Friends of the Farm-

Friday the 13th, oooooooo!
Hoping you've avoided all the black cats, steered clear of open manhole covers, and instead put the juju towards some good luck. Here's some positive news- it's our only Friday the 13th for 2022. Finally we catch a break!

In this week's recipe we put fava beans to work. The hardest part, frankly is shelling the beans. The favas in this week's box are mature enough that they are past grilling and eating whole (their skin is too thick at this point). See below for a quick walk through on how we suggest prepping these beans for this week's featured recipe.

For recipes calling for Fava Beans, this means double shelling. Start first by extracting the bean from its pod. Snap the end of the bean to pop its top. If you pull towards the thicker side of the bean you can "string" the bean by pulling the natural seam the runs down its side. Running your finger down the bean also works here. Pop out the beans and set aside. To ease in extracting the inner tender bean, start some salted boiling water for a quick blanch. (This will also help the beans keep their bright green color).
Blanch beans for roughly 1 minute in the bubbling water. Drain and let cool, 3-5 minutes. Pull the cap of the inner bean, which looks like a little pull-tab. Squeeze the inner bean out of its outer shell and you've done it! Bright, fresh favas!

Wine recommendation from our local pick-up sponsor & Napa friends, Bay Grape return! This week we head to Italy with a selection from Piedmont. Cheers!

Don't forget to tune into this week's edition of our CSA music playlist. Link to our Spotify playlist is attached below to join the groove.
Some new discoveries this week for our ears we're excited to pass on! Queen's Cool Cat - a steady groove just begging for weekend sunshine and a head-bob. The Staple Singers covering Talking Heads' Slippery People??! How did we not know about this one too??!! While talking covers, be sure to check out Xavier Rudd's acoustic interpretation of The Wind Cries Mary. Its place on this week's mix inspired by the late afternoon winds that we've come to know to roll in on our West Petaluma fields.
There's sure to be a new favorite song waiting for you here. Enjoy!

All our best from the farm,
Tom & William and Live Oak Farm team
Live Oak Farm