Hello, World! This is my first post! I’ll use it to give you an idea of who I am and what I’m doing here and why I’m blogging about it. My name is Alex, I live in Silver Spring, MD, and I love to cook. I also love dogs, books, and puns. I work in Bethesda, MD, as a Technical Editor, which sounds much more exciting and skill-based than it truly is.

Oh yeah, and I recently joined a CSA! CSA, for those of you who don’t know, stands for Community-Supported Agriculture, and is a way for farmers to sell “shares” of their crop directly to consumers. My CSA is actually a group of local farmers, working through an organization called 4P Foods. Every Friday, I’ll come home to a fresh bag of produce, straight from the farmers! I also happen to be a big and long-time fan of Clean Fairfax, and when I told her my Veggie Tale, fearless leader Jen Cole suggested I blog about it for the Clean Fairfax site. A lot of my produce will be coming from Virginia (and the surrounding area), and I’ve always thought about sharing my (mis)adventures in cooking with the great wide internet, so it sounded like a deal made in heaven. I decided to call this blog “A Lot on My Plate” because I’m constantly overwhelmed and am looking forward to having a lot of fresh, local ingredients on my plates!

Joining a CSA in the winter is a little bit unconventional, I know, but here’s a visual of what I could get:   

Looks pretty tasty, right? Well, today I’m expecting my first delivery! Here’s what I’ll get in this week’s bag:

• Fall Carrots – Van Dessel Farm, Accomack, VA
• Gold Potatoes – Van Dessel Farm, Accomack, VA
• Local Kombucha – Spicy Ginger & Lavender Mint – No. 1 Sons, Arlington, VA
• Portabella Mushroom Caps – McDowells Mushrooms, Avondale, PA
• Red Medium Beets – Van Dessel Farm, Accomack, VA
• Red Oak Leaf Lettuce – Fresh2o, Stevensburg, VA
• Ruby Red Grapefruit – Paramont Citrus Farm, Clermont, FL
• Stone Ground Cornmeal – Woodson’s Mill, Lowesville, VA
• Watercress Bunch – Mock’s Farm – Berkeley Springs, WV
• Yellow Delicious Apples – Crown Orchards, Albermarle, VA

I don’t know about you, but I’m awfully excited about it. Every week, 4P emails me a newsletter with what will be in that week’s bag, along with storage tips, recipes, and even a couple of fun facts. To start, I’ll probably post once or twice a week (or every other week, depending on how quickly I devour my haul) with a new recipe I’ve tried. I’ll try to include helpful pictures and descriptions, as well as maybe some anecdotes, fun facts, or puns along the way.

Cheers!