weekend was filled with dog walks (we are currently taking care of my parent’s pup while they are traipsing across the UK), karaoke, and birthday events. On Sunday, we went to Cardero's with my in-law's to celebrate my sister-in-law’s birthday, and the food was delicious as always.
While we were in Italy, one of the guys we befriended from the University's undergrad program had visited Vancouver. One night, during an apperitivo at his apartment, he mentioned to Jonathan that he had been to the most delicious seafood restaurant downtown Vancouver that looked onto a marina and onto the North Shore mountains in the distance. Jonathan thought about it for a minute and started naming a few restaurants, then it clicked, he had gone to Cardero's. And our Italian friend says, 'yes yesss bro! Cardero's!!! With the salmon burger?!'
Needless to say, Carderos' reputation proceeds itself.
Strawberries.
And large ones at that! These strawberries arrived just this morning, and are the first of the season in the readycycle packaging.
A&A Organics represents various small to medium sized farms, and have been doing so for over three decades. In my opinion, they've got the best tagline of all of our farms/vendors with 'Don't panic! It's Organic!'
With more than 600 varieties of strawberries worldwide, the most common groupings are Everbearing, June-Bearing and Day-Neutral, with June-Bearing being the most common in commercial production.
Historically, strawberries were used in ancient civilizations such as in the Roman Empire to reduce symptoms of inflammation, melancholy (maybe a strawberry shortcake could cure some melancholy!), fevers and infections. The fresh green leaves and fruit are dried and used in teas in Asia to detox.
Read above for some info on the readycycle packaging from the A&A website.
Spinach.
Bunched spinach has arrived from Longview, and as per usual with Longview product, it is beautiful.
Whenever I see spinach I immediately think of spanakopita. My dad has a few specialty dishes and baked goods he make, but my favourite of his culinary repertoire is his spanakopita. Though I have never been to Greece, his spanakopita rivals any I have ever tasted.
A favourite dinner with my family is spanakopita, lemon baked potatoes, and a fresh Greek salad. This meal is also a favourite with my husband's family, but they will roast up some lamb and slather it with mint sauce. To each their own!
Longview Farms is an organic farm on Vancouver Island, and in the summer, our coolers are filled to the brim with their gorgeous produce. Ranging from jalapenos, to leeks, from mizuna mustard greens to pickling cukes.
Pixie tangerines.
Long awaited by none other than Disco's President, he made sure everyone had a chance to taste these tangy gold nuggets of flavour.
Pixie tangerines, just like the pixies that Professor Lockhart released in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, are tricky little buggers. Their trees take seven to eight years to bear fruit, and are alternate bearing which means there is a large crop every other year. On average, only 1 in 400 blossoms turn into a harvestable fruit, and pixies take over a year to mature on the vine before they are ready to be picked.
I told you - they're tricky!
These pixies come from the Ojai Valley in California, from Churchill Orchards. Here is what they have to say about their 2023 pixie crop, looks like we are getting an early first crop:
"What a Spring we’re having. It’s mighty wet out there, but we have nice sunny breaks between the storms. We’ll start Pixie season the first week of April, like we do most years.
We hope for 6 weeks of Pixie and Hass avocado shipping.
We have an ample crop of Ojai Pixies and Hass avocados, but we must make other plans for our Oro Blancos this year, so no Spring Fling in 2023.
Of course you’re welcome to stage your own “spring fling” – we encourage it.
So far so good. The rain has really been the best."
A row of pixie tangerine trees at the Churchill Orchard.
Potatoes.
Now, there are two reasons I chose potatoes as one of my Hot Shot products of the week. Well, actually, three I guess. That third reason is cause they're delicious and my fav vegetable, but that's not really a reason.
Reason #1: We've been re-watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and one of the best lines in that series, besides these:
"Shadowfax, show me the meaning of haste"
"Legolas, what do your elf eyes see?"
Is: "What's taters, eh? Po-tay-toes! Boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew"
Reason #2: on Tuesday of this past week, the sun was shining and I had a craving for some BBQ. We dusted off the barbeque and started to grill. On the side, I whipped up a quick salad (little gem lettuce from Organic Girl, persian mini cukes, red onions and a dressing of olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper), and then we had some delicious potatoes cut into strips and baked to crispy perfection.
Citrus!
We've got lemons, tangerines (tango and pixie) blood oranges, limes, valencias, navels, grapefruits, kumquats... all you could ever want!
I'm sure most of you reading this have heard of the crazy weather news coming out of California this past week? Or let's be honest, these past few months.
A levee failure in Monterey County triggered massive flooding, tornadoes, and a bomb cyclone have battered coastal and in-land California farmland, neighborhoods and cities. This storm marked the twelfth atmospheric river this season in California.
Above are some photos I found from Los Angeles Times and BBC and their articles covering the California flooding.
Most of our citrus comes up to us from California & Mexico, as well as various items in our wet veg cooler and our apple berry coolers. So far we haven't noticed anything too drastic, but time will tell. Keep your eyes peeled on our Buyers Notes that are often sent with our weekly pricelists - our purchasers have their finger on the pulse of California weather and its effect on the organic produce we know and love.
If you're curious, here are a few links that Disco has been reading the past two weeks.
Link 1
Link 2
Link 3
I hope everyone had a lovely week, and will have a relaxing weekend.
My weekend is shaping up to be equal parts chill and social, which is perfect for me. Dinner at a cousins new place tomorrow, a Saturday hang with my sister and nephew, and then a Sunday of relaxing, cleaning (most likely), and prepping for the week ahead.
Thank you for reading along, I hope you learned a new veggie or fruit fact this week, and are going to give those pixie tangerines a try. They are truly delicious.
Chat next week!
Big love,
Severin R-B Danieli