After bringing home this week's version of my beautiful weekly harvest from the Winter Green Farm CSA, I found myself in a slight panic. The produce was so beautiful, and barely fitting into the fridge. On top of that, our kitchen for two hadn't yet finished the harvest from the week before. We were on an unsustainable path, I'm sure a familiar one for many a CSA customer. Produce with more vibrance and promise than this city-dweller ever sees in a supermarket vegetable slowly waned in the fridge.

I am absolutely not complaining--this is an undeniably wonderful problem to have--but one that does send me straight into a frenzy to do right by the produce, semi-frantically stuffing vegetables into every nook and cranny of any given meal.

Thankfully I'm not alone in this huge task. My sweetie, Ryan, unwittingly inherited this blessing and responsibility when we moved in together two weeks ago, and so far has served as loyal cheerleader, reliable eater and occasional chef. I'm also pleased to have a captive audience in my sister's family, who just welcomed a new baby boy and seem to be up for any food-help they can get. Cha ching! More mouths for veggie eating!

I made this bake for everyone a couple days ago but didn't pay super close attention to the amounts of ingredients so you'll have to excuse my wishy washy recipe. Like a pizza it's cheesy, but unlike pizza, it's not too cheesy; like a quiche it's got lots of veggies, but without the requisite, cumbersome crust; like a scramble, it's eggy, but with a little less egg and without the "I'm a breakfast food" attitude. Also, as a huge bonus, it doesn't stick to the baking dish at all. Come to think of it, maybe I just described the glories of a fritatta. Anyway, it's delicious. Here's the recipe:

July Veggie Bake (GF, vegetarian, low lactose)

• Cups and cups of sliced summer squash and onions, salted and mixed with olive oil • A few handfuls of cashews
• Beet and chard stems, chopped and sautéed
• A half dozen eggs whipped with almond milk and salt
• A chunk of cheddar cheese, shredded; reserve some for topping
• A healthy bunch of chard and beet greens without stems, chopped

In a big baking dish, distribute the squash mix, cashews and chard stems. Into the egg mixture, combine some of the shredded cheese and all of the greens and pour over the veggies in the baking dish, spreading the greens evenly. Bake at 325 ˚F for the better part of an hour, checking on its progress periodically. Before the greens get too crusty, sprinkle the remaining shredded cheese on top and bake until your wily instincts tell you it's done, or until there is no liquid in the center.

As a side note, I also put up our outdoor lights this week and felt pretty dern accomplished afterward. An impromptu dusk photo shoot highlighted the dream we are living: my kombucha fermenting in oak, Ryan's vintage turntable (thanks Papa!) and our sweet outdoor patio.

With the end of the school year, I imagined July would bring ample leisure time--days filled with musing over which dish to bring to a barbeque and afternoons of gazing at clouds from a bed of perfect green grass. Instead, as I realize retrospectively every year, the pace of life quickens as the days get longer; a frenzy of projects and parties pulse through the hours as a languid sun procrastinates on its time-keeping duties. For me, life has aggressively filled my young summer schedule with some exciting developments:
• a new nephew! -and a fun medicine making project (ask me about it, I'll send you pics!)
• a move! -with my sweetie to a fabulous 1914 duplex which is, by chance, across the street from my kindergarten playground
• a massage business! -as promised on my About page, I've earned a massage therapy license in the state of Oregon (#19748, in case you're curious) and I'll soon be offering professional shiatsu massages. More on this coming soon!

What I really wanted to tell you today, though, is that I've been busy, and I've had to employ some of my favorite tricks for salvaging neglected summer vegetables. I thought maybe we could share tips. Sound good?

Here are a couple of mine (pictured above).

Liven the Greens
Wilty summer greens can be brought back to life by cutting off an inch or two of the stems under cold running water, and then placing them in a glass of water, like a bouquet of flowers. They'll liven up within a day, but use them soon after that or they will start to turn yellow or wilt again. If you have space to spare in the fridge, storing them in a glass of water will give them days of extra life.

Quick Pickled Onions
I just discovered this super easy way to avoid moldy onions, which are perhaps one of the saddest and most common kitchen tragedies that I see. Before the onion starts to go bad, slice it and submerge it in leftover sweet pickle juice--liquid from pickled beets in this case. This is a whole new way to do onions! So delicious! I enjoyed these ones on a couple sandwiches and a jaunty little dinner salad.

Holler if you have any super simple summer produce salvaging tips. I'd love to hear them!