It's official! I am a medical student!! Got my little white coat, talked to some patients this week, feeling pretty legit! As amazing as the last 2 weeks have been is probably how awful next week with Anatomy will feel for a while, but I feel incredibly fortunate to be where I am right now!! I have been so caught up with all the new changes in my life that I haven't been the best at updating, but I promise that will get better! Fortunately I have my share each week to keep me level and ensure that I am eating healthy, so I feel really lucky for that.

My past share was definitely eclectic, so I got to relieve some stress by whipping up some goofy meals with goofy things the past couple of days. Its been exciting finding different ways to incorporate the vegetables into usual meals before they go bad, like a race of something!

Well, minus the cantaloupe. But it was such a great mix up from all the vegetables I usually have! I also had a ride to and from the farmer's market, so that was doubly awesome (I didn't this week and had to carry a watermelon home, it was great). What a perfect post-yoga snack :)

I got a whole bunch of collard greens, which I'll admit, I basically let go to waste. I have found some inventive ways to incorporate kale but these guys threw me off a bit! I have been having fun finding ways to mix in some random vegetables with my usual meals though. I added some chopped collard greens to a tuna sandwich a couple times though, just to break up the usual mushy-ness and add in a little freshness, and completely made over tomato basil soup by mixing in some feta, fresh basil, and homemade croutons. I'll admit I was proud of this!

And last but DEFINITELY not least, this was the first week that I was able to make some desert-y dishes with my produce! I guess my farm has had their autumn squash come in a bit early, so I had some acorn squash in my share this past week. I love, LOVE maple syrup so made a glaze to go over my roasted squash and died a little. It probably wasn't the healthiest thing in the whole world, but haay it's got to be better than cake. I also got a couple branches (?) of rhubarb this week, and although I didn't have time to make a pie or anything, I was able to whip up a little crumble.. FROM SCRATCH. Admit it, now you're the impressed one. Mixed the rhubard and frozen blueberries with some sugar and honey, put it in the bottom of the ramekin, and added a combo of flour, brown sugar, and strawberry and cream instant oats (creative, ya?) ontop!

Oh my gosh, how did I almost forget?! I also got the most amazing letter from one of the farmers involved with Clarion Rivers and it was such an adorable touch. I read it almost immediately in my best southern accent of course. I died the entire time!

Dear CSA customers,
My, we're having nice weather here lately. Not quite as warm out but still sunshiny. Had a nice shower a few days ago that we really appreciated- should give gardens and fields a boast.
We're just a small family with a small farm. :) Daniel and I married in April of 2011 and in February we were blessed with a healthy little son. Actually just now he is playing here on the floor. He just learned to sit by himself and yesterday his second tooth pushed through. He's also just getting over a head cold so we're glad to have our happy Benjamin back.
We have 6 acres situated here on Larkin Rd. It's only 1 1/2 miles from Tobie Schmucker's, who are my parents. Daniel's family live in Greentop, Missouris so we dont get to see them very often. Daniel's brother is getting married next Thursday so tomorrow morning we plan to head out for Mo. We wont be back till around the 15th so we decided we'll just write our letter for your boxes a little early.
We have buttercup squash planted, besides okra, cucumbers, ground cherries, celeraic, parsley, a few parsnips, and some fall beets. The beets are just starting to peak through the soil!
With only 6 acres we dont have much of anything and what we have isn't producing the best. Hopefully with time and some fertilizers it'll soon do better. We enjoy produce growing and hope you enjoy our fresh produce.
- Daniel, Arlene, and Benjamin Miller.

SERIOUSLY how cute it that?!?! It really instills a connection between the buyer and the grower, which is something you definitely, definitely don't get in Giant Eagle or Whole Foods for that matter. There was another adorable letter in my bag this week, but I'll keep that until later to make sure you come back for more :)

Oh my godddddd.

So I may have relapsed this weekend. And it was glorious.

Let me clear things up before you think I am off the wagon for good though. Not only did I plan to eat meat a week in advance, but I chose the most AMAZING place to do it! Backstory: I had a friend visit from SF for a couple days this past weekend and felt pretty bad asking a dude to eat vegetables alongside me all weekend so was hoping to find a place with both veg and meat options that we could both enjoy. A couple days before his arrival, I am at a Farm to Table happy hour (who am I?) and a woman tells me about this new restaurant called Cure that recently opened in Lawrenceville. Now I am a Lawrenceville lover and would have been interested regardless, but then she filled me in on the mission, lets say, of this place. The chef, Justin Severino, has created a restaurant based off exactly the values that I hope to support. Not only does he buy his livestock from local farms (along with all his vegetables and herbs), but believes in the importance of ethical and sustainable farming AND cures his own meat. There is such a connect between the farming I wish to support and what he is accomplishing at his restaurant that I was immediately excited. I have been having some pretty intense leg cramps/swelling lately possibly a result of poor vitamin consumption, so had (what I pre-determined to be ok) meat on the mind already and BYOB just sealed the deal!

So I had a fun couple of days in Pittsburgh with my friend before our night out, eating hotcakes at Pamela's, exploring the nationality rooms in the Cathedral, taking the incline up to Mt. Washington, eating an amazing meal in Southside, getting wasted at Hofbrauhaus, breakfasting in Lawrenceville, shopping at the Strip, picnicing at Frick Park, kayaking, and seeing Batman in the Omnimax. All these things set up a pretty epic weekend by itself, but Cure on Saturday night really made it.

(BTW I believe Cure is basically reservation only. You can just submit your request online and they send you a confirmation email so for a phone-phobe like me it's ideal!)

Anyways after seeing Batman and walking along the Ohio River, we journeyed out to Upper Lawrenceville and were almost transformed to a whole different city as we entered the modest corner door into a one large dining room with cuttingboard tables, warm lights, chalk boards listing which local farms each ingredient is from, and the open kitchen up above.

The adorable menu. Not quite the length of the Cheesecake factory's and that is a great thing!

Immediately our wine was uncorked and we began with a smoked lardo wrapped peach dish with sweet corn, black garlic, "green goddess"- a wonderful blend of all their herbs in the kitchen, etc. and were blown away when the most colorful dish was set infront of us. I was kind of expecting creamy corn and syrupy peaches but what we got was the most flavorful thing I have had in a REALLY LONG TIME! We both died, literally died, and regretted after scraping the plate clean that we didn't take a picture. Next our main courses were brought out and god, if it was possible for something to taste better than the appetizer this was it! I had a plate of peckin duck breast, which was bouncy and pink but not one bit raw or bloody or weird, 2 links of the most epic sausage I have ever eaten (they get their whole hogs from my Clarion River Organics, an idea which made it even more delicious!), and a little cube of pork belly. I was just blown away. No vegetables can taste that good, I know it and I am sorry but it is unfortunately true. My friend got a short rib dish with potatoes, shiittakes, so much more that I can't remember right now, and a lobster beignet. The portion size was perfect, the flavors intense yet balanced. As though I wasn't already in food heaven, we got a chocolate souffle cake with pistacchio butter and funnel marshmellow, which was the perfect ending to the perfect meal. I can honestly say that it was probably one of the top 3 meals I have ever had, and the fact that we both took time to enjoy each and every bite (especially the last!) really took it to the next level.

SO really, you have to go, end of story! Shoot, make a reservation right now, you NEED TO! If it wasn't for paying my first rent check in the last week (a traumatizing experience) and having to pay for medical school next week (=death) I would be there right now. I am just looking for a reason to go back, REALLY! I have never been so excited about a place, ever.