When national politics leave us scratching our head, it's helpful to take a closer look at the amazing community that we've cultivated around our CSA. Thus begins the inaugural CSA Member Spotlight! We hope that this series will highlight the diverse nature and composition of this community, and how each member integrates the CSA into their varied lifestyles. This week, the multi-talented and charismatic troubadour, Elizabeth McQueen, cleared out a little time in her busy schedule for us to interview and capture her and her husband, Dave, in their space.

Elizabeth McQueen. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

How long have you been a CSA member? We’ve been members for a long time… at least 5 years? Probably longer than that, but I’ve known Brenton since I was in my 20s. He and Beth used to come see me play at the Carousel Lounge.

What is your usual plan of action with regard to the veggies? We try to figure out how to use them all. I really love the internet because you can google two random ingredients and come up with something interesting. I looked in the fridge earlier and saw that we had sweet potatoes, bacon, and swiss cheese. I thought surely there’s some kind of savory sweet potato concoction out there, and sure enough there happened to one that uses all those ingredients. It’s heavenly and delicious.

Sweet potato concoction. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

How did you hear about the CSA? Gosh, it’s been so long, I can’t remember… I probably heard about it through the farmer’s market. I remember seeing the Johnson’s Backyard Garden stand (back when it was much smaller) and then realizing that they had a CSA. It just really seemed like a good idea, getting seasonal organic vegetables every week. It makes a lot of sense, you’re getting the vegetables from essentially down the street, and you can meet the actual people who are growing them, AND they can come to your shows! I feel like when we first started doing it, I had to convince you of it [speaking to Dave, her husband]? He was a little skeptical… [Dave: Sometimes it can be a major challenge to get through the box! We get the small box for four people.] It forces you to eat things that you normally wouldn’t eat.

What makes the CSA worth it for you? I think it checks all the boxes. It’s really hard to live, especially with food, the way that you want to live when you live in an American consumer culture, you know? In my mind, I would love to eat local, organic food all the time. What makes it worth it is that it’s actually a very affordable way to live life the way I wish that I could across the board. I wish I could live my life on that scale all the time, but it’s kind of hard and it would be expensive… but Johnson’s is a way to connect to that.

Unpacking her veggies! Photo by Scott David Gordon.

What is your favorite veggie? Does it have to be a veggie? Because I LOVE tomatoes. Tomato season at Johnson’s, or doing the bulk tomato purchase, is one of my favorite things to do. To get all of those tomatoes and just make a big thing of sauce, or roast a bunch of tomatoes and put them in the freezer… it feels good.

What is your favorite recipe? There’s a really great okra recipe that I haven’t made in a long time. Honestly, I never would have made it if it weren’t for getting okra every week from JBG, and being like, “what am I going to do with all this okra?!” Now, we fry it because everyone will eat it, but I have this Indian okra recipe with tomato and ginger. You sauté the okra and purée tomatoes, onions, and ginger together. You cook that in with the okra, and it’s really delicious. Oh, and GRILLED OKRA! We just discovered it the other day. Maybe okra is my favorite vegetable now… I just threw some on the grill because I was wondering what it would taste like, and it’s very good. Grilled vegetables in general are awesome, you can pretty much grill any vegetable and it works.

Elizabeth, on the right, and her husband, Dave, on the left in their home! Photo by Scott David Gordon

What’s the veggie that stumps you the most? Sweet potato greens. I’ve tried to make them palatable, but they are just slimy and bitter and I can’t do it. We don’t have good luck with those little Canary melons either, plus I don’t like melons in the first place... too sweet. [Dave: The other thing is the PLETHORA of beets. We like beets, but we have a hard time keeping up.] Though, we do love grilling with beets... my husband has a really good beet recipe with the orange-y beets. Now that it’s cooling off, it’s perfect grilling weather. Beets are really good grilled.

Any weird run-ins with JBG delivery drivers? The best story is… I knew Scott because he was my CSA delivery driver. I would get the newsletter, and it took me a while to figure out that he was the guy that was making the vegetables look so beautiful. So, one day, all of us were at the Four Seasons for KUTX during SXSW. The kids were, of course, immediately over it, so we were rolling down the hill in the back lawn and sliding under trees to pass the time. Unbeknownst to me, Scott had taken this panoramic shot of us under the trees. It’s this huge image of the back lawn, Town Lake, the trees, and us sitting underneath. It's so beautiful, he had captured this perfect, idyllic, sparkly moment. [Fun fact: It’s framed in their bedroom!]

The photo of E. McQueen and her family under the trees. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Where did you learn to cook… any favorite types of food to cook? I learned to cook growing up because my mom hated cooking. So, we had to learn to cook the meals... I don’t do as much cooking anymore. When I was traveling with Asleep at the Wheel, I cooked a lot more. I’d be on the road and just wanted to cook because I’d be stuck in a hotel room for two weeks. Now that I’m home, I do very simple cooking... but Dave comes home off the road and he does these extravagant meals. The older he gets, the better he gets at cooking, and the more adventurous he is. When we started dating, he was very strict and by the book with his recipes. [Dave: I like to follow the recipes until I know what I’m doing, and she laughs at me!] He comes home ready to cook.

Dave cooking dinner. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Is it hard to keep up a cooking regimen when you are touring? Well, when you are touring, the first day, you eat well, and by the end of the second day, you are eating hamburgers for breakfast and doughnuts for dinner. So, yes, it’s hard to keep up with cooking on the road. I’m sure there are people that can do it though!

What are you cooking now? Well, I didn’t cook it, but today, Dave cooked this sweet potato dish and green beans. I’m looking forward to cooking soups for the winter. We have a bunch of butternut squash that we cubed and froze to make a butternut squash, coconut milk, and lime soup. Especially on a day like today, soups are going to make us feel better. Soups are going to get us through a Trump presidency.

What’s your favorite kitchen gadget? I actually really like to bake, so one of my favorite kitchen gadgets is the Cuisinart mixer. You can do a lot really quickly with that. I also like a good lemon squeezer. The lemon squeezer is kind of new to me, I never used one growing up. You can get a lot of juice out of a lemon with one of these!

Elizabeth performing at a CSA Potluck past. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

When you aren’t gushing over your CSA share, what do you do? I’m a DJ at KUTX and a producer of the “This Song” Podcast. Actually, the new season starts next Wednesday, Nov. 16! I teach voice for Anthropos Arts… I am also a musician, though, I haven't been playing that much recently. I am co-PTA President at Maplewood Elementary, and I’m a mom. So, yeah, there’s a lot of stuff going on! [Fun fact: she’s played at one of our CSA potlucks before! Shown above.]

If you are stuck on a desert island and can only bring three things, what would you bring along?

• The Harry Potter series
• A guitar to pass the time
• Something to write and draw with… Maybe a lot of paper and some pencils

I feel like that could get you by if food and water are already covered. You’d be entertained, you can make stuff, and you can read Harry Potter series start to finish over and over again.

A big thanks to Elizabeth McQueen and her family for their continued support of the farm! ‘Til next time, folks!