Flavors of the Umpqua

Simple Featherlight Dinner Rolls

2011-12-15T08:17:00.000-08:00

Oma's Featherlights

These rolls are a tradition at our house for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. My mom got the recipe thirty years ago from her friend, Cora Leavitt. They were originally called "Grandma's Featherlights" but in our family, my mom is "Oma" so that's what we call them.

They are truly simple to make. You mix them up the night before (no kneading required!) and let the dough rise in the refrigerator overnight.

Combine and let stand for 20 minutes:
2 pkgs. active dry yeast (or 4 teaspoons instant yeast)
1/2 cup warm water
1 tablespoon sugar

Meanwhile, scald 1 cup milk, cool and add in
1/3 cup oil (I use cold butter instead as this helps cool the milk)
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 eggs, well beaten

Add the yeast mixture to the cooled milk mixture and stir to combine. Mix in 4 1/2 to 5 cups unbleached all-purpose flour. (You can do this in a big mixer or in a large bowl with a wooden spoon. You do not have to knead it, just be sure all of the flour in incorporated into the liquid. It will be sticky.) Place in a large greased or oiled bowl with enough room to rise. Cover tightly and refrigerator overnight.

Two hours before you plan to bake the rolls, take the dough out of the refrigerator and turn onto a lightly floured. Divide into 24 equal pieces (about the size of an egg) and shape into balls, pinching the seam tightly. (I scale them at 2 ounces each.) Place into greased baking pans with a bit of space in between for rising. Spray lightly with oil, cover with plastic wrap or waxed paper and let rise at room temperature 1 1/2 to 2 hours, depending on how warm your kitchen is. I like to time it so they are ready to go in the oven after I take the turkey out, while I make the gravy.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until golden on top and not doughy in the center. Remove from oven and immediately brush with melted butter.

Makes 24 large rolls.

Note: I always have to double the recipe for my family. I like to shape all the rolls at once and then put one pan of them (lightly sprayed with oil and covered tightly) back in the frig. That way I can bake them the next day so they'll be fresh to go with our leftovers.

The Word on Walnuts

2011-11-30T17:44:00.001-08:00

Okay, so I don't have time to take a photo of them right now (Shhhh! I am busy constructing a chocolate volcano cake with strawberry syrup lava for my son's birthday tomorrow), but if you are in the market for local walnuts, have I got a deal for you!!! A friend of mine has a bumper crop this year and just dropped off the 30 pounds I ordered from her.

Georgie's walnuts, grown in Garden Valley, are the most beautiful, delicious walnuts I have ever had. If you are accustomed to grocery store walnuts, you will be in for a real treat when you try these. Fresh walnuts are not at all oily or greasy (or rancid.) Shelled walnuts store wonderfully in the freezer all year long.

Last year the local walnut crop was dismal. I am not taking any chances this year. In addition to Georgie's thirty pounds of shelled walnuts, I bought 50 pounds of cracked walnuts from my friend, Rusdee, and another 50 pounds uncracked, still in the shell from Brosi's Sugartree Farms in Winston. Overkill, I know, but my husband and I each eat at least a handful of walnuts every day, plus I use them in my baking.

Anyway, if you are in need of walnuts, Georgie still has some for sale. She researched all the grocery stores, including Costco and set her price at the extremely reasonable rate of $5/pound for halves, pieces, or small to medium whole walnuts. (Costco is the only store close at $4.99/lb when you buy a 3-pound bag for $14.99 and I guarantee you they are not this fresh.) If you are into candymaking, she also has large and extra-large whole walnuts for $6/lb. and $7/pound. Perfect for Maple-Covered Walnuts.

They won't last long, so call Georgie at 541-673-2321 if you'd like to stock up. Don't forget to tell her Jennifer sent you her way!

Eatin' Barbecue in Memphis

2011-11-27T00:01:00.000-08:00

We visited my daughter Christine and her husband Blake for Thanksgiving. They took us to Central BBQ the other night for some authentic Memphis ribs. We ordered two "slabs", one "dry" and one "wet" and a variety of sides to go with them: baked beans, slaw, cooked greens, potato salad, fries, and mac & cheese. We also got their BBQ'd nachos, a house specialty--tortilla chips smothered with pulled pork, bbq sauce and cheese with jalapenos on the side. (Kathy from Smokin' Fridays, if you're reading this, I think these would be a hit back home!)

I love pulled pork, but I have never been a huge ribs fan; they are just so messy to eat. These, however, were delicious, so tender and flavorful, definitely worth getting sticky for and finger-lickin' good. The ones with the dry rub were my favorite, but the wet glaze was excellent too, just a bit spicier.

Support Your Local "Farmacy"

2011-10-24T10:45:00.000-07:00

"Let [local] food be your medicine." I think all food was local when Hippocrates gave that advice.

In Praise of (local) Prunes

2011-10-23T20:52:00.000-07:00

Photo courtesy of Robin Loznak

I bought ten pounds of the best-tasting local prunes yesterday at the Umpqua Valley Farmers Market. Janet Fisher and her daughter and son-in-law were giving out samples, so naturally I had to try them and oh, were they good!

My complaint about the packaged prunes at the grocery store (the bag says "dried plums" now to sound more appealing) is that they are too wet and gushy. I've always wished they were drier and chewier, more like raisins. I've even considered taking the time to put them in my dehydrator and dry them out a bit more. Well, guess what? These local prunes are exactly what I'm after, nice and chewy! (Of course, you can steam them or stew them if you like them soft.) Yes, they have pits, but you just pop one in your mouth and chew around it or slit the skin with a knife (or sharp thumbnail) and pull the pit out before eating. Once pitted they can be chopped or snipped into pieces with scissors and used just as you would raisins. I'll be tossing them into my morning oatmeal and using them in baked goods all winter long. Exotic ideas are running through my head. Once the pit is removed, the "pocket" could be stuffed with all sorts of delectable things; nuts, goat cheese, chocolate chips? What a fun and nutritious snack! C'mon, admit it, we could all use more fiber in our diet.

Janet Fisher, with the help of her family, grows Moyer, Italian, and Brooks prunes on her historic Umpqua Valley century farm, the Martha A. Maupin Century Farm, named for her great-great-grandmother. According to the pamphlet I picked up at their booth, they use natural, organic growing methods and dry the prunes right on the farm in a commercial dryer (shown in the photo above) that has been serving them and other local growers since the 1930's.

The Moyer prunes are sold out for the season, but I sampled both the Italians and Brooks. The Italian prunes are slightly smaller and a bit more tart than the Brooks, but both are sweet and delicious. Prices are $12 for a 5-pound bag or $23 for a 10-pound bag of the Brooks--that's what I bought. The Italians are $11 for a 5-pound bag and $21 for a 10-pound bag. They will store nicely in your freezer for years, though I'm guessing mine will get eaten up long before next year's harvest is ready.

Your last chance to stock up on these wonderful prunes will be this Saturday, October 29 from 9 to 1, at the Umpqua Valley Farmers Market on Diamond Lake Blvd. Don't miss out!

Time to Get Crackin'

2011-10-22T08:58:00.000-07:00

Hazelnuts (filberts) are ready at Norm Lehne Garden & Orchards, but if you'd like some, you'd better hurry out today as they are going fast. These are large/jumbo Ennis variety nuts. They are $1.75/lb. and you can crack them yourself on the spot with Norm's old-fashioned cracker. It doesn't take long at all to separate the nutmeats from the shells later--a great task for a rainy evening by the fire. You will get about 50% nutmeats from the total weight.

I store them in the freezer and roast a small batch at a time to add to salads or nibble on. I also use them in cookies and granola. They make delicious hazelnut butter, too.

If you can't get out there today, you might be able to reserve some to pick up Monday by calling 541-672-2745.

Walnuts should be ready soon. You can get on the list at Brosi's Sugartree Farms (541-679-1472) and they'll call when they are harvested and back from the dryer. Cleveland Rapids Orchards (Ray and Kaye Lehne) no longer sell walnuts.

Update: Just got back from Sherm's and I noticed they have hazelnuts in the shell, uncracked, for $3.45/lb., so Norm's are a bargain!

Lovely Wedding Cake

2011-10-20T09:22:00.001-07:00

My niece's wedding cake.

Pizza at Delancey

2011-08-08T15:10:00.000-07:00

Our Pizza Margherita fresh out of the oven.

My husband and I just returned from a two-week vacation around the Pacific Northwest. Seattle was our last stop and on the final night of our trip we searched out Delancey to try their wood-fired pizza. I had read about Delancey on Molly Wizenberg's food blog, Orangette. Molly is also the author of the book, A Homemade Life. It's a delightful series of vignettes and essays and recipes. I've given away two copies so far; you can read my daughter's praise for it here. Anyway, in the book we learn about how Molly meets her future husband, Brandon, their long-distance romance, and eventually their wedding. They opened this pizza place in Seattle together in 2009, so I thought it would be fun to go find it.

When I called to see about a reservation I was told they only accepted reservations for parties of six or more and that it could be an hour to an hour and a half wait for a table of two on a Thursday night. (Delancey was written up in the New York Times just a few days before; I wasn't sure we'd be able to get in at all.) We decided to take our chances and showed up about 6:30 pm, hoping we could still make a 9:20 movie showing of Life in a Day (very worthwhile!) We were told it would be about an hour until a table was free, but if we wanted to eat at the bar (which was really just four stools and a counter overlooking the kitchen and wood-fired oven) we might be able to sit down in 30 minutes. Of course, I jumped at the chance to not only try the pizza, but to watch it being made and see Brandon himself slide our pie into the oven and pull it out. It's a tiny space and I had great fun watching all the action.

We started with a charcuterie plate of prosciutto, lonzo (another cured meat), and marinated green olives. We ordered the simple Pizza Margherita--just tomato sauce, fresh basil, fresh mozzarella, and olive oil. The sauce was excellent--no herbs in it and I didn't even detect garlic--just a very fresh, robust tomato flavor. The crust was thin and crispy and black around the edges. There was just enough mozzarella to make the pizza substantial, but not so much that we felt stuffed. I had the server wrap up one of Molly's Bittersweet Chocolate Chip Cookies with Gray Salt to sneak into the movie we were heading to afterwards. Yumm!

Molly is currently working on a book about the opening of Delancey. If you happen to be in Seattle, it's definitely worth a visit.

I don't know the name of the guy tossing the dough, but that's Brandon getting ready to put our pizza in the oven.

Berries, Berries, and Cherries!

2011-07-18T13:53:00.000-07:00

Kevin and I picked sixty-six pounds of blueberries in less than two hours last Friday at Haven Farms. I gave some to my parents and packaged forty-eight pounds of them in 2-pound bags for the freezer. The rest are still in the frig and we're eating them fresh.

This morning I went out to The Berry Patch (in the rain) and picked eleven pounds of raspberries. It was wet and muddy, but there are still plenty of nice berries and more to ripen over the next week. I just finished making a batch of raspberry freezer jam and I started a quart jar of raspberry vinegar. I froze two 2 lb. bags of raspberries to make a couple batches of cooked jam this winter. Still deciding what to do with the remaining berries--they must be dealt with today as they are dead ripe. I don't have time to make a batch of cooked jam right now and there aren't enough left to juice. I do need to pick more this week to make enough raspberry juice for raspberry lemonade during the coming year. The Berry Patch has boysenberries and Marionberries right now too, so I'm hoping I'll have time to stock up on those as well.

We are on our second 12-lb. box of bing cherries from Shady Lane Orchards. We bought them picked; I don't like to get on ladders if I don't have to. We just keep eating them fresh until we're tired of them because their season is so short. I'm going to pick up 80 pounds of pitted bings at Hentze's in Junction City this Thursday for dehydrating.

And I still need to go pick more blueberries out at Big Bend Berries. I figure we go through about two pounds of frozen berries per week, in smoothies or on our cereal, so I don't have nearly enough in the freezer yet. Hmmm....and I might need to start a batch of blueberry-lemon vinegar. I'm imagining a variation of my favorite salad with dried blueberries, Rogue Creamery bleu cheese, and a blueberry vinaigrette. Oh, and I still want to try making lavender-blueberry jam, but I can always do that later with some of the frozen berries.

Haven Farm Blueberry Picking Starts Tomorrow

2011-07-14T14:05:00.000-07:00

Quick note: Tomorrow, Friday, will be opening day for blueberry-picking at Haven Farm near Tyee. Picking starts at 8:00 am but you will want to get there by 7:30 am or so to get in line. Their Duke berries all ripen at once, which makes it easy to pick lots of berries very quickly, but it also means they will be gone in just a few days. Check the website for picking dates for their other varieties.

Big Bend Berries (673-8767) is also open for blueberry-picking now. I'll be out there next week to get some Patriots and Berkeleys, as I prefer their flavor for fresh eating.

Carpinteria Farmers Market

2011-07-09T14:34:00.000-07:00

I'm in Southern California this week visiting family. I didn't make it to my hometown farmers market, but I spent the day at the beach in Carpinteria on Thursday and when I'd had enough sun and sand and salt water, I walked down Lindon Street with my signature yellow canvas "Eat Local Produce" shopping bag to the afternoon farmers market. I pumped forty-two dollars into their local economy with my purchases and then struggled to haul everything back to my car without squashing any of the deliciously ripe fruit or breaking the stems of the flowers.

As always, I made one trip through the market from end to end to survey the offerings and compare prices. Such abundance; so many possibilities. The second time through I began formulating a menu. My brother, Dave, and I like to cook together, so I knew we'd have fun "playing" with whatever ingredients I brought home and they would not go to waste.

First off, I bought a half flat of incredibly sweet, deep red strawberries. These are not the huge, crunchy, flavorless "California strawberries" we Oregonians scorn. These are perfect. (On a whim, I threw a packet of Ball Instant Fruit Pectin into the snack bag I was packing for our road trip and later today I will make a batch of low sugar freezer jam for my brother's family.)

Next, I bought a few luscious, juicy, ready-to-eat peaches. Everything ripens earlier here; I don't think we'll have peaches at home for several weeks. I was so excited to get a head start on peach season! As I type, I am eating a bowl of Greek yogurt topped with peaches and strawberries and just a touch of honey. A perfect warm weather lunch--loads of antioxidants, vitamins, calcium, and eighteen grams of protein.

Okay, so I'm walking around trying to shop without bruising the fruit. It was too far to take it to the car and I was afraid the best berries would be gone if I waited until the end to buy them. I got the last four peaches as it was. And I couldn't put any of it in my market bag or it would certainly be mush by the time I was through. The plastic bag handles were cutting off the circulation in my fingers, but I struggled along to pick out some vegetables.

Hmmmm....so many choices. Red beets, orange beets, lettuce, cucumbers, broccoli, cauliflower, bright yellow butterstick squash. I was very tempted by the basket of ten baby zucchini with blossoms still attached. The vendor suggested stuffing the flowers with goat cheese, twisting them closed, brushing the flowers and squash with olive oil and baking for about ten minutes. Sounds wonderful, but I know I will be able to get zucchini at home and the lovely, pencil-thin asparagus next door was really calling my name, as our local asparagus is done for the year. I bought three bunches. We'll roast them for dinner tonight along with the boneless leg of lamb Dave just walked in the door with.

I bought two heads of hydroponic butterhead lettuce. "No dirt, no bugs" the sign said and they were a bargain at two for $3.

I picked out a few vine-ripened, just-picked Roma tomatoes and a bunch of fresh basil. With a store-bought baguette (too hot for baking!) we'll make bruschetta for our appetizer.

I chose a gorgeous bouquet of two-toned gerbera daisies for my sister-in-law. Four bucks for ten exquisite peaches and cream flowers.

I tasted some fresh green garbanzo beans still in their pods and bought a scoop just for the novelty of it. They taste much like fresh peas and make a refreshing snack. I've never had edamame, but I'm wondering if it's similar.

I bought four very hard avocados to take home with me. I don't want them to ripen for at least a week.

I didn't splurge on a bottle of California olive oil, but I did buy a small bar of lavender-scented castille soap from the same booth.

Surprisingly, there were no baked goods at this market. Nothing to sample or munch on during my hour-long drive back to Valencia. It's a scenic route through Ventura, Santa Paula, and Fillmore past acres and acres of orange groves. Normally I wouldn't be able to resist the pull of the roadside fruit stands, but my cash was gone, my skin was still salt-crusted from swimming and I was ready for a shower.

Sunday Dinner with a Local Flair

2011-07-03T23:17:00.000-07:00

The menu...

Salmon on a plank

Baby zucchini and yellow squash

Steamed fingerling potatoes

Roasted beets

Mixed greens with nasturtiums

dressed with an orange muscat vinaigrette

Baguette slices with Boursin cheese

Individual Berry Pavlovas

The salmon was a gift from a friend, caught in the North Umpqua river just a few miles from our home. The squash, potatoes, beets, lettuce, flowers, raspberries, and cherries came from the farmers market. Even the eggs for the meringue and the whipping cream were local. Our blueberry harvest hasn't begun yet, so those were from Salinas and, of course, the sugar, vanilla, olive oil, salt and pepper came from far off places, as did the flour and yeast I used for the baguettes. Still, without being a true locavore, putting together an Umpqua Valley feast during the summer is pretty easy.

I sliced the baby squash in half and cooked them quickly on a hot griddle, turning once halfway through.

The nasturtiums looked lovely in the salad. My family thought it was strange to be eating flowers, though.

The salmon was delicious. I brushed it with olive oil and sprinkled it with freshly ground pepper and some of the Pink Himalayan salt my daughter gave me for Christmas before my husband placed the fillets on cedar planks for grilling.

Dessert was a hit! Raspberry coulis, meringue, whipped cream, berries, another layer of meringue, more cream, more berries, and a bing cherry on top. Details here.

A Star-Spangled Dessert

2011-07-03T23:13:00.000-07:00

I made individual berry pavlovas for tonight's dessert, in honor of Independence Day. (My folks are doing the hamburger and hotdog barbecue tomorrow, so this was my chance!)

I used this recipe from the pastry studio blog (oh, what fun I could have working my way through that blog!) and the only change I made was to make five small pavlovas instead of one large pavlova. I drew five circles about three and a half inches in diameter on each of two sheets of parchment. Be sure to place the parchment on the pan with the pencil side down or it will transfer to your food. You need two discs for each pavlova. This recipe made just the right amount.

The smaller meringue discs will not take quite as long to bake, but you still need to plan on about an hour and a half. They will lift off the parchment easily without leaving much meringue behind when they are done.

While the meringue discs are baking you can get the cream whipped, the berries rinsed, and the coulis made. Then, assembling the pavlovas just before serving is a snap.

Enjoy!

Overboard

2011-07-02T13:52:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I went a bit overboard at the farmers market this morning. I just couldn't help myself. I started out at The Baklava Lady's booth just a few minutes after 9:00 am. You have to get there right when the market opens because she sells out fast.

My favorite croissants were on display, the ones with the fabulous Nutella and marshmallow fluff filling, so I bought one of those and three mini spanakopita. I fully intended to take photos to post, but, sorry, none of that made it home. I also bought a thick slice of Lime Cake. I think Judy said there was a full cup of lime juice in the recipe and, no, she didn't feel compelled to dress it up with green food coloring. I haven't tasted it yet, but I'm sure the flavor speaks for itself.

Right next door is the Cabruca Chocolates booth. I sampled a traditional Brazilian Honey Cake--the texture is somewhat of a cross between a brownie bite and a mini cupcake. Juliana said there are no eggs or butter in the batter, but it does have local organic honey and dulce de leche. I admired her assortment of truffles and bought a chocolate-mint truffle, which I have managed to resist eating so far.

At Dang's Gardens I picked out a bouquet of red, white and purple sweet peas and a bouquet of gorgeous orange nasturtiums. I'm going to add some of the nasturtiums to our Sunday dinner salad tomorrow and see what kind of reaction I get. I also bought a bag of arugula.

On to Growing Crazy Farms where we discussed the cherry crop (okay, but not overly abundant this year) and I got a head of lettuce.

At the Riggs Family Farm stand I went for the baby (tiny!) zucchini and yellow summer squash. I'm thinking I'll halve them lengthwise and grill them to go with dinner tomorrow.

Hayhurst Farms from Yoncalla had a lovely display of vegetables--napa cabbage, broccoli, kale, beets, carrots, snow peas, and garlic. I bought some beets and a few transplants for my garden--tarragon, rosemary, and cucumbers.

I bought one roma tomato plant and a basket of organic bing cherries but I didn't look at the names of the booths. The cherries really could have used a few more days on the tree to sweeten up, but for some reason, after chatting with the grower, I bought them anyway.

By this time I had made two trips to the car to unload some of my bounty and get more money out of my purse. On my last swing through the market I bought a bunch of carrots from Big Lick Farm and picked up the fingerling potatoes and raspberries I had reserved at Linnea Marie Farms.

So tomorrow's menu is shaping up nicely. My husband is going to do Salmon on a Plank on the grill for the entree. I'll round it out with a salad, the baby squash, roasted beets, and crusty baguette slices spread with Boursin Garlic and Fine Herb cheese. I'm thinking of making a berry pavlova for dessert--fluffy white meringue topped with vanilla creme anglaise, blueberries, and raspberries. How festive is that for (almost) Fourth of July?

Have a great holiday. I'm off to mix baguette dough, plant my new transplants, clean the house, and head to the gym.

Goat Cheese Truffles

2011-06-25T21:57:00.001-07:00

New from The Baklava Lady at the Umpqua Valley Farmers Market! I sampled one of these Goat Cheese Truffles last Saturday and was headed back for more this week, but they were sold out before I got there. A delightful combination of goat cheese, snipped chives, and dried cranberries rolled in chopped pecans. Savory and sweet all in one creamy bite.

These truffles would make an elegant finish to a sophisticated dinner but they could also be served as an appetizer or tucked into a basket with some fresh fruit and a great baguette for your Music-on-the-Halfshell picnic.

The Ultimate 'Buy Local' Experience

2011-04-26T10:42:00.000-07:00

If you haven't made it to the Umpqua Valley Farmers Market yet, you are missing out on the ultimate spot to 'buy local.'

I've been buying zesty lettuce mix, tender asparagus, leeks, flowers, and of course, sampling the baked goods.

There are four bakers at the market this year. Well, five, if you count the baked goods (muffins, tarts, etc.) at the Growing Crazy Farms booth. B & J's Bakery is there with giant monster cookies, bread, and so far is the only one with pies. Lighthouse Bakery is back with their hearth loaves, biscotti, and walnut sticky buns. The Village Baker from Ashland has a booth at our market this year; I haven't tried any of their goods yet. And Judy, The Baklava Lady, is there with an expanded selection of pastries, biscotti, and cookies in addition to her baklava and spanakopita. I bought one of her flaky chocolate croissants filled with a mix of Nutella and marshmallow fluff. Superb! Her lemon-basil cookies were also excellent--buttery dough with flecks of green basil and lemon zest, then topped with a lemon glaze.

I picked up some local handmade chocolates for my son's Easter basket at the Umpqua Sweets & Treats booth and tried one of the "Yumpqua" bars--a caramel layer, a blackberry layer, all dipped in dark chocolate and sprinkled with hazelnuts. Yum indeed!

Looks like the sun might actually come out on Saturday, so I'll be checking out the selection of transplants for my garden.

Hope to see you there!

Return of the Farmers Market!!!

2011-04-15T18:21:00.000-07:00

The Umpqua Valley Farmers Market opens at 9:00 am tomorrow morning! I can't wait. It's been a long winter. It's so fun to reconnect with all my favorite vendors again.

I'll be picking up some tender asparagus from Jim and Joni Leet and then I'll be looking for lettuce, arugula, and flowers.

I hear there is a new food cart this year; I'm looking forward to seeing who it is.

I'll also check out the transplants for my garden, but I'm in no mood to start digging until the sun comes out.

Hope to see some of you there.

Osteria Sfizio

2011-03-28T17:16:00.000-07:00

Warm, sugar-crusted doughnut "pillows" with creme anglaise for dipping.

On the recommendation of Jennifer over at Culinaria Eugenius, my friend, Laura, and I stopped into Osteria Sfizio in Eugene for lunch a while back. I don't pretend to be a food critic and I only write about places I like (Thumper's rule), but this sleek, modern restaurant in the Oakway Center near Trader Joe's is too good not to blog about. A bit spendy (I don't often spend $25 on lunch and that was my half of the bill!) but worth every penny.

We started off with the asparagus soup and long, thin, crispy breadsticks, then Laura ordered the wild mushroom ravioli in a brown butter and sage sauce and I chose the elk lasagne bolognese with bechamel sauce. We decided to split an order of roasted root vegetables. Both entrees were out-of-this-world--we shared, of course. And I'm not even much of a mushroom fan. The pasta is made in-house using flour milled in Pendleton and local eggs. They use as many locally-sourced ingredients as possible, always a plus and worth paying extra for.

The root vegetables--carrots, parsnips, turnips (or maybe they were rutabagas?) were roasted to perfection and seasoned with black pepper and a dash of honey. I definitely want to try to duplicate those at home.

For dessert there were several interesting choices, but we decided to split an order of the "Sfizio Doughnuts" (pictured above) and enjoyed every bite.

Osterio Sfizio is worth the drive to Eugene for a special-occasion dinner. They also offer brunch on Saturdays and Sundays, which I look forward to trying next time I'm in Eugene for the weekend.

That's My Farmer!/FRESH the Movie

2011-02-27T06:00:00.000-08:00

Think Local Umpqua has teamed up with the First United Methodist Church in Roseburg for their second annual "That's My Farmer" event.

This is a great chance to meet farmers in our area, learn more about local CSAs, watch a great film called FRESH: New thinking about what we're eating, and enjoy an ice cream sundae. I get to help make the toppings.

I had a friend over for lunch a few weeks ago and we previewed the film. It is excellent. It highlights farmers who have gotten back to growing and producing safe and delicious food using healthy, humane, and sustainable methods. Definitely gives one hope for the future of agriculture in our country.

Won't you join us?

Bake Sale Number Two

2011-02-26T05:00:00.000-08:00

After my pie-baking marathon last week, I needed something a bit easier for this week's bake sale. For the bread, I made a quadruple batch of Sour Cream & Chive Potato Bread. I mixed the dough Wednesday afternoon, refrigerated it overnight, then shaped and baked the loaves Thursday morning so they would still be warm for delivery.

Hearth loaves proofing

Scored and ready to slide onto a hot baking stone.

At this point, the kitchen smells divine.

For the sweet treat I made Dark Chocolate-Raspberry Brownies. The recipe is the same as my Marionberry-Walnut Brownies, but I omitted the nuts and used seedless raspberry jam on top.

I always make my brownies the night before I plan to serve them; it makes cutting them so much easier. I line the pan with parchement, then the next day I can slide a heavy-duty spatula under the parchment and lift the whole giant brownie out onto the counter. With the help of a yardstick and my metal bench knife I can divide it evenly into twenty large, dense, rich, gooey brownies.

It all went so smoothly this week, I was actually done a couple hours early.

How to Clean a Baking Stone

2011-02-25T17:33:00.000-08:00

I love my baking stones! They "live" in my ovens. I rarely take them out. They are perfect for baking hearth loaves right on the stone, but I also place pie pans and cookie sheets directly on the stone and I find that things bake more evenly.

One thing about the stones though, if you get any sort of oil or grease on them they will start to smell pretty bad and smoke and make your eyes sting. Even little drips can cause this: a bit of cheese from baking a pizza, some of the basil filling from semolina bread (which is why I always bake it on a sheet pan now) or, as was the case in my kitchen last week, a bit of butter bubbling over the edges of my apple pies. Not much you can do right when it happens, but if you don't take care of it, you'll regret it next time you preheat the stone.

Did you know you can clean and renew a baking stone by putting it through the self-cleaning cycle of your oven? Just leave it on the rack, set the clean cycle for about two hours, and let your oven do the work. Voila! The stone looks like new.

Note: Do not clean your Pampered Chef stones or bakeware this way unless you intend to remove all of the non-stick coating you have built up over the years. Pampered Chef stones do not smoke or smell when they get fats on them; the whole point is to get them gradually saturated with fats to develop a natural non-stick surface. They are thinner than the rectangular stones I use and you don't generally preheat them. That defeats the purpose for baking bread or pizza because you want the heat from the hot stone to hit the dough immediately and give it more oven spring.

I do own Pampered Chef stoneware and I use it for roasting a whole chicken, making a fruit crisp, baking meatloaf, etc., just not for yeasted baked goods.

And I love my Pampered Chef steel baking pans. They never warp, no matter how hot they get!

Crazy Bake Sale

2011-02-18T23:15:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I had the challenge of making eleven apple pies in about six hours.

My daughter, Laura, is going on a six-week trip to El Salvador this spring as a volunteer with Help International. She'll get to practice her Spanish while fighting urban poverty in the capital city of San Salvador. In order to finance her service she's doing quite a bit of fundraising. I decided to help her out by contacting some of my former farmers market customers to see if they would like to participate in a weekly bake sale. I would send out an email each week with details of what I was baking, how much the donation would be, and where they could meet me for delivery. They could then reply with their order and pick up their order at the designated time and place with a check made out directly to HELP International.

The response was overwhelming. Yesterday was my first bake sale and I had orders for eleven apple pies, ten loaves of 100% whole wheat buttermilk bread, and eighteen chocolate chip monster cookies. It's a good thing I have four ovens! This was a great test for my new (almost finished) laundry room/bakery/food storage and food preservation room.

With some thoughtful organization, I mapped out a plan to get everything baked in time for delivery between 1:30 and 2:30 pm on Thursday. Here's how it worked:

I made the cookie dough on Wednesday morning. Using my spring-loaded ice cream scoop, I portioned out the dough and then rolled and formed each mound into a disk about four inches in diameter and 1/2-inch thick. I layered them between waxed paper on a cookie sheet, covered them tightly, and refrigerated them overnight. (I have two refrigerators.)

Also on Wednesday morning, I mixed the bread dough and refrigerated that overnight too.

Wednesday evening I prepared the crusts. I don't like to make pie dough in a food processor because I think it is difficult to get the water incorporated without over-processing the butter, making for a tough crust. However, I do like to use the food processor to cut the butter into the flour and salt mixture if I am making several pies, then I stir in ice water with a fork to form the dough. In my 25-year old Cuisinart I can make a double recipe, enough for two double-crust pies. I weigh the flour and salt into the workbowl with the steel blade and process a few seconds to blend. Then I add the cold butter in chunks and pulse 40 or 50 times until the butter is in fairly uniform small pieces—not crumbs—I like to see some streaks of butter when I am rolling it out. I made six batches of “crust mix” and refrigerated it in plastic bags overnight. This mix can also be frozen for use several weeks out.

I knew I was going to need help with the apples, so I asked my mom if she would like to come over Thursday morning and visit while we worked together. (I made eight pies single-handedly the night before

Christine's wedding, but they were all berry pies and berries don't need to be peeled and sliced.) My dad must have felt sorry for me because he showed up along with my mom before 8:00 am ready for kitchen duty. I put them both to work on the apples while I baked the cookies, four to a parchment-lined sheet, three sheets at a time in one of my convection ovens.

After I finished with the cookies I started on the pies. I weighed the sliced apples into several bowls, then I weighed out batches of sugar, flour, cinnamon, lemon juice, lemon zest, freshly grated nutmeg, a pinch of salt, and a splash of vanilla and stirred it all into the apples. I like to let the fruit and sugar mix sit for at least fifteen minutes to get the juices flowing before I put it in the crust, so while the apple mix “juiced” I weighed out crust mix, added ice water and rolled out crusts.

After I got the first two pies in the oven, it was time to divide and shape the bread dough. I had taken it out of the frig when I first got up so it could come to room temperature. Things were getting a bit crazy by this time with three of us working, cookies cooling all over the place, bowls of apples everywhere in various stages of preparation, and only an occasional swig of chocolate milk to keep us going, but we were having a good time. My dad did most of the interior work on this extra kitchen and I think he enjoyed seeing it put to good use. I let him go home after all the apples were sliced, but Mom stayed around to help keep track of all the timers and to offer moral support.

I shaped the bread dough and the loaves sat proofing in their pans on the counter while I continued rolling out pie crusts, mixing bowls of apple filling, and making pies.

The bread rose nicely and I started baking it about 11:00 am in the two “inside” ovens—the ones in my regular kitchen--while I kept the “bakery” ovens busy with pies. Mom was stationed inside to alert me when the timers went off.

I got the last two pies in the oven a bit before 1:00 pm; they wouldn't be done in time to take them to my first delivery stop at 1:30. I loaded up the car with everything else, leaving Mom at home to watch the pies. I dashed off to my first stop for a quick hand-off, then rushed back home in time to take them out of the oven and make it downtown by 2:15—only fifteen minutes behind schedule and I did call to warn everyone I would be a tad late.

I got back home just in time to see my mom washing the last dirty bowl, greet my son coming home from school and take him to his piano lesson at 3:00. Whew!

All in all, things went according to plan. One thing's for sure though—I won't be offering pies next week!

P.S. I had enough sliced apples and crust mix leftover to make one more pie, so I baked a twelfth pie before dinner and took it over to my dad.

I "heart" Local Food--Support the Direct Farm Marketing Bill

2011-02-14T11:30:00.000-08:00

Hello faithful readers. I got a call-to-action from fellow master food preserver and food blogger Jennifer Burns Levin (Culinaria Eugenius) regarding HB2336, the Direct Farm Marketing Bill. If you care about access to local food, please take a minute to call or email your house representative and urge him or her to support this bill.

Keep reading and click on the links below to learn more. A vote is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 16, so it is critical to lend our support right now! The Farm Bureau and NW Food Processors are opposing this bill, so "We the People" need to speak up!

Gleaned from the web.....

HB 2336, the Farm Direct Bill

HB 2336, the Farm Direct Bill, has passed its House committee in a 6-2 vote and is likely to be debated on the House floor on Wednesday February 16.

As we celebrate the institution of love this week, please take a moment to shower a little love on our direct market farmers by calling or emailing your state representative BEFORE 11 AM on Feb. 16! Whisper a few “sweet somethings” their behalf. Suggestions follow.

If you are a farmer and belong to the Farm Bureau, please add that fact to your call or email. The Farm Bureau has joined the NW Food Processors in opposing portions of this bill, which is the product of a year’s work by many parties, including the Oregon Farmers’ Markets Association.

Talking Points for HB 2336

Farm direct marketing is key to revitalizing local food systems – stimulating grass roots economic development, improving food security and providing healthy choices for Oregon families.

For decades, we have been asking farmers to do all for Oregon this without a clear and rational set of rules for what needs a license and what does not. ODA, the farmers, farmers’ markets and the communities they serve all will benefit from the clarity HB 2336 offers.

Farm direct products are highly traceable, and there is no greater accountability than looking your customers in the eye.

HB 2336 eases regulation only for very low risk products. Pickles and jams are made in millions of homes today, and have been keeping food safe for thousands of years.

Farm direct marketers are entrepreneurs who deserve some room to innovate. Successful businesses will outgrow the gross sales limit in this bill, and production will shift to licensed facilities.

http://www.leg.state.or.us/house/ is the alpha list of House members . Please hold off on the Senate until we make it through the House.

http://www.leg.state.or.us/findlegsltr/ is a fill in form to determine who represents you.

Want more detail? Look here: http://culinariaeugenius.wordpress.com/2011/02/12/support-for-oregon-house-bill-2336-the-direct-farm-marketing-bill/

Oreo Truffles for Valentine's Day

2011-02-07T17:24:00.000-08:00

I learned to make these the other night and if you like Oreos you will love them. The recipe is simple and comes from a great baking blog called Bakerella. Check it out here then come back for my tips.

I used regular Oreos, but mint Oreos or peanut butter Oreos would be great too.

I don't like using “bark” or candy melts for dipping. I used 2 cups (1 package) of Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips melted in the microwave with 4 teaspoons Spectrum organic non-hydrogenated shortening. This makes the chocolate a bit softer (like bark) when hardened so that it doesn't crack all over the place when you bite into it. The is the same mix I use for chocolate-covered strawberries.

You can pulse the cookies in the food processor to the right texture, then mix the softened cream cheese in by hand with a sturdy spoon. I added 1 teaspoon of vanilla just because I love vanilla.

I used my cookie scoop to portion out the “dough” and then rolled each one by hand to smooth it out. I set them on a waxed paper- lined cookie sheet and put them in the freezer for a couple hours to make dipping easier.

A fork works better than a spoon for dipping. It allows the excess chocolate to drip back into the bowl. Scrape the bottom of the tines against the side of the bowl to avoid a puddle on the bottom of each truffle. Use a cake tester or toothpick to gently scoot the dipped truffle off the fork and onto the waxed paper. The frozen balls help the chocolate set up quickly, but you can cover the tray and put it in the frig if you're in a big hurry.

I had a tiny bit of white chocolate on hand so I melted it and used it to decorate the tops of the dipped truffles Jackson Pollock-style by dipping a spoon in and frantically shaking it back and forth over the tops. You could also use candy hearts or sprinkles.

When the truffles are set put each one in a paper or foil cup and arrange them in a pretty box for gift-giving. Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve or give away.

Any extra dipping mix can be refrigerated and remelted to use again. It's also great for dipping dried cherries, nuts, pretzels, and a ripe banana is perfect for cleaning out the bowl.

Enjoy!

Kruse Farms Closes Today

2011-01-15T12:08:00.000-08:00

FYI....Today is the last chance to stock up on produce from Kruse Farms. They will be closing until mid-April.
They still have apples, potatoes, cabbage, carrots, winter squash, oranges, etc.
They also have jams, instant refried beans and other packaged products.
Everything is 20% off. I believe they are open until 6:00 p.m. After that, all the leftover produce is going to the UCAN Food Bank.

Cranberry Scones from Delfino Vineyards

2010-12-10T14:36:00.000-08:00

Delfino Vineyards in all its autumn glory.

We had a Think Local Umpqua advisory board retreat in the guest cottage at Delfino Vineyards. It was a lovely setting and perfect for our purposes, with a good-sized dining room table to meet around. I brought sliced apples, cheese cubes, and cookies for everyone to munch on, but the real treat was Terri Delfino's signature Cranberry Scones, still warm from the oven. I made several kinds of scones when I baked for the farmers market; lemon-ginger, cheddar & chive, maple-oatmeal, but I never used cranberries. We're all in luck! Terri generously shared the recipe and gave me permission to post it.

These scones are perfect anytime, but would be especially nice if you have company coming for the holidays. See my do-ahead tip after the recipe. Oh, and don't forget about McKenzie Cranberries as a source for Oregon-grown and dried cranberries. Even with shipping, they work out to less per pound than than those you can find at the grocery store and who knows where they came from.

Delfino Vineyards Bed & Breakfast

Guest Cottage

OUR SIGNATURE CRANBERRY SCONES
3 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup butter softened to room temperature
1 cup craisins or dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1-2 teaspoons grated orange rind (from one orange)
1 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

In a large bowl, blend flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Cut butter into mixture until it becomes a coarse crumb texture. Stir in craisins or dried cranberries, nuts and orange rind. Make a whole in the middle and pour in buttermilk. Mix with a fork until moistened - don’t overmix but include loose flour. Flour hands and shape sticky dough into a ball and place on a lightly floured board. Pat into a circle about 3/4-inch thick. Cut into 12 pie-shaped pieces. Place on a buttered baking sheet approx. 1 inch apart. Brush tops with milk and sprinkle with sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg mixture. Bake at 400 degrees for 13-15 minutes until lightly browned.

Thank you, Terri!

Jennifer's do-ahead tip: Scone dough (and biscuits) can be cut to desired shapes and frozen on a waxed paper-lined sheet pan until firm, then transferred to a freezer bag. When ready to bake, place frozen scones on cookie sheet in preheated oven and give them an additional 3 to 5 minutes baking time. This allows you to bake just a few at a time, as scones always taste best when still warm.

Another cake to make you laugh

2010-12-03T08:50:00.000-08:00

Here's one to add to my collection of Cakes to Make You Laugh Out Loud. This year, my son requested a cake in the shape of a present, with ice cream inside! I naively thought it would be "a piece of cake". I mean, it's a cube--how hard can that be? Well, you can tell from the photos that it was quite a challenge and the result is definitely laughable.

This was my first attempt at making and using fondant icing. Overlooking the fact that the taste is pretty revolting compared to homemade buttercream frosting, fondant icing is very tricky to roll out and pick up. It does drape beautifully over the cake, but shows every lump and bump and imperfection (kinda like a clingy skirt!) even though I used a layer of buttercream frosting underneath to hold the cake pieces together. Oh, and a pasta machine DOES NOT work when trying to make fondant ribbon!

It's a good thing we are not perfectionists about this. Kevin keeps saying it's the best cake I ever made! And that's what counts.

To redeem myself and prove that I do have a bit of baking skill, I made some excellent focaccia for the panini he requested for his birthday dinner.

Brunch at Arnaud's

2010-11-08T22:52:00.000-08:00

I was searching through some boxes of memorabilia and children's artwork today and came across an old travel journal from a trip my husband and I took to New Orleans in 1990. I have only kept journals sporadically over the years, but somehow I always find time to write about good food.

This was written on September 18, 1990:

"Bruce and I flew from Medford to New Orleans on the 15th of September. We stayed that night at St. Peter's Guest House in the French Quarter, took in Bourbon Street, etc. that night and the next morning and had brunch at a wonderful and extremely elegant restaurant called Arnaud's. All of the waiters, maître d's, etc. were in black suits or tuxedos--not a woman among them except the cashier--and a jazz trio wandered through the room playing everyone's requests. The service and food were excellent. I had Eggs Benedict and Strawberries Au Port. Bruce had a Red Bean Omelet and Turtle Soup. We shared Banana's Foster for dessert, which was "flamboyantly flambéed" to perfection right at our table. (Of course, Bruce thought it was too sweet, but I thought it was heavenly.)

An unsliced loaf of bread was also served, but no bread plate was on the table. I confidently broke off a piece of the crusty bread, scattering crumbs all over, but I assumed the waiter would "crumb" the table eventually. I was correct. Before serving dessert, our waiter whipped out a small gold instrument somewhat like a tongue depressor that was curved lengthwise and deftly removed my crumbs to an empty glass which he then carried away. Another passing waiter, upon seeing what our waiter was doing, immediately performed the same task on Bruce's side of the table. As I said, the service was excellent!

I believe to total bill came to about $55.00 and Bruce added a $10 tip to that, plus we paid for parking. It was a very special experience, though not inexpensive!

I'm thankful to my mother for taking me to so many elegant and expensive restaurants when I was a teenager. Her main purpose was to teach me how to behave so that I would feel comfortable in those and similar surroundings for the rest of my life. I hope someday I will be able to do the same for Christine and Laura. I don't want them to be snobs, but I want them to feel at ease and confident in all types of settings. Manners are always in style."

I am lucky to be married to a man who enjoys a great meal as much as I do and never complains when the check arrives.

Need a Little Help From My Friends

2010-11-05T11:22:00.000-07:00

Hi, guys. My daughter, Laura, is working to help Tipping Bucket win a $250,000 grant in the PepsiRefresh competition. It's is an incredible organization, making the world a better place. Just check out this video...

What is Tipping Bucket?

Tipping Bucket is an organization and website that allows everyday people to get involved and help fund projects (for as little as a dollar.) This month they are working to win a grant from Pespi as part of the Pepsi Refresh Project to help build the organization and help more people in more places.

Tipping Bucket projects LITERALLY heal the sick, cause the blind to see (funded over 500 cataract surgeries in Uganda over the summer,) the lame to walk (through prosthetic limbs,) and allows people to submit projects and ideas that will allow them to help themselves and their communities.

What Can You Do?
As part of the competition you have the opportunity to vote everyday during month of November, in 3 different ways.
1) Sign up at www.refresheverything.com/tippingbucket it requires you to have an account but you won't get spammed.
2)Go to http://tippingbucket.org/ and submit a vote using facebook.
3) Text 104182 to 73774 (PEPSI)

You can vote each day using all 3 methods and I encourage you to do so. Please copy and paste this and post it to your blog or send an email out to your friends if you think this is a worthy cause.

Every vote (like every drop in the bucket) makes a difference. Join me in making these dreams a reality. Spread the word, add your drop. Thank you so much!

Jennifer

Cabruca Chocolates

2010-11-02T09:53:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting at a table in The Daily Grind this morning while my car is being serviced at Mobile Tune. This is the first chance I have had to use my new netbook in a public place and take advantage of free Wi-Fi. I feel so cool!

I ordered a hot chocolate and spied some interesting-looking truffles made by a new, local chocolatier, Juliana Bounds of Cabruca Chocolates. Chocolate for breakfast? It's a bit early, even for me, but I bought one to savor later today.

Well, I thought they were truffles. According to the website, these are called brigadeiros, a Brazilian-style fudge truffle. They're made with sweetened condensed milk, butter, chocolate and some exotic ingredients. I chose the pumpkin-dark chocolate brigadeiro; pumpkin-white chocolate cream and dark chocolate rolled in toasted pumpkin seeds.

Okay, I can't stand it. I'll take one bite just so I can tell you what it's like... Ooooooh! Tastes like pumpkin pie in the middle. Very good.

I'm not sure where else Juliana's confections (she makes traditional truffles and brownies, too) are currently available. The Daily Grind sells the brigadeiros individually or in packages. Stay tuned. I'm sure we'll be hearing more about Cabruca Chocolates in the future. Another great, local gift idea.

Farewell to the Farmers Market

2010-10-29T13:59:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the last day of the Umpqua Valley Farmers Market and their annual Harvest Festival. There is still plenty of local produce to be found: sugar pie pumpkins, parsnips, carrots, lettuce, apples, figs, pears, garlic, mushrooms, and more.

There are some great gift ideas, too: beaded jewelry, cutting boards, wooden spoons, handmade cards, hazelnut toffee just to name a few.

Also, you can purchase or order a fresh holiday wreath from Sterken Farms. They range from 18 to about 24 inches in diameter. Check out the photos below.

Wild Boar Ragu

2010-10-24T21:18:00.000-07:00

Bet that got your attention! No, I didn't cook it myself. My husband ordered a Ragu of Wild Boar at Dino's last night. He's always up for something new and this turned out to be an excellent choice. The boar, slow-cooked in a Chianti tomato sauce and served with rigatoni, was fork-tender and oh-so-flavorful. Not at all gamey.

I have to force myself to order something new. I tend to stick with the same old things I know I love. I was tempted to get the Gnocchi con Gorgonzola (melt-in-your-mouth potato gnocchi, artichokes, and chicken in a creamy sauce), but I made myself try something new.

First, I asked if Debbie had made any of her incredibly delicious Pumpkin Lasagne. No, she had not. After hemming and hawing for a bit, I settled on Pumpkin Gnocchi with Spicy Italian Sausage, Spinach, and fresh mozzarella (Gnocchi alla Sorrentina). This turned out to be very good, but the sausage was a little too spicy for my taste. I ate about half of it and had the rest boxed up to take home. Didn't want to be so full I couldn't enjoy my tiramisu.

Here's a tip: when you order your entree, sweetly ask the server to set aside a piece of tiramisu for your dessert and then you won't be distracted during your lovely meal worrying that they are going to run out.

Local Chanterelles

2010-10-23T00:07:00.000-07:00

Those of you who adore mushrooms will be happy to know that there are local, Douglas County chanterelles for sale at the Umpqua Valley Farmers Market.

Only two market weeks left!

Beautiful Jewelry at the Farmers Market

2010-10-22T23:48:00.000-07:00

Check out this gorgeous jewelry from Cjewelry, available for the next two Saturdays at the Umpqua Valley Farmers Market. Cortnee Jensen crochets--yes, CROCHETS--wire and Swarovski crystals into one-of-a-kind necklaces and bracelets. A truly original idea and each piece is lovely. She also makes earrings (look for the adorable snowmen and grape clusters) and wine charms.

These photos, taken last Saturday, will give you an idea of what is currently available, but be sure to check out her website and browse the full gallery.

Might just be time for some Christmas shopping.

A Braided Loaf

2010-10-14T11:48:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to harvest as much from my garden as possible before the cold, wet weather sets in. Yesterday I gave the chives a "haircut" and made a double batch of Sour Cream & Chive Potato Bread. I made one large braided loaf to take to a Friends of the Umpqua Hiking Club potluck last night and baked one round loaf to keep at home. I shaped the remaining dough into four hearth loaves and refrigerated them overnight. The last two are in the oven now and the house smells sooooooo good.

For the braid, I started with 2 lbs. 4 oz. of dough and divided that into six equal pieces of 6 ounces each. Then I rolled them long and thin, let them rest 10 minutes to relax, rolled them a bit more and then made a six-strand braid and placed it on a parchment-lined sheet pan. I brushed the finished braid with an egg wash, covered it with plastic wrap, and refrigerated it several hours so I could bake it later in the afternoon, just a few hours before the meeting.

Egg Carton Firestarters

2010-10-12T18:30:00.000-07:00

Okay, so this is not food, but while I was in the kitchen today baking a batch of 100% Whole Grain Oatmeal Bread and roasting some "Candied Tomatoes," I decided to refresh my supply of homemade firestarters.

These are simple to make and come in very handy when you're camping or even for the fireplace at home. I offered one to a friend on a group camping trip just a couple weeks ago when he was struggling to get a fire going with green, wet wood and it took off in no time when he added one of these.

And, they are practically free. You need a cardboard egg carton, a bunch of dryer lint, and some old broken candles or candle stubs that you would otherwise throw out.

If the candle pieces are big, it helps to chop them up. Place them in a tin can (#10) and melt them over a very low flame on the stove or put the can in a pot of water and heat until the wax is liquid. Wax is flammable, so in either case, DO NOT LEAVE IT UNATTENDED.

Place the egg carton on a cookie sheet that is lined with waxed paper. Stuff each section with as much lint as you can, really packing it in. Pour the melted wax over the lint, filling each section to the top.

Set aside to cool completely and then break and tear into twelve individual firestarters. Store in a ziploc bag or other waterproof container. To use, just light one corner of the cardboard and build your fire over it.

Reserve Your Local Hazelnuts Now

2010-10-11T09:54:00.000-07:00

Norm Lehne's hazelnuts will be back from the dryer any day now. It's not too late to get on the list and reserve some. Give him a call at 541-672-2745. He hasn't set the price yet, but two years ago I bought a 10 pound bag for $15 and after shelling them (you can run them through the cracker when you pick them up) they worked out to around $3.50 per pound--much less than what they cost at the grocery store.

I love chopped, toasted hazelnuts on winter salads and I have even made my own hazelnut butter (since peanuts don't grow here) and it's delicious. Just toast the hazelnuts lightly in the oven until they become very fragrant and then whirl them in a food processor for several minutes. I don't bother trying to rub the skins off. The butter will still be a bit grainy, similar to almond butter or peanut butter made from Valencia peanuts. Add sea salt to taste.

If you store the hazelnut butter at room temperature the oil will rise to the top and you can drain some of it off to make a divine vinaigrette.

I have not been satisfied with my attempts at homemade Nutella, but I'll keep trying.

Hayden's Lakefront Grill

2010-10-10T22:45:00.000-07:00

My mom, my friend, Laura, and I went to Portland last week and stopped in at Hayden's Lakefront Grill at the Century Hotel in Tualatin for a late lunch. The weather was so pleasant that we decided to eat outside next to the manmade lake at Tualatin Commons.

I had eaten there a few times before on weekend trips to Portland with my husband when we just didn't feel like driving back into the city. We used to enjoy staying at the Sweetbriar Inn right off I-5 at the Tualatin exit. It has since been torn down and replaced with a huge shopping center. I think we read about Hayden's in one of the little entertainment guides we picked up in the lobby of the hotel. We had an excellent dinner by the lake one evening and a great breakfast on another occasion.

Anyway, lunch was delicious. Laura had a seafood soup, a lovely field greens and pear salad, and fresh bread. My mom and I split their half-pound signature hamburger and it was so good, I am sure I could have eaten the whole thing by myself. Excellent local beef topped with peppered-bacon, sharp Tillamook cheddar, and house-made chipotle mayonnaise on a brioche bun. And the fries were hot and crispy too!

Of course, since we had split our entree, that meant we still had room for dessert. Hayden's offers mini versions of several of their desserts, which is a great idea. You get to finish off your meal with something sweet and not feel stuffed. Laura and I both opted for the mini version of their Pecan Blondie that comes topped with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of caramel sauce. Mom chose the New York Cheesecake with blackberry topping. We were all very happy with our choices.

Hayden's is just west of I-5 and only a minute or two out of your way. Worth the slight detour to find a local restaurant instead of settling for fast food or mediocre freeway fare.

Bread Baking Workshop Coming Up November 6

2010-10-10T14:31:00.000-07:00

A variety of breads I baked for my daughter's

wedding reception buffet in June.

FYI....

From: OSU Douglas County Extension Service

Event: Bread Baking Workshop

Date & Time: Saturday, November 6, 2010 from 9:30 am to 3:00 pm

Location: Pine Grove Community Church, 1729 Buckhorn Rd. in Dixonville
Cost: Suggested donation of $30

Douglas County Master Food Preservers and Master Gardeners are sponsoring an all-day bread baking workshop to benefit the Douglas County Extension Development Fund. Leo Grass will demonstrate basic bagels with several toppings and spreads. Ed Hoffmann will use a wild yeast starter and his bread machine to mix a country French dough, then shape it by hand and discuss home baking methods for a crusty loaf. He'll also be making Portuguese Hard Rolls and giving away sourdough starter. Jennifer Coalwell (that's me!) will talk about grinding your own whole grain flours and demonstrate updated techniques for making light and fluffy 100% whole grain breads by hand—no mixer needed.

Pre-registration is required. A tax-deductible donation of $30 is suggested. The goal of the Douglas County Extension Development Fund is to create an endowment to provide long-term funding for educational programs and services important to Douglas County residents, and to fund the faculty members (agents and specialists) who develop and deliver these resources. This endowment would become a source of stable funding for programs and positions not covered by the voter-approved Extension Service District.

Bring a sack lunch and a hearty appetite for samples.

Stop by the Extension office at 1134 SE Douglas in Roseburg to pick up a registration form or click here to download it. Mail the completed form with your check to:

Douglas Co/OSU Extension

Attn: MFP-CL

PO Box 1165

Roseburg, OR 97470

Questions? Call the OSU Extension office at 672-4461.

Three More Weeks of our Local Farmers Market

2010-10-09T22:11:00.000-07:00

There were only a handful of vendors at the farmers market this morning. I think they all thought is was going to rain and decided to stay home. I didn't get to the market until about noon but I still found plenty to purchase. More strawberries from Big Lick, more garlic, lunch-sized Sweet Sixteen apples,Winesap apples, Newton Pippen apples, yellow crook-neck squash, red torpedo onions and two lovely greeting cards made by a local photographer. I was searching for a few new pumpkins to add to my doorstep collection, but there were none to be had. There's always next week.

Fall is in the Air

2010-10-02T21:59:00.000-07:00

I made it to the farmers market this morning. All the pumpkins and winter squashes are ready now and the fall colors are spectacular. I bought a Cinderella pumpkin for the doorstep and some broom corn for the entryway. It's time to decorate for fall.

I stocked up on garlic from Chip Clough of Tranquility Meadows Farm. I bought a mix of hardneck and softneck varieties to last me through the winter and spring and picked up several free recipes for roasted garlic dips and purees. Chip says the garlic will keep for months if stored at about 50 degrees in the dark. I'm thinking a corner of the garage should work well.

I can't believe we're still eating fresh, local strawberries in October! I bought four baskets from Suzi and Asinete at the Big Lick Farms booth and also picked up a pint of their raspberries and three pounds of Yukon Gold potatoes.

I sampled two kinds of honey at the Kauk's Bees booth and bought a quart of each. I still have some from last year, but I like to stock up.

A bouquet of zinnias and sunflowers rounded out my purchases.

Eve's Garden Cafe and Tea Room

2010-08-30T18:11:00.000-07:00

We took the scenic route home from Ashland through Jacksonville and the Applegate Valley. We happened upon Eve's Garden Cafe and Tea Room and decided to stop and have a late lunch/brunch. The garden was lovely and the food was excellent with generous portions, always a plus in my husband's mind.

I ordered the Spinach, Feta and Bacon Quiche and it was perfect. Tasted like they had just pulled it out of the oven. The crust was flaky and not too thick. I am always a bit leery of ordering quiche as it is often baked ahead and then reheated in a microwave, making for a soggy, steamy crust. This was definitely not nuked.

My husband had Lori's Scramble, a combination of eggs, asparagus, avocado, cheese, and tomatoes and he gave it a big thumbs up.

Lori's Scramble with a side of toast

I love the handkerchief window accents.

The Applegate Valley is a lovely detour from Interstate 5. You connect back up at Grants Pass. If you're going that way, don't miss the chance to stop by Pennington Farms and pick up some agave-sweetened jams and preserves or one of their freshly-baked pies. I bought a jar of their Fig Conserve, which is divine spread over the top of a block of cream cheese and served with crackers.

Breakfast at Summer Jo's

2010-08-30T17:39:00.000-07:00

Pecan-crusted French Toast

stuffed with dried apricots and mascarpone
with real maple syrup

Well we didn't make it to Summer Jo's for an anniversary dinner (29 years!!!) but we did stop in for breakfast on our way to Ashland. I had the French toast pictured above with a glass of lavender lemonade. Both were outstanding and I'm going to try duplicating them at home. Stay tuned.

Lavender Lemonade

My husband ordered the house-made Corned Beef Hash with two poached eggs on the side (which he topped with a generous grinding of pepper before I could take a picture.)

I never tire of eating at Summer Jo's!

Garden Girl Co. at Norm Lehne Garden and Orchard

2010-08-19T13:36:00.000-07:00

Norm and Cinda's daughter-in-law, Wendy Lehne, opened Garden Girl Co. this summer, creating value-added products using the Lehne's fresh local produce. The list of artisan jams is enough to make anyone's mouth water: Loganberry-Tart Cherry, Marionberry-Peach, and Raspberry-Rhubarb, to name a few. Wendy also makes salsa, pesto, and spiced hazelnuts. And then there are the baked goods! Muffins, old-fashioned pies, breads, and cookies and many are gluten-free! Baked fresh daily right there on the farm.

Non-food products include unique garden benches and all-natural applewood pruning chips for grilling or smoking (no, the chips themselves are not for smoking--you know what I mean!)

This is such a fantastic way to expand the family business. What's next? Gift baskets for the holidays to send to our family and friends? A full-fledged cafe with tables overlooking the farm where I can relax with an ice-cold glass of lemonade after I've picked my fill of Norm's perfectly-ripe peaches, corn or beans? Or how about hazelnut oil??? It's incredibly expensive, hard-to-find, and usually comes all the way from France, but hazelnut oil makes an exquisite vinaigrette. Wouldn't it be fun to buy it freshly pressed from the Lehne's very own hazelnuts? You go Garden Girl!

This Saturday from 9-1pm Garden Girl Co. will be having an open house featuring lots of samples of baked goods, jams and specialty ice cream toppings. There will also be an apple wood smoking demo. Take some time out of your day to check it out.

Umpqua Dairy Milk Recall

2010-08-18T19:18:00.000-07:00

I was just at Sherm's planning to buy a gallon of skim milk and, lo and behold, found out there was a recall of Umpqua Dairy brand and Sherm's brand (which also comes from Umpqua Dairy) milk about an hour ago. The refrigerator cases were bare except for a few gallons of Organic Valley milk. The stockboy was directing people to Fred Meyer or Safeway, as they carry their own brands of milk, which do not come from Umpqua Dairy.

You can read all the details on their website here, but this is what you need to know:

The voluntary recall affects the following products purchased on or prior to Monday, Aug. 16, 2010:
• milk, half-and-half and cream with an expiration date of Sept. 5, 2010 under the Umpqua Dairy, Cascade, Great Value, Lady Lee, Market of Choice and Sherm’s brand labels;
• buttermilk under the same brand labels with an expiration date of Sept. 10, 2010, or earlier;
• Umpqua Dairy brand gallon, quarts and pints of orange juice and fruit drink with an expiration date of Sept. 15, 2010, or earlier;
• and any fluid milk product stamped with a plant code 41-62.
Consumers should dispose of any remaining milk, orange juice or fruit drink, or return unopened products for a refund at the retail location of purchase. Ice cream and other dairy products, including sour cream and cottage cheese, are not being recalled. Umpqua Dairy has also established a toll-free hotline for questions and further information at (888) 672-MILK (6455); information is also available at www.umpquadairy.com.

Note: This is a voluntary recall. I use Umpqua Dairy and Sherm's brand dairy products exclusively and will, of course, continue to do so in the future. I'm sure they are doing everything possible to prevent this from happening again.

More peaches!

2010-08-16T17:17:00.001-07:00

Luscious Suncrest peaches are ready at Lehne's. They are open until six tonight or get here at 7:30 tomorrow morning for the best picking.

Delicious Turkey Meatballs

2010-08-13T11:01:00.000-07:00

Beth and Kerry Olson of B & K Natural Farm in Sutherlin (541-459-0830) sell ground turkey, as well as whole chickens. I bought a pound a few weeks ago when I was picking up my chicken order and came up with this meatball recipe. It was a huge hit at our house.

The Olsons will be at Kruse Farms this afternoon delivering chickens and they'll have more ground turkey with them. You don't have to pre-order the turkey; just stop by and ask for it.

Delicious Turkey Meatballs

serves 4

1 pound B & K Natural Farm ground turkey, thawed
2 slices bread (heels are great here), to be processed into crumbs
1 large sprig of fresh parsley
6 or 7 fresh sage leaves
1 farm fresh egg
½ cup heavy cream (or milk)
¾ teaspoon sea salt
a few grinds of pepper
freshly ground nutmeg (25 swipes across the grater)
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 tablespoon butter or olive oil for browning
1 cup water or chicken broth (white wine might be good here, too)
½ cup sour cream

In a food processor or blender, process the bread with the parsley and sage to fine crumbs. In a large bowl, beat the egg lightly, add the cream (or milk), the breadcrumb/herb mixture, the salt, pepper, nutmeg, and onion powder. Stir to blend. Add the ground turkey, mixing thoroughly with your hands (I use rubber gloves because my hands get too cold).

Heat a tablespoon or so of butter or olive oil in a large frying pan. Using your hands or a cookie scoop, shape the meat mixture into balls about 1½ inches in diameter. Brown the meatballs on all sides; remove from pan with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Deglaze the pan with 1 cup water or chicken broth (or wine), scraping up any browned bits from the bottom and sides. Return the meatballs to the pan, cover lightly, and simmer for 30 minutes. Much of the liquid will evaporate and concentrate during this time. Remove lid and stir in ½ cup sour cream just before serving. Great over brown rice or egg noodles.

Perfect Jiffy Pop

2010-08-10T19:53:00.001-07:00

A camping experience not to be missed!

Camping breakfast two

2010-08-10T08:30:00.001-07:00

(Almost) burning the french toast.

Peach Pit Baskets

2010-08-08T21:18:00.000-07:00

Picking peaches the other day reminded me of my Uncle Reggie and the peach pit baskets he made for me.

Uncle Reggie is from North Carolina and has the most beautiful southern drawl, so soothing and calming and peaceful, it's impossible to feel tense or stressed around him. I could listen to him tell stories about his childhood all day long.

I became fascinated with a peach pit basket he showed me years ago, so, of course, he made me one. On subsequent visits he has graciously made one for each of my children.

Nectarines at Paris Orchards

2010-08-07T12:00:00.000-07:00

I just ate the most deliciously sweet and juicy nectarine! If I were on Twitter, I would tweet about it (and I would also tweet about the two cute little neighbor boys around the corner from my house who are selling lemonade right now and tell you to go buy some--kinda watery, but I can never resist a kid's lemonade stand).

My dad has been telling me all week that I need to get out there and get some nectarines because they are soooooo good this year, so I stopped by to pick "just a few" on my way home from the farmers market. Anyone in my immediate family knows that I can never pick "just a few" of anything; I came home with eleven pounds!

Aside from fresh eating, nectarines are great for drying because you don't have to peel them. I'm thinking a nectarine sorbet might be in the works later today, too.

Paris Orchards is at the end of Curry Road, almost to Singleton Park. A sign shows you where to pick; another informs you that "Shiny is green. Dull is ripe." You weigh and pay on the honor system at the roadside scale and money box. You won't see much fruit at first, but if you're willing to climb the trees or get on the ladders they have available, there are still beautiful nectarines to be found on the higher branches.

Lehne's is now open for picking

2010-08-06T11:52:00.000-07:00

Today was opening day at Norm Lehne Garden & Orchard. A friend and I showed up just after 7:30 am to pick Red Haven peaches. They don't actually open until 8:00 am, but we were the second in line waiting our turn to get into the orchard. By the time Norm unlocked the gate there was a line of a dozen cars behind us.

Norm said (in last night's email) that it was going to be a light crop. I think the entire two rows were picked clean within a half hour. I forget how many pounds Cinda weighed for me, but counting the six peaches we have eaten since I got home (Kevin and I had big, juicy bowls of them and I made us each a Peach Lassi for breakfast) and the six I gave away to my dad, I picked about 60 peaches. Perfect Peach Pie is definitely on the menu for Sunday dinner!

I also picked enough yellow wax beans, Romano beans, slender zucchini, crook-neck squash, and red beets to keep us in fresh veggies for a few days.

Slender Blue Lake beans

Norm says Suncrest peaches will be ready in a week and a half or so. You can sign up to get on his email list if you check out his website.

Sunflower Bread

2010-08-04T12:03:00.000-07:00

Loaves proofing.

I made nine of these sunflower-shaped Semolina Bread with Apricots and Sage loaves yesterday. The recipe is from the original Amy's Bread, by Amy Scherber and Toy Kim Dupree. The fresh sage in my garden was getting out of hand and this was a delicious way to use some of it up. It made the house smell like Thanksgiving while they were baking, as sage is a key ingredient in my cornbread dressing.

The finished loaves.

The sage and dried apricots make an unusual and very tasty combination. Every time my husband walked through the kitchen last night, he would pull another "leaf" off the loaf on the counter and pop it into his mouth.

Camping dinner

2010-07-30T19:05:00.001-07:00

My favorite salad, venison curry, and an ice cold

San Pellegrino after a thirteen- mile hike!

Camping breakfast

2010-07-30T07:08:00.001-07:00

Homemade granola and hot cocoa

Strawberry Lassi

2010-07-28T09:31:00.000-07:00

Laura's Lassi

My daughter, Laura, made Strawberry Lassi to serve with Chicken Curry she prepared when she was home for Christine's wedding. Light, refreshing and simple to blend together, you can vary the fruit to whatever is in season.

I still had two baskets of Suzi's organic strawberries on hand, so I whipped up some lassi to go with a venison curry I threw together at the last minute yesterday. Another great use for my canned venison. I stir-fried sliced carrots and cauliflower florets in a little olive oil, added the broth from the pint jar of venison cubes along with the meat and stirred in a heaping spoonful of mild curry paste. I tossed in some frozen peas for color and a half-cup or so of canned petite-diced tomatoes, covered it and let the whole thing simmer until the vegetables were barely tender, then I took the lid off and let the juices evaporate a bit. I didn't have any coconut milk on hand or I would have added that at the very end. We ate it over brown rice, topped with a dollop of plain yogurt. Yum!

Strawberry Lassi
serves 4

2 cups fresh strawberries

2 cups plain yogurt

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup iced water

Blend all ingredients together and serve over crushed iced. Buttermilk in place of yogurt is supposed to be good, too, but I haven't tried it.

Chicken Salad Veronique

2010-07-26T16:14:00.000-07:00

Perfect chicken salad for a hot summer day. This salad was a huge hit at my daughter's wedding last month, so much so, that I was asked to make it again two weeks later for my nephew's wedding in California. The dressing is perfect--light and slightly sweet because it is a blend of mayonnaise and lemon yogurt.

"Veronique" generally indicates grapes in the recipe; I prefer seedless red grapes for the color they add. If grapes are out-of-season (I don't buy the ones from South America), I sometimes use chopped Granny Smith apple and local walnuts in place of the almonds.

I made a gigantic batch for the wedding. A friend came over on Thursday and we cooked and diced all the chicken breasts, stemmed and halved the grapes, and chopped the celery. We stored everything separately in plastic bags in my extra refrigerator.

On Friday I mixed the dressing and combined all the ingredients (except the almonds, which I toasted, cooled, and bagged) so the flavors would blend overnight.

Saturday, just before serving, my kitchen crew (very dear friends) added the almonds.

Mixing half of the entire batch in my canner for lack of a large enough bowl.

Toasting the almonds in half-sheet pans.

This recipe serves four to six. It's delicious on sliced croissants (if you can find or make real butter croissants), but we also like it in whole wheat pita pockets. It's also delicious just on a big lettuce leaf.

Chicken Salad Veronique

(I have been using this recipe for over twenty years.

I have no idea where I got it.)

3 cups chicken, cooked and cubed (I use chicken breasts*)

1 cup seedless grapes, halved

1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted

1/2 cup chopped celery

1 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon celery salt

1/3 cup Best Foods mayonnaise

1/3 cup lemon yogurt (I always use Yoplait and I use the whole container)

1/2 teaspoon mustard (I use Country Dijon)

Toast the almonds in the oven or a dry frying pan and set aside to cool.

In a medium bowl, mix the chicken, grapes, and celery. In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, yogurt, onion powder, celery salt and mustard. Stir the dressing into the chicken mixture and chill several hours or overnight. Add the almonds just before serving.

*Leftover cooked chicken works fine. If I am cooking chicken breasts just for this recipe, I place them in a buttered shallow pan, brush them with a little olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, cover with foil and bake in a 375 degree oven for about thirty minutes or until the juices run clear. Two large or 3 medium chicken breasts is about right for three cups of cooked, diced chicken.

Local Organic Strawberries!

2010-07-25T06:00:00.000-07:00

I was thrilled to find organic Seascape strawberries at the Big Lick Farm booth this morning at our local farmers market. Suzi and Asinete's farm is now "Certified Naturally Grown." This is a fairly new designation for small-scale farmers who need to avoid the expense of becoming "Certified Organic."

Conventionally grown strawberries are always on the list of fruits to avoid because they are often heavily sprayed with pesticides. No spray on these and only organic fertilizers are used. And they are sweet and juicy.

Suzi says they should have them all the way into September.

Summer Jo's

2010-07-24T18:58:00.000-07:00

The Mezze Platter

Clockwise from top: Orange-Olive Tapenade, Pistachio-Pepper Chutney,

and White Bean & Mint Hummus served with Sumac-dusted pita wedges.

My friend, Laura (not to be confused with my daughter, Laura, who is also my friend!) and I had lunch at Summer Jo's in Grants Pass last week on our way home from a trip to Central Point. I have been raving about how wonderful the food is for months, but Summer Jo's is only open Thursday through Sunday and we never seem to be passing through on the right day.

Last Thursday we planned ahead so we'd have the opportunity to eat outdoors on a beautiful summer day. For our appetizer, we split the Mezze Platter pictured above. All of the spreads were delicious; the tapenade was my favorite. We ate our fill and still had some left to box up and take home.

For our main course, we split a Poached Chicken Sandwich made with their own multi-grain bread, roasted red peppers, field greens, and cilantro-almond relish, accompanied by a salad with a creamy tarragon dressing. I love tarragon and the dressing was perfect.

Seriously, this is a place I could close my eyes and point to anything on the menu and I know I would enjoy it. It's so difficult to choose because the choices are all so tantalizing. They use local, organic herbs, vegetables, and fruits that they grow right there on the farm, regional pastured meats, artisan cheeses, and they bake their own bread.

Okay, so on to dessert. Don't fret if you don't see it listed on the menu. The waitress will bring a tray and, trust me, you will be hard-put to resist. Once again we were splitting it. I could tell Laura wanted to try the Lavender Creme Brulee, but knowing how much I love chocolate, she graciously agreed to the decadent Brownie with Raspberry Coulis and Chantilly Cream. One bite and we decided it was an excellent choice; dense, dark, did I say decadent? It was all that and more and beautifully presented.

Really, Summer Jo's is worth a special trip to Grants Pass. Laura said all my high praise was justified. I'll be eating there again in August with my husband for our anniversary dinner when we head south to see my favorite Shakespeare play, The Merchant of Venice.

P. S. They serve breakfast too! Check out photos of my husband's granola and poached eggs from last year's post.

Local Chicken!

2010-07-23T15:51:00.000-07:00

I just picked up four local chickens from Beth and Kerry Olson of B & K Natural Farm, located in Sutherlin. They have a sign-up sheet at their booth at the Umpqua Valley Farmers Market. You put down how many whole chickens you would like and they call you when they are ready to butcher them, once or twice-a- month. You pick them up at from the Olsons in the parking lot next to Kruse Farms.

They also have packages of frozen ground turkey and two-packs of turkey drumsticks for sale.

I put three chickens in the freezer and refrigerated one to roast in my slow cooker tomorrow or Sunday. I'm going to make meatballs out of the ground turkey for dinner tonight.

They only sell the chickens whole, so if you want parts, you'll have to cut them up yourself. Not that difficult with a sharp knife. Check out my post on Thrifty Chicken for ideas on getting the most out of one bird.

The whole chickens are $2.50 per pound and range from three to over five pounds per bird. The ground turkey is $4.00/lb. and the turkey drumsticks are a dollar a piece in packages of two.

I think I will try canning some chicken this fall.

We are lucky to have hormone-free, antibiotic-free, humanely-raised poultry available in our area. Folks are finally catching on and the Olsons said they have a hard time keeping up with demand now. That's progress!

Vanilla or Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

2010-07-21T17:32:00.000-07:00

I made these shortbread hearts from leftover dough I had frozen after I finished baking over 1500 miniature heart-shaped cookies (half vanilla, half chocolate) to fill the favor bags for my daughter's wedding last month.

The recipe below is adapted from the one in Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything. I had to come up with my own chocolate variation; I couldn't find one anywhere. Christine's colors were black and white with red as an accent. The chocolate cookies would have been darker if I had used "black" cocoa powder, but it's hard to find and I didn't think about it in time to mail-order it.

Vanilla Shortbread Hearts

2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 (6 ounces) cup sugar (I used superfine)
1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon real vanilla extract
1 1/2 (7 ounces) cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (2.5 ounces) cornstarch
pinch of sea salt

Cream together the softened butter and sugar with an electric mixer on the low setting. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and mix until well-combined. In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, cornstarch, and sea salt. Add to the butter mixture and mix in just until it holds together. Divide in half, press into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill several hours or overnight. Alternatively, you can roll each half out to the desired thickness (1/8 to 1/4 inch) between two sheets of waked paper and freeze in a 2-gallon ziploc bag. It's very easy to peel off the waxed paper, place the dough on a lightly floured board and cut into shapes.

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 275 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment. Roll out dough to desired thickness (if you didn't freeze it that way you'll need to let it soften about 30 minutes) and cut into shapes.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, depending on the thickness. Do not let the cookies brown. Remove from oven and let cool on cookie sheet for one minute. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

Cookies everywhere!

If you have a convection oven, you can bake three sheets at a time for 15 to 19 minutes.

Chocolate variation: Same as above but increase sugar to 1 1/4 cups and add 1 ounce melted and cooled dark chocolate (I used Ghirardelli 60% Cacao chips) to the butter mixture. Add 1/4 cup (1 ounce) cocoa powder with the flour.

To dip the hearts in chocolate, use the recipe for Chocolate-dipped Strawberries.

I Love Basil

2010-07-20T21:05:00.000-07:00

The warm weather finally gave my basil plants the boost they needed to really take off. I was able to cut enough today (1 ounce) for a batch of Basil Butter with Garlic. I just tossed the ingredients in my food processor, pulsed it for a few seconds, and, voilà, the perfect way to preserve basil for year-round use.

The Cuisinart DLC-7 Pro food processor pictured above was given to me by my parents as a college graduation present in 1984. It's still going strong 26 years later.

The recipe makes nine ounces of flavored butter. I spooned 1-ounce "blobs" onto waxed paper and put them in the freezer. That's perfectly portioned for eight loaves of Semolina Bread with Basil Butter. I used the remaining ounce of butter to sauté thinly pounded chicken breasts for tonight's dinner.

Drying Sweet Cherries

2010-07-19T16:01:00.000-07:00

Pitted bing cherries going into the dehydrator.

I crowd as many as possible onto each tray.

I picked up 60 pounds of pitted bing cherries at Hentze Family Farm in Junction City on Friday and have been dehydrating them all weekend. Yes, I am generally the "Buy Local" gal (hey, Junction City is only about seventy-five miles away) but Hentze's is the only place I know that will pit the cherries for you and their machine never misses a pit! I pick cherries at Shady Lane Orchards for fresh eating, but it would take me a very long time to pit 60 pounds for drying using my Norpro hand-powered cherry pitter and it quite frequently leaves pits in. (Works better for pie cherries, which I do pick locally and pit myself.)

I can fit 30 pounds of bing cherries at a time in my Excaliber dehydrator, using 8 of the 9 trays. (The top tray is too close to the ceiling to fit such plump, juicy cherries.) I dry them whole, so it takes about 36 hours at 135 degrees. You could speed it up by cutting them in half, but be prepared for purple fingers for a few days. After they are dried (larger cherries will not be as dry as smaller ones) you need to transfer them all to a large covered container and let them sit at room temperature for a few days. This is called conditioning and during this time the moisture content evens out, so the smaller cherries that perhaps got a bit too dry absorb some of the excess moisture in the larger cherries that didn't get quite dry enough and they all end up just right. Then I store them in plastic bags in the freezer in one-pound amounts.

After 30 to 36 hours in the dehydrator.

Dried cherries are a favorite snack around here and I love having them on hand for baking. In fact, I just pulled a batch of cookies out of the oven that I made with dried bing cherries, white chocolate chips, and chopped walnuts in a cocoa cookie dough. Yumm!!!

Get Your Blueberries Soon!

2010-07-19T14:11:00.000-07:00

Just got back from picking another eight pounds of blueberries out at Ed and Sharon Richardson's Big Bend Berries. It was my third time out there this season for a total of 33 pounds, but I still don't have enough to last until next July.

My husband eats more of them than I do, so he's happy to go out and help when they are open for evening picking on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm.

There are still plenty of nice berries, but you have to hunt a little bit for them now. Lots of people just pick the ones that are easiest to reach and leave many, many big, ripe berries on the bush. If you lift up the branches and take a peak underneath you will be well rewarded.

The Richardsons don't use any sprays on their berries, so you are free to sample to find your favorite variety. Blueberries should not be washed before freezing and it is not necessary to flash freeze them individually on cookie sheets, as they don't stick together. I'm always careful to pick blueberries without leaving the green stem on (and I have trained my family to do the same) so all I have to do when I get home is put them in plastic bags and toss them in the freezer. When frozen, I just shake out however many I want onto my hot or cold cereal, into the blender for a smoothie, or measure them out to bake a pie, muffins, pancakes, etc.

I made a blueberry pie to take to a Friends of the Umpqua hiking club meeting the other night and one person said it was "the best pie she had ever eaten." High praise, indeed!

Big Bend Berries will be open for another two weeks or so. In addition to Tuesday and Thursday evenings, they are open from 8:00 am to noon on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. Their number is (541) 673-8767.

Honey Maid Shrunk My Graham Crackers, Too!

2010-07-07T06:00:00.000-07:00

Note: I thought it was a clever title until a google search came up with a post from August 2009 with the same name. I didn't notice a change in the crackers until June of 2010.

The Nabisco Honey Maid graham cracker on the left was purchased in June 2010. The one on the right was purchased in May 2010. I could see immediately that the new graham cracker was smaller, by almost half an inch in width. (Yes, I got out my ruler.) That was no big surprise. Ice cream "half gallons" are now actually 1.75 quarts and the amount of tuna in a standard can has decreased considerably over the last few years. I figured it was just economics (or greed.)

The real problem with the new graham crackers is the taste. Graham crackers are one of the few baked goods I buy, rather than make myself. I like them spread with natural peanut butter (and topped with chocolate chips if there are no cookies in the house) and sometimes we like to make s'mores.

These new graham crackers taste like sawdust!!! You can see from the photo that they are pale and pasty-looking, not golden like they used to be. What they have done is increase the whole grain from 2 grams to 5 grams per serving and they point that out on the new box. Well, I wasn't buying them as health food. After all, they're still made with partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil and high fructose corn syrup--two ingredients I almost always avoid. I was buying them because I liked the way they tasted.

Guess I'm going to have to spend some time learning to make my own. I certainly won't be buying these again!

Raspberry Freezer Jam

2010-07-06T14:53:00.000-07:00

A sunny bowl of just-picked raspberries

I picked about nine pounds of raspberries yesterday at Dillard Farm Market for $1.25/pound. This was enough to make three batches of Raspberry Freezer Jam with enough berries leftover to get some raspberry vinegar started.

I posted two years ago about the Ball freezer jam pectin that uses much less sugar than the older kind. They changed the packaging this year. This is what it looks like now.

The ingredients and directions are the same. It's as easy as ever. Sherm's and Bi-Mart both carry it. Look for the set of five plastic 8-ounce containers (purple lids) nearby. They're perfect for one batch of freezer jam. They also work really well if you like to make individual containers of homemade yogurt.

Weaver Creek Ranch Pies and Yarn

2010-07-06T00:15:00.000-07:00

There'a a new pie vendor at the Umpqua Valley Farmers Market. Deborah Keller of Weaver Creek Ranch offers freshly baked pies, whole or by the slice, at her booth on Saturday mornings.

No need to worry about trans fats in these pies, as they are made with an all-butter crust. As someone who has baked quite a few pies in her time, I can tell you that an all-butter crust is more difficult to work with (check out my Perfect Peach Pie recipe if you want to give it a try) and more expensive, but the flavor is unbeatable. I doubt there is anywhere else in town you can buy a pie that isn't made with at least some shortening.

If you're a knitter you'll also want to check out Deborah's hand-dyed yarn--such lovely colors!

I'm a beginner knitter, still trying to learn to knit socks. I have one sock finished! When I complete the pair I think I'll treat myself to one of those t-shirts that says, "Knitting is knotty."

Happy Independence Day

2010-07-05T10:49:00.000-07:00

Fireworks last night in Riddle

Our family tradition is to drive down to Riddle and watch the fireworks from the high school football field. Their fireworks display is the very best I have ever seen and it's right over your head. The whole town turns out for it and the field is filled with smoke from all the kids setting off their own fireworks along the track. A local band entertains us while we wait for the sky to get completely dark and we all stand up and join in as a local singer belts out the Star-Spangled Banner. Then the sky lights up with a spectacular show.

Before heading to Riddle last night, we enjoyed a simple Sunday dinner at our house with my parents.

Hazelnut-crusted chicken strips

Lettuce from my garden, sliced strawberries, and goat cheese crumbles

in a white balsamic vinaigrette

Garlic-roasted red, white, and blue potatoes

(which are actually pink, yellow, and purple when cooked,

but it's the thought that counts)

Raspberry Lemonade

Kevin's favorite milk chocolate chip cookies

I'm off to pick raspberries at Dillard Farm Market today.

Farmers Market Morning

2010-07-03T14:44:00.000-07:00

I made it back to the Umpqua Valley Farmers Market this morning. I have missed our local market the past two weeks (wedding/Portland trip) and I will miss it again next weekend while I'm in California for a nephew's wedding.

Hom put together a lovely bouquet of flowers for me. I've been enjoying the roses left from Christine's wedding, but the petals are now drying in baskets and they're halfway to becoming potpourri.

I bought a garlic braid from Joni Leet. I have a booklet that shows how to make one, but I have yet to grow enough garlic to make my own.

I picked up a head of white cauliflower and some Romanesco cauliflower and Suzi's last basket of organic strawberries at the Big Lick Farm booth. My own strawberries are waning. The basil transplants I put in weeks ago are looking pretty sad, so I bought two new transplants and I'm hoping the warm weather will stick around and get them off to a better start.

I dropped off copies of our new Think Local Umpqua 2010 local pages guide to several vendors and the man at the Dillard Farm Market booth insisting on giving me a basket of raspberries. I'm hoping to get out to his place on Monday to do some picking.

The red and blue potatoes will be combined with the white (yellow) potatoes I already have for some sort of red, white and blue dish for tomorrow's 4th of July dinner. Not sure yet if it will be potato salad, roasted potatoes, or if I'll just serve them boiled and buttered.

Janice Bunyard at Bunyard's Barnyard gave me the bunch of tarragon. I'd like to try my hand at some homemade tarragon mayonnaise, but if I don't get around to it in the next day or two I will start a bottle of tarragon vinegar.

Someone bought out all the feta tarts before I got to The Baklava Lady, but she sent me home with a Phyllo Honey Stick for Kevin.

I will enjoy exploring a California farmers market or two while I'm away, but it's always good to come home to our friendly local farmers.

An Absolutely Delightful al Fresco Lunch

2010-07-01T16:31:00.000-07:00

I drove out to Glide today to have lunch with a friend. The original plan was to meet up at the Illahee Restaurant & Bakery, however, my friend was the beneficiary of her out-of-town neighbor's CSA box for the week from Big Lick Farm, so she decided to recruit my help in eating up the bounty of local produce. Lucky me!!! Here's what she prepared:

Cream of Broccoli and Bok Choy Soup

(made with homemade chicken stock!)
Country French Bread
(that she had baked this morning)

Taco Salad

(made with beef she had ground herself, lettuce from her garden

and topped with all the usual condiments plus her own creme fraiche)

Fresh Fruit Cup of Raspberries, Blueberries,

Grapes, and Strawberries

and for dessert

Cake (NOT from a box!)

topped with a Rhubarb and Raspberry Compote

and a dollop of whipped cream

We ate out on the deck at a table she had set with linen and china and silver she collected in Germany. The food was superb and we never run out of things to talk about. I got to "help" even more by taking home a huge bag of snow peas, broccoli and a jar of the rhubarb/raspberry sauce.

Thank you, my dear friend. Next time, my house.

Cherry Season Begins

2010-06-30T11:28:00.000-07:00

I adore bing cherries! They are one of my favorite fruits, right up there with a sweet, juicy peach or a wedge of perfectly ripe canteloupe.

Today is opening day for cherry-picking at Shady Lane Orchards off Melrose road. I got there about 8:15 this morning with my son, Kevin, and we picked 20 pounds of bing cherries and a couple pounds of tart pie cherries. I'd have picked longer--it's so hard to stop when it's a beautiful day and the picking is easy--but Kevin broke his thumb last week so it was more of a challenge for him.

Shady Lane has a good crop this year and there were not nearly as many "splits" from all our rain as I expected. The price is $1.00/lb. u-pick and $1.80/lb. if you buy them picked. They also have the lighter- colored Rainier cherries, though I have never picked those.

Brosi's Sugartree Farms on the way to Winston also has cherries ready for picking.

Breakfast at the Market

2010-06-27T17:51:00.000-07:00

Spent the weekend chilling out in Portland, still recovering from the craziness of the wedding last week. Of course, I couldn't pass up a chance to visit the Portland Farmers Market in the park blocks near PSU. So many vendors!!! I sampled cherry cider and pear cider, and a roasted fennel pesto. I munched on a chocolate panini from the Pearl Bakery booth and split a pint basket of Albion strawberries with my husband for breakfast. (He also had a bowl of red curry with yogurt!) I bought some fixings for a picnic lunch, which I enjoyed poolside at our hotel later on--a fig-anise panini (also from the Pearl) which I topped with chunks of a pungent, but delicious semi-soft "table cheese" from Willapa Hills Farmstead Cheese. Gigantic bing cherries on the side were sweet enough to be dessert, but I also bought a bar of Triple Cherry & Pistachio Dark Chocolate Bark as a finishing touch. It was a perfect not-too-hot day of summer sunshine for unwinding.

Ken's Artisan Pizza

2010-06-26T15:50:00.000-07:00

We had dinner at Ken's Artisan Pizza in the funky Belmont District of Portland last night. Huge windows open out to the street, just like at Ken's Artisan Bakery on the corner of NW 21st and Flanders near the Nob Hill District. The place was hoppin' but we only had to wait about fifteen minutes for a table and then my seat had a perfect view of the wood-fired oven. The pizzas are about 12 inches in diameter and they're made with a very thin crust, so they cook quickly. We chose to split the "Amatriciana," a thin layer of roasted tomato sauce with diced house made pancetta, roasted red onion, and pecorino cheese. Interesting combination, but not one I would order again, especially since there are so many other combinations to try. I had a scoop of their "salted caramel gelato" for dessert and that is definitely worth dipping into again. It was incredibly smooth and creamy and the caramel flavor was intense.

Farmers Market Round-up

2010-06-12T14:23:00.000-07:00

Things are perking up at the Umpqua Valley Farmers Market. The first potatoes of the season appeared today at the Linnea Marie Farms booth. I bought a basket of fingerling "peanut" potatoes and a basket of baby Yukon golds. I'll make some pan-roasted potatoes tonight with the ultra-fresh garlic I bought at the same booth and serve them alongside the Emerald Hills Beef patties my husband will be grilling tonight. You can buy Emerald Hills beef at Kruse Farms in the freezer case. Their extra lean frozen patties (1/3 pound each) come in bags of 8 and work out to about $3.25 per pound for local, grass-fed beef.

I chose a lovely bouquet of flowers from Dang's Gardens and a head of Romanesco cauliflower from Suzi at Big Lick Farm. Bought one feta and spinach tart from Judi aka The Baklava Lady and topped it off with a sample of Donna Holms delicious hazelnut toffee.

My son and I picked two buckets of strawberries at my parent's house yesterday (they are out-of-town, so we get to raid their garden) and i think we'll practice making chocolate-dipped strawberries for tonight's dessert. We'll be dipping lots of berries next week for my daughter's wedding on Saturday. I'm going to try using coconut oil instead of shortening with the melted chocolate chips. I bought the refined kind that is not supposed to have a distinct flavor, so we'll see.

More on the wedding later, if I can spare a few moments to blog!

Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Cookies with Chocolate Chips

2010-06-05T19:15:00.000-07:00

My son, Kevin, couldn't make up his mind; chocolate chip or peanut butter cookies? Hmmmmm........I decided to combine the two in one cookie and sneak in some whole wheat flour while I was at it. The recipe that follows makes excellent cookies. I would have used milk chocolate chips if I'd had them on hand.

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups lightly packed brown sugar
1 cup natural peanut butter ( we only eat Adam's chunky)
2 farm fresh eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or all-purpose white flour)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 (12 ounce package) semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment.

Cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla. Add the eggs and peanut butter and mix until well-combined. Stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add to peanut butter mixture just until all the dry ingredients are incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop by tablespoons or small scoop onto parchment-lined cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for 9 to 11 minutes, just until center is puffed and beginning to set*. Remove from oven and let cool one minute before transferring to a wire rack.

*This makes chewy cookies. If you want them crispy, increase baking time by one to two minutes.

If you have a convection oven, reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake 8 minutes.

I rarely bake a whole batch of cookies when I mix them. I like to drop the dough onto wax paper-lined cookie sheets and freeze until firm and then store in plastic bags. That way I can make the house smell wonderful and have warm cookies on short notice. Bake dough balls straight from the freezer at 350 convection for 10 minutes or in a regular oven at 375 for 12 to 14 minutes.

Summer Food Preservation Classes

2010-06-05T14:14:00.000-07:00

In case you missed my interview on KPIC's Spotlight on Douglas County last week (sounding like Minnie Mouse!), here is the line-up of our OSU Extension summer food preservation classes:

OSU Extension and the Douglas County Master Food Preservers will hold

their next In the Kitchen class

Canning Jams, Jellies, Fruits, and Pie Fillings

Saturday, June 19, 2010

9:00 am to 12:30 pm

Pine Grove Community Church

1729 Buckhorn Rd.

in Dixonville

The class will cover all aspects of safely preparing and processing high acid foods in a water bath canner.

Cost for the class is $15.00. You must preregister with payment by noon on Wednesday, June 16th.

Other scheduled summer food preservation classes are as follows:

Saturday, July 17 from 9 to 2—Making Pickles and Pressure Canning Vegetables, Pine Grove Community Church. Cost is $15.

Saturday, August 14 from 9 to 12:30—Safely Canning Tomatoes and Salsa. Sutherlin Community Center. Cost is $15.

Saturday, September 18 from9:30 to 2:30—Pressure Canning meats and tuna. Sutherlin Community Center. Cost for this class is $20.

Pressure canner gauge testing will be available at all classes.

Preregistration is required for all classes.

For more information call the extension office at 672-4461.

Stop by the Extension office at 1134 SE Douglas in Roseburg to pick up a registration form or go to the webpage at: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/douglas/food then click on menu item 2a. Mail the completed form with your check to:

Douglas Co/OSU Extension
Attn: MFP-CL
PO Box 1165
Roseburg, OR 97470

Questions? Call the OSU Extension office at 672-4461.

Mother's Day Dinner

2010-05-10T21:38:00.000-07:00

I combined two bouquets from the farmers market for my Mother's Day centerpiece. Hom, one of my favorite vendors, saved the first peonies of the season for me. Can you believe I got all these flowers for ten bucks? Such a bargain!

My mom has gotten me hooked on peonies; they are one of her favorite flowers, so I knew she'd appreciate these on the table. I arranged the flowers Saturday night, then on Sunday, my son set the table for dinner and my husband did the cooking while I took a nap. Mmmmmmm! He made Spaghetti Bolognese and it was superb. Did all the dishes, too!

We first had Spaghetti Bolognese in 1992 in the dining room of the miniature hotel we were staying at in Nerja, Spain. It was our first trip to Europe and after a few days in Madrid and Toledo, we rented a car and drove south to the Costa del Sol. Our Frommer's Budget Travel Guide led us to the Cala-Bela hotel and for about $28 US dollars per night we got a room with a small patio overlooking the Mediterranean and a secluded cove just steps away. Yes, it was terribly romantic.

I would post the recipe, BUT HE WON'T GIVE IT TO ME! He says it's different every time and he has never written it down. Here's a version from allrecipes.com. My husband would never use as much olive oil and butter as it calls for and I do know he used prosciutto instead of pancetta and half-n-half in place of milk. And I'm pretty sure all of the ground meat was beef. Oh, and there was some white cooking wine in there somewhere.

Definitely a recipe worth trying and tweaking to your own tastes.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom

2010-05-08T14:55:00.000-07:00

Photo by Keri Blue Photography
March 2010

To my beautiful mother, who not only taught me to cook, but from whom I learned:

to make my family my highest priority,

that building a successful marriage is a noble pursuit,

that using my gifts and talents to bless my home and community is never a waste,

that "Beauty will get their attention, but you have to develop your brain to hold their interest."

and whose graciousness, refinement, elegance, sophistication, commitment, selflessness,

passion for people, and Southern charm inspire me daily.

Thanks, Mom. Happy Mother's Day.

Tea Time

2010-05-08T14:54:00.000-07:00

With the sun finally starting to show itself for more than an hour or two, it's time to switch from my morning cup of cocoa to something ice-cold and refreshing. My favorite warm weather drinks include San Pellegrino mineral water, homemade raspberry lemonade, and iced tea.

I grew up drinking Lipton's iced tea or my grandmother's "sweet tea" which is mostly sugar. These days, I prefer a lightly sweetened caffeine-free version ( I use Sucanat, local honey, or stevia) to quench my summertime thirst.

I have tried making my own herbal iced tea using mint from my garden, but it just never tasted like "real" iced tea. I discovered this variety at Fred Meyer a few years ago and it's now my number one choice. It tastes just like black tea, either hot or cold, but it is a naturally caffeine-free (not decaffeinated) blend of herbs. They don't normally stock it anymore, but I have them special-order a case of it every spring when the weather finally warms up.

Directions are on the box. I pour 4 cups of boiling water over 8 tea bags in the 2-quart pitcher, add sweetener to taste, let steep 15 minutes, then add 4 cups cold water and refrigerate it overnight.

The Place to Be on Saturday Mornings

2010-04-24T13:24:00.000-07:00

When does not being able to find a parking place make me smile? When it's because so many people are shopping local at the Umpqua Valley farmers market! I actually had to go find a spot around the corner on a side street today because every space (and even some "non-spaces") was full and cars were circling around waiting for someone to pull out.

It gladdens my heart to see so much support for our local farmers and crafters.

After I finished The Best Breakfast Burrito Ever, I bought a huge bag of mixed lettuce greens from Suzi and Asinete at the Big Lick Farm booth and put in a request to reserve the first peony bouquets (still several weeks away, they tell me) from my favorite flower vendors. I held off on buying more asparagus until next week. I'm hoping some rhubarb will start showing up soon.

The Best Breakfast Burrito Ever!

2010-04-24T13:05:00.000-07:00

Here's a peak at the inside of the Smokin' Friday breakfast burrito I devoured at the farmer's market this morning: Pulled pork, scrambled eggs, shredded cheese, their extraordinary barbecue sauce, diced home-fry potatoes, sauteed onions and a few dollops of sausage gravy, all wrapped up in a grilled tortilla.

I may not have to eat the rest of the day!

The Week in Review

2010-04-22T21:04:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday got off to a great start with an early-morning trip to the farmers market. I dropped my son off at the baseball field at 8:30 to start warming up for his 9:30 game and headed over to the market on Diamond Lake Blvd.

I checked in with Jim Leet to pick up two bundles of asparagus I had reserved (you can sign up for his email list and get a heads up on Thursday or Friday to see what he'll be bringing) and a bag of his Zesty Lettuce Mix. Then I stopped by the Sterken Farm booth and bought some giant green onions.

Three flower vendors were at the market. I picked out a lovely bouquet of lilac and white tulips and a smaller, mixed bouquet of bright red and yellow tulips.

Sadly, The Baklava Lady has decided to travel to the Grants Pass farmers market, where she might be able to sell more, so I didn't get my feta tarts for breakfast.

The Smokin' Fridays booth was not able to be there due to an emergency, so I didn't get my breakfast burrito either, but I am assured they will be there this weekend.

I ended up buying an almond and anise biscotti from Lighthouse Bakery and paired it with a hot chocolate from the neighboring Dutch Bros. on my way back to the ball field.

Lots of transplants for your garden, too, but my raised beds are not quite ready for them yet.

My husband took me to Dino's for dinner Saturday night. The place was packed. Great to see they are doing so well in this economy. I had Debbie's incredibly smooth and creamy Gnocchi with Chicken and Artichokes in Gorgonzola Sauce. Absolutely delicious! And I had the Tiramisu for dessert. I asked the waitress to reserve a piece for me when we ordered our entrees because I knew there wouldn't be any left if I waited and I was right.

Sunday it was my turn to cook dinner for my parents. I used some of the diced ham I had frozen after our Easter dinner and made Scalloped Potatoes & Ham. I roasted the asparagus and served the zesty greens with a poppy seed vinaigrette. I whipped up a batch of "Death by Chocolate" cookies for dessert, a recipe I had ripped out of a magazine ages ago but had never tried. Definitely worth repeating.

Don't forget about the food and film event at the Douglas County Museum Friday night. I have to be in Portland, so I will miss it, but I plan to watch "Ingredients" as soon as it comes out on dvd.

See you at the market on Saturday.

A Film for Foodies

2010-04-16T10:29:00.000-07:00

Get to know your food!
The Local Food Movement Takes Root
A Documentary Film
Featuring Oregon, New York and Ohio Farmers and Ranchers
Douglas County Museum

TICKETS for the FOOD & WINE EXHIBITION are $8 and may be purchased at:
Umpqua CDC (605 SE Kane St.), Douglas County Museum, or at the door (admission limited).
THE FILM SCREENING IS FREE OF CHARGE.
Food, Wine & Film Exhibition
Friday, April 23, 2010
5:30pm Local Food & Wine Exhibition
6:30pm Ingredients Film Screening
Douglas County Museum
Roseburg, Oregon

Kruse Farms Opened Today

2010-04-15T21:45:00.000-07:00

I didn't make it in yet, but Kruse Farms opened today. If you've had a hankering for a locally-made pie, their bakery should be up and running.

Regarding opening day of the Umpqua Valley Farmers Market, I checked in with some of my favorite growers and here's what I learned:

Jim Leet of Linnea Marie Farms (he's the farmers market president, too) will have his Zesty lettuce mix, tender asparagus, herb plants for your garden and some catnip toys and lavender sachets. The produce supply is limited, so get there early if you want some. If you haven't tried my Cream of Asparagus soup yet, now is your chance. I noticed today that Sherm's has the white balsamic vinegar called for in the recipe. I'm still working on the bottle I bought at Trader Joe's, but I'm sure the Napoleon brand is good too.

Christine, from Sterken Farm, says they will have all of their jams, fruit bars, salsa, dried fruits, juice and beauty products, along with shelled walnuts and hazelnuts, green onions, eggs, possibly some asparagus, and strawberry and raspberry plants for sale. Lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage will be coming on shortly. Their covered, raised beds give them a jumpstart on the season.

I'll also be on the lookout for arugula, green garlic stalks, and red onion from other vendors and I am hoping The Baklava Lady will be there with her spanakopita and feta tarts.

I'll be scoping out the possibilities for Mother's Day gifts (for my mom and hints for myself) from the craft vendors and if Smokin' Friday's BBQ is there, I will definitely be ordering a breakfast burrito. Oh, and I hope my favorite flower vendors are there!

The market opens at 9:00 am with live music, prize drawings and always a few surprises.

Farmers Market Opens This Weekend!

2010-04-11T18:17:00.000-07:00

I'm baaaack! My winter hiatus is over and I can't wait for the opening of the Umpqua Valley Farmers Market this Saturday.

If the sun would just stay out for more than a few hours, I might actually be able to get out and dig in my garden. I planted some peas in March and they were none too pleased to be hailed on a while back. At least the strawberry plants from last year are looking well.

So what have I been doing the last three months? We added on a laundry room/food storage/canning kitchen to the back of our house, with a guest room/ping pong table room up above. My dad, my husband, my father-in-law, and I have been finishing the inside. I have spent much time filling nail holes with drywall mud, tried my hand at mudding some seams (which is actually similar to frosting a cake), and even did a tiny bit of texturing. Mostly I run to the store for more mud, screws, etc.

I painted the entire new laundry/kitchen area all by myself and quite enjoyed the project. "Belgian Waffle" is the color I chose and it's like walking into a room full of sunshine-exactly what this California girl wanted. Eventually (as soon as I finish the floor) this room will be home to my extra set of double ovens, my food dehydrator, my extra Bosch mixer, my wheat grinder, the extra refrigerator, the big freezer and all the buckets of different kinds of wheat berries, oats, sugar, honey, dried beans, etc. that are in the garage, along with shelves for my full (and empty) canning jars.

Food has definitely been on my mind, as I am busy planning the details of the buffet dinner for my oldest daughter's wedding reception. I agreed to do the food if it meant I could get out of anything having to do with decorations. I'm sure there will be postings along the way to June 19th! Wish me luck.

Anyway, for anyone who might have wondered if I fell off the face of the planet, I did not. I'm sure the farmers market and fresh spring crops will bring new inspiration for cooking, baking, and eating well. Be sure to say "Hi" when you see me at the market.

The Broadway House in Myrtle Creek

2010-01-19T15:44:00.000-08:00

If you have not yet eaten at The Broadway House in Myrtle Creek, what are you waiting for? This rich chocolate tart was my dessert today, but first, I enjoyed a cup of creamy poblano chile, chicken and corn soup with a piece of pesto-cheese bread for lunch.

The menu and selection of baked goods, artfully prepared by owner Tanya Buchanan, changes daily. This afternoon the counter was filled a variety of freshly baked cookies, a cheesecake with apricot topping, a raspberry tart, chocolate tarts, and an assortment of muffins.

The Broadway House, located at 132 Broadway (next door to the post office) is open Monday through Saturday from 7:30 am to 2:00 pm. A delightful spot for breakfast, lunch, or just popping in for a cup of tea and a pastry.

The Greatest Thing About the 100 Valleys of the Umpqua

2010-01-15T08:23:00.000-08:00

The News Review is compiling a list of "The Greatest Things About the 100 Valleys of the Umpqua" for a special newspaper section. Everyone in the area is encouraged to submit their "greatest thing."

Here's a link to the article with the details. Let them know what you think is great about our area.

This is what I sent in...

It's the abundance of fresh food! Local farmers grow: apples, apricots, artichokes, arugula, asparagus, beans, beets, berries, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, chard, cherries, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, figs, garlic, grapes, hazelnuts, herbs, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuce, onions, parsnips, peaches, pears, peas, peppers, plums, potatoes, prunes, pumpkins, radishes, rhubarb, rutabagas, spinach, tomatoes, turnips, squash, walnuts, and zucchini.

Add to that the beef, lamb, pork, poultry, and eggs raised on our local farms and ranches, wild salmon, steelhead, deer and elk in our rivers and forests, sweeten it all with a dash of local honey and you have a food-lover's paradise.

Food Finds in Grants Pass

2010-01-14T09:58:00.000-08:00

Yesterday a friend and I were driving home from Central Point and decided to have lunch in Grants Pass. Summer Jo's is always delightful, but it was close to 2:00 pm and they would be closed. We headed west from I-5 on 6th Street. You have to go quite a ways, past all the fast food franchises into downtown, to find a local restaurant. I had eaten some good soup at Rosso's Trattoria before and I had some sort of wrap or sandwich at Ethereal Cafe one time, but as we drove around the corner looking for a place to park we passed Chocolate Affair Bakery and were definitely tempted to eat dessert first. More on that in a bit.

Another right turn landed us on H Street across from Sunshine Natural Foods and the sign in the window advertised fresh, organic soups, salads, and sandwiches. Soups of the day were Old Fashioned Minestrone and Lentil-Barley. I chose the all-organic salad bar, which you pay for by the pound, so I took small portions of several types of salad and enjoyed them all. I tried the Green Bean and Basil Pasta Salad and it was excellent, though my scoop had mainly broccoli instead of beans. The Quinoa and Corn salad was delicious, as was the potato salad. In addition to organic greens and two types of dressing (one vegan), the bar offered dairy-free tuna salad, egg salad, tempeh noodle salad, seasoned pumpkin seeds and almonds, sliced turkey and teriyaki tofu strips. After lunch, we sampled some of their homemade granola and I bought a loaf of organic raisin-walnut bread. I would definitely eat there again.

Before heading home, we walked around the corner to the Chocolate Affair Bakery. "For Serious Chocoholics" is what their brochure says and my friend and I certainly qualify. Shelves were filled with cookies, muffins, brownies and truffles, but it was the beautiful specialty cakes that caught our fancy. I don't often make cake at home so it's a real treat to indulge in a thick slice of decadent layer cake when I have the chance. Too many choices! German Chocolate, Chocolate Peanut Butter, Black & White, Chocolate Buttercrunch, Black Forest, Chocolate-Raspberry, Chocolate Hazelnut Ganache, Chocolate Capppuccino, and even a few that didn't involve chocolate, like Lemon Curd Torte and Coconut Cream. Well, we didn't agonize over it; we both chose a slice of the Original Triple Chocolate layer cake and made up our minds that we'll just have to stop by every time we go through Grants Pass until we have tried them all.

Mmmmmmmm! "Handmade dark chocolate sponge cake layered with bittersweet chocolate mousse filling, iced with a rich buttercream icing, topped with a rich dark chocolate ganache glaze." Lived up to every expectation.

As we offered our compliments and headed out the door I was struck with an uneasy feeling. What if they went out of business before we ate our way through the menu? One never knew, with an economy like this. "How long have you been in business?" I inquired. "Since 1990," came the reply and my fears were relieved. If they have been around for twenty years, I am confident they won't be closing their doors anytime soon. I can't believe it took me this long to discover them.

Last of the local produce

2010-01-11T10:41:00.000-08:00

Kruse Farms is having their annual "everything 20% off sale" in preparation for winter closing. Don't wait. The last day to shop is January 16th. I stopped by Saturday to check out the selection. Not all of the produce they sell is local, but they still have their own green cabbage, red beets, turnips, rutabagas and lots of varieties of winter squash. You can also pick up some Umpqua Valley lamb, Willamette Valley apples, California almonds, walnuts, and dried prunes. I even bought a can of Chuck's Seafood albacore tuna that was packed right over in Charleston, Oregon. I also bought a 50 pound box of keeper potatoes from Malin, Oregon.

Tonight we'll be having Potato-Corn Chowder, coleslaw, and Whole Wheat Pumpkin muffins for dinner. How's that for a local winter menu!

Christmas Croquembouche

2010-01-09T16:59:00.000-08:00

Our attempt at a croquembouche

I realize it's been weeks since I posted anything. Both daughters (plus one future son-in-law) were here for the holidays. My oldest daughter, Christine, and I made this croquembouche to take to my parents house for Christmas Eve dinner. It's a challenging dessert. More of a project, really. It can't be made too far in advance because the caramel will turn sticky if you refrigerate the croquembouche and, for safety's sake (cream filling), you wouldn't want to leave it at room temperature for more than a few hours.

I made the vanilla pastry cream the night before. Christine and I made the choux paste, piped it out onto parchment lined pans and baked the puffs in the morning and then, just a couple hours before dinner, we made the caramel, filled (injected) the puffs with the pastry cream and assembled the croquembouche with the caramel "glue."

Pulling it all together

2009-12-16T21:42:00.000-08:00

I love comments! A reader suggested I do a post on how I organized the food for the dinner party I had last week, so it would all be ready at the right time for serving. My lists were not as extensive as those for a big holiday dinner, but I did write everything down, including which plates and serving pieces I planned to use and I made a timeline of when to begin preparing each dish. Here's how it all came together...

Our guests were to arrive at 7:00 pm on Friday, so I worked backwards from that deadline.

I made the creme fraiche on Wednesday.

On Thursday I mixed the Olive Focaccia and Cranberry-Pecan sourdough, let them rise, shaped them, and put them in the extra fridge overnight to proof. They finished proofing at room temperature before I baked them Friday morning. Good bread is not supposed to be eaten warm; it just tastes like steam. The flavor is not fully developed until the loaves cool, so I was not trying to wait until the last minute to bake these. (My only exception to this is soft dinner rolls, which I like to serve warm from the oven.)

Also on Thursday, I washed all the salad greens and stored them in a 2-gallon ziploc bag in the refrigerator so they'd be ready to go the next day.

Friday morning, after the bread was baked, I toasted the pecans that would go in the salad and left them at room temperature to cool.

(At this point I took a break from the kitchen to straighten the rest of the house and go to the gym)

Friday afternoon I washed the beets and put them in my large crockpot with a little olive oil to roast for several hours. I put butter out to soften, though no one actually used it on their bread.

About 5:00 pm I started cooking in earnest. First off, I made the carrot soup and put it in my small crockpot on low to stay warm. I put the salad plates in the frig to chill. I browned the pork chops and shallots and let them simmer. I scrubbed the potatoes, par-boiled them just until tender and drained them.

About 6:00 pm, the beets were done, so I slipped the skins off under warm, running water and cut them into quarters or eights, drizzled them with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and a dash of sea salt and put them in a bowl back inside the crockpot to keep them warm.

I made the berry-vinaigrette for the salad. I set the table. I tore up the lettuce and put it in a tupperware bowl in the frig.

About 6:45 I lit the candles and made one last swipe of the bathroom sink and fixed my lipstick!

I sliced the bread and put it in a basket on the table. I put ice in the glasses--non-drinkers all of us, we had ice water with our dinner.

When our guests arrived, right on time, I was still washing up some dishes (so the kitchen wouldn't be a total disaster) but the food was ready.

I filled the soup bowls, garnished them with a dollop of creme fraiche and put them on the table just before we sat down to eat.

After we finished our soup, I cleared the bowls, then quickly chopped the apple for the salad, dumped the lettuce into my myrtlewood salad bowl and added the pecans and dried cranberries, then tossed it with the berry-vinaigrette. I served the salad on the chilled plates and then put the bowl on the table in case anyone wanted seconds.

After the salad, I needed a few minutes to finish preparing the main course, so I suggested my husband give our guests a quick tour of the guest room/laundry room/canning and baking kitchen we are in the process of adding on. This gave me a chance to finish the sauce for the pork and saute the potatoes in a bit of butter. I served the main course family style, placing the pork chops with their sauce, the pan-roasted potatoes and the warm beets on the table in serving dishes and we passed them around.

And finally, I cleared the dinner plates and we enjoyed the cookies and a selection of dark chocolate for dessert before we moved into the living room with our herb tea. Oh, and I did take a minute to put the food away, for safety's sake, but waited until our guests had left to do all the dishes!

Yes, it was a lot of work, but this is my idea of fun. I can't sing or dance or paint a picture--cooking and baking are my hobbies. I hadn't had a "real" dinner party like this in years, so once-in-a-while it's nice to go all out.

A Winter Dinner for Four

2009-12-14T10:01:00.000-08:00

We had some friends over for dinner the other night. Since there were just four of us, I decided to get all fancy, polish the silver, and serve the meal in courses.

I planned a local winter menu. We started off with bowls of Pureed Carrot Soup garnished with homemade creme fraiche, accompanied by a basket of Olive Focaccia and Cranberry-Pecan Sourdough slices. For the salad course, I made My Favorite Salad, using Fuji apples and toasted pecans with a raspberry vinaigrette. Pork chops in a creamy shallot sauce, roasted beets with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and pan-roasted baby potatoes from my garden made up the main course. Our guests provided the dessert and entertainment; delectable chocolate thumbprint cookies and classical guitar-playing.

After dinner, we sipped our herb tea by the fire while we listened to a selection of traditional Christmas carols. The perfect finish to a lovely evening with dear friends.

If I had my way, I'd forego all the holiday gift-giving frenzy for more occasions like this; good food, uplifting conversation, and the sharing of talents with family and friends.

Local Food Gifts

2009-12-10T15:00:00.000-08:00

Someone left a comment asking if I had any ideas for local food gifts. What follows is a quick, random, off-the-top-of my-head list:

Flavored vinegars using local berries (frozen berries work even better than fresh because they are already broken down). Put in a pretty recycled bottle and attach a berry-vinaigrette recipe with ribbon.

Local walnuts or hazelnuts--shelling them is a gift in itself.

Gift certificate to a local restaurant: Dino's and The Mark V top my list.

A basket with fresh Lighthouse breads and some of their jam. Or a gift certificate for their bread.

Baklava from The Baklava lady.

Chocolates from Arrow's Delight or Umpqua Valley Chocolates (Kathey at 430-5600).

Delicious Hazelnut Toffee from Donna Holm.

A couple half-gallons of Umpqua Dairy Ice Cream (or gift certificate) with local nuts and homemade berry topping.

Gift certificate for a Cooking for Charity class. $$$

Local wines.

A pie from Kruse Farms.

Culinary herbs from Bunyard's Barnyard or culinary lavender from Double P Soap & Lavender Farm (733-5287)

A combination of any of the above into a gift basket.

A dvd of the movie FOOD, INC.

Local jerky from Oakland Lockers.

I'll post more if I think of any. Help add to the list with your suggestions

Butternut Squash Pie

2009-12-01T16:53:00.000-08:00

This is my friend Laura's recipe. It's the pie I made for our Thanksgiving feast and the pumpkin pie lovers raved about it. Laura says she doesn't usually let on that it's not pumpkin until after the skeptics have tasted it.

I used a butternut squash I bought at the farmers market before it closed for the season. It had been sitting in a basket on my kitchen table for nearly a month and it was still perfectly good. Winter squash will keep for months in a cold garage and Kruse Farms still has some to stock up on.

Butternut Squash Pie
(adapted from Libby's Pumpkin Pie recipe)
Makes one 10-inch pie

Pastry for one 10-inch pie pan, unbaked

1 3/4 cups pureed butternut squash (see note)
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (I used freshly ground and I counted 50 swipes across my grater)
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 1/2 cups cream, half-n-half, or evaporated milk (I used evaporated milk)

For the pastry, I made one batch of all-butter pie crust (see Perfect peach pie) and used half for the butternut squash pie and half for the Dutch apple pie.

Preheat oven to 425. Combine pureed squash, sugar and spices. Blend in eggs and cream or evaporated milk. Pour into unbaked 10-inch pie shell. Bake 15 minutes at 425 degrees. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake 45 minutes longer or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.

Note* To prepare the squash: Wash thoroughly, pierce with a sharp knife ( I make a two or three-inch slit in one side) and microwave on high for 5 minutes. Cut in half lengthwise and scoop out seeds. Place cut side down on a baking sheet and bake at 350 for 1 hour, until soft. Let cool, remove skin and puree in blender or food processor until smooth. If not using right away, cooked squash may be refrigerated for up to 5 days or frozen. One 3 1/2 pound uncooked squash yields about 4 1/2 cups of puree.

Update on The Lists and the Day in Photos

2009-11-28T11:40:00.000-08:00

Laura and Kevin set a lovely table for us.

I asked my son Kevin to photograph the day for me and told him I would buy any photos I could use on my blog. A buck a piece is his going rate, he says, so this post ought to just about pay his way into a movie with a friend this afternoon!

Featherlight roll dough ready for dividing and shaping.

Dutch Apple Pie

Oma's (my mother's) Macaroni & Cheese

Scraping every last bit of Vanilla Ice Cream off the dasher.

So lists are good. And though there's always a mad rush at the end, trying to get the gravy made and the peas cooked, ice in the glasses, and rolls baked at the very last minute while my husband carves the turkey, things went more smoothly this year than they ever have. I didn't get everything on my lists done. I decided to forgo making cinnamon rolls and sticky buns in favor of an hour-long bike ride to the Discovery Gardens with my son. But the lists definitely kept me on track and there was no last minute panic at having forgotten an important part of the meal.

Birthday presents didn't get wrapped until just before I handed them to my husband, the sweet potatoes didn't get prepped the night before (and I ended up cooking them on the stove, instead of in the oven), I decided to use butternut squash instead of pumpkin for the pie and didn't bother roasting the seeds. But it all came together pretty much on schedule and we sat down with thankful hearts to a glorious feast just after 2:00 pm.

We were a small group this year, just six of us. We took our time enjoying the food and conversation and eventually ended up in front of a crackling fire in the living room listening to and telling old family stories. To me, that's the best part of all holidays and celebrations and if a delicious meal helps bring everyone together, then I am happy to do my part.

Prepping for the Big Day

2009-11-22T16:53:00.000-08:00

As the big day draws near, my to-do lists are getting longer and more detailed. I'm trying to get as much done ahead as possible because I need to pick my daughter, Laura, up in Portland on Wednesday and I'll be gone from Tuesday afternoon to Wednesday afternoon. On top of that, my husband's birthday falls on Thanksgiving this year!

The following notes are not meant to make me look like a martyr or slave to my kitchen. Cooking is my thing and this is my favorite holiday. But for anyone who is cooking a big dinner for the first time (my oldest daughter is doing her first Thanksgiving dinner in North Carolina) , I thought these lists might come in handy.

The Menu

Roast Turkey
Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
Cornbread Dressing
Buttered Peas
Fruit Ambrosia (Mom's bringing it)
Macaroni & Cheese (Mom's bringing it)
Cranberry Sauce
Featherlight Rolls w/butter and homemade jam
Candied Sweet Potatoes
Olives and Sweet Pickles
Apple Pie
Pumpkin Pie
Homemade Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
Sparkling Cider & San Pellegrino

Here's the game plan:

Several days ahead--

Big grocery trip for all of the non-perishable items. DONE!

Make a huge batch of granola for easy breakfasts. DONE!

Bake 100% whole wheat buttermilk bread and freeze several loaves for turkey sandwiches after Thanksgiving. DONE!

Refresh dormant sourdough starter so I can make Pain au Levain to use in the McDaniel Family Cornbread Dressing (that's my twist on it--it only calls for cornbread and whole wheat bread, but I like the slight tang of sourdough). DONE!

Iron all the cloth napkins. DONE!--I paid my son to do it.

Chop onions for the dressing and freeze. DONE!

Put the frozen turkey on a tray in the extra fridge to begin defrosting. DONE!

Make pie crusts and freeze. TOMORROW

Chill beverages. TOMORROW

Make cranberry sauce. TOMORROW

Bake Pain au Levain. TOMORROW

Cook pumpkins and puree for pie. Roast seeds. TOMORROW

Last trip to grocery store for perishables. TOMORROW

No school this week, so my son is home to help with all of the above!

Tuesday morning--

Make cornbread.

Wrap birthday gifts. Sign card.

Mix whole wheat cinnamon roll/sticky bun dough.

Clean house for the last time before the holiday.

Wednesday evening after we get home--

Leave cornbread out to dry.

Mix featherlight roll dough.

Make custard for ice cream.

Prep sweet potatoes (peel, slice, layer in buttered casserole with brown sugar, butter, a bit of salt and lemon zest. Cover and refrigerate.

Shape cinnamon rolls and sticky buns.

Bake pumpkin pie and apple pie.

On Thanksgiving Day--

Bake cinnamon rolls and sticky buns.

Get the turkey in the oven.

Set the table.

Soften butter for rolls.

Make ice cream.

Divide and shape rolls.

Bake sweet potatoes.

Make and bake dressing.

Whip cream for pumpkin pie.

Put out olives, pickles and cranberry sauce.

Boil and mash potatoes. (Save potato water for breadmaking)

Bake rolls.

Cook peas.

Make gravy.

Enjoy dinner with my family! (then relax while they do all the dishes)

I don't know if I will have time to post anything during all this, but I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day with your family and friends.

Canning Venison

2009-11-12T09:32:00.001-08:00

My husband got a deer last week, so I have been canning venison. It is incredibly easy. You just cut the raw meat into chunks, add salt, put the lids on and process in a pressure canner. When packing raw you don't add any water or broth, but the meat makes its own juices while it is processing. Honestly, unlike most things I preserve, the final product is not very appetizing to look at--sort of like a jar of chunky dog food--but the meat is so tender! I love having it on hand to make a quick stew or "venison bourguignon." I'm going to try using it for shredded "beef" tacos too.

We froze the tenders and backstrap and had the rest ground into burger for chili, tacos, and spaghetti this winter.

A Food-filled Weekend

2009-11-09T16:05:00.000-08:00

Four back-to-back food events filled up my entire weekend. I started off Friday night in charge of the "local concessions booth" at our Think Local Umpqua screening of FOOD, INC. With the help of some teenage boys to run the popcorn machine (popping locally-grown popcorn) and a couple girl scouts to bag the popped corn, serve cookies and biscotti and pour eggnog and apple cider, all I had to do was handle the money. We had a great turn-out and managed to squeeze 117 people into the room we had set up for 80.

Saturday morning I headed out early for our OSU Extension "Gifts from your Kitchen" class in Sutherlin. Twenty-five people turned out to learn some new ideas for homemade holiday gift-giving. My part of the two-hour class was to demonstrate making flavored vinegars. I brought lots of vinegars to sample: Chive Blossom, Blackberry, Raspberry, Rosemary, Blueberry-Lemon and Mulberry. Geri Johnson then did a demo on microwave peanut brittle and creamy caramels and Clara Langton finished up with some hands-on cookie and soup mixes.

I had to dash out a bit early to make it to my next event--being one of the five judges at the Umpqua Dairy recipe contest cook-off. Two of us were local home cooks and three were professional chefs from the Valley River Inn, Seven Feathers and Market of Choice. Umpqua Dairy had narrowed the entries down to nine finalists: three desserts, three appetizers/side dishes, and three main dishes. We got to review the recipes and sample each one, then score them on ease of preparation, originality, appearance/appeal, and taste. It was fascinating to listen to the chefs discuss and critique the recipes from a professional viewpoint. They thought of things that didn't cross my mind. We chose a winner in each category and grand prize winner overall. I am sure the News Review will do an article with all the details and the local tv station covered it, though I didn't get to see the news. We sampled a Fall Citrus Carrot Salad, Cheese Tarts, Crab, Spinach, and Artichoke Macaroni and Cheese, Creamy Chicken Chowder, Spiced Chicken Fettuccini, Holiday Bread Pudding, Sour Cream Panna Cotta, and Crab and Spinach Stuffed Tomatoes, but the grand prize went to Nancy Woodside of Roseburg for her Razzapple Sour Cream Streusel Pie, which was divine. Something I will definitely make soon for Sunday dessert. I got to keep my copy of all the recipes, but I can't post them because Umpqua Dairy is going to publish them in a cookbook next spring. Trust me, if you like dairy products, you're going to want the cookbook.

We finished the judging by 4:00 pm and as luck (or gluttony) would have it, my husband and son and I had tickets for the 7:00 pm seating of the annual Scandinavian Smorgasbord at Faith Lutheran church! It's a fundraiser for their church missions and one of our family traditions. So, after putting away all the supplies from my morning demo and taking a quick nap, we headed over to the church to listen to the German Band before filling our plates with Swedish meatballs (my favorite), potato sausage, cold poached salmon, Swedish Beans, red cabbage, lefse, homemade breads, red potatoes, pickled herring, pickled beets, cucumbers in sour cream, apple salad, cheese, liver pate and Swedish apple dessert. The ladies (and a few men) must spend the entire week cooking and prepping for this event. One of these years I'm going to see if they'll let me help out so I can get a behind-the-scenes look (and maybe a few recipes?) at all their hard work.

You'd think I wouldn't be able to eat for a week after all this, but it was my mom's turn to cook Sunday dinner and she made her fabulous pork roast with mashed potatoes and gravy, so there was no holding back.

Time to hit the gym this week!

Maple-Covered Walnuts

2009-11-06T12:27:00.000-08:00

Local walnuts are ready at Cleveland Rapids Orchards. The Lehne's have a great crop and they've kept the price the same as last year.

Walnuts and blueberries are two of my favorite local foods and I generally toss a handful of each into my morning bowl of oatmeal or cold cereal. For a great recipe that uses both of these superfoods, check out my Blueberry-Walnut Zucchini Bread.

The following recipe is quick and easy and great for holiday gift-giving.

Maple-covered Walnuts

1/2 cup real maple syrup
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups walnut halves

Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper. In a heavy skillet (I use cast iron), combine the maple syrup, cinnamon, butter and salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture is dark and thick and the consistency of raw egg whites, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Add the walnuts and toss until well-coated with the glaze. Spread out on the waxed paper to cool.

Note: If you did not cook the glaze long enough and the nuts are still sticky even after they have cooled completely (give them at least an hour or so, depending on the weather and humidity in your kitchen), just put them in a low oven for a bit to help them dry out.

G is for Apple

2009-10-31T17:13:00.001-07:00

Is this not the most gorgeous "apple" you have ever seen? It's actually a gourd that was grown, dried and painted by Robin and Dennis O'Neill of Happy Valley Farm (679-9767). You can't tell from the photo, but it's about 8 inches tall. I haven't decided yet where I'm going to put it or what I'm going to do with it, but I couldn't resist buying it at the farmers market this morning. It makes me smile just to look at it!