Donations are Happening

A Community Cupboard volunteer told me that last week,  after the Elgin Courier article, a donation was made of fresh lettuce from an Elgin citizen. Quick response!

The image above is part of my first donation to the Community Cupboard. I had the pleasure of dropping these off yesterday and watching them go home quickly with the Community Cupboard’s clients. I had not only my own Rainbow chard, but another huge bag donated by Lorraine, with whom I played phone tag with all weekend. She wanted to know if we would want her chard… absolutely! Undaunted by reaching my voice mail more than a couple times,  we finally touched base with each other Monday. She really wanted to donate her chard, and when I saw how much there was, I was so pleased! She brought the chard to me Monday evening and I delivered it along with fresh Rainbow chard, spinach, and romaine from my own garden on Tuesday morning.

Before I delivered, I printed up a couple recipes for the chard in case some were not sure what to do with it. The original recipe below called for Kiebasa, but I substituted Elgin Sausage, of course. So do think about providing a recipe or two with your donation… I’m a pretty experienced cook and I’m still not sure about the best way to prepare kohlrabi.

Pasta with Elgin Sausage and Swiss Chard

yield: Makes 4 servings
active time: 25 min
total time: 30 min

Ingredients
1 bunch Swiss ( or any)  chard
1/2 pound Elgin sausage, cut into 1/2-inch-thick pieces
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2 cup water
1/4 teaspoon dried hot red-pepper flakes
1 pound pasta
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preparation
Cut out center ribs and stems from chard, then thoroughly wash, along with leaves, in several changes of cold water. Cut ribs and stems crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick pieces and coarsely chop leaves.
Cook Elgin sausage in oil in a 5-quart heavy pot over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a bowl. Cook chard ribs and stems with salt in fat remaining in pot over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add chard leaves, water, and red-pepper flakes and simmer, partially covered, until chard stems are tender, about 5 minutes. Remove lid and stir in Elgin sausage.
Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente, then reserve 1/2 cup pasta-cooking water and drain pasta in a colander. Add pasta to chard mixture with cheese and salt to taste and toss until combined well. Thin with some of reserved pasta water if necessary.

Since these donations are perishable they require a bit of planning on both the person donating and the volunteers, so we may be adding a drop off time on Monday evenings so commuters can bring their home-grown fare over after work on Mondays. We’ll certainly keep you posted.

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Yesterday I visited Becky Maass’s 4th period Horticulture class to thank them for growing vegetables for the Community Cupboard. I also wanted to see how their gardens grow…

They’ve planted tomatoes and squash

Okra

Peppers and Strawberries

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