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Product Spotlight: Shishito peppers | |
Click the photo to find a simple recipe for blistered shishito peppers. | |
When you think of peppers, you think HEAT: heat and sun-loving varieties that thrive in hot greenhouses, heat-packing flavors that add a capsaicin kick to your food, and high-heat cooking that chars their skins, sweetens their flesh and actually cooks out some of the capsaicin making hotter varieties more palatable. The shishito pepper is mild and sweet, but careful! One in every ten or so will pack a (little) heat. The heat of a pepper is measured in Scoville Heat Units, with jalapenos packing 5,000 SHUs and the hottest shishito a measly 200. These peppers have grown in popularity over the years, showing up on menus from fine dining restaurants to a favorite at breweries – it's not hard to imagine some fun drinking games based on that risky 1:10 hot pepper! Thanks to several farmers that Daybreak sources from, they can show up in your Daybreak Boxes and kitchens, too. | |
Recipe: quick pickle anything! | |
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In the heat of the summer, sometimes the thought of boiling up the canning pot and spending the afternoon sweating over bubbling jars of pickles and relishes sounds nearly torturous. Refrigerator pickles are a great way to avoid turning your already-hot kitchen into a sauna.
Keeping a pot of pickling liquid in the fridge, ready to be heated to a boil and poured over whatever produce you have extra of, allows you to not waste the summer surplus and results in tasty jars of pickles! The recipe here can be made in bulk and used throughout the summer to pickle just about anything: cucumbers, summer squash, green beans, cherry tomatoes, experiment with whatever!
Brine Ingredients:
- 1/3 cup chopped fresh herbs (thyme, dill, rosemary, etc.)
- 2 tsp pickling spices (peppercorns, coriander, mustard seeds)
- 4 cloves garlic, sliced thin
- 1 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup water
- 2 tsp Maine sea salt
Directions:
- Thoroughly clean mason jars
- Wash and trim vegetables into the desired size
- Pack vegetables into jars and set aside
- In a pot, combine all ingredients for the brine and bring to a boil
- Pour boiling liquid over vegetables, leaving about 1” of space at the top of the jar
- Seal with lid and allow to cool to room temperature on your counter, for no more than 6 hours
- Place in fridge and enjoy!
Note: brine recipe can easily be multiplied to make a large batch. Heat to a boil only what you need, when you need it, and store in the refrigerator. The idea here is that you will always have brine on hand, so a jar of fresh pickles is never out of reach!
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Pick-Up Site Spotlight:
The Maine Organic Marketplace in Freeport
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Our Freeport pick-up site is at the Maine Organic Marketplace, MOFGA’s brick-and-mortar retail storefront right next to Starbucks (plenty of free parking behind them) and LL Bean’s bike and ski shop! If you’re from the Freeport area (like Daybreak’s own Adrienne and Robin!), you might remember this building as the former Abercrombie and Fitch, and years ago as the town’s quaint little library. The Bartol Library served the people of Freeport for over 90 years, so it feels like a homecoming to once again have the space be used as a community hub: selling dozens of items from Maine producers and makers, offering MOFGA classes and events, and providing local food through our Daybreak Boxes.
Why we love partnering with the Maine Organic Marketplace:
- Your favorite Fair items under one roof: Love the Common Ground Fair but don’t like waiting a whole year to stock up on MOFGA merch? Fair merchandise including graphics from multiple fair years are available for sale.
- A one-stop-shop for gifts: The store carries a huge variety of specialty items, arts and crafts, shelf-stable food to complement your Daybreak Boxes, as well as MOFGA merchandise and educational books about gardening, homesteading and more.
For the month of September, Daybreak customers who pick up at the Maine Organic Marketplace receive a free Fair poster of their choice (size and year) with any purchase of $10 or more at the store!
Community members can pick up their farm boxes every Friday between 12:30 - 5 pm.
The Maine Organic Marketplace hours:
- Monday - Friday 11 am to 5 pm
- Saturday - Sunday 10 am to 5 pm
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Orders must be picked up during the published pick up times.
Don't see a pickup location that works for you? Start a new one!
Contact us if your community is interested in setting up a delivery location. If you are in Central or Southern Maine and near our current delivery route we’ll happily consider it! Learn more.
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Pick up Note! Check the Cooler and Bread Box! | |
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If you order meat products and frozen products like pints or 5lb bags of frozen raspberries, 5lb boxes of frozen blueberries and frozen ginger be sure to grab them from the cooler near the totes at pick up!
Find fresh Vesper bread labeled with your name (available as an add-on share here, or added to your Daybreak Box) in a separate bread tote.
Please relay this information to any family member or friend who may pick up your box for you!
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Our Food Access Work with Waldo County Bounty | |
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Over the next twelve months, through myriad partnerships with nonprofits and State agencies, Daybreak Growers Alliance will purchase $260,000 of fresh Maine grown foods and distribute them to hunger relief initiatives Statewide. Daybreak’s food access programming is a critical component of our mission to make Maine grown foods accessible to all Mainers. As a Farmbox member you support this work by helping us meet our purchasing goals with farms and contributing to the overall viability of our business. One cornerstone piece of our food access programming is our work with Waldo County Bounty.
Daybreak Growers Alliance is a founding partner of Waldo County Bounty, an initiative that seeks to increase food security and access to Maine grown foods in our community. As part of this initiative, we operate the Farm to Pantry (FtP) program. Through the FtP program, we purchase crops from our partner farms at and distribute them to over 18 hunger relief organizations and food access points in Waldo County.
Waldo County Bounty began in May 2020 as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on accessing healthy local food in the community. The team of founding members quickly grew into a countywide network of supporters who made the purchasing and distribution of local food possible, ensuring more food-insecure Waldo County residents had access to it. Daybreak remains instrumental in connecting local products to those in need by utilizing our existing relationships and distribution capacities. Daybreak’s Co-Owner Colleen is a Founder of Waldo County Bounty and the Farm to Pantry program and continues to serve as the farm-to-pantry advisor for Waldo County Bounty.
Learn more and get involved:
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Reach out with any questions or for assistance! | We're always here to answer any questions you may have or to assist with online account navigation and subscription adjustments. | |
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Maine Grown Local & Organic Foods Delivered Year Round
www.DaybreakGrowersAlliance.com
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