On Monday afternoon, I receive my box. I send my 3 kids out of the kitchen so that my box can have my undivided attention. With a pad and pen beside me, I slowly pull each item from the box, catalog it in my pad, and lay it out on the kitchen island. When I am done, it’s quite a sight to behold. Then, it’s somewhat like figuring out a puzzle—what dishes can I make that would incorporate the most number of farm share ingredients? A bit like the TV show, Chopped, without the time clock (and $10,000 prize, unfortunately). But when I am done, I feel such satisfaction knowing that my family and I have a week-worth of healthy, not the same-old-same-old culinary experiences ahead of us.

There have been a few items that been staples in my CSA box: beets, kale, and potatoes.

I love beet salad. It screams summer! Because it takes 1 hour to roast beets in the oven, anytime my oven is on for another reason (eg, the potato pizza below), I trim all of my beets, wash them, wrap them in foil, and throw them in the oven alongside. Tip: make sure you put a tray or foil underneath the beets because the juices can spill out onto your oven floor! Once they’ve cooled, I rub the peels off and store them in the refrigerator, and I use them one at a time throughout the week. I love the Beet Salad recipe—but like to use candied walnuts, add a few thin slices of red onion, and put it over a heap of greens (eg, mesclun or arugula).

Everything goes well with bacon, and kale is no exception. I’ve learned that’s how the southerners eat kale. I put it atop some risotto, because my kids will eat anything that’s hidden in risotto. I use two recipes to make this dish, Quick Kale with Bacon, and Basic Risotto. Start with the Quick Kale with Bacon recipe, but instead of finishing off the kale with chicken stock, I add a bit of white wine instead. Transfer the kale onto a plate. Using the same dutch oven, make the risotto. Plate the risotto, top it with kale and chopped bacon, and serve. Tip: Make the entire package of bacon since cooking bacon (and discarding the fat) is such a messy task—use the leftover bacon for breakfast, BLT, etc. For other kale recipes, try the Neely’s Kale Chips (the combination of bitter kale and sweet brown sugar makes this dish), and Kale and Olive Oil Mashed Potatoes.

Talking about potatoes, Potato Pizza with Goat Cheese is delicious! It was a great way to display and eat my rainbow potatoes. Good hot, or cold the next day. Good for dinner, or as an appetizer. I used store-bought pizza dough to keep things simple.

Share your CSA recipes by writing in the comments. Or better yet, save the recipes to Plummelo.com so that we can all try them!

I have been meaning to try this recipe for a few years. Why did I wait so long? I’m in luuuurve!

Palmiers translates to “elephant’s ears” in French. They are traditionally baked much larger in French pastisseries, but this small version makes a perfect cookie or accompaniment to afternoon coffee or a simple dish of ice cream. Made with frozen puff pastry sheets, it is not a cookie at all, but really a pastry in disguise. It is the perfect trick for an anti-baker to have up his or her sleeve. Hate measuring, sifting, creaming, and stressing about how long to mix things? Palmiers are for you.

That said, I learned quite a bit from my trial run. I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t want to pass on what I learned in an attempt to save you from running into any baking headaches.

When you work with the pastry and follow Ina Garten’s excellent instructions for folding and slicing, know that a light touch is not required. You want to put some pressure on the dough as you fold the layers so that they will stay together when you slice.

If you know anything about serious cookie baking, then you already know you really should only bake one tray at a time, rotating it halfway through the baking time. Some recipes are more forgiving of this rule than others, but…this is not one of those. I highly recommend baking no more than 12 palmiers on one half sheet pan at a time. If you put more than twelve on the sheet, you run may run into problems during the flipping step. Because of the flipping and possibility of mutiple trays browning in different stages, you really should stick to baking one tray at a time.

Be sure to preheat your oven completely before you begin with the pastry, because you want to slice and bake the cookies while the dough is still cold. Did I mention that these come together fast?

I also learned that the bottom of my oven is much, much hotter than any other part, and the cookies that baked in that part of the oven really caramelized (which is not what you want for palmiers) and a few of them even burned, despite careful watching. If you don’t cover your baking sheet with parchment paper and some of your cookies caramelize, you may just ruin your baking sheet.

All of that said, this is one of the easiest dessert recipes I have ever made, and it is so versatile. I added a teaspoon and a half of cinnamon to the sugar. You could try lemon or orange zest or a small amount of coconut flake. Ina also has a savory variation that uses pine nuts and sundried tomatoes, which would be perfect to serve with cocktails.

Elephant Ears are my new favorite sweet treat!

When testing recipes for my cookie swap this holiday season, I used frozen puff pastry for the first time when I made palmiers. And I fell in love. It is so forgiving, so delicious, so versatile, and gives impressive, professional-looking results. What more could you ask for from a freezer item?

I used both Pepperidge Farm and Trader Joe’s puff pastry with equally good results. I like Trader Joe’s because it is not folded and therefore doesn’t end up with a seam or a bump, and it retains its shape a bit better when rolled. But it is also a smaller square than Pepperidge Farms pastry, so it requires a bit more rolling out. It’s the same with preschoolers as it is with pastry, apparently. You’ve gotta pick your battles.

I could write puff pastry a love poem. Don’t worry, I’ll spare you the verse. But I will share some of the many amazing recipes I uncovered.

Appetizer-challenged folks, roll up your sleeves. Brunch aficionados, start your ovens. Ladies who lunch, I’ve got you covered. And don’t worry, dessert lovers. There’s something here for you as well.

Robin Horrigan writes the column Cooking from the Carpool Lane. She lives on Boston’s south shore and is a stay at home Mom to Ryan, seven, and Maegan, three. Her fascination with cooking sprouted from watching Julia Child cook on a little black and white TV; Robin helped her Mom in the kitchen until she was old enough to ask Santa for her very own copy of The Joy of Cooking. She experiments with all kinds of cooking and baking, from quick weeknight dinners and easy cookies to long simmering weekend stews and complicated, fancy desserts. Ryan thinks if his Mom will ever be famous, it will be “for her awesome cookies.” Her friends say it will be for the cocktails. Either way, if she’s not doing volunteer work or shopping for shoes, you’ll probably find her in the kitchen. Robin’s favorite recipe.

Unsurprisingly, Thin Mints are the top sellers. They are definitely tops with my husband. However, a specially made caramel combined with toasted flaked coconut makes Caramel deLites not only the second best selling Girl Scout cookie variety, but places it in the top five commercially baked cookies sold in the United States annually. That’s impressive for a cookie that got its start being peddled door to door.

Over the years the formulas of the old-school cookies have not changed much, but in certain parts of the country the names have been modernized and simplified. The Samoas I sold once upon a time are now called Caramel deLites, Tagalongs are known as Peanut Butter Patties, and Trefoils are simply called Shortbreads. Newer cookie additions include the delicious chocolate-dipped Thanks-A-Lots, and my personal favorite, Lemonades.

We need not know anything more than how to rip open the box and subsequently exercise restraint so we do not eat an entire sleeve of crunchy cookies. But home cooks and pastry chefs alike have been doing creative things with Girl Scout cookies for years. If you ended up buying more than you really wanted to, you’ll be glad to know that they freeze well (for as long as six months in my experience) and can be adapted into some of these delicious snacks and treats over the coming months.

Leftover cooked chicken or turkey became a range of Bisquick’s “impossible” pie series such as this one, or other pot pies. A Sunday ham bought on sale was turned into split pea soup. But my favorite by far, and the one I have adopted into my own kitchen with regular frequency, is Hong Kong Horrigan.

Hong Kong Horrigan…aka what to do with leftover grilled steak and clean out the veggie drawer at the same time. Probably not a PC name in 2011, but it’s vintage now.

Eleven years ago I quizzed my new husband on what I needed to buy to whip up one of his favorite nostalgic meals. With an eyebrow raised, he answered me. “We don’t buy stuff for Hong Kong Horrigan. Hong Kong Horrigan is made from leftover London broil and whatever veggies we have, maybe even a bag of frozen vegetables if necessary. Add some peanuts or chow mein noodles and you’re in business.”

I scratched my head, confused. No recipe? As a newlywed living 300 plus miles away from my own parents, I was teaching myself to cook from books. Winging it was not my thing. It still isn’t, really. Research first, work second. Measure twice, cut once.

But I decided to trust, and what I have learned over the years is that for each one of our six individual families, Hong Kong Horrigan is a unique concoction that can only evolve based on our standard weekly cooking and shopping lists.

One night a few years ago I found myself with half a pork tenderloin that had been marinated in a ginger sauce and grilled earlier in the week. I sliced it up, grabbed some veggies, a can of baby corn, and some toasted sesame oil to make a stir fry.

Jim was pleased and I was so proud:  I had arrived, I had done it!

I emailed my mother-in-law in Cincinnati to ask if the dish would still be considered authentic with pork instead of beef. She typed back, verbatim “Methinks you have invented a new dish: Shanghai Horrigan?”

Whether you use leftover grilled beef, pork, chicken, shrimp, or even tofu, learning to make a stir fry out of what you have in the fridge is an indispensable skill that everyone should learn.

Maybe yours is as simple as leftover veggies with soy sauce and rice. Maybe it’s more elaborate and slightly planned like mine. It’s a great way to teach yourself to eat in the newer, more healthful style of reduced meat portions, and it’s good for your budget and schedule as well.

Read more by Robin Horrigan

Robin Horrigan writes the column Cooking from the Carpool Lane. She lives on Boston’s south shore and is a stay at home Mom to Ryan, seven, and Maegan, three. Her fascination with cooking sprouted from watching Julia Child cook on a little black and white TV; Robin helped her Mom in the kitchen until she was old enough to ask Santa for her very own copy of The Joy of Cooking. She experiments with all kinds of cooking and baking, from quick weeknight dinners and easy cookies to long simmering weekend stews and complicated, fancy desserts. Ryan thinks if his Mom will ever be famous, it will be “for her awesome cookies.” Her friends say it will be for the cocktails. Either way, if she’s not doing volunteer work or shopping for shoes, you’ll probably find her in the kitchen. Robin’s favorite recipe.

Repeat after me: plan your meals in advance.

Don’t make stopping at the market a daily occurrence. The more times you enter a store, the more times you are setting yourself up to fall for marketing schemes designed to trap you. The art of making a list is mostly lost upon our impatient society; market research says that more than 50% of all grocery store purchases are unplanned. If you feel like you don’t have time to make a meal plan, consider how much time you are wasting figuring it out on the fly, running in and out of the store several times per week. If you hate making the list and shop three or more times per week as a result, then rest assured you will be haunted by it less by planning more.

(This is ultra-nerdy of me to admit, but I even check the upcoming weather when I plan my meals. Who wants to eat soup when it’s hot, or grill in the rain? Not me!)

If your Sunday paper was delivered with a $10 bill attached, would you throw it away? Of course not. But that is essentially what you are doing each week by not taking five minutes to clip and organize coupons. If you combine this with a weekly effort to make a meal plan and tight grocery list, you can quickly match coupons up with what you need. Saving mavens know how to print coupons online for the savings tailored to their personal needs.

Only buy what you need, unless you know it is an item you really use over and over again. 10 for $10 sales mean each item is a dollar, but you usually do not need to buy 10 items to receive the sale price.

Know what things cost. Do you know how much you spend on a gallon of milk, a dozen eggs, a box of cereal? It’s hard to spot a true deal if you blindly pay the grocery bill without questioning the bottom line.

When I use the Plummelo shopping list feature, I delete far more ingredients than I keep…because I am a smart shopper and keep a well-stocked pantry. Note, I did not say I keep a pantry that is busting at the seams with too much stuff. But at least a spare of almost everything I use, plus a few more exotic extras here and there. When I don’t have to run out and replace an item at the last second, I can be more vigilant about not overpaying for it.

Read more by Robin Horrigan

Robin Horrigan writes the column Cooking from the Carpool Lane. She lives on Boston’s south shore and is a stay at home Mom to Ryan, seven, and Maegan, three. Her fascination with cooking sprouted from watching Julia Child cook on a little black and white TV; Robin helped her Mom in the kitchen until she was old enough to ask Santa for her very own copy of The Joy of Cooking. She experiments with all kinds of cooking and baking, from quick weeknight dinners and easy cookies to long simmering weekend stews and complicated, fancy desserts. Ryan thinks if his Mom will ever be famous, it will be “for her awesome cookies.” Her friends say it will be for the cocktails. Either way, if she’s not doing volunteer work or shopping for shoes, you’ll probably find her in the kitchen. Robin’s favorite recipe.

But I’m probably partly to blame for my husband’s fascination. I’ve come home a chatterbox after watching a chef break down a freshly-killed whole pig in a pasture. I’ve stuffed my man with delicious farm-fresh vegetables he couldn’t previously name and dragged him to a farmers’ market on every vacation we’ve ever taken, including our honeymoon.

All these years looking at how food gets produced, though, have confirmed for me that much as I love cooking and eating, I don’t want to make my raw materials. Admiration…aspiration. Different.

The difference was reaffirmed recently when I turned the last page of The Dirty Life, the improbable love story of a city girl who kept phonebooks in her fridge and a farmer boy who dreamed of producing all the protein, dairy, grains and produce that one small community could crave. At thirty-something, they each uprooted themselves from their largely happy lives and pledged to resurrect 500 acres on the upper New York-Vermont border — then marry at the end of the first harvest.

Even if the author, Kristin Kimball, and I weren’t old family friends, I’d be wondering why this raw, lyric Dirty Life hasn’t hit the bestseller list yet. I wanted to Amazon one-click the memoir for every one of my food-obsessed friends.

Of course, I knew I wouldn’t get Tim to put down The Summer of 1787, so I settled for gasping and laughing while reading and thereby driving him crazy with curiosity at the source of my delight. What’s that, honey, you want to know what happened when the work horses got loose and stampeded toward town? Killing you not to know how the cattle helped prepare the house for the wedding, isn’t it? I read aloud to Tim from the passages that made this couple’s honorable ambition seem utterly crazy.

We’ll see how long before he brings up his pipe dream of country ham and cigars atop a slow-rolling tractor at sunset.

Meantime, I’m working my way through a pack of recipes that Kristin and Food & Wine collaborated on. Kristin used to cook group meals for all the farm hands and turned over some of her favorite for-a-crowd ideas to the magazine. My first pick was the fried-chicken-liver and sauteed-onion po’ boys (with our leftover chicken livers); Tim requested the beef-and-vegetable pot pie with cheddar biscuits.

A quick fix, the po’ boys hit the spot after a long day on the road. And the pot pie? Oh, my. Based on my many trips to livestock farms, I’m confident reporting that we lapped up those biscuits and beef just like piggies on a patch of acorns.

Read more by Kristen Hinman

Kristen Hinman writes the column Swine Dining: A City Girl Cooks Country. She used to think the perfect weeknight dinner consisted of an omelette and a glass of wine. OK, she still does. Her husband, on the other hand? Not so much. Luckily, three years of recreational cooking school in Paris and a vast cookbook collection mean she’s never at a loss for ideas. Kristen is a journalist who has lingered in celebrity chefs’ kitchens, nosed over midwestern caviar houses and taken pigs to slaughter–all on the clock. She lives in St. Louis and Washington D.C. and is the winner of two James Beard Foundation Awards for newspaper writing. One day she will wallpaper her pantry with Gourmet magazine covers. Visit Kristen’s website. Photo by Michelle Hudgins.

This is an unwelcome piece of information in the battle to educate ourselves about eating local, seasonal food. After all, who wants lemonade in January? But it’s also really good news, because the produce offerings are certainly looking a little tired around these parts. We go through crate after crate of clementines in the winter, and although they are certainly not native to Massachusetts, I am grateful for an inexpensive, healthy snack solution for my kids. My three year old daughter loves that she can peel them herself.

Everyone knows that citrus juices and zests have their place in desserts. But with a little internet elbow grease, we have also dug up some recipes that will help add a little zing to your winter dinner table. And of course, some fresh ideas for citrus-infused sweets as well.

When a winter cold hits your house, try Avgolemono with Chicken and Rice. This classic Greek sauce of chicken broth, egg yolks, and lemon juice is turned into a satsifying soup with the addition of a bit more chicken broth, rice, and shredded chicken.

Little plastic boxes of kumquats rolled into even the most basic grocery stores around here in early December and they are still coming. Try a spinach salad with almonds and kumquats for lunch or a first course, and you’ll be pleasantly surprised by how delicious they are.

Barefoot Contessa’s Linguine with Shrimp Scampi is practically a pantry meal at my house. I keep shrimp in the freezer, pasta in the cabinet, and I always have garlic and parsley in the house. Add lemons and you have a beautiful dinner that’s fast enough for a weeknight but also special enough for a dinner party.

We love to cook Tex-Mex at our house: taco night, fajitas, and all sorts of chilis… but when we have friends over and I want to add a dessert, I never know what will go with the meal. Key Lime Cake to the rescue! It’s easy and delicious.

Many readers, friends and site users have asked about the origin of the name of our site. Simply speaking, a pummelo is the less common name the of deliciously tart Asian citrus fruit best known as a pomelo. In the internet food world, there are pockets of good information everywhere–recipes, blogs, and meal planning tools, just to name a few. That there are so many tasty tidbits kept in separate places causes many home cooks to become overwhelmed.

If you are a seasoned surfer of the internet food world, then we provide you a handy skin within which you can store it all. Here on the blog, we like to think we filter only the good stuff down to you. Much the way the sections of the fresh, vibrant pomelo fruit are tucked neatly within its skin, you can tuck away the best of the internet food world here on Plummelo.

If you can find a pomelo this winter, try squeezing it into a Pomelo-Mint Mojito. This winter treat will have you dreaming of warmer days and the summer lemonade stands of yore.

P.S. My favorite thing to do with citrus is to make a curd… for dipping fruit or shortbread cookies, or an unexpected cake filling. Yum!

Read more by Robin Horrigan

Robin Horrigan writes the column Cooking from the Carpool Lane. She lives on Boston’s south shore and is a stay at home Mom to Ryan, seven, and Maegan, three. Her fascination with cooking sprouted from watching Julia Child cook on a little black and white TV; Robin helped her Mom in the kitchen until she was old enough to ask Santa for her very own copy of The Joy of Cooking. She experiments with all kinds of cooking and baking, from quick weeknight dinners and easy cookies to long simmering weekend stews and complicated, fancy desserts. Ryan thinks if his Mom will ever be famous, it will be “for her awesome cookies.” Her friends say it will be for the cocktails. Either way, if she’s not doing volunteer work or shopping for shoes, you’ll probably find her in the kitchen. Robin’s favorite recipe.

PRIZE FOR THE WEEK OF JANUARY 17: Calphalon Unison Nonstick 10-Piece Cookware Set

About the Calphalon Unison Nonstick 10-Piece Cookware Set: The Calphalon Cookware set features two new innovative surfaces specially designed by Calphalon to give users nonstick convenience with professional chef results. The Slide Nonstick surface releases foods effortlessly for tender omelets and delicate sauces. Meanwhile, the Sear Nonstick surface locks in the bold flavors of braised meats and vegetables. This versatile 10-piece set includes 2 Skillets and 1 Sauce Pan with the Slide Nonstick surface and 2 Saute Pans and 1 Stockpot with the Sear Nonstick surface.

How to Enter: Save a recipe to your Plummelo account. You can manually upload a personal recipe, save a recipe from across the web, or save a recipe from another Plummelo user. Then email us at win@plummelo.com with your Plummelo username to tell us you want to enter the giveaway. We’ll randomly select one respondent as the winner.

This giveaway will close at midnight Sunday, January 23. The winner will be notified by email. (Open to U.S. Residents only.)

My kids are satisfied with cocoa from a packet, mini marshmallows on the side. But my husband and I like something a little more refined when we snuggle up by the fire, like Tipsy Hazelnut Hot Chocolate, which uses one of my favorite pantry staples: Nutella.

Suffering from a winter virus? Long before Advil Cold & Sinus was invented, there was the almighty hot toddy. A Classic Hot Toddy can be nothing more than a shot of brandy or rum combined with hot water and a lemon peel, and it truly does ease the chills and clear out sinuses. This version is jazzed up with a little honey for sweetness as well as some cinnamon and nutmeg. Hot Rum and Pineapple Toddies are fit for company or an apres ski party, and the French Pear version is not a toddy at all, but rather a fancy fruity spiked coffee drink. Fruity coffee, you say? Trust me and try it.

If you’re looking for something fancy without alcohol, try Moroccan Mint Tea or Creamy 100 Calorie Coffee. Did you overindulge for the holidays? Begin the new year with a clean slate with this digestive aid: Dried Fruit & Herb Tea from Whole Foods Market.

But you don’t really need a recipe to jazz up your hot winter drinks. When at a restaurant recently, I ordered a “coconut coffee,” which was a steaming cup of hot coffee accented by a touch of Malibu rum, topped by freshly whipped cream. A drizzle of banana or mint liquer, Irish cream or plain whiskey will make a regular cup of coffee or hot chocolate a little something special.

Read more by Robin Horrigan

Robin Horrigan writes the column Cooking from the Carpool Lane. She lives on Boston’s south shore and is a stay at home Mom to Ryan, seven, and Maegan, three. Her fascination with cooking sprouted from watching Julia Child cook on a little black and white TV; Robin helped her Mom in the kitchen until she was old enough to ask Santa for her very own copy of The Joy of Cooking. She experiments with all kinds of cooking and baking, from quick weeknight dinners and easy cookies to long simmering weekend stews and complicated, fancy desserts. Ryan thinks if his Mom will ever be famous, it will be “for her awesome cookies.” Her friends say it will be for the cocktails. Either way, if she’s not doing volunteer work or shopping for shoes, you’ll probably find her in the kitchen. Robin’s favorite recipe.