Our Garden

Summer Vegetable Polenta Bake

I found this recipe on the Local Harvest website. Again I love them they are associated with a A Sustainable living Community in Ashville NC. Jeff and I were looking at living there once, but changed our minds and decided to move out here to Oregon instead.

Recipe: Summer Vegetable Polenta Bake (Taken from the Local Harvest Newsletter July 2016
	Being a cook who is fond of a one-dish meal, it seems all too natural to combine the abundance of summer vegetables with the comfort of creamy polenta. Top it all off with melted cheese, a sprinkling of pine nuts and fresh herbs, broil it together in the oven and what you’ve got is something delicious to satisfy the whole table, not to mention you’ve only got one pot to clean!  Enjoy!   Amber

Summer Vegetable Polenta Bake  

Serves 4-6

*It is very important to use Instant Polenta. Do not substitute with pre-cooked polenta (bought in a tube). If you choose to use regular stone-ground polenta, cook in a separate pot following manufacturer’s instructions, then add to skillet at Step 4 and proceed with recipe.

·         1/4 cup olive oil

·         1 medium eggplant, trimmed and cut into 1/2in. pieces

·         2 small zucchini or summer squash (or 1 of each), trimmed and cut into 1/2in. pieces

·         5 medium garlic cloves, minced

·         1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

·         1/2 tsp salt

·         2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved

·         4 cups water

·         1 cup instant polenta*

·         3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

·         1 cup fontina cheese, shredded (Mozzarella or Monterey Jack can be substituted)

·         1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted

·         1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

1. Place oven rack about six-inches from broiler. Preheat broiler.

2. *Heat the 1/4 cup oil in a 12-in. cast-iron skillet (Dutch oven can be substituted, as long as its oven-safe) over medium-high heat until oil shimmers. Working in two batches, add eggplant and squash, along with 1/4 tsp salt. Stirring occasionally, cook mixture until it begins to brown, about 6-7 minutes. Reduce the heat and continue to cook until vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. * Remove vegetables from skillet with slotted spoon and transfer to bowl. Repeat from * to * with other half of vegetables. Return all vegetables, and their accumulated juices, to skillet.

3. Stir garlic and red pepper flakes to vegetables and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in cherry tomatoes and cook until tomatoes are just beginning to wilt, about 4-5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to bowl and wipe skillet clean with paper towel.

4. Add water to now empty skillet and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Stir in 1 tsp salt and very slowly whisk in instant polenta. Reduce heat to medium-low and whisk constantly until polenta becomes very thick, about 4 minutes. Off the heat, stir in Parmesan.

5. Smooth polenta into an even layer in skillet, and carefully spread vegetable mixture on top of polenta. Distribute toasted pine nuts over skillet, then sprinkle with cheese (this will keep the pine nuts from burning). Broil until the cheese is melted and beginning to bubble, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle with basil and serve.

People Over Profits

I am reposting this newsletter from Local Harvest because I agree with the information 100%. I really enjoy getting these newsletters they always inspire me.

LocalHarvest.org

LocalHarvest Newsletter, July 31, 2016 People Over Profits Welcome back to the LocalHarvest newsletter. You may have read that the venture-capital (VC) funded company Farmigo recently announced that it was terminating their online ‘farmers market’ and going back to just focusing on their software services. Farmigo’s food distribution service was not Community Supported Agriculture by any stretch of the imagination. Although they did buy from some small farmers, they also bought from a lot of larger farmers whose products you can find in grocery stores across the country. It looked a lot more like the Amazon of food rather than a local farmers market. As more and more of these heavily funded food distribution companies come online (Farmigo, Good Eggs, Instacart, Amazon Fresh, etc), spending millions of dollars to acquire customers and advertise, they pull many would-be CSA customers or farmers market shoppers into their schemes. What are the impacts on the actual local farmers in those regions? Certainly hundreds of farmers benefit from being able to wholesale their products to these companies, at however smaller margins than selling direct-to-consumer. Yet many of the companies go out of business a few years later and the farmer is once again left scrambling trying to find a buyer. A couple farmers and multi-farm CSAs recently shared with us that they had to fold or change their sales model due to competition from fake CSAs like Farmigo and others, only to witness those ventures close just a few years later. "The offering of 'local' food with the click of a mouse, delivered fast and fresh to your front door is not something most of us can compete with," said Marie Tedei of Edens Organic Garden in Texas. Several long-standing CSAs have told us that unlike years ago when they had waiting lists, they are now struggling to sell all their memberships. LocalHarvest has several multi-farm CSAs, Food Hubs, or small distribution companies that we support with our software. We have no problems with ethically-ran, privately or cooperatively owned food distribution companies that accurately represent what they are doing. However, we do take issue with companies posing as CSAs or pretending that their mission is to assist farmers or help consumers gain access to the freshest, most sustainable foods when their actual mission is to gain the largest returns for their investors. Even the New York Times has noticed this issue, just penning an article about the rise in fake CSAs and how that impacts actual CSA farmers. The Times article brings up an important truth that CSAs and Farmers Markets only serve a very small slice of the American population. If we want more diversified family farmers and if we want Americans eating a fresher, more localized diet, there has to be equally diverse efforts to create more options for consumers to get access to that food. We support varied efforts to scale up and scale out sustainable foods with a commitment to quality, transparency, economic equity, and environmental responsibility. Unfortunately, the investor-owned and funded efforts tend to try to get too big too quickly in order to maximize investor returns. They are, by design, an unsustainable model. The profits go to the investors, not back to the farmers, nor up the supply chain towards lowering prices for consumers. A venture capitalist expects to make a significant return, on the order of six times their original investment. This means, for example, that the staggering $26 million dollars that have poured into Farmigo needs to generate $156 million for those same investors. Maybe I lack imagination, but I just don’t see how that could happen from CSA management software or building a food distribution business. LocalHarvest runs our business differently. We are a very small, privately owned business. We allow farmers, farmers markets, and others to list their businesses for free in order to link them to consumers searching for good food. To support that free service, we have built software for CSA farmers and food hubs that generates a modest but sustainable revenue stream that in turn supports our amazing little team of dedicated employees. Despite repeated attempts by VC investors to purchase a slice of our company, we have resisted because we understand how that would change the nature of our work for the worse. So keep directing your dollars as closely as you can to the actual people who grew your food, grow some of our own, and resist the hype of these new techno-fancy, multi-million dollar funded models that may look pretty on the outside but usually lack the ethical core that we need to create a truly sustainable food system. Kindly, -Rebecca Click here for our readers' comments.
From the LH Store
	The lavender harvest is in full swing, so now is the perfect time to order this year's crop. One of the most popular of all herbs, lavender is known for its calming, relaxing, and antiseptic properties. We love having it around the house just for its heady fragrance. Get yours today. Want to make your summer salads even more nutritious? Sprinkle on some freshly ground organic flax seed, and get your Omega-3s along with your greens! Going to a wedding this summer? A LocalHarvest gift certificate makes the perfect gift!
Just Picked: Cooking through a CSA
	Got a CSA Share? Check out this new informative video series for ideas on what to do with those veggies. The Just Picked series is set up to follow a CSA share for the entire season. With each delivery there will be a new video to showcase the seasonal veggies arriving in the CSA share.

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You can unsubscribe from this monthly newsletter from LocalHarvest here.

When life gives you lemons make Chocolate Cake!!!!

They say everything happens for a reason, I believe that more now than ever. I was recently let go at my job with no real explanation. This left me not only perplexed but feeling a bit like a failure. It has taken several weeks but I am finally coming to the realization that this was a good thing a really good thing.

 

I decided to turn things around and make something good come out of this. Today I registered for classes at LCC (Lane Community College). Yep that's right I am going back to school. I am going to be a college Nana!  My major is going to be in Marketing and PR. I have always been interested in doing more in this field and have loads of experience from all of the PR I did during my entrepreneurial years. I want to start my own company and I would love to work with non-profits like The Fair Trade Commission etc..

So off I go on this new adventure.....stay tuned I will keep you updated on how things are going.

Hope you're having a wonderful Summer!

Quick and Easy Stir Fry

Creative Ideas for Pasta Salads

Hi there,
So if you watched the  latest video on my youtube channel; cherrypielady7 cooking channel you saw that Jeff (my hubby) and I did 2 videos about making pasta salads for easy meals on hot summer nights. I wanted to give you a few more ideas for making pasta salads because they can be a great time saver as well.

* Add vegetables and boiled shrimp with a ranch dressing
* Add boiled egg to our tuna salad recipe and you have even more protein
* Add greens such as kale, arugula, or chard to the salad right before serving or serve a well dressed
   salad over a bed of mixed greens or romaine.
*Add chunks of salami, capicola, or mozzarella cheese to the antipasta one we made.

The thing that I like most about having cold pasta in the fridge is that you can pull it out and make a wide variety of things in a pinch. You can even heat it up and serve it with sauce from your pantry if you had to. Make up a batch in the cool of the morning and once its cool bag it up in a ziplock bag it will keep in the fridge for several days.

Be creative and have fun with it. Until next time....

Ciao

Berry Cobbler Continued

Flakey Pie Crust

This recipe is really a good one. It is pretty much fool proof, just make sure to give it at least 4 hours in the refrigerator or overnight is actually better. I found it in an old cookbook of my mothers. Back then they used lard or crisco. :) Its pretty much like many pie crust recipes. I just want you to have a good basic one that you can use for many different things.**
Like I said it is very flakey this is because there is a lot of fat in it. The fat choice is up to you. I used butter in this recipe but I often times use organic palm shortening or earth balance. Either of them work well.

Also make sure your butter is cold, room temperature butter will cause your dough to be greasy not flakey. And use really cold water too. 

Really Flakey Pie Crust

(1 - 9" crust)

1.25 cup  organic flour (einkorn, whole wheat pastry/white spelt blend, or all purpose)

1/4   tsp  sea salt

1/2  cup  fat of your choice, cut into pieces (butter, earth balance, shortening, coconut oil)

up to 1/4  cup  ice water

Add the flour and fat to a large bowl. Using a pastry blender or fork work the fat into the dough until it begins to get crumbly and resemble peas. When it looks like this you can start adding the water 1 Tb at a time. Continue adding water and mixing in between until a soft ball forms and the sides of the bowl are clean. Do not add too much water, it will make the dough sticky. Pat the ball into a round disc then wrap it in plastic wrap and set in refrigerator for 4 hours or overnight. When thoroughly chilled remove from fridge and press it out onto a floured surface. Begin working it out from the center of the disc with a rolling pin until you reach the desired shape, thickness and size. Make sure to keep enough flour under the dough so it doesn't stick to the surface. 

To remove and place in a pie pan etc.: place your rolling pin at one end of the circle/rectangle and roll the dough up onto the rolling pin, rolling the crust around the pin then transfer it to your dish and unroll. It makes it easier to move the crust without tearing it. If you are prebaking the crust for your pie you will need to freeze it before baking to make sure it doesn't slip down on the sides and become a mess in the oven. Its also a good idea to use beans inside the crust when baking so it creates a nice smooth bottom. Make sure to place a piece of parchment between the crust and dry beans.

bake at 425-450 for 10 min. for prebaked crust.

**You can add 1-2 Tb sugar to the recipe for a sweet crust. 

You can make dumbling's out of this for the top of cobbler or a savory casserole. Cut it into squares and place on top before baking.

Mixed Berry Cobbler Bake (As seen on my youtube channel cherrypielady7 cooking channel)

Hi there everyone,

I don't know about you but its crazy hot here this summer! Its a bit to hot for me to be comfortable but not for the berries in our back yard. All of this heat is great for them.We have been blessed with a good amount of blackberries of late and even some blueberries and strawberries. I didn't expect to have so many this late but I'm not complaining.

So I was thinking about what to do with this blessed harvest. Then I thought "why not make a mixed berry cobbler". So I did. And oh how delicious it was. Below is the recipe, I am also posting the recipe for the pie crust top in a different post. You will need both to make this recipe. The pie crust needs to be refrigerated for 4 hours or overnight so keep that in mind when planning for this recipe.
You can also see me prepare this recipe by going to my youtube channel at this link

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXPw-iV4f3JVcksr8EV_GJQ

Mixed Berry Cobbler

6 cups of mixed berries (blackberries, strawberries, blueberries or a mixture of what you have)

1/2 cup organic sugar (may need a bit more if your fruit is very tart)

1/4 cup arrow root

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 Flakey Pie Crust recipe

In a large bowl mix the berries with the remaining ingredients except for the pie crust

Spray a 13'x 9" baking pan and pour the berry mixture into the pan. On a floured surface

roll out the pie crust into a rectangle about 1/8" thick. Make sure the dough isn't sticking to the surface too much. Now cut into strips about 1/2' wide. Place 1/2 the strips across the top of the berries spaced evenly apart. Now take the remaining ones and place ontop going the other direction spaced evenly apart. You are making a lattice top with the strips. 

Bake on 425' for 45 minutes or until the berries are bubbling and the crust is golden brown.

Remove and let cool for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Amazing Carrot Cake (Healthy Version, Low Glycemic)

It was my Husband Jeff's birthday on Sunday and being that he is a diabetic (controlled but still diabetic) I wanted to make him a cake that he could eat. So I asked him what kind he would really love. He said Carrot Cake without a doubt. So off I went to create a diabetic friendly carrot cake. I decided to use coconut sugar as the sweetener as it has a low glycemic index and then I chose Eikorn Flour because it is an 80% whole grain flour that has only a tiny bit of the germ and the bran removed so it is still high fiber (8 grams of fiber in every cup). It also translates into baking applications very well. It's actually an ancient grain originally used 12,000 years ago. Below is the final recipe you can also watch me make it on my youtube channel "cherrypielady7 cooking channel" here's the link https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXPw-iV4f3JVcksr8EV_GJQ

So here we go:  Diabetic Friendly Carrot Cake

3 cups eikorn or white spelt flour
1.5 tsp. baking powder
Mix flour and BP together in a bowl and set aside

1.5 Tb. egg replacer or 3 eggs
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp citric acid (get at health food store or pharmacy)
1/2 tsp sea salt
6 Tb. warm water
If you are using eggs place them in the bowl of your mixer and begin whipping them on medium speed until they become light yellow.
If you are using egg replacer then place the it and the baking soda, citric acid and salt in the bowl of your mixer. Add the warm water and begin whisking it until it becomes frothy like whipped eggwhites.

* 2 cups coconut sugar
1 cup oil (hi-oleic sunflower or avocado oil works great)
1 cup buttermilk or soy milk
1/2 cup pineapple juice or apple juice (real organic fresh pressed kind, not the kind with lots of added sugar)
1 Tb vanilla (real vanilla)
Add the sugar to the eggs or egg replacer mixture and whip until the sugar is melted into the eggs and it becomes creamy, it will look brown (if using egg replacer it will cream up but not get creamy and smooth because of less moisture, it will do that when you add the oil). Add the oil, vanilla and milk and beat on medium speed until it is nice and creamy and smooth.
Now you are going to add the flour mixture a cup at a time, mixing in between to incorporate the flour (if you are using eggs you will need to also add 1/4 tsp baking soda and 1/2 tsp.salt to the flour before you add it to the batter) If using egg replacer just add the flour mixture with nothing else added. Blend until it is all incorporated and smooth.

Next you need to add the good stuff!
1 cup chopped nuts (pecans, walnuts or hazelnuts even almonds)
1 cup soft raisins
3 cups shredded carrots
2 TB cinnamon
1.5 tsp. allspice
1.25 tsp. powdered ginger

Blend again on med. to med/low speed just until all is well mixed. Pour the batter evenly into 3 - 9" cake pans that have been sprayed with oil. Bake on 350' for 30 minutes. The cake should start to pull away from the sides of the pan. Set them on cooling racks for 30 minutes to cool while you make the cream cheese frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

3 8oz  cream cheese (use good cream cheese not neuchatel)
1 stick butter (1/2 cup) (organic salted)
1.5 cups coconut sugar
1 tsp. vanilla (real vanilla)

In your mixers bowl cream the butter on med speed until it begins to get creamy, add the cream cheese 1 cup at a time. Cream on medium to med/high until each one becomes creamy, add the vanilla and the sugar. Again cream this until the sugar is melted and the frosting is smooth and creamy. It will be light brown and thick. So to thin it out a bit add some milk 1 Tb to start. If that isn't enough add another TB do this 1 Tb at a time until it is the consistency that you want. I used 3 TB total and it was a perfect spreading consistency.
**To finish your cake run a knife around the edge of the cake then flip each pan upside down and slam it on the counter or use a cake plate, this will remove the cake.  Place a layer upside down on your cake plate and using a spatula spread some of the frosting onto the cake. Spread it from the center out. Repeat this until you reach the top layer then apply remaining frosting to the outside of the cake. Sprinkle the top with chopped nuts or whole nuts if you prefer, refrigerate until time to serve.

* Coconut sugar has a flavor similar to brown sugar. It has a course granular texture and takes a bit longer to dissolve into your batter. There may be some brown specks in your frosting but that's ok, it doesn't affect the flavor at all.
**All of this is demonstrated for you in more detail on my youtube channel.

ASTORIA! Delicious Food and Friendly People

The view from the end of the street where we stayed

On the River Walk at dusk

I see now why so many people that I talked with prior to our mini vaca suggested that we check out Astoria. It is a beautiful city full of historic architecture and friendly people. I found it very easy to navigate and for me that's saying something because I and others refer to me as "Directionally Impaired". I also found it charming. Even after the fire took out many of the old homes and downtown there are still plenty of these left to give it that old world appeal that so many visitors come here to envelop themselves in.

Portlandians come here to escape the rat race that is Portland and visitors from Seattle make their way south to get away from the hustle and bustle that surrounds them on a daily basis. Here you can kick back and relax, enjoy a brew at any one of the many Breweries, check out the wine bars, take a stroll on the River Walk or catch the still working Trolley Car to take in the river scene. There is also a wonderful Train Ride on an authentic old Locomotive that runs up and down the river.

Our first morning in Astoria we decided to try the Coffee Girls Cafe at Pier 39 in the old Cannery. As we approached the location we weren't sure what to do as the cafe was at the end of a pier. We started to park then noticed that there were cars on the other side. We decided to chance and so we drove out onto this old wooden pier slowly and cautiously creeping along until we safely reached the end and parked. I think Jeff held his breath the whole way. I have to admit that the piers I grew up hanging out on were not built for cars so I was a bit nervous too. But no worries everything was fine this one obviously was! The Coffee Girls Cafe was very quaint there were lots of photos of the original girls that worked there serving coffee to the fishermen and cannery workers. I had Bagels with cream cheese and Lox and it was delicious. Jeff had a Breakfast Panini and he enjoyed it very much. Then we went out on the pier and took in the beautiful view. Next we toured the small cannery museum which turned out to be interesting. It was the original Bumbel Bee Cannery for salmon and eventually tuna.

Salmon Fishing Boat

Bumble Bee display

We tooled around the rest of the day visiting shops and checking out the area. We found a lot of shops so if you are into that you will find many interesting places to peruse. Some really cool places with interesting wares. It's easy to walk around Astoria so take your time and check them all out. 

We were on a mission to taste as much Clam Chowder as we could while we were there; we were able to taste it from 3 places. We never made it to Charlies Chowder House where they claim to have the Best! We will have to go there next time. We ate at "Silver Salmon" the first night and the food was very good although my salad was overdressed. However the Clam Chowder was really good, full of clams with a rich broth and a perfect amount of clammy taste. The whole meal was expensive but we found out that food is expensive everywhere here. The next night we had it at "Buoy Beer Co." it wasn't so good. It lacked flavor and was missing potatoes and clams. But the oysters were very good! And Jeff had a Creme Ale that he loved, I had a cider that was delish too. We wish we could find it here in Eugene but haven't yet. 

Jeffs Fried Oyster Basket, Very Good!

Clam Chowder'

Chars Oyster Appetizer with Jalepeno Jelly and Goat Cheese, Delish!

We had lunch on the 2nd day at a couple of the Food Trucks that are grouped together near the center of town. A good selection of both vegan and traditional dishes. This scene is just getting started in Astoria but I think its gonna take off like it has every where else.


The last night we went to the "Fort George Public House" We loved it, it was very busy but they have lots of space so it doesn't take long to get a seat. We went upstairs so we could have pizza from the wood fired oven. We sat at the bar and enjoyed watching people. We met a couple from RI that had flown into Idaho and were working their way down to California. Super nice couple. We had a delicious pizza, Jeff had a pint and I had a cider both were good but not as good as the Buoy Beer Co's. Of course we had clam chowder as well. This was very good, plenty of clams, a rich broth and just enough potatoes. There were so many things on the menu that we wanted to try but we just couldn't.
Something that they did there that I thought was really cool; They offered a sampler of 10 different draft beers. It came in this wooden crate and I thought how ingenious! There was a man down from us that ordered it. He sampled all of the beers then rated them and then ordered a 1 gal. Growler to take home. Super Cool!

We stayed in a beautiful Old Victorian called "The Fisher House" you can find it on Airbnb.com. The host was charming and fun. The home was gorgeous!! and very clean. The area was quiet and safe and within walking distance to downtown.

Fisher House

View of one side of the kitchen in Fisher House

On the last day we went to the Sunday Market. It was full of vendors, nice to see some different wares for a change. All in all it was a very nice time. The weather got really good on the day we left but when you live in the Pacific NW you gotta expect that right!

Brandied Cherries

I've been working on my YouTube channel recently so I haven't had the time to post here. I'm sorry, it's harder to get ready for producing a YouTube channel than I thought.
I did want to tell you about how to use those sweet cherries that are starting to ripen right now.
Everyone knows how great a cherry pie can be but have you ever had brandied cherries? In Europe they like to preserve fruit in all sorts of ways and one way the Italians do cherries is to place them into a clean jar and pour brandy over them to cover them. Then they close them up and let them sit in the pantry for a while.

They bring them out for company to serve over vanilla ice-cream. They are strong but delicious and it only takes a little bit.

Try it with a small amount to see how you like it.
Bona petite