Blue Bee Farm

Have you ever come across a place that is so great that you can't wait to tell people about it? A place that is truly special - so that a tiny part of you sort of wants to keep it a secret too? Well, we have found such a place and it just wouldn't be fair to keep it all to ourselves.  That place is Blue Bee Farm.

The last weekend in June we had a bit of a heat wave here in the Northwest. We had also seen a house that we fell in love with and on Friday, we put in our offer. This is a bit nerve wracking as the last place we put an offer on, we were outbid. To keep our minds off the whole business, we decided to pack up the car and take a drive out to Sauvie Island. Now, Sauvie Island is just a 20 minute drive from our place and is a magical spot. It's landscape is stunning, dotted with farms and wetlands. There are plenty of U-Pick farms to choose from, some of which can get down right crowded on a sunny weekend day.

The Engineer happens to work with a fellow who's family has opened a Blueberry farm on a beautiful piece of land. We made our way to the farm ready to pick some berries in the sun.

Blue Bee Farm is family owned, and the family is truly ace, really the nicest folks you could imagine. No sprays or chemicals are used on the fruit, they practice natural and sustainable farming, and the surroundings are lovely. The scene was so peaceful, we nearly had the place to ourselves. We headed out to the fields with our buckets looking for blueberry gold,
and boy did we ever find it!

Though the bushes may have looked small, they were literally bowing under the weight of masses of big, juicy, ripe and incredibly sweet berries. Every bush was a treasure. Every few minutes Pony Girl would yell, "Jackpot!"

Blue Bee Farm grows several varieties of blueberries, all of them delicious.  In the short time we were there (not much over an hour) we picked an incredible 16 pounds of blueberries without even realizing it!!

It made for an awesome family outing in beautiful surroundings, we had such a fun time. If you live anywhere near the area, I can not recommend Blue Bee Farm enough. Just click on the link to get info, hours and directions. I happen to know that there are plenty more blueberries coming on at the farm, so go get some now! You can also follow them on Instagram HERE and see their beautiful farm and berries!

I know for a fact that Blue Bee Farm will become a family tradition for years to come!  Thank you so much Shanna, John and family for a great experience!

While we froze a good amount of the berries, we ate quite a few fresh. I also made a batch of blueberry syrup, oh man that stuff is good! Here is a basic simple recipe, much like how I made mine if you care to give it a try. It's easy peasy. It is good on everything from ice cream to pancakes and it makes my new favorite summer refresher: Blueberry Soda with Lime and Mint!

Oh I almost forgot to tell you...

We got the house!!!

Happy Monday all!

In The Kitchen with Lola - Banana Berry Applesauce Walnut Bread!

I thought I would take a break from my travel tales to share a recipe with you today. It was one of those happy accidents that come from a sudden necessity to diverge from one's original plan.

I had some over ripe bananas and a need to bake, but not enough banana to make my usual favorite banana bread. After hunting for recipes calling for 1 and 3/4 ripe bananas and ending up nowhere, I figured I'd just wing it and hope for the best. What else do I have on hand that isn't quite enough to make a tried and true recipe that I could throw in to make up something entirely new?

And so...

Banana Berry Applesauce Walnut Bread was born, and it is good!

While I didn't measure everything I wrote up a recipe immediately after tasting that should do the trick.

Banana Berry Applesauce Walnut Bread

Dry ingredients:
2 Cups All Purpose Flour
3/4 Cup Sugar
3/4 tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 tsp. Salt
Aprox. 1 Cup Chopped Walnuts
1 tsp. Cinnamon
1/4 tsp. Nutmeg

Wet ingredients:
Aprox. 2 very ripe Bananas mashed (about 1 cup)
2/3 Cup Unsweetened Applesauce
1/2 Cup Plain yogurt
2 Eggs lightly beaten
4 Tbs. Butter melted and cooled (you could use veg. oil as well)
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1 Cup Frozen Berries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees with rack on lower middle shelf.
Grease and lightly flour one large loaf pan or 2 smaller loaf pans and set aside.

Mix all the the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
Mix all of the wet ingredients in another bowl.

Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated. Lumpy batter is good.

Pour the mixture into loaf pans and bake in oven for aprox. 40 minutes if using 2 smaller loaf pans and aprox. 60 minutes if using one large loaf pan; until you stick in a toothpick to the center and it comes out clean.
Baking times may vary!
Let the bread sit in the pan for 5 minutes then turn onto cooling rack to let cool completely or as long as you can stand it before cutting into it and gobbling it up!

And yes, it is a bit more cake than bread, but never mind that, it is delicious!

Happy baking!

Millet Salad

Goodness me oh my, I have fallen rather behind! This was supposed to be posted on Friday, but then...

Anyway, today's offering is of the foodie variety. As we head into summer, I try to come up with yummy, make ahead salads to keep on hand. I throw together some veg, grain and protein for a well rounded, healthy nosh. I thought I'd share a recipe for a Millet and vegetable salad that makes a lovely side dish, or if you are like me, you might like to eat it as a meal for lunch, or a late afternoon snack when you could use a little boost.

Millet seems to be a grain that has fallen out of fashion a little here in the US; I recall it being a big deal in the late 70's health food circuit. I keep it on hand for breads and cereal mostly, but it makes a wonderful grain for salad as well.

Broccoli, Cauliflower, Chickpea and Millet Salad with Tahini-Lemon Dressing

1 c millet
2 c water
1/2 head broccoli, broken into florets
1/2 head small cauliflower cut into florets
1 can chickpeas, drained & rinsed
3-4 scallions chopped
zest of 1 lemon


dressing:
1 garlic clove, minced
3 T tahini
4 T olive oil
2 T hot water (more if necessary)
juice from 1 lemon
salt & pepper
*1-2 T almond butter or peanut butter (optional)

Begin by draining and rinsing the chickpeas, set aside.

Toast millet in a small saucepan on medium heat, stirring often, until it starts to crackle. Add water, cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer until all of the water is absorbed.

Steam broccoli and cauliflower until just slightly tender or broccoli is bright green, drain and rinse under cold water. You could omit the cauliflower if you are not a fan, or use another combo of vegies altogether.

In a large bowl combine the Millet, steamed vegetables, chopped scallions, chickpeas lemon zest and toss.

Make the dressing by combining and whisking all of the ingredients together, add water as needed to get the right consistency. * Note: The brand of tahini I have on hand is a little bitter, so I added a couple of Tablespoons of almond butter to the dressing to smooth it out, adding peanut butter would have the same result. I suggest making the dressing without, and then having a taste to see how you like it. Oh, I also added a little over a teaspoon of honey to the dressing!

Add half of the dressing to the millet mixture and toss until incorporated.

You can add a base of baby greens with the salad and serve with a lemon wedge. Drizzle some of the remaining dressing over the top. I found it quite good with a dollop of plain yogurt on top too!

Enjoy!

Java Jive

This morning, as I do every morning, the first thing I do is put the kettle on. Only this morning the kettle was our shiny new electric kettle. As I was admiring it's sleek look and efficiency, I was considering this new addition to a long standing ritual.

The ritual of the morning coffee. Ah coffee, I love you so. My deep abiding love for coffee is about more than a caffeine buzz; it's about the ritual, the aroma, the details of making a good cup and finally wrapping your hands around a warm mug of goodness.

It all starts with the beans...and a really good roasting.
I'll admit I'm a bit of a coffee snob, but not in an obnoxious look down on others for their coffee choices kind of way. Rather, I am particular for myself. I rarely buy a fancy espresso drink - because 1. I can make my own coffee my own way at home for a lot less money and 2. I don't often trust others to make my coffee just the way I like.

When I was 16 I got my first Cafe job. I learned to make espresso on a beautiful old Italian copper machine. I was trained by the owners of the cafe who had lived in Italy and learned the ART of coffee. They were passionate about the quality of their coffee, about 'pulling' the perfect shot, creating the exactly right density of foam from steamed milk, and presenting it beautifully. So began my long career as a 'Coffee Jerk'. Oh I know, you are supposed to call them 'Baristas' now, whatevs. I have worked in many a coffee house, as a shot puller and as manager, and whenever I was on shift, the coffee had better be just right.

Now at home, it needs to be just right as well. We of course have our favorite beans on hand, the kettle has been turned on and whilst it works itself into a boil - it is time for the beans to be freshly ground - somewhere between medium and fine, just the right amount for the pot. The grounds are placed into an insulated metal "French Press", after the boil the water sits for a few so that it is not scalding, pour the water over the grounds and fill the press, this sits for one minute, then a stir to the water/grounds and the lid placed gently atop, now steep 3 minutes and push down the plunger, wait a moment for the silt to settle and pour yourself a cuppa Jo.

Precise I know, but I love this ritual.
Especially this morning as the rain-snow was falling down and I was so groggy-grumpy that I didn't think I was going to make it. As the grinder whined and the aroma of coffee wafted through the kitchen, I told myself to hang on, I think it's going to be ok.

Perhaps many of you are tea drinkers instead of coffee lovers, and tea has it's own beautiful rituals. how about you, do you have any rituals that you perform every day?

P.S. Thank you to The Engineer for suggesting this post.

In The Kitchen with Lola

What's for breakfast?

'Tis the season for muffins and these little beauties make a lovely breakfast treat. Wholesome and chock full of goodness; with options, I love options. Not too sweet, but definitely tasty!

Applesauce Apricot and Berry Muffins

Makes 12-15 muffins

3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 1/4 cups oats
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
1/2 cup chopped nuts
3/4 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp canola oil
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper cases or spray with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large bowl combine flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt,cinnamon, nutmeg, apricots, nuts and berries. In a medium bowl combine applesauce, buttermilk, sugar, oil, egg and vanilla. Make a well in dry ingredients and add applesauce mixture. Stir until just moist. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full.

Bake for 16-18 minutes.

And now for those options I mentioned:

You can use all whole wheat flour if you desire.
Try substituting the apricots and berries for any of the following:
Dried Cranberries, Walnuts, and Orange Zest
Dried Dates and Almonds
Chopped Apples, Raisins and extra Cinnamon
Any other yummy dried fruit and nuts you have on hand!

Enjoy!

Harvest

Today I had intended to share a story about a long lost wandering soul who has recently returned to the bosom of the the family here in the little green cottage. It seems though, that I am still ferreting out the details of this epic tale and will have to save it for another time.

So today you get tomatoes. A great big heaping helping of tomatoes!

Did I say BIG?

2011 turned out to be a pretty good year for the tomatoes, the best we've had in about 3 - 4 years. That last little burst of hot weather kicked it into full gear. Of course even with sharing some with neighbors and eating plenty ourselves, we still had a small mountain of them.

So...on one of the hottest days of the year, in a very steamy and also very tiny kitchen, I began to blanch and peel and prep.

Normally I would can the whole toms, or turn them into a basic sauce, but this year I decided on Salsa!
In the pot went: onions, garlic, sweet peppers from the garden, jalapeños, cilantro, cumin, pickling salt, sugar (just a pinch), and a combo of red wine vinegar and cider vinegar.
It cooked down just gorgeous! Now we are set with salsa for many months to come. I love putting up food (ok I didn't love how hot it was, or how my fingers were made raw with all the prep, but it's totally satisfying and worth it!)



I'll be back on Friday with a happy how-to! See you then.

Tomato Jam

Finally, ripe tomatoes from the garden, hooray!

So, I decided to make a small batch of tomato jam, a very small batch.

I adapted a recipe from The New York Times

Tomato Jam
1 1/2 pounds good ripe tomatoes (Roma are best), cored and coarsely chopped

2/3 cup sugar

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice

1 tablespoon fresh grated or minced ginger

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon salt

1 jalapeño or other peppers, stemmed, seeded and minced, or red pepper flakes or cayenne to taste.

1 Tbs. Red wine vinegar

1. Combine all ingredients except vinegar in a heavy medium saucepan, Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring often.

2. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until mixture has consistency of thick jam, about 1 hour 15 minutes, add vinegar. Taste and adjust seasoning, then cool and refrigerate until ready to use; this will keep at least a week.

Yield: About 1 pint.

Use in place of ketchup on burgers, fantastic on breakfast sandwiches with eggs and caramelized onions!
Yum!

From the Pantry

I recently was the lucky winner of this interesting book, Urban Pantry by Amy Pennington, from Sherri at Little House In Paradise! This morning I plan to finally sit down and take a good look see. Heaven knows I love a well stocked pantry. I would love to some day have a kitchen with an actual pantry, until then this book seems to appeal to those of us with a less than grand sized kitchen. I am hoping to get some useful tips. There are also a good number of recipes as well. I'm looking forward to spending some time with the book, to see if it's a winner.

For now I'm just gonna throw out some photos of recent kitchen experiments from my own Urban Pantry that came off pretty well, a little 'food porn' if you will.

Pasta with asparagus and pistachio. So delicious - however, as I could not find shelled pistachios, there was a bit of heavy labor in preparing the nuts. Well worth it in the end!

Blackberry peach cobbler! Pretty much the taste of summer. Served warm with vanilla ice cream (it's the only way).

Well, I'm off to my coffee and my book. Have you been cooking up anything good lately?

For the love of toast!

It's that time again! The brief window of local strawberry goodness has arrived and of course, we made jam.

We have become a seasoned, well oiled machine when it comes to our annual jam making. At 10 am on Sunday I brought home the berries, by noon we had 33 jars of ruby red deliciousness to take us through to next year.

This morning I sat at the window with my coffee, a thick slice of bread slathered with strawberry jam, and thought how the best things in life are made by hand. Oh how I love toast!

As if that were not enough goodness for one weekend, I also received a special parcel in the post from across the big pond. Pomona of Little Cottage Comforts, had a giveaway recently and I was the lucky winner.

Honestly, with all that's been going on 'round here I had completely forgotten about it until it arrived. What a gorgeous surprise! A lovely book on button jewelry and the very generous Pomona included the prettiest pieces of fabric and some sweet buttons too!

There really is nothing like getting happy packages in the mail to cheer one's day. Thank you Pomona! Oh, I just popped over to her blog and she is having another fabulous giveaway, go see!

What a good way to start a new week.
Happy Monday!

In The Garden

Living in the Pacific Northwest presents certain gardening challenges. It seems especially the last couple of years, or that could just be me getting old. In any case, we tend to grab moments as we can; when the sun shows up enough to turn our mud into workable soil. For us, there has always been "The Weekend" every year. The weekend when the weather is just right and we roll up our sleeves and accomplish great works in the yard.

Last weekend was it! The Engineer and I make a formidable team at times like this. As long as we have good, wholesome, (and might I say delicious) sustenance during the day, and ice cold home brewed beer at days end, we are a force to be reckoned with.

There was a fair amount of weeding, sprucing, mowing, and general tidying up. Then there was planting, this bit always makes me happy. Lettuce (our first batch got ate up by the chooks), tomatoes, peppers, lemon cucumber, arugula, eggplant, herbs and such.

We also completed planting our finally finished front rock wall bed. Looking forward to the filling out so our gas meter doesn't make such a bold statement. Why they put it there to begin with has me completely stumped.

We also managed a new chicken fence! I've been wanting this for ages. It isn't fancy but, it gives the girls a bit of open space to run, whilst keeping them from eating the neighbor's cat food, or our lettuce.

We started sod removal to make way for a new mixed bed. We picked up some reclaimed lumber for the back yard fence we hope to finish this summer. I also got to get a close look at what is growing in other parts of the garden. The cotton candy rhododendron has reached it's blooming zenith. The back yard border is in wild abandon, and I'm kind of enjoying that particular riot of foliage right now.

Yes indeed, much was accomplished and much left to do. It will have to wait, as the rain is back and the rumor is it's going to stay awhile.

Well, a little bird is chirping outside my window and it sounds very much like he is singing, "Thrifting, thrifting." I think a shall take his advice, a-thrifting I will go. Have a lovely day my friends!

Comfort Food

Ah, the rediscovery of an old favorite! Perfect for a rainy day; comfort food that is healthful and satisfying.

Baked Tofu Pesto Sandwich with a salad of mixed greens, pears and walnuts. Delicious!

Want to make it? The recipe is Vegan but I can assure you that meat eaters like it too.

*Baked Tofu Recipe:
1 block (package) firm tofu
1/3 cup vegetable stock
3 Tablespoons Soy sauce
1 Tablespoon dark sesame oil
2 teaspoons brown sugar, or honey, or brown rice syrup
1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

Drain and rinse the tofu. Cut into 6 equal slabs. Place the tofu on a clean folded tea towel on a flat surface. Cover with another folded tea towel and place a cutting board or other flat object (cookie sheet) on top. Place a moderate weight on the board (a heavy pot or canned food items) and leave to drain for 30 minutes.

In a baking dish just large enough to hold the tofu, stir together the remaining ingredients. When the tofu has drained, place the slabs in the baking dish with the marinade in a single layer. Place in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. Turn the tofu pieces over half way through the marinating time.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (204 C). Place the baking dish uncovered in the oven. Bake for 30 minutes, then turn the tofu over and cook for an additional 30 minutes. The liquid should be completely absorbed and the tofu should have a nice dark "crust."
You can eat this immediately or it keeps in the fridge for a few days.
*Recipe adapted from The Complete Vegan Cookbook by Hadler & Toomay.

To make the sandwich I use a sprouted grain english muffin that is hearty and delicious but, you can use a roll or bread of your choice.
I toast my bread, spread with pesto (I am not including a recipe for pesto since there are thousands available, easy to find if you don't already have your own recipe). Add the baked tofu, a thick slice of a good tomato, some avocado and ta da!
Other additions that are tasty: Sweet bell pepper, sprouts, grated carrot, lettuce, etc.

I paired this with a nice salad of mixed baby greens, sliced pear, and walnuts with a simple vinaigrette.

Yum!

Spanish monks can not keep a secret

And for that, I thank them.

Of course we must thank the Aztecs for chocolate, also acknowledge Columbus, and er...while I don't particularly feel like thanking Cortez for anything, he certainly realized that chocolate was the next big thing.

The Spanish aristocracy was smitten. Spain wisely and quietly began planting cacao in its overseas colonies, which gave birth to a very profitable business. Remarkably enough, the Spanish succeeded in keeping the art of the cocoa industry a secret from the rest of Europe for nearly a hundred years. Cheeky tarts!

So there were these Spanish monks see, who had been consigned to process the cacao beans for the mucky-mucks profiteering. After a night of feasting on chocolate and partaking of aged spirits - I can't say this is exactly how it happened but, it's how I like to imagine it - they got a little chatty with some fellows from the nearby village and spilled the beans. Once the secret was out, chocolate was on everyone's lips.

When The Engineer's folks were here last, my mother in-law spent an afternoon with me showing me how to make chocolates. It was so much fun, and now I have a rather fantastic (possibly dangerous) skill to add to my repertoire.

We made hand rolled truffles with different coatings. The toasted almond were my personal favorite. I don't know that I will ever become a master at the rolling of the truffles, apparently I have hot hands. These 'hot hands' of mine melt the chocolate too rapidly and it all becomes a rather slippery, misshapen mess. Perhaps if I could find me some temperature controlled gloves...anyway they may have looked a little funny but they tasted lovely.

Nancy brought along some chocolate molds and we set about making chocolate cherries, how fancy is that?

At the end there was some chocolate left, and there were strawberries. I'm certain you would have come to the same conclusion we did.

Thank you so much Nancy! What a sweet and messy happy afternoon. You can also be sure that I have been dreaming up new flavors and experiments in my mind for days now.
I have a feeling a few of you who have managed it to the end of this post, are now quietly making your way to the pantry just to check, you know, in case you might need a bit of chocolate for later.