27
October
2008
Halloween pumpkins look like the king of the mountain next to diminutive pie pumpkins, which are the ones needed to make a pumpkin pie. 
Every fall my husband, who’s a good cook and an accomplished bread baker, launches into his one dessert specialty, pumpkin pie from scratch. (Well, he did once make a cake for his own wedding party, but that’s another story.)
Pies made from a can of Libby’s are so good it’s hard to imagine that the effort of baking and pureeing the pumpkin will be worth it. But it is. If only for the experience of finding out what goes into that can, and using the actual whole food, the pumpkin itself, is a great cooking adventure with kids. (Aha. So that’s where pumpkin pies come from.) Plus, it’s made by hand in your own kitchen, baking the pumpkin is easy and the end result is delicious.
Pumpkin Pie from Scratch: 
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Posted: Desserts, Eat Local, For Kids, Local Living, Local Meals, Protein, Small Actions
16
October
2008
I wish. While apples are baking in the oven read Michael Pollan’s article from Sunday’s New York Times. I’ll say right up front that it’s long, nine pages, but it’s a doozy, an open letter to the next president, the next Farmer in Chief. 
Maybe you’ll just read part of it, or skim quickly through, or read every word. If you’re interested in food, sustainability, the politics of food, the next administration, health care, minimizing dependence on fuel, feeding the world . . . take a few minutes to read or skim this article. You’ll be moved by the depth of information and possibility that Pollan puts forth regarding global food production and security. Farmer in Chief article, NY Times Magazine, Sunday Oct. 12th (There’s a short excerpt at the end of this post.)
He says that food is about to demand our attention in a whole new way, so before you dive into the article get some apples into the oven. The wafting essence of baking apples is soothing, and when you’re done the apples will be waiting for you. You’ll have spicy baked apple to feed your body and soul, Pollen’s ideas about world food culture to feed your mind.
If it looks like my baked apples exploded, well they sort of did. I didn’t exactly follow the recipe’s recommendation for preferred apples, Gala & Golden Delicious. I know better, but decided to use what’s in my backyard and they were delicious in spite of looking a little askew on the plate. This is a new baked apple for me, inspired by a recipe at Gourmet.com. As with most baked apples, this is simple to make, with the added crunch of caramelized nuts on the side and a dollop of honeyed yogurt. 
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Posted: Desserts, Eat Local, For Kids, In The Garden, Local Living, On the Local Table, Protein, Small Actions, Under the Table
1
October
2008
Our property with its remnants of a gnarly old orchard provides apples, apples and, oh, more apples. With three trees of different varieties we’ve had apples since mid-July. Kind of like zucchini, what can I do next with this stuff? People see me coming with a large bag and they run - the first three bags were fine, but enough already.
Raw Apple cake featuring lots of raw apples is one way to go. Even if you don’t have apples in the backyard, they’re in season right now and you can make this with any tart apple. A large, moist and fruity cake, it lasts for days, (gets older and better) and is good for birthdays - if needed you can easily serve 18-20. The perfect wake-up call in the morning with coffee, or it goes fancy with cream cheese frosting and birthday candles. Today the candles are for Roz. Happy Birthday sweetie - we’re glad you were born.
Raw Apple Cake is easy to make: Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: Desserts, Eat Local, In The Garden, Local Living, On the Local Table, Protein, Small Actions, Under the Table
19
August
2008
Summer is winding down but there is still time to try some of those recipes you have been hoping to get to before cooler weather sets in. For me, making more ice cream has been near the top of the list.
I made a batch of creme fraiche to serve over Billy’s strawberries for dessert on Saturday night and had exactly enough leftover to try to make the creme fraiche ice cream I’d been dreaming about. Coincidentally, I saw a recipe for “Ice Cream in a Bag” in the NY Times a few weeks ago. I was in a low-tech mood so I thought I’d give it a try.
Basically, the idea is to put the ice cream mixture in a freezer bag, then sandwich the bag between two layers of salt and ice in a salad spinner or bowl with a lid for about 30 minutes. Halfway through, you knead the mixture and put it back under the ice to freeze. Problem is, mine never really froze. I know it was practically the hottest day of the year, but I gave it extra time and even had a fan on it.
Don’t get me wrong, it tasted divine beyond words. But, instead of consuming the whole thing as a decadent milkshake, I decide to call it quits with the bag and wait for my ice cream maker container to chill sufficiently to try again. I would need a thoroughly chilled mixture anyway and besides, it wasn’t a bad experiment for a steamy afternoon.
I couldn’t help but wonder if my expectations for firmness were too high so I did a little googling and found several recipes for ice cream made in a bag. You put the mixture in a small bag first, then in a larger one filled with ice and salt and tossing it around for 5 minutes or so. The main caveat being that somehow the salty water may get into the mixture. Not hard to imagine if a 10 year-old boy started tossing it around.
I opted to go back to the method using an electric ice cream maker, not low tech but tried and true. When it was done I sliced some luscious peaches from Rama Farm on top.
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Posted: Dairy, Desserts, Eat Local, Farmers Markets, On the Local Table, Produce
14
August
2008
You might think the glossy dark brown caramelized ‘butter’ looks appetizing, or not. I happen to know it’s delicious so to me it’s appealing, and besides I have to love apples right now. I have quite a few.
We’ll take as many as we can to the local food bank over the next few weeks – they welcome fresh produce that’s in good condition. Or contact Tilth Hotline if you have extra fruit. They have a Community Fruit Tree Harvest program that allows us/helps us to share the abundance.
Mine is just another backyard with apples ripening by the bushel. It’s happening everywhere right now. Poppy was making applesauce last week while across town I was making a crockpot full of apple butter. In fact, we seem to have the same barely identifiable old apple trees dripping with Transparents, and in our yard we think we have old varieties of Gravenstein and King.
Our house is one hundred years old and way back when was known as Goocher’s Orchards. Now it’s an urban lot, but with the added character of three obscure apple trees, relatively young pear and Montmorency cherry trees which we’ve planted, and the remnants of a beloved Italian plum blown down in the storm a year and a half ago. We’re doing our best to honor the legacy of this little bit of land - we seem to have farming in our blood so it’s not such a stretch. Go back just a few generations and we all have that in common.
The three apple trees ripen sequentially from July through September and we do our best to keep up with most of them by making applesauce, apple butter, apple-ginger chutney, a few apple pies, and a very quick and easy sautéed apple dessert (instructions below). Smear the apple butter on a piece of toast, or on a piece of cheese. Heaven.
Here’s the apple butter technique passed on to me by my grandmother. You have to be willing to let apples simmer away quietly in a crockpot for two or three days without much more than an occasional stir and the addition of more apple slices.
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Posted: Desserts, Eat Local, Foraged Foods, In The Garden, On the Local Table, Produce
8
July
2008
. . make cherry pie.
Our Montmorency cherry tree is having its annual 15-minutes of fame. Loaded with bright pink and golden cherries, it glows festively and looks like it’s been decorated with a string of lights. Cherries are enticing and children sometimes find their hot pinkness irresistible, grab a couple and pop them straight into their mouths, then right back out again. They may be pretty, but they’re sour as can be. Come to think of it, I know someone exactly like that. 
The first few years we had a productive yield we covered and then later uncovered the entire tree with a light net, trying to protect the fruit from critters. What a hassle. We then discovered that creatures weren’t so enamored with a sour cherry either, at least not until the peak moment of ripeness when they become only slightly sweeter. We nab them right then, and there are more every year. Some go straight into a pie or fritter, some into the freezer. And Montmorency cherries are courteous about shedding their seed: when the cherry is ripe it turns bright pink and with a tiny squeeze slips right off its own pit, leaving it there on the tree along with the stem.
Mouths watering, pie making begins. We had cherry pie on the 4th - what a way to celebrate Independence Day. Cherries are as American as apple pie, almost as patriotic, and they have serious attitude. I hope they vote.
So here’s the scoop on the pie making: 
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Posted: Desserts, Eat Local, In The Garden, On the Local Table
2
July
2008
A couple of years ago I started hinting that I wanted an ice cream maker for my birthday. My hinting must have been effective because I ended up with two, luckily two different styles. Last weekend I pulled them both out of the basement after coming home from the Farmers Market with half a flat of strawberries. I decided to make strawberry tarragon sorbet in one and strawberry ice cream in the other — that way I could compare the two desserts and the two ice cream makers at the same time. It was a little hectic but well worth the effort — one scoop of each makes a memorable dessert. If you have an ice cream maker stored somewhere other than in your kitchen, now is the time to pull it out and get ready for your 4th of July picnic.
I started with the strawberry tarragon sorbet using a maker that has a canister you pre-freeze for 24 hours before using. It worked beautifully but does take some planning to put it in the freezer ahead of time. This along with chilling the mixture before churning are the most essential steps, the rest is easy. If you have room in your freezer, you could keep the canister in and even use it as an ice bucket so you are ready to go whenever you are inspired.
For the ice cream I used a more traditional ice cream maker that calls for 8-12 lbs of ice. It sounds like a lot but is actually 2 bags of ice. Since it was the hottest day of the year, all but 1 bag was sold out at the corner store and that turned out to be plenty. Both ice cream makers are electric so if you want to conserve, use the kind that you hand-crank. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: Desserts, Eat Local, Farmers Markets, On the Local Table, Produce
4
June
2008
Edible Estates, the book’s title implies something loftier for the garden, an idea that challenges our green grass in the front yard paradigm. Fritz Haeg, environmental designer, teacher and visionary is talking about replacing grass with food, unpretentiously but artfully.
He’s working to make edible gardens a practical, attractive, and nutritious option that yield something for the resources and effort given. If you’ve been wondering about the feasibility of this approach, Edible Estates might be the book for you, but first check out author Fritz Haeg’s website which has an edible estates menu where you can read about and view photographs of what people have done with this idea all over the country, the world. There are photo examples, and a letter written by a homeowner, The Lawn Goodbye.
Bob spoke about planting more edibles in our front yard years ago, I resisted, but I’m over it. We have a productive vegetable garden in the backyard, and now a few stray edibles in the front yard as well: artichoke, parsley, thyme, lavender, blueberries and a Montmorency sour cherry tree. We still have some grass and I’m open-minded about growing food just about anywhere these days.
Cherries, 
artichokes and blueberries are on the way, 
but right now the lavender beckons and it’s perfect for herb-infused whipped cream. Easy and right out of the front yard. Another example of how an herb adds its note of distinction to almost anything and with such ease.
Lavender Whipped Cream is delicious atop all kinds of things including anything chocolate, fresh berries or rhubarb sauce. Truthfully, I hesitated when first introduced to this concept, I couldn’t imagine that I would like even the slightest flavor of lavender in my whipping cream. Now I’m a convert. About once each year we make a fancy frothy dessert called Pavlova. This version of lavender-infused whipped cream was inspired by Jerry Traunfeld’s Pavlova in The Herbfarm Cookbook.
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Posted: Dairy, Desserts, Eat Local, In The Garden, On the Local Table
22
April
2008
When I think of foraging, I think of going out in the woods to gather something exotic like mushrooms. Gathering flowers is more like meandering through the garden, unless it starts hailing, snowing and raining. In that case, a rather fluffy pastime can turn into an extreme sport of running in and out of shelter with camera and tripod in tow. Lucky for me, I have easy access to loads of Viola volunteers close to my house.
The genus Viola includes violets, pansies, johnny-jump-ups and many more. I have 4 of the more common species in my yard and didn’t plant any of them from seed. I did “relocate” one from a parking lot years ago but the rest just showed up and continue to find perfect little spots here and there to take hold.
According to Robert Henderson in the Neighborhood Forager, all Violas are edible. He mentions eating the foliage, either raw or steamed. I have sprinkled the flowers in salads but I wanted to try to crystallize them for decorations on cupcakes. My assistants showed up and I immediately put them to work.
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Posted: Desserts, Foraged Foods, On the Local Table
8
April
2008
. . . feisty and sour as ever, but add a little sugar and it’s transformed. Some of us are like that. This is our early spring vegetable that thinks it’s a fruit. We treat it as if it were fruit, like sour cherries, and make delicious desserts with it.
Just a few weeks ago voluptuous red buds peaked above ground surrounded by masses of luminous wrinkled green and remnants of last year’s decay. It’s matured since then and rhubarb is now ready to be harvested, cooked and consumed. Though the leaves are glorious, they’re full of oxalic acid and toxic as can be. Do Not Eat The Leaves!
The stalks are another story, an edible, nutritious vegetable high in vitamin C and fiber and a decent source of potassium.
Make rhubarb sauce.
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Posted: Desserts, Eat Local, In The Garden, On the Local Table
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